Continuing with our study on the two action-packed Books of Joshua and Acts, we come today to some more similarities…
Qualification…
It is said that God doesn’t call the qualified but qualifies the called. Joshua who succeeded Moses was not that great leader’s biological son but rather was hand-picked by the Almighty out of His grace alone to replace Moses (Num. 27:12-23). Cannot the same be said of Jesus’ disciples? They had no scholarly achievements in their CV nor did they have any great power in themselves, but the good Lord out of His grace alone hand-picked them (Matt. 4:18-22/1 Cor. 15:9-10), in the same way He out of His Grace cured Naaman the Syrian leper at a time other Jewish lepers needing help were there (Luke 4:27) or for that matter the way he cured a paralytic at a time other sick people were there by the Bethesda pool (John 5:1-9). So all the “successful” servants of God would be well-served to divert the public attention to the one who has given them success in the first place out of His grace alone!!!
Once, the Almighty picks His servants, He not only boosts their morale by assuring them of His constant presence at all times (Josh 1:5/Matt 28:20) but He also expects them to maintain high morality (Josh 1:8). Do you see Joshua or the Apostles ever slipping on the morality front? No way. Then as day follows night, their personal holiness assured and ensured…there would be no disruption of Divine anointing power flowing in and through them at any time. If for Joshua the Divine anointing set him apart as an undisputed leader (Josh 4:14), then the similar Pentecostal anointing (Acts 2:1-4) on the Disciples set them apart as special vessels to evangelize the whole world (Acts 1:8).
Domination…
None could stand up against Joshua and his armies, ditto the same with the Apostles. If the good Lord crowned every military expedition of Joshua in the Conquest of Canaan with success, He did the same in the case of the “Spiritual expedition” of the Apostles, too, even as they turned the World “upside down” (or should I say they turned the World which was upside down spiritually, the right side up… Acts 17:6). How true is the popular saying, God plus one is a majority, rooted as it is in the Scripture…if the Lord is on our side, who can be against us (Rom. 8:31)?
Sensation…
Miracles wrought through Joshua created sensation in his day (Josh 6:20/10:12-14), by the same token amazing miracles of the Apostles (God working through them-Acts 5:15-16) left both friends and foes of the Early Church stunned. In the Christian context, here it has to be said that signs are for unbelievers (1 Cor. 14:22). Miracles ought to be done with the sole purpose of bringing glory to God even while attracting unbelievers for eventual wholesome spiritual transformation, cum healing, which is eternal in nature. Let every Christian minister aspire to be an Apostle exercising every gift of the Holy Spirit by doing signs and wonders (2 Cor. 12:12), even while accepting the fact that it is the Almighty who alone decides on whom to confer which gift (1 Cor. 12).
To be fair, some negative incidents are also faithfully recorded in both the books of Joshua and Acts. Praise God, we can learn from them, too! (1 Cor. 10:11). We shall focus upon them in the third part of this Series.
Prayer: Lord, we acknowledge, we are only as effective in our Ministry as our measure of anointing. Enable us always to rest “our oars” on Thee. In Jesus’ Name. Amen
Suresh Manoharan
(To access the rest of the “Lights, Camera, Action!” mini-series, please click here.)