Joshua and Judges: Crossing the Jordan - Be Strong and Courageous, part 5. Jos 1:1-15.

Title: Joshua and Judges: Crossing the Jordan - Be Strong and Courageous, part 5. JOS 1:1-15.   

 

Announcementsopening prayer:

 

 

JOS 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."

 

In conclusion, the Lord not only repeats His exhortation to firmness, but the promise that He gave in vv. 5 and 6.

 

Fulfilling the positive command eliminates negative results and so the negative command is also fulfilled.

 

Strong - strong in faith, patience, and perseverance.

Courageous - strong and firm in determination; to harden one's mind.

 

These two qualities are indispensable to the Christian way of life.

 

EPH 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

 

EPH 1:19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might

 

EPH 1:20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

 

Truth enlightened heart, the confidence of His electing you, the riches of the glory of His inheritance given to all believers, the surpassing greatness of His power toward you = strength of His might.

 

1PE 4:11

Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

Which eliminates…

tremble - feared, alarmed, terrified, or dreaded.

dismayed - broken or beaten down.

 

2CO 4:7 But we have this treasure [God's presence and truth] in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves;

 

2CO 4:8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;

 

2CO 4:9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

 

2CO 4:10 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus [finished work], that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

 

JOS 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."

 

Preparations for crossing the Jordan.

 

Joshua has never done anything remotely like this. This is a brand new journey and mission into unknown territory against a formidable enemy in order to complete a herculean task. How long it will take is uncertain. Failure is unacceptable though it may come at the loss of life.

 

JOS 1:10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,

 

The officers of the people were responsible to keep family registers and they also enlisted the men who were bound to serve in the army as well as the circulation of orders to those they were responsible for.

 

They were to command their people that they had three days to gather enough provisions to cross the Jordan and possess the land which the Lord was giving them to possess.

 

JOS 1:11 "Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, 'Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you are to cross this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, to possess it.'"

 

They are not going to cross in three days, for the crossing will take a few days more, but that they have three days to prepare provisions.

 

This is likely a warning against procrastination. When it's time to cross they cannot afford to have families or tribes being held up because they started preparing too late.

 

If you have preparations to make then your hands should get busy as soon as possible and not put things off for last minute cramming.

 

When it's time to move the people cannot be entangled in logistical details. They must be ready to go and that will take preparation.

 

The people are reminded that this land is being given to them by God and it is God's will that they take it.

 

Rather than say, "You are to posses the land." We hear the instruction to be, "You are to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you."

 

Leaders must continually encourage their people with the fact that God is with them and that God is the one who delivers them and gives them victory along with the commands of the Lord.

 

It is very likely that Joshua secretly sent the two spies to Jericho on this same day.

 

JOS 1:12 And to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said,

 

JOS 1:13 "Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, 'The Lord your God gives you rest, and will give you this land.'

 

JOS 1:14 "Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but you shall cross before your brothers in battle array, all your valiant warriors, and shall help them,

 

JOS 1:15 until the Lord gives your brothers rest, as He gives you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to your own land, and possess that which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise."

 

By these tribes remaining on the eastern side the Jordan threatens to become a source of division and therefore a threat to the unity of the new nation.

 

The Jordan River wanders about two hundred miles to cover the sixty five mile distance from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea, dropping an additional six hundred feet below sea level as it goes. The river itself is generally quite shallow and narrow with numerous places where it can be forded, but the spring thaw brings flood waters down from Mount Hermon in the north. Still, the river forms a major geographical barrier because it is bordered by jungle like foliage in the river bed and the desolate hills just above. It offered no opportunity for navigation and little for settlement. It simply separated the land of Canaan from Trans-Jordan and made control of the fords [shallow places that can be crossed] a military necessity.

 

They were granted the right to remain on the east side of the river by Moses under the condition that they send an army along with the others to take the west side.