The Unfailing Vanguard: A Charge to the Lord's People Text: Deuteronomy 31:7-8
Introduction: The Perennial Problem of Changing Guards
Every generation of God's people stands on the banks of some Jordan. Behind them is a history of God's mighty acts, a legacy of deliverance and provision. Before them lies an inheritance sworn by God, a land of promise that is crawling with giants. And often, at this very juncture, the human leadership changes. The old guard, the familiar voice, the man who saw the burning bush, is taken away. And a new man, a Joshua, is called to step into impossibly large sandals.
This is a moment of high anxiety. It is a moment when the temptation to fear is at its peak. The people are prone to look at the departing leader and despair, or at the new leader and doubt, or at the giants in the land and tremble. They are prone to look everywhere except where they must. Our text this morning is God's timeless answer to this perennial problem. It is the divine charge given at every transition point in the history of redemption. It was true for Joshua, it was true for the apostles, and it is true for us.
Moses is 120 years old. His natural strength has not abated, but his commission is complete. God has told him he will not cross the Jordan. So, in the sight of all Israel, he performs one of his final and most crucial acts. He publicly commissions Joshua. This is not a quiet, backroom handover. It is a public, covenantal ceremony. The stability of the people of God does not rest on secret knowledge or charismatic personalities, but on public faithfulness to the covenant, from one generation to the next. What Moses says to Joshua here is not just for Joshua. It is for "the sight of all Israel," because the foundation of their courage is the same as his. The promises that make a leader strong are the same promises that must make the people strong.
We live in an age that despises authority and distrusts promises. We are told to find our strength within, to be the hero of our own story. This passage is a direct assault on that entire way of thinking. The strength required for the mission is not found within; it is commanded from without. And the courage to obey is not based on self-confidence; it is based on the immutable character of the God who goes before you. Let us attend, then, to this ancient charge, for it is our charge as well.
The Text
Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. And Yahweh is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
(Deuteronomy 31:7-8 LSB)
The Public Commission (v. 7)
We begin with the charge itself, delivered in the open for all to hear.
"Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, 'Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance.'" (Deuteronomy 31:7)
The first thing to notice is the public nature of this transfer of authority. "In the sight of all Israel." This is essential for covenant order. God does not deal with His people through a series of disconnected individuals having private experiences. He establishes a covenant community with a visible structure and leadership. When leadership changes, it must be done openly, so that all the people know who is responsible to lead and whom they are responsible to follow. This public charge is a guard against factionalism, confusion, and rogue operators.
The core command is "Be strong and courageous." This is not a suggestion or a word of gentle encouragement. It is an imperative. Strength and courage are not presented here as personality traits that Joshua may or may not possess. They are duties. They are virtues to be put on, like armor. And this command is always grounded in a promise. The strength is not self-generated. It is a response to the revealed reality of God's purpose. The "for" that follows is the reason for the command. The logic is not "try to be brave," but rather, "because of what God is and has promised, you have no logical alternative but to be brave."
And what is the ground of this courage? It is twofold. First, "you shall go with this people into the land." Notice the federal language. Joshua is not going for them, in the sense that they can all stay behind. But he is going as their head, their representative. His courage will be their courage. His advance will be their advance. This is the nature of federal headship. The leader represents the people, and his actions have consequences for the whole body. What Adam did, we all did. What Christ did, all who are in Him did. What Joshua does here, Israel does.
Second, the task is to take possession of "the land which Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give them." Joshua is not being asked to undertake a speculative venture. He is not a pioneer blazing a new trail based on a hunch. He is an executor of a divine will. He is stepping into a promise that is centuries old, a promise God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The outcome is not in doubt. God has sworn an oath. The title deed to the land is already signed in heaven. Joshua's job is not to earn it, but to take it. He is to "give it to them as an inheritance." An inheritance is not something you achieve by your own merit; it is something you receive because of your relationship to the one who gives it. Israel's claim to the land is based entirely on God's gracious, covenantal promise.
The Divine Vanguard (v. 8)
Verse 8 provides the ultimate foundation for the command. The focus shifts from Joshua's responsibility to God's absolute reliability.
"And Yahweh is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." (Deuteronomy 31:8 LSB)
Here we have a cascade of glorious assurances. First, "Yahweh is the one who goes ahead of you." The commander-in-chief is not Joshua. The true leader of Israel, the vanguard, is Yahweh Himself. He is not sending them into battle while He observes from a safe distance. He is on point. He goes before them to clear the way, to fight the battles, to destroy the enemy. This is the consistent testimony of Deuteronomy. God fought for them against the Egyptians. God fought for them against Sihon and Og. And God will fight for them against the Canaanites. Their job is to follow their triumphant God into the victory He has already secured. This is the essence of the Christian life. We do not fight for victory; we fight from victory. Christ has already gone before us, conquered sin, death, and the devil, and we simply follow Him in, taking possession of the inheritance He won.
Second, "He will be with you." Not only does He go ahead, but He is also present with them in the midst of the conflict. This is the promise of Immanuel, God with us. His presence is their sanctification, their strength, and their terror to the enemy. The presence of God is the defining reality of the people of God. The ultimate threat of the covenant curse is for God to withdraw His presence. The ultimate blessing of the covenant is for God to dwell in their midst. This promise is fulfilled supremely in the incarnation of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Third, "He will not fail you or forsake you." The Hebrew here is emphatic. He will not let you drop. He will not abandon you. Human leaders, even the best of them like Moses, will die. Human strength will falter. But God's commitment is absolute and eternal. His grip is firm. His loyalty is unwavering. This is the bedrock of covenant faithfulness. Because God is faithful, we can be faithful. Because He will not forsake us, we must not fear.
And so, the verse concludes by returning to the command, now framed as the only logical conclusion. "Do not fear or be dismayed." Fear is the natural human response to giants, fortified cities, and the death of a great leader. But faith is the logical response to the presence and promises of an unconquerable God. Fear, in this context, is not just an emotion; it is a theological error. It is a failure to believe what God has said about Himself. To be dismayed is to be shattered, to lose your nerve. God commands us not to be shattered because the ground on which we stand, His faithfulness, cannot be shattered.
Our Joshua and Our Inheritance
This passage is not simply a historical account of a leadership transition. It is a foundational paradigm for the entire work of redemption. The name Joshua, Yehoshua in Hebrew, is the very same name as Jesus. Joshua is a type of Christ. He is the captain who leads God's people into their inheritance.
But the inheritance Joshua led them into was a temporary, physical land. It was a type and a shadow of a greater inheritance. That land could be defiled by sin. It could be lost through disobedience. The rest it provided was incomplete. The book of Hebrews makes it clear that if Joshua had given them the ultimate rest, God would not have later spoken of another day (Hebrews 4:8).
Our Joshua, the Lord Jesus Christ, has gone before us. He has crossed the ultimate Jordan, the river of death, and has come out victorious on the other side. He has conquered not just Canaanite tribes, but the principalities and powers of darkness. He has secured for us an inheritance that is, as Peter says, "imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4).
Therefore, the charge given to the ancient Joshua is given to the Church, the Israel of God, in every generation. We are commissioned under the Great Commission of our Lord Joshua to go and make disciples of all nations. The land we are to possess is the entire earth. "Ask of Me," the Father says to the Son, "and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession" (Psalm 2:8). This is the sworn oath of God that we are called to execute.
The task seems impossible. We are few, and the giants of secularism, paganism, and Islam are many. Their cities are fortified with political power, cultural influence, and intellectual pride. And our human leaders, like Moses, are mortal. They serve for a time and then they are gone. What are we to do?
We are to obey this text. We are to be strong and courageous. Why? Because our Lord Joshua, Jesus, goes ahead of us. He is with us, always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20). He will not fail us or forsake us. Therefore, we must not fear or be dismayed. Fear is atheism in practice. Courage is applied theology. Our task is not to generate a victory out of our own resources, but to walk in the victory that Christ has already won. We are not building a kingdom for Him; we are inheriting the kingdom He is building. And He will not fail. His purposes will not be thwarted. The charge to Joshua is the fuel of our postmillennial confidence. He goes before us, and He will not stop until every enemy is under His feet and the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.