A Bridge to Something New
The book of Joshua is what scholars call a “bridge book”. What they mean when they label it this - is Joshua connects the Torah, or the first five books of the Bible, with the next set of books. Joshua “bridges” the understanding and flow of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy into the season of rest, ruling and reigning in the Promise Land. Joshua is the bridge from a nomadic people and an enslaved people to a settled people. Joshua is the bridge from the promise being spoken to the promise being taken.
Joshua, is the bridge.
Particularly - the bridge to something new.
Years ago, I traveled to Nepal for a mission trip. There, we were to give out bibles and sell biblical literature to villages and to people groups that had rarely if ever heard the name of Jesus. At the beginning of our trip, we take a bus to the heights of the Himalayas, and stayed the night in a village there at a peak. The next day we were to travel to a nearby village. The way to get there: by a rickety, barely hanging on, Indiana-Jones-type BRIDGE.
I did NOT want to cross that bridge.
But, our sherpas told us, and made it clear - across was the only way. You gotta use the bridge to move forward.
In 2025, I believe that this year is a “bridge year”. This is a year that is a bridge to something new.
As we look at Joshua, here are a few thoughts on bridges:
1. It’s God that Builds the Bridges.
God builds the bridge - not us. He knows the timing to build the bridge (when he moves you from one season to the next). He knows the best location to bring you into the next season as well.
2. Bridges take you into territory you have not gone before.
The thing about a bridge is it connects one mass of land (previously unreachable) to the piece of land you are currently on. It takes you to a plot of land you hadn’t yet set foot on. Just the way God brings Joshua into new territory. So he does with us. “You have not passed this way before,” - Joshua 3:4
3. Joshua’s Bridge Meant He Couldn't Go Back.
The crazy thing about Joshua’s bridge, which was made by God creating dry land through the River Jordan, is that once Joshua, the Priests, the arc of the Covenant, and the millions of Israelites crossed over… God let the river flow again.
The bridge was washed away in the waters of the Jordan.
For Joshua, this mean that what God was calling him into he could never go back on. He could never return to Egypt. Never return to the wilderness. He could never return to old ways and old territory. That option was eliminated for him.
I believe that it’s God’s grace that he eliminates our paths backwards. It is God’s MERCY that doesn’t let us go back to old ways, old patterns and old people. Joshua is a reminder - God brings you, in, up, and forward.
May that be your story this week. Amen.