Joshua as a "type" of Jesus

Moses gives many wonderful speeches, but I'd like to focus on his address in Deuteronomy 31. In that chapter, Moses is handing leadership responsibilities over to his successor, Joshua. It is Joshua, not Moses, who will guide the Israelites into the promised land.

The name "Jesus" is the Greek version of the name "Joshua." To that end, we may view the Old Testament Joshua as a "type" of Jesus. (The word "type" is often used to refer to Old Testament prophetic symbols of Christ.) Joshua was to lead the Israelites into the earthly Promised Land, just a Jesus is to lead us into the heavenly Promised Land.

Whatever problems and fears we confront, they must pale into comparison to what those Israelites faced at that point. But Moses says to the people (Deuteronomy 31:7, KJV),

The Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

These words also are directed toward us. As we journey to our heavenly Promised Land, let us keep Moses' words on our mind.

A year-long bible reading plan

The start of a new year is an excellent time to begin a bible reading plan. My favorite, and the one I try to finish every year, is the well-known One Year Bible. Another excellent option is The Daily Bible, organized by F. LaGard Smith. (Having read Smith's version several times, I can promise that it feels like taking a semester-long collegiate-level course on the bible!)

But one need not commit to reading the entire bible. Indeed, one can construct an individualized bible reading plan. For example, just to make something up on the fly, one could read one chapter per day from the following five books:

• Genesis
• Luke
• John
• Romans
• Hebrews
• Psalms
  

That's 274 days of reading, so you've built in some cushion for the occasional missed day.

Whatever the plan, the point is for us to commit to active reading, and then to let that daily reading guide our prayers.