During the years of 1534-1535, Thomas More found himself in a tense situation before King Henry. Though More was the former Lord Chancellor, Henry still wanted him to affirm the Act of Succession whereby the king’s marriage to Catherine would be declared “null and void” and the royal line of succession would run through the children of Henry’s new wife, Ann. Parliament had signed off on it, the clergy of London had done the same, and now it was More’s turn. And to make the pressure more intense, More’s wife and daughter urged him to obey Henry’s request because they knew that for him to refuse likely meant his death. Finally, the Duke of Norfolk urged More, reminding him that to refuse the king’s request was to invite the king’s wrath, and “the wrath of the king means death.” More’s response? He said to the Duke, “I shall die today and you tomorrow.”1 More simply reminded the Duke that they would both die eventually, but he had to do what he believed was right, and that meant that he could not bring himself to affirm the king’s Act even if it meant his death. More’s stand did eventually cost him his life as he was beheaded under the order of the king on July 6, 1535.
This story, like many others throughout history, is a picture of what it means to fear God more than man and to serve Jesus Christ in a world that hates him. It is a picture of what courage looks like for the Christian. However, the call to live one’s life with courage in the midst of a people who hate our Lord is not a call that extends to a few individuals in history. The call to live with courageous obedience before our Lord is a call that comes to all of us. I know of no one this morning who is facing death in the way that Thomas More was almost 500 years ago, but I do know that every day we are faced with trials and temptations that mean that if we are to obey God in our specific situations, it is going to require courageous obedience. Obeying God will require nothing less than mental and moral strength in all we do.
All of us in one way or another long to have greater courage for obedience, greater mental and moral resolve to obey in difficult situations. For some of you, you long this morning to be strengthened in your resolve to wait patiently for the Lord to bring you a spouse of his choosing and to labor in faithfulness to God and his people until then. For others it means that you will continue to praise God and declare openly your trust in him though you don’t understand why your life seems to be spiraling out of control like it is. Some of you need the courage and mental resolve to continue to faithfully discipline your children though it’s hard and you feel like the effects are hardly noticeable (if at all). Still others need courage to press on in hope though you feel like God is hiding his will from you so that you have no idea what the next step to take is. Finally, some of us long for the courage and mental strength to uproot ourselves, pull ourselves away from you for one more year, and move to Louisville, Kentucky because we believe that this is what the Lord is calling us to do. Needless to say, though there aren’t any of us in Thomas More’s situation before King Henry, most (if not all) of us are in need of courage and moral and mental resolve to continue to walk in obedience to our Lord in this world. So, how is it that we find courage and strength to continue to walk in obedience to the Lord day after day? Well, one place we can look to find an answer is Joshua 1.
The book of Joshua records for us how the Israelites came into the Promised Land, conquered it, and divided it among the tribes of Israel. And we will look at the details of this book over the next ten weeks. But if we think of the book of Joshua simply as an account of Israel getting the land I fear we will miss how helpful this book can be for us simply in thinking through how it is that we are to live faithfully before God day after day. Specifically, if we resist the temptation to move past this first chapter too quickly and settle into thinking through the details of this text I think we’ll all find ourselves encouraged right where we are this morning as I believe this first chapter equips us to live courageously obedient in our lives.
The setting of this first chapter is weighty. Moses had been Israel’s great leader. In fact, Deuteronomy ends by telling us that no prophet had arisen like Moses whom the Lord knew face to face, who performed signs and wonders in Egypt, and who performed many deeds in the sight of Israel (Deut. 34:10-12). One could argue that there was no one who surpassed Moses until Jesus came into the world. Simply ponder what all the Lord did through him. And yet Moses, this great leader, had failed to lead Israel into the Promised Land. And now he’d died and the responsibility to lead the Israelites into the land had fallen to Joshua.
And it’s not as if the task had changed a whole lot from the time of Moses. The cities within Canaan had not depleted or started crumbling from the days when spies in Numbers 13-14 told Moses that there was no way they would be able to conquer those within the land. So, how is it that Joshua (whom Deuteronomy declares was not a prophet like Moses) would be able to lead the people? How is it that Joshua would be able to bring them into the land? How is it that Joshua would be able to settle down, breathe, and just live day to day?
Well, far from needing to be able to function before the Israelites every day, Joshua was expected to lead the people into the land and conquer the Canaanites with strength and courage. He was to be strong to courageous. It is the major theme of this first chapter. You can’t ignore it. In verse 6 God tells Joshua, “Be strong and courageous.” In verse 7 he tells him, “Only be strong and very courageous.” In verse 9 God says to him, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.” Then, in verse 18, those whom Joshua is leading say to him, “Only be strong and courageous.” Clearly, Joshua is to be strong and courageous. But, again, how will Joshua be able to do this? I think we see the answer to this question in this first chapter, and as we see the answer, I think it also helps us answer that same question in regards to our own lives.
The first thing that Joshua needed in order to be strong and courageous was to realize that it was the Lord who was going to fulfill his promises. It was the Lord who was going to deliver the land into their hands.
Throughout this first chapter God makes clear that there is no doubt that they will conquer the inhabitants of Canaan and take the land. God himself is the one who was guaranteeing it. He is the one who is delivering the land into their hands as a fulfillment of his promise.
In verses 2-3 God says, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.” Then in verse 5 God tells Moses, “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life” before adding in verse 6, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”
But this theme is not isolated to a few instances. In verse 10 Joshua turns to address the people after the Lord has addressed him in verses 1-9. And in verse 11 he tells the people, “Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.” Then in verse 13 he reminds them that Moses had told them, “The LORD your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.” Finally, he again refers to the land in verse 15 as “the land that the LORD your God is giving them.”
One of the ways Joshua no doubt found strength to be strong and courageous was by reminding himself that God was the one who was going to make sure that they took this land. He was going to give it to them to possess as a fulfillment of his promise. How hard is it to be courageous when God tells someone that the very task they’re embarking on is something that he is going to make certain happens?
Earlier this year I had the blessing of catching up with Lon Graham in Louisville. He was there for the T4G conference, and we reminisced about some fun times and difficult times we had walked through. He and his wife Amy are doing well as Lon is faithfully pastoring a congregation of believers in the state of Washington. It was especially good to sit alongside William Marshall and Lon and share stories of God’s faithfulness as both of these brothers once labored among us here and now are serving other churches. But in the midst of worshipful conversation Lon told a story about trying to get his daughter to jump off something she was standing on into his arms. He noted that she was scared and so he just kept assuring her that he would catch her. Then, Lon said, “The bad thing is that when she finally did jump, I missed her.”
As funny as that story is, I think it’s tempting for us to think of the Lord like we might think about Lon. We have no doubt that God loves us or that he wants to do what is best for us, but at the end of the day in the back of our minds or bottom of our hearts, we’re tempted to think that he might fail us. Is there another explanation for why some of us can be so easily gripped and paralyzed by anxiety when we know that God is faithfully working in our lives and has been committed from before the foundation of the world to conform us to the image of his Son? Therefore, when we’re tempted with great anxiety and paralyzing fear, one of the things we can do to strengthen ourselves to walk in courageous obedience is to look again at God’s promises and at what he has said he will do. Matthew 6:25-34, for example, which begins with an exhortation not to be anxious is full of promises that God makes to us.
It’s easy to read Joshua 1 and say, “Well, of courage Joshua should be strong and courageous. How could he not be? God made it clear; he’ll do what he promised.” And that’s right. But also realize that you and I are not in greatly different situations as we are the recipients of multiple promises from God and need to trust him in courageous obedience.
But God told Joshua more. He also reminded him that he’d be with him. So, in order to be strong and courageous, Joshua needed to realize that God would be with him throughout this task.
Throughout the text God reminds Joshua that he’ll be with him. In verse 5 God says, “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I’ll be with you.” Then, in verse 9 God ends his address to Joshua saying, “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.”
Again, how could Joshua not be strong and courageous in light of the promise that God would be with him? We all know the reality of feeling a bit braver when you know others are with you. It’s harder to make any stand when you’re alone. But this surpasses any person who stands alongside you in a task. God is promising Joshua that he himself will be with him. The one who must sustain the life of Joshua’s enemies so that they will be able to take their next breath and their heart will beat is the one who will accompany Joshua on this great task.
But this theme of God’s presence is not found only here. Interestingly, throughout the Bible when God charges his people with a difficult task he reminds them that he will be with them. When God charges Moses to go to Egypt to free his people, he tells him that he will be with him (Exodus 3:12). When God charges Gideon to go defeat the Midianites, he tells him “I will be with you” (Judges 6:16). And in one of the most encouraging occasions of this for me is found in Matthew 18:20. After God charges his people to exercise church discipline to the point of removing someone from the membership of the church so that you are saying to the individual, “You do not give evidence of belonging to Christ, so we are binding you from the membership of the church,” he says, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” It’s as if God is saying, “I know this is overwhelming, but when you gather to do this, know that I will be with you.”
And the author of Hebrews reminds us in Hebrews 13:5-6 that we can be free from the love of money, be content with what we have, and not fear man because that declaration that God made to Joshua, saying, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” is true for us as well. God is with us, and we can know that no matter our situation. Therefore, we may take strength and be courageous. Again, note how easy it is to say, “Sure Joshua should be courageous and obey” in light of this promise of God’s presence, and then remind yourself that the same is true for you.
Yet God tells Joshua more. God reminds him that God himself will deliver the land and that God will be with him. But he also reminds Joshua of his responsibility to meditate on and obey God’s Word.
In verses 7-8 God says to Joshua, “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 the left, that you may have good 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 good success.” Joshua needed to obey God’s Word, for it is in obeying it that he was going to find success in his mission.
Now, you could look at this point and think to yourself, “Well, that isn’t as encouraging as the first two points.” After all, the first two points were that God would give the land and God would be with him. Now, the issue is what Joshua must do. That is true, but I want us to take note of something in the text because there’s another perspective we need to take note of here. It is this – God had given Joshua his Word. That is, God had made clear to Joshua exactly what he needed to do in order to have success. The picture is not of God wanting Joshua to do something and then hiding from how to obey.
One summer I worked for my dad’s boss so that I could make some money for the upcoming school year. But something happened early that would mess up the whole summer. My task for the summer was supposed to be entering in these serial numbers into a computer all summer long. And it was tough. It seemed like every serial number was something like the number one, followed by a capital “I”, followed by a lowercase “l”, followed by a capital “O”, followed by a zero. I would sit and stare at them for a bit before entering them in. It drove me a bit crazy at first. But what my boss underestimated is how anal I am. And soon I become obsessed with getting these serial numbers entered in. So, I went at that task like nobody’s business until I had completed my summer project in the first week. I felt pretty good about myself until I showed up for work the next Monday.
I walked into my boss’s office that Monday to find him surprised and searching to give me a task. Then I’d get it done, come back to him, and go through the same process. Needless to say, that got old for him and me real fast. Knowing that you’re supposed to be about a task and having no direction is frustrating and difficult.
But that is not the picture here with Joshua. God graciously gave him what he needed for success; he gave him his Word and told him to meditate on it and obey it. The same is true for us. It’s easy for us to spend little time reading the Bible, studying it, and meditating on it and then declare that it just doesn’t address what we’re going through or doesn’t sufficiently give direction for our situation.
It’s true, the Bible doesn’t talk about internet pornography, but you can’t read the first part of Proverbs without realizing that the key to avoiding sexual sin is by running from it. The Bible doesn’t talk about bulimia or anorexia, per se, but it does point to the futility of making anything your idol, whether food or your appearance. Making anything the object of your devotion other than God leaves you never satisfied and often hating the very thing your idolizing, be it food or your body, and isn’t that the core issue with these sinful abuses of your body? The Bible doesn’t tell a man the specific woman he should pursue in marriage but it is filled with pictures of what should be most valuable to him as he evaluates those ladies he might be considering. Simply put, the Bible is sufficient for far more, I believe, than we think it is. The issue is that we ignore the gracious gift God has given us in his Word.
It was a means for Joshua so that he might walk in strong and courageous obedience to the Lord, and it is a means for us as well. But there was one other thing Joshua needed to walk in courageous obedience to God. He needed to lead the people around him to commit themselves to God, his purposes, and one another.
After God addresses Joshua in verses 1-9, Joshua turns to address the people in the remainder of the chapter. First, in verses 10-12 he tells the officers to get ready because they’re about to go take possession of the land that God was giving them. He turned to ensure that they were committed to God and fulfilling his purposes. But then he also wants to make sure that they are committed to one another.
The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had settled in land on this side of the Jordan, but the land that their brothers would gain was on the other side of the Jordan. So, Joshua wanted to make sure that they were not content having gained their own land but were willing to fight for the good of their brothers. He told them they needed to go fight until their brothers had their land, and then they could come back to the land they had settled in. And in verses 16-17 they answered saying “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you.”
But then they say something that we might not anticipate. They say to Joshua, “Only may the LORD your God be with you, as he was with Moses! Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous” (16-18). Do you see? They are telling Joshua the very things God just told him.
This is a picture of all of God’s people being committed by God, his purposes, and one another. Joshua is not the story of one man’s task; it is the task of an entire people who needed to be committed to God, his purposes, and one another.
Interestingly, this theme runs throughout the biblical storyline. Never do we find in the Bible God telling us to live a holy life while disregarding our brothers and sisters. The task of holiness is to fight to make sure that everyone in the church is committed to God, his purposes, and one another.
I am thankful this is God’s command because we need each other to walk courageously and faithfully before the Lord. And, specifically, we each need to know that the others are commanded to be committed to our holiness by God. We need to know that for this reason. There are going to be occasions where you are not going to want to labor for my holiness, for my commitment to God and his church. Perhaps you think I’ve been insensitive or just foolish or difficult to deal with, and you might be tempted to say, “You know, it’d be a lot easier just to ignore Lee and let him go on his own.” But God doesn’t tell you to labor for my holiness because I’m pleasant and intelligent but because, with you, I belong to Christ. And he tells me the same about you. So, ultimately, each of us has the comfort of knowing that we will have our brothers and sisters fighting for our commitment to God, his purposes, and his church not foremost because of our request that they do so but because of their love and devotion for God.
So, how do we find courage and strength to obey? Realize that God will fulfill his promises and purposes. Realize that God is with us in all we do. Meditate on and obey the Word. And labor with those brothers and sisters around you so that they might encourage you to remain committed to God, his purposes, and his church even as you exhort and encourage them to the same end.
Now, I said earlier that we may be facing a number of different issues today where we need courage, but one issue we all face as a church is fulfilling the Great Commission. After all, unlike Joshua we are not charged to go take a land or to kill God’s enemies. But we are charged to go into a world where people are following the god of this age and deliver to them the gospel so that they might be transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of our Lord’s marvelous light. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus says to his followers, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” This is a charge that comes to all of us, to make disciples, and I know that it is hard to be strong and courageous in this task.
But I want you to note that we are doing a task that God has promised will be fulfilled. He will gather his people from every nation. Note that Jesus ends the command saying that he will always be with us in this task. Note that Jesus has commanded us exactly what we are to do, not hiding his will from us. And finally, note that this task isn’t given to just you or me. It’s given to us, to the church. Therefore, we labor together with our brothers and sisters as we walk through life encouraging them and being encouraged by them. So, let us fulfill this task being strong and courageous, obeying our Lord. In fact, may we be strengthened for obedience even as we remind ourselves of these glorious truths as we come to the table.