Moses renamed Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua. —Numbers 13:16
Until this point in Numbers, Joshua’s name had been Hoshea. That word means salvation— not a bad name to have—but for some reason that we’re not told, Moses changed his assistant’s name to Joshua, which means “The Lord is salvation.” The Greek form of the name Joshua is Jesus, which means “God is my salvation.”
I think this name change is a reminder to Joshua and to the nation of Israel about where their strength comes from—that their strength and salvation is not going to come ultimately from Moses or Joshua or any other human leader.
Instead, the source of their strength and their salvation is Yahweh. And ultimately the life of Joshua, and even his name, points to Jesus, who is the Captain of our salvation. The Lord is salvation, and we’re reminded that Christ is our hope. He is our strength; He is our source of life. We have no hope of making it into the promised rest of God apart from our Joshua, the Lord Jesus.
Make it Personal
How can you remind yourself daily that Christ is your only source of hope and strength?