Bird's-eye view
Joshua 4:14 is a divine exclamation point on the miracle of the Jordan crossing. This single verse serves as the official, public attestation of Joshua’s authority as the successor to Moses. God had promised to begin magnifying Joshua in the sight of the people (Josh 3:7), and here we see the fulfillment of that promise. The event is not simply about getting the Israelites from point A to point B; it is a profound theological and political moment. God is demonstrating that the same divine power that was with Moses is now with Joshua. The result is a healthy, covenantal fear in the people, a reverential awe that secures Joshua’s leadership for the remainder of his life. This verse is the linchpin that connects the authority of Moses to the authority of Joshua, ensuring a seamless transition of leadership as Israel stands on the precipice of war. It is God’s public endorsement, establishing Joshua not as a self-appointed general, but as a divinely commissioned commander.
In the broader sweep of redemption, this moment is richly typological. Joshua, whose name is the Hebrew form of Jesus, is leading God’s people into their inheritance. Just as God magnified Joshua through the parting of the waters, so God the Father magnified Jesus through His victory over the waters of death in His resurrection. The fear the Israelites had for Joshua was a shadow of the reverential awe that all creation will one day have for the Lord Jesus, the greater Joshua, who leads His people into the ultimate promised land.
Outline
- 1. God's Public Endorsement of His Chosen Leader (Josh 4:14)
- a. The Action: Yahweh Magnifies Joshua (Josh 4:14a)
- b. The Audience: In the Sight of All Israel (Josh 4:14b)
- c. The Reaction: A Godly Fear (Josh 4:14c)
- d. The Comparison: The Standard of Moses (Josh 4:14d)
- e. The Duration: All the Days of His Life (Josh 4:14e)
Context In Joshua
This verse comes at the climax of the Jordan River crossing narrative, which spans chapters 3 and 4. After forty years of wandering, the generation that perished in the wilderness is gone, and a new generation stands ready to enter Canaan. The final obstacle is the Jordan River, which is at flood stage. The miraculous parting of the waters serves two primary purposes. First, it is a sign to the Canaanites of Yahweh’s power, striking fear into their hearts (Josh 2:9-11, 5:1). Second, and more immediately, it is a sign to Israel. God uses this national spectacle to publicly and undeniably install Joshua as Moses’ successor. The memorial of twelve stones is set up to commemorate the event for future generations (Josh 4:1-9), and immediately following that, our text provides the divine summary of the event’s significance for Joshua’s leadership. This verse solidifies Joshua's authority just before he is to lead the people in the conquest of Jericho and the rest of the land. The entire event is a replay of the Red Sea crossing, deliberately designed by God to show that the same God is leading the same people through a new, but equally qualified, leader.
Key Issues
- The Nature of Divine Magnification
- The Transition of Covenantal Leadership
- The Meaning of "Fear" in Relation to a Human Leader
- The Parallels between the Red Sea and Jordan Crossings
- Joshua as a Type of Christ
God's Ordained Authority
In our democratic and egalitarian age, we are often suspicious of authority. We like our leaders to be just like us, one of the guys. But that is not the biblical pattern. God sets apart leaders for His people, and He clothes them with a genuine authority that is to be respected. This authority does not originate in the leader himself, in his charisma, or his resume. It comes from God. Here, God does not just appoint Joshua privately; He "magnifies" him publicly. He makes him great in the eyes of the people. Why? Because the task ahead, the conquest of Canaan, required a unified nation under a single, decisive commander. There could be no room for committees, second-guessing, or factionalism. God knew that for Israel to succeed, they needed to have an unquestioning confidence in their leader.
This magnification was achieved through a mighty act of God. Joshua did not magnify himself. He simply obeyed God, and God used his obedience as the platform on which to display His own power. This is a crucial lesson for all leadership in the church. True spiritual authority is not something we can manufacture. It is a gift from God that is demonstrated when a man faithfully obeys God's Word, and God is pleased to bless that obedience in a visible way. When God makes a man great, the people's response is not to adulate the man, but to fear God who is at work through the man. The fear they had for Joshua was derivative; it was a reflection of the fear they had for Yahweh.
Verse by Verse Commentary
14 On that day, Yahweh magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel, so that they feared him, just as they had feared Moses all the days of his life.
On that day, Yahweh magnified Joshua... The timing is crucial. It was "on that day," the very day of the miraculous river crossing. God does not waste time in establishing His chosen instruments. The word for "magnified" means to make great, to lift up, to exalt. This is God's doing. Joshua did not run a campaign for Moses' office. He did not form a transition team. He was Moses' servant, and he waited for God's timing. God is the one who establishes kings and leaders. His endorsement is the only one that ultimately matters. When God decides to lift a man up, no one can bring him down. This is an act of divine sovereignty in the political life of Israel. God was arranging His people for war, and the first order of business was to settle the question of command.
...in the sight of all Israel,... This was not a private anointing or a quiet word of encouragement. It was a public spectacle. The entire nation witnessed the Jordan part at Joshua's command, just as their fathers had seen the Red Sea part at Moses' command. God wanted no ambiguity. He wanted every man, woman, and child to see with their own eyes that Joshua was His man. Public leadership requires public confirmation. The people needed to see God's hand upon him so they would follow him into battle without hesitation. This is a rebuke to any form of "secret" or unaccountable leadership. God's work is done in the light.
...so that they feared him,... This is the intended result. The magnification led to fear. Now, we must be careful here. This is not the cowering fear one has for a tyrant. This is reverential awe. The Hebrew word is yare, which carries the idea of profound respect and reverence that recognizes a divinely delegated authority. They saw that God was with Joshua, and therefore to trifle with Joshua was to trifle with God. This is the kind of fear that produces obedience and order. It is the opposite of the slavish fear that breeds resentment. A healthy fear of God-ordained authority is the backbone of any stable society, whether it be a nation, a church, or a family. Without it, you have chaos.
...just as they had feared Moses... This is the benchmark. The standard for Joshua's authority is the authority of Moses, which was unparalleled. Moses spoke with God face to face. He was the mediator of the old covenant. By putting Joshua on the same level of authority in the minds of the people, God was ensuring a seamless transfer of power. He was saying, "The leadership has changed, but the Leader has not. The same God who worked through Moses is now working through Joshua." This comparison would have been immensely comforting and stabilizing for the people. They were not following a new startup; they were continuing the same divine project under new management.
...all the days of his life. This was not a temporary boost of morale. God established Joshua's authority for the long haul. This divine endorsement at the Jordan would be the foundation of his leadership throughout the entire conquest and the subsequent allotment of the land. From this day forward, his right to lead was settled. This speaks to the durability of God-given authority. When God truly establishes a man, He sustains him. This does not mean the man will be perfect, as Joshua was not. But it does mean that his fundamental legitimacy as a leader is secure for the duration of his commission.
Application
This verse is pregnant with application for the church today. First, it teaches us where true leadership comes from. It does not come from seminary degrees, popular acclaim, or corporate savvy. It comes from God. God is the one who magnifies His servants, and He often does it through tests and trials, like crossing a river at flood stage. We should look for leaders who have been visibly blessed and used by God, men whose obedience has been honored by the manifest presence of God's power.
Second, it teaches us the proper response to God-ordained leadership. That response is a healthy, respectful "fear." We are to recognize the authority that Christ has invested in the elders and leaders of His church. This does not mean blind obedience, but it does mean a default posture of respect and submission, for our own good. To despise the authority of a faithful pastor is to despise the authority of the Christ who sent him.
Finally, we must see the ultimate fulfillment of this verse in the Lord Jesus Christ. Joshua is but a type. On the day of His resurrection, God the Father magnified His Son, Jesus, in the sight of all creation. He exalted Him far above all rule and authority. And the proper response to this exalted King is fear. "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way" (Psalm 2:12). Just as the Israelites feared Joshua because God was with him, so we are to fear the Lord Jesus. But for those who are in Him, this fear is not the terror of a slave before a master, but the loving, reverential awe of a child before a mighty and glorious Father. Joshua led Israel into a temporary, earthly rest. Our Joshua, Jesus, has conquered death itself and leads us into an eternal inheritance, the true promised land.