Sermon Tone Analysis

Leader Guide ESV, Unit 8, Session 1

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Edited by Rev. Lex DeLong, M.A. April, 2022.

Summary and Goal

Forty years earlier, the Israelites had failed to trust God and refused to enter into the promised land God had given them.

Because of their faithlessness, God forced that generation to wander in the wilderness until all of them, except Joshua and Caleb, had died off.

Now it was time for the next generation, those who were children or who were born during the wilderness wandering, to enter the land.

In this session, we will see that God called on this generation to follow Him in faith, just as He had called the previous generation.

And once again, God revealed His presence and power to His people.

But this generation would do what their parents and grandparents had failed to do—they trusted the Lord.

Session Outline

++1.

God gives His people strength and courage through the Power of His Word (Josh.

1:6-9).

++2.

God always demonstrates His power before His people and fights for them when they are willing to follow Him in faith (Josh.

3:5-8,14-17).

++3.

God calls His people to remember and testify of who He is and what He has done (Josh.

4:20-24).

Session in a Sentence

God gives strength and courage to His people through His Word as He demonstrates His power so that the world might know and fear Him.

The opening question in the DDG (p.

48).

If you had a do-over for any day in your past, where would you use it?

DDG (p.

48)

A hypothetical do-over typically involves some regret, but starting over in reality often comes with a sense of power and freedom.

· Sports fans understand that the start of each new season brings with it the ability to put any woes of the prior season in the past and replace them with hope for what lies ahead, at least for a game or two.

· Some of the best entrepreneurs look back at a time when they failed and were forced to start over as the key moment that led to their success.

· Sometimes we experience the gift of a new start in small, ordinary ways: tossing a failed recipe and starting over from scratch, erasing an email draft and writing it over, or stopping a difficult conversation midway through and asking the other person if you can start over again.

The Book of Joshua in the Bible is a do-over.

God granted the next generation of Israelites after wandering in the wilderness for forty years because of the unbelief and disobedience of the previous generation.

But would they do what their parents and grandparents had failed to do—would they trust God and follow His commands?

God called on this generation to follow Him in faith, just as He had called the previous generation.

And once again, God revealed His presence and power to His people so that they would trust Him and the new leader He appointed for them.

Point 1: God gives His people strength and courage through the Power of His Word (Josh.

1:6-9).

Moses was dead, but the Israelites still had Joshua.

He had been Moses’ aide almost from the beginning of their journey, and God had appointed him as Moses’ successor.

Now, during this critical moment of leadership transition, in preparation for his first act as leader, God spoke to Joshua.

Read: Joshua 1:6-9 (DDG p. 49), Count or circle the times God tells Joshua to “be strong and courageous.”

6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.

7 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. 8 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.

9 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.” (Joshua 1:6-9)

Instruct: Ask groups of 3-4 to use the table in their DDG (p.

49) to list Joshua’s duties and God’s promises included in this passage.

After a couple of moments, allow the groups to share their responses with the larger group.

The items on their lists should reflect on some level the two lists below.

JOSHUA’S DUTIES

Be Strong and Courageous

Distribute the Land

Carefully Observe God’s Instruction

Speak God’s Law

Meditate on God’s Law

Do Not Be Afraid or Discouraged

GOD’S PROMISES

Give the Land to His People

Provide Prosperity and Success

Always Be with Joshua

DDG (p.

49)

Why would God repeatedly instruct Joshua to “be strong and courageous”?

For starters, Joshua needed to hear this message.

He needed the encouragement because of the challenge that was before him.

Joshua was to be strong and courageous first, to conquer and distribute the land (v.

6), second, to observe carefully God’s instruction (vv.

7-8), and third, because God was with him (v.

9).

· First, Joshua was to be strong and courageous to conquer and distribute the land (v. 6).

Before the Israelites could possess the land, they would first have to conquer it.

The Canaanites were not just going to walk out of the promised land because the Israelites walked in with a claim on it.

So Joshua needed strength and courage to lead the Israelites into battle.

But even more importantly, Joshua was to have strength and courage because their victory would not come from their military shrewdness or might but from the sure promise of God—God had chosen this land for the descendants of Abraham.

· Second, Joshua was to be strong and very courageous to observe carefully God’s instruction (vv.

7-8).

The Pentateuch, the five books of the Law, had been written down by Moses before his death (Deut.

31:9).

Joshua would need the law to flow continually from his mouth, and he would need to meditate on it, to ponder and seek to understand it.

If he were to do this, he would be able to obey it, and this was key, because through obedience, he and the people would find success in the promised land.

It does take courage to observe God’s Word, to meditate on it and act upon it.

It takes courage to step out in obedience to God’s Word in a world that functions in opposition to it.

· Third, Joshua was to be strong and courageous, not afraid or discouraged, because God was with him (v.

9).

This was the key to it all.

Joshua’s courage was to come from God, who was with him.

Not from his leadership abilities.

Not from his wisdom.

Not from the might of his military.

Not from the praise of his people.

There was nothing wrong with any of those things, but the root of Joshua’s courage was to be the one thing that mattered most: God’s presence.

Joshua wasn’t the only one in the Scriptures to find strength and courage in God’s presence.

David found confidence in saying, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Ps.

23:4, emphasis added).

Zephaniah assured God’s people that God was in their midst (Zeph.

3:17).

The prophet Isaiah’s words came true when it was said of Jesus, “ ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (Matt.

1:23, emphasis added; see also Isa. 7:14).

Joshua had seen God draw near to Moses and guide him through adversity, and he could believe that same presence was with him.

Like Joshua, we too can walk in confident faith because God is with us.

When we walk with Almighty God, when we follow Jesus, He gives us the courage we need to overcome all our fears.

Ask the following question.

What are ways God gives us courage through His Word?

(through reading, speaking, and meditating on God’s Word; through stepping out in faith to obey God’s instructions; through fellowship with God’s people in Christ)

Point 2: God always demonstrates His power before His people and fights for them when they are willing to follow Him in faith (Josh.

3:5-8,14-17).

Pack Item 6: The Conquest Map: Reference this map poster for this point to note that the Israelites crossed the Jordan River opposite Jericho.

The Israelites were preparing to cross the Jordan River opposite Jericho and to leave behind forty years of wilderness wandering.

Yet the moment they stepped foot on the other side of the river, they faced giant armies of giants, so they needed to be strong and courageous.

Not, to cross the Jordan river at flood stage in the fall season.

Read Joshua 3:5-8,14-17 (DDG p. 50).

5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”