Read: Judges 2:7-10

Today we read a verse about where Joshua was buried. You may wonder why the Lord has included this verse in the Bible. Why is it important to know where Joshua was buried?

Well, this verse teaches us something about how great and loving our God is. It teaches us that God is always faithful and always keeps his promises. The important word here is inheritance. An inheritance was a piece of land that the Israelites received when they entered the Promised Land. All the tribes were given a piece of land — an inheritance. God in his love gave them this land. Even though the generation before them had been disobedient and died in the desert, the Lord continued to love Israel and so gave the next generation of people an inheritance — some land in Canaan.

You will remember that Joshua was one of the two faithful people who spied out the Promised Land. Because he obeyed the Lord and gave a good report, he didn’t have to die in the desert but was allowed into the Promised Land. So the fact that Joshua was buried in his inheritance shows God’s love and grace to Joshua.

Joshua’s burial also points forward to something much greater. Let’s think about Jesus. Jesus did not have his own burial place. Jesus was buried in someone else’s land. But he didn’t stay in the grave. The grave wasn’t the Lord Jesus’ final resting place. After three days he arose from the dead and now sits at the right hand of God in heavenly glory. And that’s the eternal heavenly inheritance that Joshua’s burial points forward to.

We as Christians today will also be buried when we die, but because of God’s covenant love and faithfulness and because of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, our bodies will not stay in the grave forever. Our bodies too will rise when Christ returns, and we will then go to our Promised Land — the new heaven and earth — our eternal inheritance.

Reflection with your child:

What does Joshua’s burial in the Promised Land teach us about God?

Source: Sermon by Rev. R. Vermeulen