Joshua prepares to lead

We move past the end of Deuteronomy and the death of Moses and into Joshua.  God speaks to Joshua and gives him the same charge that Moses did in Deuteronomy 31:6-8.  Many of God’s words here are identical to the text in Deuteronomy (Moses was speaking for the Lord, after all), and God repeats that He will be with him, will not leave or forsake him.  Three times Joshua is told to be strong and courageous – but he is also told to meditate on, and not to turn aside from, all of the law that the Lord commanded Moses.  One can surmise from this that there are going to be times during the taking of the land that it would be easy for Joshua as a leader to become frightened, dismayed, or both.

Indeed, the people he is charged with performing this task will face large numbers of opposing forces and there will be blood shed.  But the Lord said in verse 5 “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life.”  With that, Joshua takes charge, and has his officers prepare to pass over the Jordan river in three days (verse 11).  he then reminds the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh of their responsibility.  They acknowledge and pledge their allegiance (verses 16-18).

God repeats Himself as He does in the opening verses of Joshua in other places in the Bible, which is a good clue that what He is saying to us has great importance.  He reinforces His covenant now with Joshua, and promises that as long as he keeps God’s commandments, he will be successful in achieving the goal.  Our charge to keep the Lord’s commandments come from the lips of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and from His apostles repeatedly (John 14:23-24, 1 John 5:3-5,). His promise to us is that if we do so, we will make our home with Him in the end.

As we will see again soon in this very book, God always keeps His promises.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Robert

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some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

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