Joshua Chapter 1- Be Strong and Courageous

Follow the Leader

Have you ever felt like you were living in someone else’s shadow, or been overwhelmed by the pressure of filling a role that some “great” person filled before you

Enter Joshua- successor to Moses

Numbers 27:12–20 ESV

The Lord said to Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given to the people of Israel. When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled, failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey.

Joshua a man in whom is the “Spirit”- (ru-oh) the spirit or animating force of a person- the spirit of the God of Isreal that is associated with his power

Even still Joshua was only given “some” of Moses’ authority

Who was Moses?

Deuteronomy 34:9–12 ESV

And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

“There has not arisen a prophet since…like Moses”

Talk about big shoes to fill

“Be Strong and Courageous”

Read Joshua chapter 1

Seems like a logical pep talk- seems likely that Joshua following in the shoes of Moses would have some fear, apprehension, uncertainty etc.

So the command to be strong and courageous seems logical- but what is courage and where does it come from?

What is Courage?

the ability to do something that frightens one.

mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty

strength in the face of pain or grief.

We use it in sentences like

"she called on all her courage to face the ordeal"

"he fought his illness with great courage"

What is courage? It’s not fearlessness but it is taking action in-spite of the fear we feel.

Where does courage come from?

It’s External

Is it something that we must up from deep down inside of us, are we just born with it, some have it and some don’t or is there some other factors or source of courage that exist outside of ourselves?

Simon Sinek- a leadership guru shares some insight into where he thinks courage comes from. As far as I can tell Simon, is speaking strictly from a secular point of view that is to say, his teachings are linked to Biblical truths, but listen carefully as he explains where he thinks courage comes from and then we are going to overlay that onto what God says to Joshua

Watch the video, then read Joshua 1:1-6

Joshua 1:1–6 ESV

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.

This is not the Bible catching up to what science or the world has found to be true, this is science and the world proving that what the Bible has always been true

How many times in 6 verses does the I or I am or I will appear- by my count in the NIV- 7

What or Who is the external source of Joshua’s courage? It’s God. Why can Joshua lead the people of Isreal courageously into the Promised Land because “I” the God of Isreal has their backs

So Joshua can courageously step in as the leader of the Israelites and courageously lead them into the promised land, not because he has no fear, not because he is able to muster something up inside of himself, not because he was born with an extra measure of courage but because there is a source external to him, someone He can trust to have his and the peoples back- God

This external source of courage, this trust in God impacted Joshua’s ability to encourage other, to lead the whole people group

Joshua 1:16–18 ESV

And they answered Joshua, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses! Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”

This sort of courage plays out it Joshua’s call to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh- all people groups that were given land on the east side of the Jordan

“Only may the Lord your God be with you...” The people trusted Joshua, had Joshua’s back because they knew or as long as Joshua trusted God or God had Joshua’s back.

It results from a “Great Fear”

RC Sproul Jr. says this- that courage is not fearlessness- in fact you cannot have courage without fear- fear must precede courage

Courage comes from an external source, and courage comes, not from an absence of fear, but from a deeper fear

For many of us our courageous acts are driven not by lack of fear but by a deeper fear of failure, embarrassment, etc

RC Sproul Jr. would suggest that another source of our courage would be a deeper fear of the Lord

Read Joshua 1:7-9

Joshua 1:7–9 ESV

Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 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 prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

In essence- fear the Lord- follow his commands

It’s not the law that will bring you success, it’s the following- following the once who gave the law

So when you face a moment where you are about to be overcome by fear- what did God say? Are you going to do it? Who do you fear more? The world or God?

Again this sort of courage plays out it Joshua’s call to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh- all people groups that were given land on the east side of the Jordan

Joshua 1:13–15 ESV

“Remember the word that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.’ Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them, until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they also take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and shall possess it, the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

Who do you fear more, me or God?

Where does your courage come from?

Connecting this with the generation to generation theme- as you consider where your courage comes from, externally, out of “fear of the Lord” really what it comes down to is trust- what reason has God given you to trust him?

Joshua had reason to trust, he’d experienced the manna and quail, he’d seen water come out of rocks, the plagues of Egypt, the Red Sea parting etc.

As we will see there is another river crossing coming up for the Israelites and I have to think that stepping into the Jordan and believing that God would stop the waters was much easier because of what happened back in the Exodus when God parted the Red Sea

Do we trust each other- is there a sense that we have each others back that emboldens each of us to be and do what God is telling us to do, individually and corporately

“only may the Lord your God be with you...”

I recognize that there is generational pain and trauma that may make it very difficult for you to find any reason to trust God, from your perspective he hasn’t given you much reason to trust him, I would challenge you to consider this, who failed you, who broke your trust God or man, unfortunately we project on God the failings of man

Maybe you feel like he hasn’t given you any reason to trust him- who do you fear more?