FOURTH QUARTER 2025
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #10
DECEMBER 6, 2025
"THE TRUE JOSHUA."

Will You Not Enter In? 

When we open the book of Joshua, or any book in the Bible, it’s easy to see the history, the literature, and the literal application to the people of that time, in that day. But there tends to be a deeper layer to the Word of God—a spiritual undercurrent that invites us to look deeper and experience things on a beautiful personal level. This quarter we’ve been studying the life of Joshua and exploring the relationship between type and antitype. Joshua led a generation that finally chose to believe the promises of God and enter into Canaan. Because they trusted His word, they possessed the land of their inheritance and drove out the giants where the previous generation failed. In one sense, the people of God entered their “rest.” Yet their rest was still incomplete.

How can that be? This was the believing generation—the one who refused to repeat the unbelief of their parents who fell in the wilderness because they would not enter in (Numbers 14:11, 34;  Hebrews 3:17–19). Yes, this new generation believed enough to cross the Jordan and claim the inheritance. But there is more. Joshua gave Israel a measure of rest—physical rest from their wandering. The land was subdued, the giants expelled, the borders established, the tribes settled, the inheritance claimed, and yet their hearts continued to wander. Unbelief still lingered, and the remainder of Israel’s history bears witness to that fact. Though they entered Canaan, they never fully entered the rest God intended for them. In a sense, they never really left Egypt.

“It was God’s rest into which Israel were to enter in the land to which He would lead them when He brought them out of Egypt. This is certainly true, because when He tells us of Israel’s unbelief, He declares that the consequence was, ‘They shall not enter into My rest’.” —Alonzo T. Jones, The Adventist Review and Sabbath Herald, Nov. 15, 1898, p. 734. Here, the author emphasizes that the rest God intended for Israel was not merely physical, but a reflection of His eternal and spiritual rest. The warning is clear: unbelief can block the entrance into this rest, even if you are in the land of Canaan itself.

Indeed, God’s rest is eternal, for “as God is the eternal God, His rest can be nothing else than eternal rest. And as it was His rest into which Israel was to enter in the land to which He would have led them when He brought them out of Egypt, so it was eternal rest which they would have found in the promised land if they had believed God.” (ibid). This highlights that God’s rest is not simply a pause from labor, but a condition rooted in eternity itself. It is a spiritual reality, not dependent on geography or human effort, but on belief.

Because God’s rest is spiritual, it can only be entered into by faith. “As God is Spirit, so His rest is only spiritual. And as spiritual things are only spiritually discerned, the only way in which the people of Israel could possibly enter into His rest, was by faith. Therefore while it is written that ‘they could not enter in because of unbelief,’ it is also written, ‘We which have believed do enter into rest.’” (ibid). This distinction is crucial. Physical possession of Canaan did not guarantee rest for Israel; they needed a heart disposition aligned with God’s will. Faith, therefore, becomes the conduit through which spiritual rest is experienced.

Christ, as the antitype, leads the way for us to possess our true inheritance—to cross our spiritual “Jordan” and enter the Heavenly Canaan. But what if there is more to our inheritance than simply arriving in a physical place? What if believing God’s promises is meant to move us beyond merely entering heaven at last? Joshua’s rest was incomplete because it was only physical. Christ’s rest is complete because it is spiritual in nature. And unless we personally enter His rest, we will repeat Israel’s story.

Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV) reminds us of the nature of our conflict: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” This fight rises beyond your neighbor, above kingdoms, higher than politics, and reaches deep into the recesses of our hearts. The fight to possess the promised land, to set up the Kingdom of God cut out without hands, begins deep within our hearts. Hebrews chapters 3–4 urge us to lift our eyes from the first Joshua and fix them on the One he foreshadowed. Jesus,the Leader who came to show us the way back to union with the Father. Jesus, the Conqueror who went before us and defeated the true enemy—selfishness, sin, and eternal death. Jesus, the Deliverer who reassures us that “He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Jesus, the True Joshua, who can truly give us that rest.

Yes, Jesus has led the way and shown us through His life how to enter the rest, and has assured us that He will accomplish that rest in us. If we do not enter that rest ourselves, we are not partakers of it. The rest Jesus invites us to experience is not simply a pause from busyness, a break from labor, or even the act of stepping through the pearly gates themselves—it is the deep, quiet assurance of what was accomplished in the life of the True Joshua and what He desires to accomplish in and through us today. So how do we enter in?

The first step in entering God’s rest is recognizing that true rest is not merely external but intimately internal and personal. Israel entered the land geographically, but their hearts did not rest spiritually. The Canaan that God desired to give them was not merely a territory but a condition of heart—trust, loyalty, and union with Him. They received the inheritance of land but not the inheritance of character. This same danger confronts believers today: we can enjoy religious identity, participate in spiritual activity, and belong to a faith community, yet never permit Christ to bring us into the deeper experience of His rest. Rest is not achieved by changing our environment but by surrendering our inner world.

God’s rest was intended from the foundation of the world: “As it was God’s rest into which Israel was to enter, and as God’s rest is eternal, so it was not only eternal rest into which He desired Israel then to enter, but it was the very rest which He prepared at the foundation of the world for man then to enter and enjoy eternally. For as ‘the works were finished from the foundation of the world’(Hebrews 4:3), so also was the rest prepared from the foundation of the world. But though this rest was prepared for man at the foundation of the world, there the man missed it, there he failed to enter in; and he failed because of unbelief.” (ibid). The rest promised to Israel was thus not a new or temporary provision; it was the eternal rest God intended for humanity from the very beginning. Yet their unbelief barred them from receiving it, just as Adam’s failure had already demonstrated.

“When the time came for Israel to leave Egypt, 'the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham’ to give to him and to his seed, which is Christ, the land which He had promised, which is the world to come, the place which He had made for Himself to dwell in, the mountain of the Lord’s inheritance, the sanctuary which His hands had established. In other words, the time had come for them to enter the rest which was prepared for man at the foundation of the world, but which, through unbelief, the man missed. And through unbelief they also missed it; they also failed to enter into God’s rest.” —Alonzo T. Jones, The Adventist Review and Sabbath Herald, Nov. 15, 1898, p. 734. Yet this rest remains, waiting for those who will enter it in faith: “No; this rest remains. Thank the Lord! It remained after Adam’s failure, and waited till the time when the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham. And when Israel failed to enter into it, it still remains, it still waits for people to enter in. It was prepared at the foundation of the world for mankind to enter and enjoy forevermore. And being prepared for this purpose, it still remains and waits for that great purpose to be fulfilled. It was prepared for mankind to enter, and mankind must enter into it.” (ibid).

In contrast to Joshua, Christ offers a rest that is complete, because the enemies He conquers are the ones no human commander can defeat. Joshua subdued fortified cities, but Jesus subdues fortified hearts. He dismantles the giants of fear, guilt, bitterness, pride, and unbelief—giants far more threatening than those found in Canaan. We often fail to enter His rest because we attempt to fight these battles ourselves. The rest Jesus gives begins where self-reliance ends. It begins when we allow Him to fight for us, to win the victories we are incapable of winning.

Entering God’s rest also involves believing His promises. The Israelites lost their inheritance not because God withheld it, but because they refused to trust Him. Unbelief was the true wilderness. Faith, then, becomes the means by which we cross the Jordan into spiritual freedom. Faith is not mere agreement with truth; it is active reliance upon Christ—trusting His word above our feelings, surrendering our anxieties into His hands, and accepting that His victory truly counts for us. It is the refusal to let circumstances dictate our peace. It is choosing to believe, even when nothing around us appears conquered.

Moreover, entering God’s rest is a daily experience, not a one-time event. Hebrews emphasizes the word “Today”—“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:7–8). Rest is entered one decision at a time, one surrender at a time, one moment of trust in place of fear. God does not call us to rest “eventually” or “someday,” but now. Every delay strengthens unbelief. Every act of surrender strengthens trust. Indeed, “seeing therefore it still remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of unbelief; again He limits a certain day, saying in David, ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts’” (Hebrews 4:6–7). “For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day” (Hebrews 4:8). And as Hebrews 3:13 reminds us, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

Finally, entering God’s rest means allowing Him to write His law in our hearts. The promised land God desires to conquer is the inner territory of our thoughts, motives, and desires. Only Christ can establish His kingdom there. He does this through His Word, His Spirit, and His continual presence. The Word of God is “living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). True rest is nothing less than the indwelling of Christ. He sees all things and penetrates every hidden corner of our hearts, yet offers mercy and grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:13–16).

Joshua once asked Israel, “How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you?” (Joshua 18:3). The question echoes across time and lands gently, yet urgently, upon the heart of every believer. Christ—the True Joshua—has opened the way. He has crossed the Jordan before us, conquered the enemy, secured the inheritance, and offered the rest that Israel never experienced but that He longs for us to receive. The borders of the promised land are not geographical; they are spiritual. The conflict is not against nations but against unbelief. The inheritance is not merely future but present.

“‘There remaineth [present tense] therefore a rest to the people of God.' And it is the same rest that Adam missed, and that Israel missed; and both through unbelief.” (ibid). The invitation stands. The rest remains. The door is open. The True Joshua calls softly but firmly to each soul: Will you not enter in?

 

~ Anya Kinsley