Competence rarely happens overnight. Even the great Joshua had to be prepared over many years to handle the enormous task given him. By the time he died, competence could have been his middle name. Consider this:

1. God used Joshua over two generations.
2. God trusted Joshua to lead the military campaigns from the wilderness into Canaan.
3. God called Joshua to spy out the Promised Land.
4. God allowed Joshua to accompany Moses up Mount Sinai.
5. God replaced Moses with Joshua when it came time to lead the people into Canaan.

Ponder the effort God invested in this young leader to make him competent:

1. He was a warrior (Ex. 17:9-11). Joshua was born to be a warrior. His first opportunity at leadership came as a military leader. God was preparing him for a much larger role, but it all began here.
2. He was a spokesman (Ex. 17:14). Joshua received a prophetic word from the Lord concerning his lifetime ministry, illustrating how God works in each of us. First, we receive a personal word from the Lord; then we become bearers of His word to others.
3. He was a servant (Ex. 24:13). Joshua was first known as "the servant of Moses." No one called him a servant of Yahweh until the time of the conquest. He proved his willingness to serve before asking anyone to serve him. Each of us must undergo the same process.
4. He was a faithful coworder (Ex. 32:17). Moses took Joshua with him to meet with God on Mount Sinai, but when ordered to stop, Joshua halted halfway up. He experienced no glory, no cloud, no voice, and no presence, yet he remained faithful to the big picture.
5. He was an apprentice of Moses and God (Ex. 33:11). For 40 years, Joshua served as an understudy. His competence grew from Moses' tutoring and his own observations. He would not leave Moses' tent because he wanted to get everything he could from his mentor.
6. He was a zealot (Num. 11:29). One day, when God's presence came down upon the camp and two men began to prophesy, Joshua grew concerned. He forbade them to continue, but Moses said to him, "I wish all God's people were prophets." Joshua's passion later became an asset as it combined with experience.
7. He was a transformed leader (Num. 13:16). Moses gave the name Joshua to the young man formerly called Hoshea. With that name change came a transformation in identity and character. Joshua became a man ready to delegate, organize, and lead the nation of Israel.

I like these positive outlook and examples God gave us to learn. Which is probably why so many people are still named after Joshua today. Our challenge is to continue to apply all these actions in our own lives today.

Joshua 11:16-23

So Joshua took this entire land: the hill country, all the Negev, the whole region of Goshen, the western foothills, the Arabah and the mountains of Israel with their foothills, ¹⁷ from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and put them to death. ¹⁸ Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. ¹⁹ Except for the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. ²⁰ For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²¹ At that time, Joshua went and destroyed the Anakites from the hill country: from Hebron, Debir, and Anab, from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua totally destroyed them and their towns. 22 No Anakites were left in Israelite territory; only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod did any survive.

²³ So Joshua took the entire land, just as the Lord had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war.