Be Strong and Courageous
JOSHUA 1:1-9
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
AS YOU WELL KNOW, THIS WEEK MOVING WE ARE MOVING INTO 2018. Thanks be to God for bringing us through another year. No matter what trials we may be experiencing, we all have reason to be grateful this morning and to be positive about the year ahead. All Christians, regardless of circumstances, should be positive people. We are the only people who have valid reason for optimism.
IT IS COMMON FOR BELIEVERS AND UNBELIEVERS ALIKE TO SEEK guidance from an allegedly reliable source, or at least think seriously about positively reordering their lives on the auspicious occasion the New Year naturally affords.
ALONG THESE AMELIORATING LINES, I SUGGEST THE TITLE of this biblical blog for inspirational words to consider.
THE TITLE COMES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT BOOK OF JOSHUA, the first nine verses of the first chapter…
NAS Joshua 1:1-9 Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. 3 “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. 4 “From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun, will be your territory. 5 “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. 6 “Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have 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 success. 9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
AND FROM DEUTERONOMY, THIS RELEVANT COMMENT…
NAS Deuteronomy 34:8 So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.
THE PREAMBLE: Verses 1-9 are termed “The Preamble” by many commentators. “Preamble” means 1. A preliminary statement, especially the introduction to a formal document that serves to explain its purpose. 2. An introductory occurrence or fact; a preliminary. “After the death of Moses the Lord summoned Joshua, the servant of Moses, whom He had appointed as the leader of Israel into Canaan, to go with all the people across the Jordan, and take the land which had been promised to the fathers on oath, assuring him at the same time of His powerful aid, on condition that he observed the law of Moses faithfully. This summons and promise of God form the preamble to the whole book, which is linked on to the conclusion of the Pentateuch by the introductory words, “And it came to pass after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord,” though it is not so closely connected as to warrant the conclusion that the two works have been written by the same author” (Keil & Delitzsch)…
CANAAN, OF COURSE, IS THE LAND WE NOW CALL “ISRAEL”?
“SERVANT OF THE LORD.” Moses is called “the servant of the Lord.” This is a special title that is often applied to Moses. The Hebrew word for “servant” is not particularly revealing (ִאבד [eh-ved]) in and of itself; it means slave or trusted servant. But when the word is traced carefully throughout the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Bible), it may be seen that the servant of the Lord was “the loftiest title attainable in a community which acknowledged the sovereignty of God alone. It implied faithful obedience to God in all things with special reference to leadership of the people of Israel in matters pertaining to the covenant.” – Southern Baptist Commentary
JOSHUA IS TO SUCCEED TO THE HIGH TASK OF SERVANT. Previously, Joshua’s role had been that of Moses’ minister. We might think of Joshua as a special assistant to Moses, a kind of military lieutenant…
NKJ Exodus 24:13 So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God.
NAS Exodus 33:11 Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
NOW, AT THE CALL OF GOD, JOSHUA WAS TO ASPIRE TO the high task of servant of the Lord himself. Even the special title of “the servant of the Lord” would be eventually granted to him…
NAS Joshua 24:29 And it came about after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred and ten years old.
YES, “THE SERVANT OF THE LORD” IS A SPECIAL TERM. All of us should seek these special words. We are all children of God, having been born again by faith in Christ, but we should want also to be servants of the Lord. Special words…
THIS NEW YEARS WEEK WE WILL LOOK AT MORE SPECIAL WORDS: “Be Strong and Courageous.”
OF ALL THE MEMORABLE CLAUSES AND PHRASES OF THE BIBLE, this clause we will study this week is certainly one of the most memorable: “Be Strong and Courageous.” So central to the book of Joshua is this clause that it is found four times in the first chapter (vs. 6, 7, 9, 18)…
NAS Joshua 1:6 “Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
- 6 IS THE RESULT OF V. 5… V. 6 is because of v. 5…
NAS Joshua 1:5 “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.
GOD PROMISED NOT ONLY THE LAND; HE PROMISED HIS PRESENCE… Because God would be with Joshua and the Israelites, it was possible for them to be strong and courageous…
ONLY BECAUSE WE TOO AS BELIEVERS ARE PROMISED God’s presence can we be truly strong and courageous.
IN THE BOOK OF JOSHUA WE GET A GOOD PICTURE OF HOW GOD works. He will promise; He will provide and empower; but most of the time He will require the effort of human beings to fulfill His will.
“STRONG” AND “COURAGEOUS” ARE SIMILAR WORDS, describing similar attributes; they are complimentary of one another, as the English translations suggest. The two words are almost interchangeable.
THE HEBREW WORD FOR “STRONG” IS חזק (ka-zahk). It sounds like a strong word, don’t you think? It is used almost 300 times (290 in NIV) in the O.T. and translated a number of ways, but basically the meaning of the word is to be or grow strong or firm. Interestingly, the word can also be translated “be courageous.” Here’s an example…
NAS Deuteronomy 3:28 ‘But charge Joshua and encourage (חזק [ka-zahk]) him and strengthen him; for he shall go across at the head of this people, and he shall give them as an inheritance the land which you will see.’
THE WORD FOR “STRENGTHEN” HERE IS THE WORD TRANSLATED “courageous” in Joshua 1…
NAS Joshua 1:7 “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.
THE HEBREW WORD FOR “COURAGEOUS” IS אמץ (ah-mets). This word is found 41 times in the O.T. and means to be courageous, stout, strong, bold, alert. It is translated “strengthen” is Isaiah 41:10 where it means strengthen in the sense of establish…
NAS Isaiah 41:10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
SO, THESE TWO KEY HEBREW WORDS ARE ESSENTIALLY SYNONYMOUS: to be courageous is to also be strong, and vice versa. When this occurs in Scripture – in both Hebrew and Greek – the intention almost always – is to emphasize.
THE COMMAND GIVEN TO JOSHUA AND TO ISRAEL TO BE strong and courageous may be said to be given also to us living the Christian life today.
LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE REQUIRES STRENGTH AND COURAGE – AMEN?
GOD DOES NOT ASK US TO BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS IN OUR OWN strength. That is never the message of the Bible. Yes, it is true that we are exhorted personally to be strong and courageous. Yes, it appears as if some of the commands are intended to spur us personally to make an effort on our own. But when these instances are examined carefully and in the context of the entire Bible, we see that ultimately it is God who gives us the strength to be obedient. God gives us the strength to be strong, the courage to be courageous…
NAS Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
RESPECTFULLY, I MUST SAY THAT WOULD NOT BE MY TRANSLATION of that familiar great verse. My literal translation of the Greek text for Philippians 4:13 would be, “I continually have the strength, the power, the might to do all things by means of the One continually strengthening me.” In other words, “I can do all these things only because Christ gives me the strength”…
THE BASIC MEANING OF THIS VERSE, keeping context clearly at the forefront, keeping Paul’s physical circumstances, and being accurate to the original Greek text, is by means of the Lord Jesus Christ we are given the strength to endure all physical hardships in this world.
“STRENGTH AND FORTITUDE WOULD BE REQUIRED for the strenuous military campaign just ahead, but Joshua was to keep uppermost in his mind the fact that he would succeed in causing Israel to inherit the land because it had been promised to their forefathers, that is, to Abraham, and the entire nation, the seed of Abraham as an eternal possession by God Himself.” – Bible Knowledge Commentary
LOOK TO GOD’S OWN WORDS, FAMILIAR TO US FROM PASTOR MATT’S recent sermons from Genesis…
NAS Genesis 13:14-17 And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; 5 for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. 16 “And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. 17 “Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.”
NAS Genesis 15:18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
NAS Genesis 17:7 “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. And I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
THERE IS NO DOUBT WHOSE LAND ISRAEL IS. That land is God’s special land and He has given it to Israel His chosen people. End of story.
NUMBER ONE FACT TO KEEP IN MIND: Joshua was commanded to be strong and courageous because of God’s promise of the land.
IT WAS THIS POINT THAT WAS THE MOST REVEALING TO ME as I studied this week.
“BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS,” IN MY STUDIED OPINION, MEANS simply and all-encompassingly to have faith. Listen thoughtfully to this verse from Hebrews 11…
NAS Hebrews 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days.
YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT THE FALL OF JERICHO IN CHAPTER 6 of the book of Joshua, but for now let us just consider what the writer to the Hebrews is saying. This great military victory of the Israelites campaign in Canaan came about not by military strength, now by the people summoning up personal strength and courage, but by faith.
IN MY OPINION, BEING “STRONG AND COURAGEOUS” HAS TO DO WITH FAITH. Be strong in faith, and be courageous in the action you take based upon that faith. It is faith that marks the believer’s relationship with God; we are Christians because we have trusted God. We are Christians because we are trusting God…
NUMBER ONE FACT TO KEEP IN MIND: Joshua was commanded to be strong and courageous because of God’s promise of the land.
THE COMMAND TO BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS IS BASED NOT upon our ability to be strong and courageous in ourselves, but is based upon the promise God has made to us.
VERSE 6 IS THE RESULT OF V. 5. Verse 6 is because of v. 5. And when these two verses are carefully analyzed, I believe it becomes evident that it is faith and its integral component obedience that is in view in our passage for this week. Faith and obedience go together; they are inseparable. They are two sides of the same spiritual coin. You cannot have true biblical faith without having also obedience, and you will not be consistently obedient unless you have genuine faith. Faith is based on God’s promises; obedience is acting upon that trust.
ABRAHAM, IN HEBREWS 11, IS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF FAITH AND OBEDIENCE.
NAS Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.
I URGE YOU TO LISTEN CAREFULLY TO THIS AMAZING VERSE! See the intrinsic connection of faith and obedience: “By faith Abraham obeyed.”
CONSIDER THIS VERSE IN THE LIGHT OF THE NEW YEAR. I humbly suggest that when all that has been said in this blog is thoughtfully considered in light of where we’re all at this moment – a year older, a year wiser, the familiar fear of the uncertain and one’s mortality – we will find it easier to reorder our lives according to God’s will as found in the Bible.
ABRAHAM TRUSTED GOD, even for things that seemed impossible at the time he acted upon his trust in obedience. “Trust” and “faith” are the same Greek word. Abraham’s faith was based upon God’s promise. When we trust God we are trusting that He will fulfill His promises to us. It is an exhilaratingly reassuring reality that God can be trusted. God is one Person that can be trusted in every situation at every time. God is trustworthy because of who He is; He is trustworthy based upon His character, a character that has been demonstrated convincingly in the past.
HAS NOT GOD BROUGHT US THROUGH EVERY TRIAL TO THIS POINT? It is irrational not to think He will continue to do so.
IT SIMPLY MAKES SENSE NOT TO FEAR AND TO OBEY. “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way” that makes sense!
BUT JOSHUA IS ALSO A GOOD EXAMPLE OF FAITH AND OBEDIENCE. Consider Joshua’s thoughts as he stood at the edge of the Promised Land. He was faced with a choice: he could trust God or he could not trust God. He too, like Abraham, “went out not knowing where he was going.” Faith constantly calls us out of the known into the unknown. We can do this because we are trusting in God’s promises.
THESE ARE GOOD THOUGHTS TO PONDER AT THIS JUNCTURE. A juncture is an event that occurs at a critical time, a crisis situation or point in time when a critical decision must be made. Leaving 2017 and entering 2018 is a juncture.
THERE WERE SOME “BAD BOYS” IN THE PROMISED LAND that the Israelites had to defeat. Take, for example, the Hittites…
THE HITTITES WERE PARTICULARLY IMPRESSIVE ENEMIES. “Many scholars consider the Hittites to be the third most influential of ancient peoples of the Middle East, rivaling even the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians (that is quite a statement – TAR). The Hebrews dreaded them because of their aggressiveness” (Unger).… The Hittites had weapons of iron, ancient equivalent of advanced technology. So advanced were they in this essential skill that it was not equaled until 200 years later in the Philistine culture.
“THERE ARE NUMEROUS REFERENCES TO THE HITTITES in the Bible, but it wasn’t until the late nineteenth century that their existence was confirmed archaeologically. Their ancestor, Heth, was a prominent son of Canaan. Canaan, grandson of Noah, settled originally with his many sons in the region which later became known as the land of Canaan (Gen 10:15-19). The eldest son, Sidon, evidently dwelled in the area later known as Phoenicia, giving his own name to the city of Sidon, whereas Heth, the second son, settled with his brothers farther south. There, a community of Hittites at the site later known as Hebron had dealings with Abraham (Gen 23:10) about 1900 B.C. They apparently became more and more prominent in relation to the other Canaanite tribes, so that by Joshua’s time, Canaan was occasionally even called ‘the land of the Hittites.” – Henry Morris
I SUGGEST WE ARE CONSTANTLY AT SUCH A POINT IN OUR LIVES. Are we not faced with the same choice? Every day in every situation of life we can either trust God or we can choose to go it alone, or trust something or someone else.
THERE ARE SURELY TO BE SOME “BAD BOYS” IN THE YEAR AHEAD.
HELP US, LORD, TO BE STRONG IN FAITH AND COURAGEOUS as we act upon that faith in the year ahead.
FIRST, JOSHUA WAS COMMANDED TO BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS because of God’s promise.
SECOND, JOSHUA WAS AGAIN COMMANDED TO BE STRONG AND courageous because of God’s power…
NAS Joshua 1:7-8 “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have 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 success.”
THIS COMMAND IS BASED ON GOD’S POWER THROUGH HIS WORD… “This is a stronger exhortation, indicating that greater strength of character would be required to obey God’s Word faithfully and fully to win military battles! The emphasis in vs. 7-8 is clearly on the written body of truth. Joshua’s life demonstrates that in a practical way he lived according to the teachings of the Law of Moses, the only portion of the Word of God then in written form. This alone explains the victories he achieved in battle and the success that marked his entire career. In one of his farewell addresses to the nation just before he died he urged the people to live in submission to the Scriptures” (B.K.C.)…
NAS Joshua 23:6 “Be very firm, then, to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,
NOTE THE WORDS “TO KEEP AND TO DO.” The doing is the obedience…
AN UNINTERRUPTED STUDY, A LAYING TO HEART of the commandments of God, and finally, most importantly, a doing of God’s Word…
STUDYING THE BIBLE IS WONDERFUL. BUT GOD DOES NOT WANT us to only know His Word; He wants us also to do His Word.
“THE THIRD CALL TO COURAGE ADDRESSED TO JOSHUA WAS THE PROMISE of God’s presence. While this great fact did not minimize the task Joshua faced – he would still encounter giants and fortified cities – God’s presence would make all the difference.” – B.K.C.
NAS Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
“BELIEVERS IN ALL AGES CAN BE UPLIFTED BY THESE SAME THREE ASSURANCES.” – B.K.C.
BROTHERS AND SISTERS, SURELY WE CAN ALL SEE AN APPLICATION in these words from Joshua 1 for our live today, especially at this juncture in which we find ourselves facing.
IN SOME SITUATIONS IN WHICH WE FIND OURSELVES WITH THE CHOICE of trusting God and being strong and courageous or not trusting God, to trust God can seem exceedingly difficult… If we are honest, to some it may even seem foolish to trust God. His promise of deliverance or blessing in these situations seems impossible to fulfill. And, I would suggest to you, here is the value of Scripture to us. We can look into the pages of the Bible and read about characters – heroes of faith – that can inspire us. Abraham is a great example for us. Moses is a great example for us. Paul is a great example for us. And Joshua is also a great example for us, especially at this juncture of a the New Year.
HELP US, LORD, TO BE STRONG IN FAITH AND COURAGEOUS AS WE ACT upon that faith in this New Year!
– Professor Thomas A. Rohm
