CONTEXT
Part
1: Ch.1-5: Preparation & Entry
Ch.1
– Joshua installed as Leader
Ch.2
– Rahab and the Spies
Ch.3
– Crossing the Jordan
Ch.4
– Establishing a Memorial
Ch.5
– Circumcision & Passover
FRAMEWORKS:
Joshua
1: Joshua Installed as Leader
v.1-9
The Lord Encourages Joshua
v.10,11
Joshua gives a three-day warning to get ready
v.12-15
Joshua reminds the Two and a half tribes of their commitment
v.16-18
They affirm their commitment
v.1-9
The Lord Encourages Joshua
v.1
After
the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said
to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide:
v.2,3
Encouragement 1: God will give you this land
v.2
“Moses
my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready
to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to
give to them —to the Israelites.
v.3
I
will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised
Moses.
v.4
Encouragement 2: It is an extensive land
v.4
Your
territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the
great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean
Sea in the west.
v.5,6
Encouragement 3: No one can withstand you
v.5
No
one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life.
As I was with Moses, so I will be with you ;
I will never leave you nor forsake you.
v.6
Be
strong and courageous, because you will lead these people
to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.
v.7,8
Encouragement 4: Keeping my commands will guarantee success
v.7
“Be
strong and very courageous . Be careful to obey all the
law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right
or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.
v.8
Keep
this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and
night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in
it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
v.9
Encouragement 5: All it requires of you is fearless courage and
you WILL triumph
v.9
Have
I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous .
Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord
your God will be with you wherever you go .”
[Notes:
Moses has gone, so there will be a massive hole in the
leadership and so the Lord brings Joshua encouragement after encouragement.
It comes in the form of a direction to go in and take the Land
with the Lord with him. He is to ensure he keeps to God's laws
and commands. All else it requires of him is to be strong and
courageous.]
v.10,11
Joshua gives a three-day warning to get ready
v.10
So
Joshua ordered the officers of the people:
v.11
“Go
through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready.
Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and
take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for
your own.'”
[Notes:
In response, Joshua gives the people three days to get
ready to move out in order to cross the Jordan and take the land.]
v.12-15
Joshua reminds the Two and a half tribes of their commitment
v.12
But
to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh,
Joshua said,
v.13
“Remember
the command that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you after
he said, ‘The Lord your God will give you rest by giving you this
land.'
v.14
Your
wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that
Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men,
ready for battle, must cross over ahead of your fellow Israelites.
You are to help them
v.15
until
the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they
too have taken possession of the land the Lord your God is giving
them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which
Moses the servant of the Lord gave you east of the Jordan toward
the sunrise.”
[Notes:
Joshua reminds the two and a half tribes who had previously
petitioned for land to the east of the Jordan where they were
at present [see Num 32], of their commitment at that time to come
in and fight alongside the other tribes.]
v.16-18
They affirm their commitment
v.16
Then
they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will
do, and wherever you send us we will go.
v.17
Just
as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord
your God be with you as he was with Moses.
v.18
Whoever
rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may
command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!”
[Notes:
They hold firm to their commitment.]