Joshua

The book of Joshua.

1. God Commissions Joshua

Joshua 1:1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant,

2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.

3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.

4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory.

5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.

7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

God commands Joshua to be ‘strong and courageous’ three times. Interestingly, he does not just command him to be strong and courageous for the military maneuver that he’s about to undertake, but also to be strong and courageous in obeying God’s law.

We should take that into account as we seek to obey God. Not only must we be strong and courageous when we encounter conflicts in life, we must be strong in pursuing obedience to God the entire time.

There is a reason that Jesus was named after the Joshua of the Old Testament. Jesus is our general in a spiritual war. Through love and sacrifice, rather than the sword, he leads us across the river into the kingdom that God has prepared for us. He conquers sin and death. And he perfectly followed God’s commands in a way that none of us could ever hope to. That’s why we can still have hope in being blessed by God, because Christ shares his treasures with those of us who don’t deserve it.

God has gifts prepared for everyone who believes in him. For Joshua and the Israelites at that time, it was that specific land to be taken through conquest. For us today it might be some other kind of conquest. It may be good works that God has prepared for us. (Eph 2:10) It may be a business, a home, or a family. All of those things are ways of gaining ground. Men need to figure out what their calling is from God and be strong and courageous pursuing after it, even if it means going up against angry foes.

Key Take Aways

We should seriously seek God’s blessings today.

Sin has consequences for a whole nation.

Jesus is our commander and we follow his lead in conquering through sacrifice.

Discussion Questions

Should Christians participate in war in the same way that Joshua and the Israelites did, or do Christians only have a spiritual war?

What does it look like for Christians to meditate on the law of God day and night?