RUSSELL SANDERS
10-15-2025
THE LIFE OF JOSHUA – LESSON 2
VICTORY AT REPHIDIM

The original name of Joshua was Oshéa (or Hoshea). We see in Numbers 13:16 that Moses changed his name to Je-hosh’ua, now written as Joshua. It means “Yah Saves.” Oshéa (Hoshea) meant “salvation.” The change to Jehoshua meant “God’s Salvation.” It is the same form of name as Yeshua. The letters “J” and “Y” are interchangeable, essentially the same.

Therefore “Joshua” and “Yeshua” are the same name and both names credit salvation as being of God. Oshéa (Joshua) was a direct descendant of Joseph. He was of the tribe of Ephraim who was Joseph’s son. Given the lineage in I Chronicles 7:22-27, Joshua was likely a prince in the tribe of Ephraim.

Moses chose Joshua (Yeshua) to be his righthand man. It was clearly from God’s direction, God’s choice. The first mention of Joshua came probably less than two months after escaping from Egypt. We see in Exodus 17 that the people pitched camp in Rephidim. They had no water and feared dying of thirst. This is where Moses struck a rock as God instructed and water came from it. It was sufficient to satisfy everyone, all two million or more people.

It was just after that miracle that their first opposition arose. While at Rephidim the Amalekites came to fight them. Amalek was a descent of Esau. Moses instructed Joshua in Exodus 17:8-16 to choose men to form an army to war against Amalek. Moses went up a hill to observe the battle. He lifted up his arms holding the rod of God in his hands. It was the same rod he had used in front of Pharaoh. As long as his hands were raised to God, Joshua was winning the battle. When his arms got tired and his hands came down, the battle went against Joshua.

Aaron and Hur were with Moses. They fetched a stone for Moses to sit down on and they held up his hands unto the Lord. Joshua then won the battle over the Amalekites.

To commemorate the victory, Moses built an altar there. He named the altar Jehovah-Nissi which means Jehovah (is my) banner. Nissi means banner, flag, or standard by which we are known.

This victory established Joshua as the “general” of God’s army for the next forty-seven years. He won every military conflict except the first one at Ai due to Achan’s sin. No other Jewish leader had such a record of victories until the time of King David.