Beginning this New Year with a study on Joshua will help solidify the promises for us, I believe, we looked at in 2017. Joshua is a book of courage. It is a book of obedience. It is a book of overcoming and conquerors. It is a book that can give us strength, hope, and courage.
So, to begin chapter 1, the Lord speaks to Joshua. Moses has died and a new leader has to be appointed to lead the children of Israel into the promised Land. Joshua had been Moses' assistant, or one could say apprentice. The Lord begins by giving Joshua the directive: Go over the Jordan and possess the land which the Lord has given to their fathers. The Lord goes on to tell Joshua that every place the sole of his foot will walk, the Lord has given him. God's plan didn't change just because the leader of the people died. Joshua had been placed in a position to learn from the leader. He had been groomed to take the position after Moses died. We also have to remember that Joshua was one of the 12 spies that Moses sent into the promised land to see what the people and the land were like. Joshua had been there and knew what the land held. Joshua knew how plentiful the vegetation was. He knew the beauty of the land. He also knew the inhabitants were taller, stronger, and outnumbered the children of Israel. But Joshua had maintained that if they found the favor of the Lord, the children of Israel would be victorious.
We don't always have the advantage of knowing how beautiful, how perfect, or how plentiful the place God is taking us to is. We sometimes allow our fear to overcome our faith in circumstances of the unknown. The fear of the unknown can cripple our advancement and cause us to stay where we are because we want to stay with what we know. Don't you sometimes wish the Lord would show us before we move into a situation what the reward is? What the land He is sending us into looks like (so to speak)? God knew that Joshua could experience fear. He said numerous times (3, I believe) in just the first 10 verses of Chapter 1 to "be strong and of good courage, do not be afraid, nor be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (v. 9). Verses 6 and 7 say something very similar. The Lord stressed to Joshua that He would be with him as Joshua led the people into the land for possession. Even in verse 18, Joshua got this same encouragement from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. (We will look at those three tribes and what happened with them a little closer tomorrow).
Back to verse 3 God said "as I said to Moses" to let Joshua know that just because Moses was no longer with them, His plan for them had not changed. His promise was still His promise and He would see it fulfilled...after the people got ready. In Verse 11, Joshua commanded the officers of the people to walk through camp and tell the people to "prepare provisions for themselves" because in three days they were going into the land that was promised to possess it. The people had to prepare before they could go into the hostile land.
So, are you prepared for what God is going to do? You see, God had already promised and given the land to His chosen people BUT they still had to go in and possess what they had been given. Are you ready to possess that which God has already given to you? So, let's begin our study with being strong and of good courage as we prepare to take possession of what God has promised.
Join us for the discussion over this post and Chapter 1 on Facebook.
So, to begin chapter 1, the Lord speaks to Joshua. Moses has died and a new leader has to be appointed to lead the children of Israel into the promised Land. Joshua had been Moses' assistant, or one could say apprentice. The Lord begins by giving Joshua the directive: Go over the Jordan and possess the land which the Lord has given to their fathers. The Lord goes on to tell Joshua that every place the sole of his foot will walk, the Lord has given him. God's plan didn't change just because the leader of the people died. Joshua had been placed in a position to learn from the leader. He had been groomed to take the position after Moses died. We also have to remember that Joshua was one of the 12 spies that Moses sent into the promised land to see what the people and the land were like. Joshua had been there and knew what the land held. Joshua knew how plentiful the vegetation was. He knew the beauty of the land. He also knew the inhabitants were taller, stronger, and outnumbered the children of Israel. But Joshua had maintained that if they found the favor of the Lord, the children of Israel would be victorious.
We don't always have the advantage of knowing how beautiful, how perfect, or how plentiful the place God is taking us to is. We sometimes allow our fear to overcome our faith in circumstances of the unknown. The fear of the unknown can cripple our advancement and cause us to stay where we are because we want to stay with what we know. Don't you sometimes wish the Lord would show us before we move into a situation what the reward is? What the land He is sending us into looks like (so to speak)? God knew that Joshua could experience fear. He said numerous times (3, I believe) in just the first 10 verses of Chapter 1 to "be strong and of good courage, do not be afraid, nor be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (v. 9). Verses 6 and 7 say something very similar. The Lord stressed to Joshua that He would be with him as Joshua led the people into the land for possession. Even in verse 18, Joshua got this same encouragement from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. (We will look at those three tribes and what happened with them a little closer tomorrow).
Back to verse 3 God said "as I said to Moses" to let Joshua know that just because Moses was no longer with them, His plan for them had not changed. His promise was still His promise and He would see it fulfilled...after the people got ready. In Verse 11, Joshua commanded the officers of the people to walk through camp and tell the people to "prepare provisions for themselves" because in three days they were going into the land that was promised to possess it. The people had to prepare before they could go into the hostile land.
So, are you prepared for what God is going to do? You see, God had already promised and given the land to His chosen people BUT they still had to go in and possess what they had been given. Are you ready to possess that which God has already given to you? So, let's begin our study with being strong and of good courage as we prepare to take possession of what God has promised.
Join us for the discussion over this post and Chapter 1 on Facebook.
