Lesson 75: Joshua 3–5

“Lesson 75: Joshua 3–5,” Old Testament Seminary Student Material (2018)

“Lesson 75: Joshua 3–5”

Lesson 75

Joshua 3–5

Prepare to Learn

Prepare your mind and heart to be taught by the Holy Ghost. You will be ready to learn when your mind is alert and your attention is focused on the learning experience. Do your best to be receptive to the Spirit’s promptings.

Begin your study with prayer.

The Lord desires to help us. When we face challenges, we can find strength as we rely on Him.

While serving in the Relief Society General Presidency, Sister Linda S. Reeves shared how relying on the Lord helped her face two challenges. How did her experience with the first challenge help her during the second challenge?

You can read the text for this video here: Linda S. Reeves, “The Lord Has Not Forgotten You,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2012, 119–20.

3:3

Fear of Moving Forward

Sometimes we may be afraid to face a challenge or make a difficult decision, because we are not sure what the results of our actions will be. Consider how you might feel if you were in the following scenarios:

A young man worries about serving a mission because he has never left home and is afraid he will not be able to handle being apart from his family.
A young woman is concerned about joining the Church because she has heard her father harshly criticize the Church and its members.

1. What are some other challenges or difficult decisions that may cause people to worry because they are not sure what the results of their actions will be?

Instructions to the People

As you study Joshua 3–5, look for a principle that can help you when you feel uncertain about important decisions you need to make.

In Joshua 3 we learn that Joshua and the Israelites moved their camp so they were near the Jordan River (see Joshua 3:1). They knew they were supposed to cross the river and settle other portions of the promised land, but the river was flooding, which made it difficult to cross (see Joshua 3:15).

Read Joshua 3:1–6, looking for the instructions that the officers and Joshua gave to the people.

Quiz 1

According to Joshua 3:3–4, what did the officers tell the people to do?
1. Follow the ark when the Levites begin carrying it
2. Return to Egypt for safety
3. Set up camp and wait for the river to be low enough to cross
According to Joshua 3:5, what did Joshua tell the people to do?
1. Celebrate the Lord’s deliverance
2. Perform burnt offerings
3. Sanctify themselves

The Lord’s Words

Read Joshua 3:7–8, 13, looking for the Lord’s instructions to the priests.

According to verse 13, what did the Lord say He would do to help the Israelites cross the river?

Stepping into the Water

According to Joshua 3:13, the priests holding the ark would have to step into the flowing water before the water would “stand upon an heap,” or stop flowing downstream. Think about how the priests demonstrated faith as they stepped into the flowing water.

Read Joshua 3:14–17, looking for what happened when the priests stepped into the water.

What principle can we learn from the priests’ actions that can help us when we are faced with obstacles and challenges?

Faith to Move Forward

From Joshua 3:14–17, we can learn that moving forward in faith invites God to perform miracles in our behalf.

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles used this account as an example of how to act in faith when we face challenges in our lives. How can we move forward in faith when we face obstacles?

2:3

“Recall how the Israelites came to the river Jordan and were promised the waters would part, and they would be able to cross over on dry ground. Interestingly, the waters did not part as the children of Israel stood on the banks of the river waiting for something to happen; rather, the soles of their feet were wet before the water parted. The faith of the Israelites was manifested in the fact that they walked into the water before it parted. They walked into the river Jordan with a future-facing assurance of things hoped for” (David A. Bednar, “Seek Learning by Faith,” Ensign, Sept. 2007, 63).

2. When have you or someone you know experienced miracles or blessings after moving forward in faith?

A Memorial

Joshua 4:1–5 records that the Lord instructed Joshua to select one man from each tribe of Israel. Each of these men was to take a stone from the riverbed and carry it to the place where the Israelites would sleep that night.

Read Joshua 4:6–7, 20–24, looking for why the Lord wanted them to build a memorial.

According to verse 24, what effect would remembering this miraculous event have on the Israelites?

“Fear the Lord”

One meaning of the phrase “fear the Lord” (Joshua 4:24) is to have reverence or respect for Him.

Using what you have learned from Joshua 4:6–7, 20–24, complete the following phrase:

As we remember what the Lord has done for us, …

Remembering What the Lord Has Done

One way to state a principle we can learn from Joshua 4:6–7, 20–24 is that as we remember what the Lord has done for us, our reverence for Him increases and our testimonies are strengthened.

One way to always remember the Lord is to regularly keep a journal. President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency once shared some of the blessings that had come into his life because he had kept a daily record of God blessing his family. What blessings did he receive because he tried to remember what the Lord had done?

1:6

“As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.

“More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened” (Henry B. Eyring, “O Remember, Remember,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2007, 67).

Your Own Experience

3. Create your own memorial of the Lord’s help in your life by writing about a time when the Lord helped you. If you cannot think of an experience to share, consider asking a parent or leader about times when the Lord has helped him or her and then recording one of these experiences.

The Promised Land

In Joshua 5:1–11 we learn that after the Israelites arrived in the promised land, the Lord instructed Joshua to have all the men circumcised. Circumcision was a token of the covenant that the Lord had made with Abraham and his posterity (see Genesis 17:9–14; see also Guide to the Scriptures, “Circumcision,” scriptures.lds.org). For some reason this practice had ceased during their 40 years in the wilderness, and the Lord wanted them to begin doing it again (see Joshua 5:4–5).

Joshua 5:12 records that the children of Israel “[ate] of the fruit of the land” and that the Lord no longer provided them with manna.

The Captain of the Lord’s Host

Do you remember when Moses talked with the Lord at the burning bush?

In Joshua 5:13–15 we read that Joshua had an experience similar to Moses’s. Joshua was visited by a heavenly messenger who announced himself as the “captain of the host of the Lord” (verse 14). The messenger was likely Jehovah, or Jesus Christ (see Old Testament Student Manual: Genesis–2 Samuel, 3rd ed. [Church Educational System manual, 2003], 238). The Lord had been with Moses, and He would also be with Joshua.

Help with Challenges

The following principles were identified in this lesson:

Moving forward in faith invites God to perform miracles in our behalf.
As we remember what the Lord has done for us, our reverence for Him increases and our testimonies are strengthened.

How can applying these principles help you as you face challenges in your life?

Answer Key

Quiz 1: (1) a; (2) c