Josh 1:1-18 · Read 10 min · think and write 15 min
In the last lesson, of that generation, twenty years old and upward, none would come into the land “except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun” (Num 14:30).
Joshua had long been at Moses’ side. After Israel came out of Egypt, Amalek came and fought with them, and “Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought with Amalek” (Exod 17:10). When Moses spoke with the LORD in the Tent, “his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, didn’t depart from the Tent” (Exod 33:11).
When the forty years in the wilderness were nearly over, the LORD said to Moses: “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him” (Num 27:18). Moses “said to him in the sight of all Israel, ‘Be strong and courageous’” (Deut 31:7). Later Moses died in the land of Moab, and “Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him” (Deut 34:9). For these things, see Moses, Lesson 7. This lesson begins after Moses’ death.
1Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying,
2“Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go across this Jordan, you and all these people, to the land which I am giving to them, even to the children of Israel.
3I have given you every place that the sole of your foot will tread on, as I told Moses.
4From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.
5No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you.
6“Be strong and courageous; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
7Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Don’t turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
8This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.
9Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
10Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
11“Pass through the middle of the camp, and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare food; for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess.’”
12Joshua spoke to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, saying,
13“Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, ‘The LORD your God gives you rest, and will give you this land.
14Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall live in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan; but you shall pass over before your brothers armed, all the mighty men of valor, and shall help them
15until the LORD has given your brothers rest, as he has given you, and they have also possessed the land which the LORD your God gives them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and possess it, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.’”
16They answered Joshua, saying, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.
17Just as we listened to Moses in all things, so will we listen to you. Only may the LORD your God be with you, as he was with Moses.
18Whoever rebels against your commandment, and doesn’t listen to your words in all that you command him shall himself be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”
Moses is dead. “Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant” (v. 1). The LORD’s first words were: “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go across this Jordan, you and all these people” (v. 2).
As I was with Moses. Speaking to Joshua, the LORD mentions Moses again and again: “as I told Moses” (v. 3); “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you” (v. 5); “according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you” (v. 7).
Be strong and courageous. Three times the LORD says this to Joshua, and each time more words follow. “Be strong and courageous; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land” (v. 6). “Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Don’t turn from it to the right hand or to the left” (v. 7). “Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (v. 9).
This book of the law. “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success” (v. 8).
Within three days. “Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people” (v. 10): “Prepare food; for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan” (v. 11).
Before your brothers. Joshua said to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh: “Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you” (v. 13); “you shall pass over before your brothers armed, all the mighty men of valor, and shall help them” (v. 14).
Only be strong and courageous. They answered: “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go” (v. 16); “Only may the LORD your God be with you, as he was with Moses” (v. 17). The last words of the chapter are the people’s words to Joshua: “Only be strong and courageous” (v. 18).
On the day they crossed the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua: “Today I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (Josh 3:7). The waters were cut off and all the people crossed over, and the passage says: “On that day, the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life” (Josh 4:14). Later it says: “So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land” (Josh 6:27).
Readers can see this: the promise “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (v. 5) — the passage later records, one by one, how it came true.
Perhaps you, too, have taken something over: the person before you retired, left or died, or handed the load to you — a job, a household, a small group, a ministry.
This lesson does not say that if you are strong and courageous, things will go smoothly. God did not give Joshua a new plan. What he gave him was a promise, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (v. 5), and a book that “shall not depart from your mouth” (v. 8). A psalm says: “but his delight is in the LORD’s law. On his law he meditates day and night” (Ps 1:2).
This week: Each day, at a set time, read Josh 1:5-9 once, and write down the line that stays with you most that day. Then think of someone who has just taken on a load — a new co-worker, a friend who has just become a parent, the person who took over your old job — and say a word of encouragement to them, as the people did to Joshua.
Scripture: World English Bible.