“Be strong and of a good courage for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.” Joshua 1:6
In the historical book of Joshua, we find Israel, after having spent forty years in the wilderness because of her unbelief and disobedience, again at the point of entering the promised land, or the land where the promises of God will be fulfilled in great measure. That which makes this land of great significance is not the soil, the topography, or even its location. Its great value is that God chose to put His name there, and declare to the world at that time, and to all generations, the He is God, He is holy, and that He is sovereign in all of His ways. God created history, speaking through His servants to the descendants of Jacob, later declared to the be the children of Israel, in order that by His objective, but living word which will not pass away, He would declare that only He can bring about His will on this earth, and no one and nothing can deter or keep Him from doing this. He speaks, and then by His power and authority, accomplishes all that He declares, even over centuries of time. The underlining great truth of God’s dealings with Israel, to form a people for Himself, and then to bring them into the land of promise, was that there, in that place of His choosing, according to His promises, He would bring about the singular most important event of History. No empire nor devil would deter Him from sending forth His own Son to be the full and complete answer, and remedy, to the deadliness of sin. On the cross of Calvary, in that brief moment when the Lamb of God declared, “It is finished,” He accomplished a perfect salvation for sinful men, the certain hope of generations past, and the anticipated expectation of eternal life in Christ, established forever. Christ had overcome every enemy, defying the opposition of sinful men, legions of devils, even Satan himself, to create a singular way for sinful man to be forgiven of his sins, justified and accepted before God, receiving the Life-giving Spirit of God to live eternally.
Joshua and the people of Israel were now near the banks of the Jordan River, that “line” that separated them from the remembrance of slavery in Egypt, and the self-centered waste of wandering in the wilderness. The time had come to cross that river, enter the land, to possess it. To do this, they would need a resolute commitment to go forward, believing wholly obeying fully. What did this aggressive attitude consist of?
The first thing we notice in God’s dealings with Joshua at this point is to bring him face to face with the fact that Moses had died. His influence and dominance of the situation would longer be in place for all to see. There could no more be a reliance upon Moses, even though there could be an imitation of his faith. The present moment offered to Joshua and the people was one where faith’s objective would be God alone. The proof of that true faith would be an unreserved commitment to God to follow Christ, with no reserves, no regrets, and no retreat.
Alignment with Christ and His ways was essential. This is why the Lord would instruct Joshua to meditate in the “Book of the Law” day and night, in order to remember to do according to all that was written in it. Objective truth must always be the basis for true obedience.
Finally, there was the admonition of God, even His commandment, to “Be strong and of a good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God IS with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) It was imperative that Joshua and the people have an offensive attitude, one by which they took action to go forward, but only in dependence upon God. The faithful God of history would give them victory.
Dear Father, Conform us to Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.