What Joshua Teaches Us About True Freedom

Even when the Isrealites had their freedom, what did they long for? The days of old in Egypt, even though those were miserable… God had to work that slave mentality out of His people.

Have you ever noticed how we can sometimes long for the very things that once held us captive? This paradox plays out dramatically in Israel’s journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. Even after God miraculously delivered them from Pharaoh’s brutal enslavement, the Israelites repeatedly expressed a desire to return to Egypt, back to the very oppression they had cried out to be rescued from.

The Slave Mentality Problem

When we open the book of Joshua, we find Israel at a pivotal moment. Moses has died, and the people stand at the edge of the Jordan River. They can see the Promised Land, the fulfillment of God’s centuries-old covenant, yet they still carried traces of Egypt in their hearts.

This “slave mentality” manifests in several recognizable ways:

1. Faulty Memory – Idealizing past bondage while forgetting its true pain (Numbers 11:5)
2. Fear of Responsibility – Preferring to be told what to do rather than making godly choices
3. Scarcity Thinking – Believing resources are limited and must be hoarded
4. Difficulty Trusting – Questioning God’s provision and goodness at each obstacle
5. Identity Confusion – Seeing oneself as a slave rather than an heir

Sound familiar? Many Christians today struggle with the same mindset. Though we’ve been delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, we often think, feel, and act as if we’re still enslaved to sin.

God’s Solution: The Wilderness Experience

For Israel, God prescribed 40 years in the wilderness. This wasn’t punishment alone, it was rehabilitation. The wilderness was God’s intensive reprogramming environment where He could teach them to:

• Trust Him for daily bread (manna)
• Follow His guidance (the pillar of cloud and fire)
• Live by His laws (the giving of the Law at Sinai)
• Rest in His presence (the tabernacle)

In the wilderness, God was working to transform their identity from slaves to sons and daughters. This is why Deuteronomy 8:2 says, “And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.”

Crossing Your Jordan

The book of Joshua begins with a command to cross over the Jordan River. This physical crossing represented a profound mental and spiritual transition as well, from wandering to settling, from promise to possession, from slavery mentality to kingdom mentality.

What’s your Jordan? What’s the line God is asking you to cross to fully embrace your identity in Christ? For many of us, it’s:

• Letting go of old coping mechanisms that once protected us but now limit us
• Abandoning false identities built on performance, people-pleasing, or past wounds
• Stepping into new responsibilities that require faith and courage
• Claiming territory in areas where we’ve allowed the enemy to maintain strongholds

From Slaves to Land Managers

Joshua doesn’t just record Israel’s military victories, half the book details how they divided and managed the land. This administrative detail matters because it shows the complete transformation: former slaves now had to think like owners, stewards, and cultivators.

In Christ, we’re no longer slaves to sin but managers of God’s grace (1 Peter 4:10). We’re called to:

• Manage our minds by taking thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5)
• Manage our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
• Manage our time making the most of every opportunity (Ephesians 5:15-16)
• Manage our relationships with love, forgiveness, and boundaries
• Manage our resources with generosity and wisdom

Breaking the Chains in Your Mind

How do we practically move from slave thinking to son/daughter thinking? Joshua 1:6-9 gives us the formula through its threefold command to “be strong and courageous”:

1. Meditate on God’s Word day and night – Reprogram your mind with truth
2. Be careful to do according to all that is written in it – Act on that truth daily
3. Remember God’s presence – “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go”

This isn’t a one-time event but a daily practice of demolishing strongholds and claiming new territory in our hearts and minds.

The Ultimate Freedom

Joshua 11:23 tells us “the land had rest from war.” This physical rest foreshadowed the spiritual rest available in Christ. Hebrews 4:8-9 makes this connection explicit: “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.”

The ultimate freedom isn’t just about breaking chains, it’s about entering God’s rest. It’s not just escaping slavery but embracing sonship. It’s not just leaving Egypt but possessing your promised inheritance in Christ.

This is what Jesus meant when He said, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). This isn’t theoretical freedom, but practical, lived-out liberty that transforms how we think, feel, and live.

Are you still thinking like a slave when God has made you an heir? Are you wandering in a wilderness of your own making when the Promised Land lies before you? The command to Joshua echoes to us today: “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan.”

Your past does not define your future.

Your history is not your destiny.

The same God who led Israel into their inheritance stands ready to lead you into yours.