After the death of Moses the LORD’s servant, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you— from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.
“Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:1-9
Working my way through a rabbit hole the other day, I came across these verses. I was so struck when I read them again. Maybe because we hear daily about how Israel is in great turmoil. She is surrounded by her enemies on all sides constantly fighting for her people and fighting for her God-given land, Canaan, the Promised Land, that land flowing with milk and honey. The land whose boundaries were prescribed and laid out by the God of all creation. A land whose dimensions were surveyed, marked off, and precisely recorded in the Word of God.
When I look at it on paper: “the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.” it seems so simple. Carve out the portion of land designated by the Lord for His people, you stay on your side, I’ll stay on mine. Rarely in life are things that simple though, maybe because life in this world involves humans, and we tend to make things a bit sticky, but also because, as Paul told the folks at Ephesus: “we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Satan is constantly battling all who are on the Lord’s side. Now we know the victor of the battle, the Lord God prevails, nevertheless, the battle still rages.
The specific patches of land God designates for His people are recorded in Genesis 15:18-21, Deuteronomy 30:1-10 and Joshua 1:4. Folks much smarter than I have shown it in modern day to be what Israel currently possesses, “plus all of the territory occupied by the Palestinians (the West Bank and Gaza), plus some of Egypt and Syria, plus all of Jordan, plus some of Saudi Arabia and Iraq” (Ref. GotQuestions). It really is fascinating. As you can see, Israel does not yet possess the entire territory God promised to them, but you can bet your bottom dollar that one day they will. God always keeps his promises.
So, after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, the next generation of Israelites are ready to enter their Promised Land, the land permanently promised to them by God in what’s called the Abrahamic Covenant. It is a magnificently beautiful promise recorded in Genesis 12:
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
The same promise that God made to the Abram (Abraham) is the same promise He makes to us today through Christ. Jesus said come follow me, leave your parents, love me more than them, love me more than your own life, submit to me, give up everything you own. And in return, I will bless you abundantly, I will give you everything — eternal life, you will never perish, no one will ever snatch you away from Me, I am with you always. Wow!
Ok, back to Joshua. We see in this text that Joshua is Moses’ successor. He is appointed by God to lead the nation of Israel through the Jordan River. The last of the prior generation has died and the new generation is ready to stake its claim to the land God had promised them. You may remember that Joshua along with Caleb had previously been selected, along with 10 other men to check out the land of Canaan in advance. You may also recall that in the scouting report, the other 10 drama kings said that they felt like grasshoppers next to the giants of the land and that it couldn’t be conquered, and thus the folks freaked out and rebelled against the Lord. The Lord became angry, Moses interceded for the people, and the long and the short of it is that out of the folks freed from slavery in Egypt by the Lord (about 600,000), only Joshua and Caleb made it all the way from Egypt to the Promised Land.
Again, the Apostle Paul came to mind. He was a masterful cheerleader. When he wrote his persuasive texts about finishing the race well I wonder if he thought about the Israelites getting ready to cross the Jordan? He was a Jew, he would known these events inside and out. When Paul wrote to encourage Timothy he was nearing the end of his race, but the Israelites were just getting started. Joshua’s charge to the Israelites further in Chapter 1 sounds similar to Paul’s charge to Timothy and to all he encountered, get ready, be prepared, don’t fight naked, put on the whole armor of God, keep going, get across the line, cross the Jordan River. God is with you. Be strong and courageous.
Now, I don’t usually have successive parts, but I don’t want to rush through this part of Joshua. It is rich. So, I’ll carry on next week. In the meantime, do read around some of the scripture references quoted above. Check out Numbers 13 and 14, Luke 15:25-35, 2 Timothy 4.