Scripture: Joshua 1:9
Author: Joshua, Phineas? 1370 B.C.
“I have 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”
This scripture isn’t a suggestion. Not at all. This scripture is a pep talk. A divine order. God is telling you, “You are built for this—now move!” Think of this as leadership training as you step into something bigger than you ever have before.
Courage is not a flame you must manufacture—it is a gift received when you realize who goes before you. Where God sends you, He accompanies you. Where He commands you to walk, He equips you to stand.
So, what’s the back story? Once you hear it, you’ll be thinking, “Holy smokes! Compared to Joshua’s challenge, I can handle what I have front of me!”
Josua, the successor to Moses, has to lead as many as a million or more of his people to the “Promised Land”. This was a command from God to undertake— The Holy Land had become corrupt and, according to Jewish texts, God made it clear he wanted the future cradle of the covenant cleaned up. A heavy, heavy task, and off-the-charts dangerous for the Israelites.
The archaeological evidence supports a mass migration from Egypt to Canaan which was an epic undertaking.
Canaan, the Promised Land, included modern day Isreal, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and the west bank.
Canaan was very much a well populated area with many unrelated, rival, kingdoms. For certain, it was not just vacant property— it was occupied by sophisticated societies very much unaligned spiritually from the Israelites. That tension, in particular, was reason enough to be afraid on the path north.
Who lived in Canaan before the exodus from Egypt? Oh, just a few Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Evern those “tribes” didn’t get along too well amongst themselves.
Joshua and his people were victorious in many battles, most famously the battle of Jericho. The Jewish people ultimately succeeded in settling across the region. You should consider this event the birth of Isreal and it happened long before the Torah or the Tanakh (the Old Testament) found words on parchment or about 1600 BCE.
I should take a moment to talk about historicity— this applies to all these writings I share. Some scholars say the epic exodus as described in the Old Testament never happened. Others argue it did. The fact is Jericho existed and evidence shows signs of battle as do many other sites and cities in Canaan around the same time. Most scholars quibble about timelines or the number of the invading Jews. None of that really matters as the wisdom brought by these texts are worthy enough of our study. If you approach this with a “that didn’t happen” attitude, you are going to miss the gems offerred in the stories. Jesus spoke in parables that likely he likely never witnessed but the underlying teaching is as solid as any stone we may ever handle.
Now that you know the history, I have some final points— this is where the rubber meets the road for us modern, pampered, largely prosperous, and (believe it or not) mostly peaceful souls by comparison to ancient peoples:
God didn’t smite the seven kingdoms of Canaan, rapture the deeply rooted societies there, or remove every obstacle the Israelis faced along the road. He didn’t just wipe the indigenous off the land making way for a new people.
No— not by a long shot. Instead, the people who soon would be residents of Isreal had to do the hard things in order to live in the Promised Land. They had to make the journey on their own, snakes and all along the path.
What did God do instead? He removed the fear from the hearts of the Israelites who faced the treacherous road ahead.
So, we are to face our fears and not expect God to simply erase the things that cause our fear— You’ll be waiting forever.
Walk in complete understanding of that and you are guaranteed an easier and more rewarding life!
