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It Is Written

Sabbath School 4th Quarter 2025: Lessons of Faith from Joshua

Eric Flickinger

Barna Magyarosi

01 Recipe for Success

Welcome to Sabbath School brought to you by It Is Written.

We're glad that you are joining us today because we are beginning a brand new series of studies on the book of Joshua, delving into this incredible book that gives us a clear insight into the character of God.

You're going to find some questions that you have answered and find some new things that maybe you'd never even considered before, 13 lessons delving into lessons of faith from Joshua.

Father, we thank you for drawing us together today, for giving us an opportunity to learn more about you through the book of Joshua.

We ask that you would help us to get a clearer picture of you and your plan for us.

We're also grateful to have with us this quarter, the author of this quarter's Sabbath school lesson, Barna Magyaroshi.

He is the executive secretary of the Inter-European Division and also the chair of the Biblical Research Committee for the division.

It's been a favorite book of mine as I've delved into the Bible over the years.

But this is clearly something that you're very passionate about.

Give us a little bit of background into how this quarter came to be.

Why is it that you're so passionate about the book of Joshua, and what does it really mean to you?

As a young pastor, I have studied the Bible, and of course, reading through the book of Joshua, you cannot avoid the question, how can a God of love allow the Israelites to be involved in so much bloodshed?

And that question kept nagging at me until I decided to study it deeper.

And I ran into 2 quotations from Ellen White that started me into a deeper study.

And she said that God never intended the Israelites, I'm not quoting, I'm referring to the idea, to conquer the Promised Land by warfare.

And that God would have never suffered the enemies of Israel to fight with Israel if they had been faithful.

So, these 2 convinced me that if Ellen White speaks about this, it has to be in the Bible.

So I went back to the Bible and started to study deeper, and I have come to wonderful conclusions.

And so we're going to be learning some of those things, the conclusions that you came to as we studied together in this quarter.

So you wrote your dissertation on this, is that correct?

I wrote my dissertation on the wars of the Bible in the Old Testament.

Not only Joshua, but Joshua has a fair share of violence and wars in the Bible.

But also I have been asked to write a volume, part of a volume, in the Seventh-day Adventist International Bible Commentary for the Book of Joshua, which has been published last year.

And of course I've been asked to write The Sabbath School and The Book of Joshua now.

Good, how long ago did this particular project, writing the quarterly and so forth, when did that begin, about how long back?

The quarterly began probably about, I would say 3 years back.

As I work in church administration, I don't have the luxury of just studying and writing.

So some of these pages have been written in hotel rooms, in airplanes, or in waiting places in the airport, of course.

It has been a passion over the years to see how God is able to inspire a warrior to write something that is going to draw us closer to him.

We're going to be exploring that during the course of these 13 lessons, 13 weeks together.

So let's dive in and begin by asking this question.

Why do you believe it's important to study the book of Joshua?

There's 66 books in the Bible, They're all good.

Why do you believe that's a really important 1 for us to wrap our minds around and to understand well?

Of course, besides studying Joshua because it's part of the Bible, It is good to see Joshua as a very important brick in this construction of the whole history of Israel.

Of course, we have Genesis, We have the promises given to the patriarchs that God is going to give them a land, especially to Abraham.

God says, I will give you this land, but not now because the iniquity of the Amorites, which is a name for the Canaanites, is not yet fulfilled.

And then we have later on Israel settled in the land.

And the big question is how did Israel settle in the land?

How did they turn out to be a settled nation from a nomadic, lifestyle that used to characterize the patriarchs.

So, the book of Joshua then kind of forms a transition in the life of that people.

So it's gonna be an important link for us to be able to understand very clearly.

Okay, Barna, so walk us through some of the big theological themes that we find in the book of Joshua that we're gonna find running through each chapter and things that we don't want to miss as we're going through this story, this journey.

I think first of all, we need to understand that the Hebrew name of Joshua and the Hebrew name of Jesus is the same, Yehoshua.

So we don't want to miss Jesus as we study the book of Joshua.

And Joshua has a typological function, and we will speak about typology a little bit later.

But I think the main theme and as you study Joshua, look at the way God's promises are being fulfilled.

And I think this is 1 of the big messages of the book of Joshua.

Another 1 is, of course, we mentioned God as a warrior and as a judge.

How is God involved in the great controversy that is taking place on earth in Canaan?

And what does it say about his character of love and mercy at the same time?

Another aspect of the Book of Joshua is related to the land.

The division of the land occupies a lot of space in the Book of Joshua.

Sometimes it is almost boring to read all these details and how the border goes and turns and twists.

But I think that shows us that God's promises are not ethereal.

They are tangible, they are concrete, and they manifest themselves in a piece of land that God is giving to Israel.

So these are some big themes that we're going to be able to see, hopefully be able to see as we go through this.

Maybe this is, the answer is obvious, or maybe it should be, but who's the author of the book of Joshua?

Because there are some different theories floating around out there about, sure, it's called Joshua, but did he really write it?

It's important that we know the answer to this question.

I think it is important because some people would like to place the book of Joshua somewhere in the post-exilic period.

And it can make sense that way too, but if we read the book itself, we realize that the vividness of the narrative and some of the expressions clearly show that the person who has written this book has been an eyewitness to what is being related in the book of Joshua.

Of course the book refers to written sources but whenever it refers to other written sources, it names them.

So the author makes a difference between himself and some of the sources that he is referring to.

So if the author wouldn't have been Joshua, then why would he go all the pain of showing that this is not me, this is not me, this is not me, but this is me.

So I think it is important to understand that God wanted sacred history in the Bible to be recorded when it was still fresh and to give it to the next generation in a written form.

And we have a record of Joshua's written activity within the book.

So we know that Joshua can be the author, and it makes the best sense to see him as the author of the book.

So there's no reason to complicate things.

It's pretty obvious, if I can use that word, that we're looking at a book written by Joshua.

As we're reading this story of Joshua, obviously Joshua is not the main focus of it.

Joshua is relating and relaying this story to us.

But we've got Moses who kind of starts the story with the book of Exodus, and then Joshua picks it up.

What are some of the parallels, compare and contrast for us, Moses' role versus Joshua's role?

It is interesting because the whole book starts by saying, after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant.

Now we have 2 expressions here, the servant of the Lord, which is a dedicated expression for somebody who has the stature of Moses.

And it is interesting that at the end of the book, now Joshua will be referred to as the servant of the Lord.

So he grows, which tells me that nobody is born as a hero of faith.

And this is, I think, an encouragement to our viewers that if we are not yet there, God is patient.

As he was patient with Moses, he was patient with Joshua, he would be patient with us to grow.

02 Surprised by Grace

Welcome to Sabbath school brought to you by It Is Written.

We're glad that you are joining us today.

How can the story in the book of Joshua help encourage and strengthen our faith living in the times in which we live.

This week is lesson number 2, Surprised by Grace.

1 of my favorite stories in the book of Joshua that we're going to be delving into in just a moment.

Father, we thank you for bringing us together today to study more about you, to learn more about you from the story of Joshua.

We ask that you'll bless our time together and help our relationship with you to be strengthened and broadened as a result.

We're also grateful to have with us once again, the author of this quarter's Sabbath school lesson, Barna Majoroshi.

So we're looking at Surprised by Grace this time, and this is an exciting story that we're going to be looking at, spending some time in Joshua chapter 2.

So we've come through the book of Exodus.

That handoff is kind of taking place between Moses and Joshua.

And Joshua is given the opportunity, the mission, if you will, to go in and take the land that God has given to them.

Why did Joshua begin to decide, why did he decide to start this mission of conquering the land by sending out spies?

Historically, this had been tried before.

It didn't have a very positive ending, all things considered.

So here we are again at the borders of Promised Land, and he sends out spies again.

To make it simple, because God is a God of grace, and grace means a second chance.

And as I look at this new generation, God says, okay, now this is your opportunity.

And the procedure could have been different.

But I think God, through Joshua, chooses the same circumstances, the same way of approaching the land, just to give them a possibility to make it right this time.

In Hebrew it is called Shittim, the Acacia Grove.

This is a place where in the past, at least there have been at least 2 incidents.

1 is the first exploration of the land that ended in a complete disaster.

We know that because out of the 12 spies, only Joshua and Caleb brought back positive news and the possibility and the faith in conquering the land.

The second is related to this licentious debauchery that took place in the same place when the prophet Balaam incited the Israelites to get involved in sin with the Canaanites.

And that was again a very, very disgraceful moment for Israel.

And then God brings the people back to the same place again, and he says, I give you another chance.

And as we will see this time, they will be living up to the expectations.

So they get this second chance, this second opportunity.

You mentioned a little bit about God's grace and forgiveness.

What can we grasp, how can we deeper, better understand God's grace and forgiveness as a result of the second chance that he's giving them here.

We say second chance, but sometimes we say third, fourth, fifth, and who knows?

Because God is a God who looks at a possibility to save.

And sometimes we have this image about God, and sometimes our viewers might have encountered this view, that God is watching, God is looking and waiting for us to make a mistake, and the moment we made a mistake, the judgment comes.

I think the picture about God that comes in this chapter is completely different.

God is looking for anything in our life that can be, and I'm using it in quotation marks, an excuse for him to step into our lives and save us.

And this is what we see in the life of Rahab.

God, there's a lot that is not okay in the life of Rahab.

And yet, God finds that little element in her life as an anchor of His grace to give her a second chance.

God is willing to give us a second chance, and not a second, many chances.

And this concept is going to also help us understand the case of the Canaanites.

Why is it that God has to write off an entire generation of the inhabitants of Canaan.

Why is it that there's no other solution for them?

And we will see it's not because God is not the God of grace.

It's because they have chosen to rebel against God and to become adamant in this rebellion.

You mentioned Rahab and this story, this chapter revolves a lot around Rahab.

She's portrayed to some extent as a hero of faith.

You mentioned she's got flaws, many of them.

And yet, we look at her story and we find positive elements of it there.

Walk us through a little bit more about how she, though imperfect, is still perceived as a hero of faith.

Yes, first of all, we see that the spies that enter Canaan, and especially Jericho, they have to find a place where their presence is not conspicuous.

They need to come in a way that they are not observed or discovered.

So I think that's why they have chosen, or they had chosen the House of Rahab.

This was an inn, and even if some of the commentators tried to imply that there was a relationship of sexual nature between the spies and Rahab, the text does not warrant such conclusion at all and you can read that in the Sabbath School Quarterly and also in the Companion Book.

There is no reason to believe anything like that.

But of course, Rahab is part of an entire culture that has become very corrupt.

And we will speak about that in 1 of our lessons later.

But what we have to understand is 2, I mean, let's say 4 conceptual categories.

And there is a little graph that I did in the companion book, and if you look at that you will understand what I'm referring to.

But you have to imagine 4 elements, 4 categories.

And of course, according to the Bible, there's only 1 person who is intrinsically holy.

God's holiness, though, it is something that he wants to share.

And he wants his people, Israel, to step on the road of sanctification.

But the normal situation of Israel is, and things on this earth, is clean.

But clean things can be sanctified, but holy things can become by profanation, normal, clean.

But clean things can become unclean, as we know from the Bible, which uncleanness is a complex concept, but basically it is something that reminds us of our mortal nature, because it is only in relationship with this cycle of life and death that we speak about uncleanness.

And then if, but this unclean state cannot be too long because it either has to be purified and go back to the normal clean state and back again on the way to sanctification or if it persists in this state of uncleanliness then it becomes what the Hebrew Bible says, herem.

Now you have to remember this word because we will deal with this word.

The Bible translates it as ban or banned things or devoted to destruction.

And this is the exact opposite from holy.

When things become so departed from their original purpose that God says I cannot use them anymore, they are useless, and he as we are writing off things that have become useless in our lives, God has to write these things off.

The challenge is that sometimes these are people that persist in their state of rebellion, uncleanness, to an extent that there's no way back for them.

And the case of Rahab is going to show he is part of this group of people that are doomed to destruction.

But she discovers a glimpse of hope in the message of the spies.

I want to cling to this grace and God what does God say?

No, I'm sorry you in this category there's no way out for you.

No, God says okay and as we read the story of Rahab in chapter 6 We discover that after she is being saved, she has to spend the whole week outside of the camp of Israel.

Because she steps from this category of devoted to destruction into the unclean category And she has to spend some time until she becomes normal, or clean again.

And then she has the possibility to step on the road of sanctification.

Sorry, this was a little longer than intended, but I think it's important for us to understand this conceptual frame for the entire book of Joshua.

I think it does because it gives us, or at least it should give us, hope that when we're interacting with people or maybe even considering ourselves and our past and the road that we've walked down, the choices that we've made, maybe we feel that, you know, what kind of hope is there for me?

But the story of Rahab really helps us to see that from the depths of sin, God can bring somebody back through unclean, too clean, and by the grace of God, to holy.

03 Memorials of Grace

We are continuing to study through the book of Joshua, lessons in faith from Joshua.

And today we are taking a look at Memorials of Grace, Memorials of Grace, looking especially at chapters 3 and 4 in the book of Joshua, but of course, studying far beyond that as well.

Father, we thank you for being with us once again, as you are guiding us through this study on the book of Joshua.

We anticipate that you're going to bless us once again as you have in the past with a deeper understanding, not just of the book itself and of the story of Joshua, but with a deeper understanding of you and your love and your grace and your mercy.

So we ask that you'll be with us today and guide us and thank you in Jesus name.

We're also glad to have with us the author of this quarter's Sabbath school lesson, Barna Marjoroshi.

Barna, thanks again for being here with us.

So, we're looking today at memorials of grace.

We're continuing this journey through the book of Joshua.

And in this lesson, this week's lesson, you talk about forgetfulness, the importance of learning lessons about forgetfulness.

And what are some of the dangers of forgetfulness, especially as it applies to our spiritual lives?

Of course, forgetfulness remembers us of the famous quote of Ellen White, that we have nothing to fear for the future except we forget the way God has led us in our past history and his teachings.

Forgetfulness in the spiritual realm can cause, first of all, a kind of a blurred vision for the future.

Because if we do not know how God has led us in the past, we will not be able to trust him in the future.

But it also, forgetfulness results in a loss of identity or a sense of identity.

Of course we have this terrible disease of Alzheimer and I have seen what it does to families and how emotionally taxing it can be when a father or a grandfather does not recognize anymore their children or grandchildren, it's terrible.

But spiritually, it can be equally disturbing.

When we forget what God has done in our lives, then we tend to lose a sense of identity, spiritually speaking.

And perhaps that will affect also our sense of mission.

Because if we don't have a sense of calling, we forget about that, we don't have our identity, it's always mission that is going to suffer.

We will be less involved in God's work, we'll be less interested in how to contribute to the development of God's kingdom.

And finally, it will affect our relationship with God.

God has led us in incredible ways in the past and we have a responsibility to help other people recognize that and embrace it.

And it has a very real impact on the way that we live our lives today.

Specifically here in the book of Joshua, God required the Israelites to prepare in a special way for the crossing of the Jordan River.

What is that, what was that all about and what do we take from that today?

Actually the term used in Hebrew is to sanctify.

In the Old Testament this process of preparation involved some, when we speak about the priests, that they were preparing themselves for the ministry.

They had to take a bath, They had to go through different rituals.

But of course, the purpose of those rituals were to prepare their minds of understanding the importance of their ministry.

They were about to witness some of the greatest miracles that God had ever performed in their history.

Series

Sabbath School 4th Quarter 2025: Lessons of Faith from Joshua

04 The Conflict Behind All Conflicts

Transcript

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