Bird's-eye view
The book of Joshua opens at a crucial transition point in the history of Israel. Moses, the great lawgiver, is dead, and the mantle of leadership now falls to his longtime attendant, Joshua. This first chapter is God's direct commission to this new leader. It is a chapter about the continuity of God's covenant promises despite the change in human leadership. The central theme is God's summons to courageous, Word-saturated obedience as the non-negotiable condition for possessing the inheritance He has sworn to give. God does not just give Joshua a pep talk; He gives him a battle plan, and the central weapon in that plan is the book of the law.
Outline
- 1. The Divine Commission (Josh 1:1-2)
- a. The Occasion: After the Death of Moses (v. 1)
- b. The Command: Arise and Cross (v. 2)
- 2. The Covenant Promise (Josh 1:3-5)
- a. The Grant of Land (vv. 3-4)
- b. The Guarantee of Victory (v. 5a)
- c. The Ground of Confidence: God's Presence (v. 5b)
- 3. The Central Condition (Josh 1:6-9)
- a. The Command to be Courageous (v. 6)
- b. The Nature of Courage: Obedience to the Law (v. 7)
- c. The Means of Obedience: Constant Meditation (v. 8)
- d. The Final Exhortation and Promise (v. 9)
Context In Joshua
Joshua 1 serves as the prologue to the entire book and the conquest of Canaan. It directly follows the final words and death of Moses recorded in Deuteronomy 34. The Lord's speech to Joshua here sets the theological and practical agenda for everything that follows. The promises of land, victory, and divine presence are the foundation upon which the campaigns of Jericho, Ai, and the rest of the land will be built. Likewise, the commands for courage and strict adherence to the law of Moses will be the standard by which Israel's subsequent faithfulness, and unfaithfulness, is measured.
Key Issues
- Covenant Succession
- The Nature of God's Promises
- Word-Centered Leadership
- The Definition of Biblical Courage
- The Formula for True Success
Commentary
Joshua 1:1
Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of Yahweh, that Yahweh spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ attendant, saying, The story of God's people is a relay race, not a series of individual sprints. The baton is passed. Moses is dead, and the text gives him his highest honorific: "the servant of Yahweh." But the death of even the greatest of God's servants does not halt the purposes of God. God's program is not dependent on any one man. Notice also who is being addressed. Joshua is not a newcomer. He is identified as "Moses' attendant." He has been in training for this moment for decades, learning faithfulness in a subordinate role. God prepares the men He intends to use.
Joshua 1:2
“Moses My servant is dead; so now arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. God's assessment is blunt and to the point: "Moses My servant is dead." There is no time for an extended period of mourning or hesitation. The past is settled. The command for the present is immediate and active: "so now arise." This is a summons to leave the place of waiting and to engage the task at hand. The task is to cross the Jordan. This is not a suggestion. And notice the nature of the land. It is a place "which I am giving to them." The land is a gift, an act of sheer grace based on God's covenant promise. But it is a gift that must be taken, possessed. Divine sovereignty ("I am giving") does not negate human responsibility ("arise, cross"). They must act in faith on the basis of the gift.
Joshua 1:3-4
Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. Here we see the principle of applied dominion. The promise is vast, but it is realized incrementally, step by step. "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads." The deed to the property is already signed by God, but they must walk the property lines. Faith has to have feet. This is not a "spiritual" promise in the ethereal sense; God gives them real estate with defined geographical boundaries. This promise was made to Moses, and God is a covenant-keeping God. The scope of the land described here is immense, and Israel in her history never fully possessed it all, which points to her disobedience, and ultimately points forward to the greater Joshua, Jesus, who will inherit all the nations.
Joshua 1:5
No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. The promise of military victory is absolute. But the reason for this invincibility is not Joshua's tactical skill or Israel's military might. The reason is the promised presence of God. "No man will be able to stand before you" is the result. "Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you" is the cause. This is the heart of covenantal succession. The same God who was with Moses is now with Joshua. The foundation for all that follows is this great promise, the bedrock of Christian confidence in every generation: "I will not fail you or forsake you."
Joshua 1:6
Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. The command to be strong and courageous is not an appeal to Joshua's inner reservoir of grit. Biblical courage is not a feeling you muster up; it is a logical deduction from the promises of God. He is to be strong because God has already determined the outcome. "For you shall cause this people to inherit the land." The victory is not in doubt. It is a settled matter, based on the sworn oath of God to the patriarchs. Joshua's job is not to make victory possible, but to lead the people into the victory that God has already secured by His promise.
Joshua 1:7
Only be strong and very courageous to be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn aside from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be prosperous wherever you go. Here, the nature of this strength and courage is defined. It is not primarily physical bravery in the face of Canaanite armies. It is moral courage. It is the courage to obey. The word "Only" makes this the central, pivotal condition. The real battle for Joshua will not be on the plains of Jericho, but in his own heart's willingness to adhere to "all the law." The great temptation in leadership is to compromise, to trim, to turn aside "to the right or to the left" for the sake of pragmatism or popular opinion. But true success, true prosperity, is tied directly and inextricably to fidelity to the Word of God.
Joshua 1:8
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 successful, and then you will be prosperous. This is the practical methodology for the courage of obedience. The Word must be central. First, it must not depart from his mouth, meaning he must be speaking it constantly, declaring it, teaching it, confessing it. Second, he must meditate on it day and night. This is not some form of Eastern mysticism where you empty your mind. This is the active, rigorous work of filling your mind with the text, chewing on it, grappling with its meaning, and applying its precepts to every situation. The purpose of all this talking and thinking is doing: "so that you may be careful to do." And the result is stated again. Obedience to the Word of God is the only biblical formula for success. "Then you will make your way successful." God defines what success is, and He defines the path to get there.
Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be in dread or be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go. God concludes His charge with a powerful rhetorical question and a final exhortation. "Have I not commanded you?" The authority for Joshua's courage rests in the commander. God does not give impossible commands. The command itself implies the grace to carry it out. He repeats the central exhortation: "Be strong and courageous!" And He defines the alternative, which is forbidden: "Do not be in dread or be dismayed." Fear is a sin when God has promised His presence. And that is the final, foundational reason for all courage. "For Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go." The task is immense, the enemies are formidable, but the presence of the covenant God is the all-sufficient reality that cancels out every legitimate fear.
Application
The charge to Joshua is the charge to every Christian. We live after the death of the apostles, but the work of the Great Commission continues. God still calls His people to "arise" and take possession of the promises He has given to us in Christ. Our inheritance is not a parcel of land in the Middle East, but the entire world, which has been given to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our victory is therefore not won with carnal weapons, but with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The central lesson from this passage is that all true Christian success, whether in our homes, our churches, or our culture, is dependent on a rugged, courageous, and careful obedience to the Scriptures. We are not to be innovators, trimming the law to fit the times. We are to be faithful men and women who speak the Word, meditate on the Word, and do the Word.
And when we are tempted to fear, to be in dread of the opposition or dismayed by the size of the task, we must return to the same promise that fortified Joshua. Our God has not promised us an easy path, but He has promised us His unending presence. "I will not fail you or forsake you." Because He is with us, we have every reason to be strong and very courageous.