Joshua: Forward!

Joshua 1

The Ten Signposts of the Bible
CAMDE—400—CALY

Creation. Abraham. MOSES. David. Elijah. 400. Christ. Apostles. Letters. Yet-to Come.

Wherever you are today, God doesn’t want you to stay there. The Christian life was never meant to be stagnant or stuck in one place. The events of yesterday—yes, even the difficult ones—are part of God’s plan to prepare you for today. And he will work today to prepare you for tomorrow. As Robert Morgan states throughout his book, The Jordan River Rules, “The same God who led you out will lead you on.”[1]

We are continuing our study of the Old Testament section of God’s Story in God’s People. Our focus now is on Joshua leading Israel into the promised land. Over the next few days, we will examine this faithful man’s leadership as recorded in Joshua 1-7 — a fascinating part of Israel’s history that teaches us many lessons. 

Time to Move Forward
The book of Joshua begins with God addressing a newly appointed leader. After Moses died, “the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, ‘Moses my servant is dead’” (Josh. 1:1-2a). This was not new information. Joshua and the people of Israel had just finished thirty days of “weeping and mourning for Moses” (Deut. 34:8). God was not giving an update but sharing a vision. 

It was time to move forward. God said, “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. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses” (Josh. 1:2b-3). 

God always keeps his promises. He first made this covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17 and repeated it to Moses in Exodus 3. Now, with the unbelieving generation of Israel having passed after forty years of wandering in the desert, it was time for this generation of Israelites to move forward.

God’s Presence and His Promise
Look again at Joshua 1:2-3. Don’t miss who’s in charge of the promise— “the land I am giving….” The land “I have given to you….” The land that “I promised to Moses….” God will provide the land, but Joshua still must move forward step by step, for “every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you.” 

Along with his promise, God assures his presence: “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” (Josh. 1:5). 

I will not leave you or forsake you. That personal promise is echoed throughout Scripture. God told Jacob in a dream, “I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (Gen. 28:15). David reminded Solomon that God would never leave or forsake him (1 Chron. 28:20). The prophet Isaiah reassured Israel that their God would strengthen them, help them, and always be with them (Isa. 41:10; 43:2). Moses, twice, reminded the people as Joshua was about to take charge that God would never leave them or forsake them (Deut. 31:6, 8). And Jesus’ final words recorded in the Gospel of Matthew are these, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).

The promise of God’s presence encourages and sustains us to keep moving forward, one step at a time. When we are too weak to walk, God will carry us, “as a man carries his son,” as illustrated with the people of Israel (Deut. 1:31). 

Be Strong and Courageous
Joshua especially needed to hear, “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (Josh. 1:5). He had served as Moses’ assistant since he was a boy (Num. 11:28), giving him a front-row seat to see God work powerfully through Moses. But now this great leader was gone. Yet the great God was not! The living God gave Joshua this command and assurance: 

Joshua 1:6-9
Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 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. 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. 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.  

Three times in these four verses, God commanded his new leader to “be strong and courageous.” That strength came from God’s presence, and it also came from God’s Word. Earlier, Moses told the people, “You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong” (Deut. 11:8). 

To move forward and live strongly, we must stay rooted in God’s Word. Scripture reminds us that obedience happens when we “walk in the law of the Lord” (Ps. 119:1). The only way we can stand firm is by “keeping [God’s] statutes” (Ps. 119:5). To keep our path pure, we must guard our hearts “according to [God’s] word” (Ps. 119:9). His word teaches, convicts, corrects, and trains us, “that the man [and woman] of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  

God commissioned Joshua to move Israel forward. The days of wandering aimlessly in the desert were over. It was time to confidently move in a new direction. Joshua told the people to get ready: “for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess” (Josh. 1:11). 

However, there was one strategic issue to address. Moses had previously reached an agreement with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh, allowing them to settle east of the Jordan River (Num. 32:20-22). The promised land was on the west side of the river. It was understood that when the time came, the fighting men from these tribes would join the rest of Israel to conquer it. Joshua reminded them of this arrangement, to which they replied, “Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you, as he was with Moses!” (Josh. 1:17). Then they encouraged Joshua, saying, “Only be strong and courageous” (Josh. 1:18). 

It was time for Joshua to lead God’s people forward. He had God’s presence and his promise. He received this command from God, along with the people's encouragement: “Be strong and courageous.” 

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read and reflect on Joshua 1: Where in your life is God calling you to stop looking back and start moving forward in faith?

Talking to God: Ask God to give you his strength and courage.

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