ANOTHER JOSHUA

By Jerelyn Wright Pearson

 

Today we are going to explore the journey of Joshua the son of Josedech, not to be confused with Joshua the son of Nun who is probably more widely recognized, being found in Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, and once in 1 Kings. Both Joshua’s played vital roles concealed in the Old Testament and revealed in the New Testament.

When I first saw Joshua mentioned in Haggai, I wondered if he were the same Joshua I was familiar with. The context of this passage in the Bible makes it very clear that He was a different person with the same name.

Haggai 1:1
In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying...

The fact that this Joshua is referred to as the son of Josedech is one clue that they are not the same. Furthermore the events in Haggai occurred about 500 years after Joshua the son of Nun led the children of Israel into the promised land. Zerubbabel, the governor and Joshua, the high priest led the Israeiltes back to Jerusalem after their Babylonian captivity.

As we read, Darius is king, Haggai is the prophet, Zerubbabel is the governor of Judah, and Joshua is the high priest.

The prophet Haggai revealed God’s will to Zerubbabel and Joshua.

Haggai 1:2-4
2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD'S house should be built.
3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?

After their return from Babylonian captivity, the people had delayed the rebuilding of the temple. Through the prophet Haggai the Lord spoke to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the high priest, letting them know it was past time to complete the building. He pointed out that the people live in secure houses while the Lord’s house lies in waste.

Consider Your Ways

Through Haggai, the Lord points out things that have gone wrong for the people.

Haggai 1:5-7
5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.

I wonder if we consider our ways, when we seem to work hard but get nowhere.

The Lord gives them an instruction.

Haggai 1:8
Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.

The Lord further explains why things haven’t been working out for them.

Haggai 1:9-12
9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD.

Apparently the people considered their ways.

Haggai 1:13-14
13 Then spake Haggai the LORD'S messenger in the LORD'S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.
14 And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God...

After the Lord said, “I am with you,” at the end of verse 13, and before he said, “they came and did work in the house of the Lord,” at the end of verse 14, what happened? The Lord stirred up their spirit. He enabled them to obey his word.

They didn’t have Holy Spirit dwelling in them. So the Lord stirred up their spirit. Today Christians have indwelling Holy Spirit to stir up our spirit. God doesn’t leave us alone to do his work.

How often do we receive instruction from the Lord to do a task and in our haste proceed to run off in our own spirit instead of The Spirit that dwells within us? It’s so much easier when we follow His Spirit.

About a month later the Lord spoke again to Haggai.

Haggai 2:2-3
2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,
3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?

Some of the people were old enough to have seen the first temple in all its glory. In some ways this temple did not seem to measure up. They may have been tempted to be disappointed. God reassured them.

Haggai 2:4-5 
4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:
5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.

The fact that the Lord is with them, and they are doing his will is far more important than their opinion of the quality of their work.

I wonder if sometimes when we are doing God’s will, do we look around and see others doing something that seems more important, or exciting, and get distracted or envious? The Lord assigns different work to different people.  It’s his work, not ours. When we are in obedience to the will of God, he is pleased with us and our work is rewarded.

The Lord through Haggai began to reveal future events.

Haggai 1:6-9
6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

The Latter shall be greater than the former! If you think this temple doesn’t quite measure up to the former, wait and see what is to come in the future!

The focus of this lesson is on Joshua, the son of Josedech. What have we learned about him so far from Haggai?

He received messages from the Lord through the prophet Haggai.
He served as High Priest
He worked to rebuild the temple.
He was obedient to the Lord.

The Word of the Lord to Zachariah

Zachariah received instructions from the Lord to have crowns of silver and gold made and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest. These crowns show that Joshua is priest and king.

Zachariah 6:9-11
9 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
10 Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah;
11 Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;

He was also instructed to speak to Joshua. Through Zachariah, the Lord reveals the future.

Zachariah 6:12
And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:

Joshua being crowned as priest and king signifies that the man whose name is The BRANCH will grow up here and shall build the temple of the Lord. The BRANCH is Jesus. Jesus would grow up here and build the temple of the Lord.

Zachariah 6:13-15
13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
14 And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the LORD.
15 And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the LORD, and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.

The crowns did not remain with Joshua forever. They were to be placed in the temple as a memorial pointing to the promise of the coming Messiah.

Many people would come from far off to help build the temple. Today our Lord Jesus Christ is building his church for all eternity.

* * *

As I mentioned earlier, there are two Joshuas: the son of Nun and the son of Josedech, not to be confused. Both played important roles in the Old Testament.

In the New Testament the name Jesus is the Greek form of the name Yeshua or Joshua. Each Joshua is a type of Christ. Joshua son of Nun represents Christ the captain of our salvation. Joshua son of Josedech represents Christ our High Priest and King.

The following from Matthew Henry:

It is observable that there should be two eminent types of Christ in the Old Testament that were both named Joshua (the same name with Jesus, …) Joshua the chief captain, a type of Christ the captain of our salvation, and Joshua the chief priest, a type of Christ the high priest of our profession, and both in their day saviours and leaders into Canaan.
And this is peculiar to Joshua the high priest, that here was something done to him by the divine appointment on purpose that he might be a type of Christ, a priest after the order of Melchizedek, who was both a king and a priest.

 

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Presented 12 February 2023 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana