Session 1
Joshua 1:1-11,16-18
Memory Verse: Joshua 1:8
One of my favorite approaches to Bible study involves focusing on key characters in God’s story of redemption. For these personalities, responding to God’s call demanded courage. Abram leaving his homeland. Moses confronting Pharaoh. Stephen preaching to the Sanhedrin. Paul repeatedly facing persecution. They all required courage.
God specifically commanded Joshua to be courageous as He called him to lead Israel into the promised land (Josh. 1:9). That courage was grounded in the assurance of God’s trustworthiness as He promised to stay with His people and to give them Canaan.
As you prepare to lead this quarter’s opening session, reflect on situations in your life that required courage in following the Lord. Maybe it was sharing the gospel or venturing into a new service opportunity outside your comfort zone. It may be a spiritual challenge you are facing right now. Pray for the strength and courage to act boldly in the assurance of God’s trustworthiness. And ask God to help you to communicate that assurance to the adults in your group, challenging them to trust God with courage as well.
Russell Kelso Carter was a professor at the Pennsylvania Military Academy in 1886 when he wrote “Standing on the Promises.” For well over a century this great hymn has been sung by believers all over the world. Why? Because its lyrics remind believers that God is trustworthy and His promises “cannot fail.” Consequently, those who are trusting in God “cannot fall.” Joshua discovered these truths and grounded his courage in the assurance of God’s trustworthiness. (PSG, p. 10)
The name Joshua means “Yahweh delivered” or “Yahweh is salvation.” However, the central character in the narrative is the Lord, the One who led His people into the promised land and drove out their enemies. God was the One who rescued His people, using Joshua as His human instrument.
Joshua, son of Nun, succeeded Moses as Israel’s leader after their decades of wilderness wandering. Following Moses’s death, the Lord commanded Joshua to cross the Jordan River and enter Canaan in fulfillment of His promises. While His promises included an extensive tract of land (Josh. 1:3-4), God also promised His presence with this new leader (v. 5). The book of Joshua has been divided into two main parts that highlight his calling: conquering the land (chaps. 1-12) and distributing the land (chaps. 13-24).
The Lord instructed Joshua to be strong and courageous in carrying out His commission, a command that He repeated three times (vv. 6,7,9). By a threefold repetition of His directive, the Lord emphasized the requirement of Joshua’s complete obedience. Israel’s human leader could be strong and courageous only by leaning on the Lord, not by depending on his own strength.
The key to Joshua’s success lay in obeying God’s laws (vv. 7-8). Although the Israelites would face many battles in conquering the promised land, the Lord’s instructions to Joshua concerned keeping His Word (a spiritual matter) rather than depending on military strength or planning.
Verses 10-11 reveal Joshua’s obedience to the Lord’s command about crossing the Jordan (v. 2). He ordered the Israelites’ leaders to instruct the people to prepare for their move into Canaan. Such preparation would have included breaking camp and assembling food supplies for the journey. While the people needed to get ready, Joshua emphasized that the Lord would give His people the victory.
Verses 12-15 focus on the tribes of Reuben and Gad, along with half of Manasseh. These tribes had requested and received Moses’s permission to remain on the east side of the Jordan River, an area known as the Transjordan. Reuben and Gad particularly viewed the Transjordan as more suitable for their large flocks and herds of livestock. While Moses had allowed them to remain on the east side of the river, his blessing came with an expectation. They had to cross the Jordan and help the other tribes conquer the western territory when the time came (see Num. 32).
The Transjordan tribes again affirmed their loyalty to Joshua and their commitment to their brothers. Likely, their positive response to Joshua reflected the feelings of all the tribes (vv. 16-18). The chapter concludes with the command to “be strong and courageous.”
As you read Joshua 1:1-11,16-18, note God’s words of encouragement. Consider how these words impacted Joshua. (PSG, p. 11)
EXPLORE THE TEXT
1 After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’s assistant:
2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving the Israelites. 3 I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great river, the Euphrates River-all the land of the Hittites-and west to the Mediterranean Sea. 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you.”
After Moses’s death, the Lord chose Joshua as Israel’s leader. Joshua’s first assignment involved preparing the people for conquest of the promised land. It was time for the people to move forward and see God keep His promises.
The biblical writer identified Moses as the Lord’s servant, a title Joshua would later receive (Josh. 24:29). The designation Lord translates a Hebrew term often written as Yahweh. This personal name for God emphasizes the truth that He always has existed and remains faithful.
Before becoming Israel’s leader, Joshua served as Moses’s assistant. The Hebrew word rendered assistant comes from a verb meaning “to serve.” The verb can designate a servant’s work on behalf of a master or a ministry of worship performed by priests.
Because of Moses’s rebellion at Meribah-kadesh, the Lord had prohibited him from entering Canaan (Num. 20:1-13). This typically faithful leader had struck the rock to bring forth water instead of speaking to it as God commanded. As a result, Moses had died while the nation still stood on the eastern side of the Jordan River.
God’s words, Moses my servant is dead, may have awakened Joshua more fully to his new reality. Instead of serving as Moses’s assistant, he was commanded to lead the people across the Jordan River into the promised land.
Note that the Lord identified this territory as the land I am giving the Israelites. Joshua had been one of only two faithful spies among those who had scouted out Canaan (Num. 13-14). He, along with Caleb, had presented the positive report that the Israelites could conquer the land’s powerful inhabitants because the Lord was with them. They had challenged the people to remember that the Lord would fight for them as they depended on Him.
) The Lord promised His people every place where the sole of your foot treads. Although the Lord pledged to give them the land, His people had to act in faith to take possession of it. From God’s perspective, Israel already owned Canaan, but God’s timing would determine when they finally took possession. (See Deut. 11:24-25.) The biblical writer highlighted God’s fulfillment of His promises through the conquest.
This verse describes the general boundaries of the promised land (see Deut. 11:24). The term wilderness designates a southern desert area, sometimes called the Negev. Lebanon roughly identifies present-day Lebanon located in the north. The Euphrates is called the great river and, in biblical geography, represented a useful eastern border. Finally, the Mediterranean Sea would serve as Israel’s western boundary.
The Israelites would not own the full extent of these borders until the reigns of David and Solomon. Still, God described the land between the eastern and western limits as all the land of the Hittites. The term Hittites can refer to a number of groups living west of the Jordan River. Here, it seems to serve as a general term for Canaanites.
The Lord assured Joshua of His continuing presence. In fact, He promised to be with Joshua just as He had been with Moses (Deut. 11:25a). Verses 6-9 delineate the conditions for the Lord’s promise that no one will be able to stand against you. The Israelites’ failure to meet these conditions later resulted in their defeat at Ai (Josh. 7:1-5).
God’s presence with Joshua would be the guarantee of his success. It remains the vital cog in His people’s success today. We can find courage in the truth that the Lord keeps His promises.
EXPLORE THE TEXT
6 “Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their ancestors to give them as an inheritance. 7 Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. 8 This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. 9 Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” 10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people,
11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get provisions ready for yourselves, for within three days you will be crossing the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you
to inherit.’”
Joshua needed to be strong and courageous to lead the Israelites. The command translated be strong most often appears in a military context. The term actually is similar in meaning to courageous. Joshua needed boldness and resolve to carry out God’s commands.
The mandate to show strength and courage occurs in verses 6, 7, and 9. The number three in biblical thought often emphasized completion. The Lord required Joshua’s total obedience.
The Lord associated Joshua’s strength and courage with careful observance of the whole instruction of the law. The Hebrew word for instruction is torah. It designated Israel’s covenant responsibilities to the Lord. Eventually, the term was used for the Pentateuch, the first five Old Testament books. Joshua could not deviate to the right or the left, a vivid way of stating he could not stray from absolute obedience to God.
Obedience was key to Joshua’s success. The term success rarely referred to financial wealth in the Old Testament. Instead, it commonly related to wisdom. It describes prospering through right choices and actions. Such success occurs when people are centered on God and His ways.
In Hebrew, meditate can mean “utter” or “mutter.” It also can describe groaning. While we tend to mutter about things we don’t like, the Lord instructs us to mutter His Word, to keep it on our lips and in our hearts. Doing so helps keep life in the right perspective.
Day and night suggests a continual, disciplined study of God’s Word (see Ps. 1:2). The Old Testament concept of meditation has nothing to do with trying to empty one’s mind. Rather, it requires focused attention on God’s works and ways. It was an activity practiced aloud.
The Lord expressed His command negatively, as well as positively. For Joshua, strength and courage meant refusing to be afraid or discouraged. The verb translated discouraged can depict the panic of a military leader whose courage has failed. Only the Lord’s presence would enable Joshua to
stand courageously.
Assured of the Lord’s presence, Joshua turned to the officers of the people, most likely a group of administrative officials. His commands to them offered a perfect reflection of God’s instructions to him. In turn, the officers passed those instructions to the people (v. 11). In a nutshell, the time of waiting was over. They would be moving into the promised land.
The term provisions designates food and other supplies that would be needed to cross the Jordan and take possession of Canaan. Joshua emphasized preparation or readiness.
Israel would succeed only if the people acted in accordance with the Lord’s commands. Likewise, we can discern and experience God’s best for our lives only by studying and obeying His Word.
EXPLORE THE TEXT
16 They answered Joshua, “Everything you have commanded us we will do, and everywhere you send us we will go. 17 We will obey you, just as we obeyed Moses in everything. Certainly the Lord your God will be with you, as he was with Moses. 18 Anyone who rebels against your order and does not obey your words in all that you command him, will be put to death. Above all, be strong and courageous!”
In verses 12-15, Joshua reminded the tribes settling east of the Jordan River-Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh-that they had promised to help conquer the land. So in verses 16-18, they indicates the commitment of these tribes, but it probably mirrors the sentiment of every Israelite. The people’s pledge of loyalty must have encouraged Joshua, as they promised to do everything he commanded and to go everywhere he sent them.
However, the people’s next words may have raised some concern. The Israelites sincerely pledged to obey Joshua as they had obeyed Moses, but the nation’s history of disobedience may have been discouraging. At the very least, their response was ironic.
For example, at Mount Sinai, the Israelites had solemnly sworn obedience (Ex. 24:6-7). Yet, Aaron had led them in making and worshiping a golden calf. Repeated grumbling, rebellion, and waywardness had characterized the Israelites’ lengthy period in the wilderness.
The generation that entered the promised land did not fully carry out the Lord’s instructions either. Yet various Scriptures record how the people failed to completely carry out their spiritual obligations
(Josh. 11:22; 13:1; 15:63; 16:10; 17:12-13). The book of Joshua highlights this tension between what Israel said and how Israel acted.
After pledging obedience, the Israelites affirmed Joshua’s leadership. Certainly the Lord your God will be with you could be another affirmation of their loyalty or spoken as a prayerful blessing. The people may have been saying they would follow Joshua’s leadership as long as they saw evidence of God’s leadership in his life.
The Israelites’ assertion to Joshua that anyone who rebels against your order . . . will be put to death stressed the degree of their devotion. They were willing to hold themselves accountable for disobedience. The military situation in which the Israelites were engaged under Joshua’s command required strict discipline and thus severe punishment for rebellion.
The death sentence was actually carried out in Joshua 7:24-26. At the conquest of Jericho, Achan took some spoil that belonged to the Lord. When God revealed Achan’s sin, Joshua commanded the man’s entire family and his possessions be destroyed.
Verse 18 concludes with the people’s reiteration of the Lord’s command to Joshua to be strong and courageous. We can encourage the kingdom work of others by supporting them and partnering with them.
Spend time praying Scripture using Joshua 1:8. Read the verse, then respond to these questions:
Ask God to give you a deeper desire to study His Word. Reflect on how you can demonstrate practical obedience each day.
During the session, invite adults to pray this Scripture as well. You and the adults in your group can also take advantage of the Explore the Bible Prayer Guide. This QR code also appears on page 18 of the Personal Study Guide.
Review these points from Apply the Text on page 18 of the Personal Study Guide:
Remind adults that while this session focused on God’s promises to Joshua thousands of years ago, we serve the same God today. Emphasize that the God who kept His promises to Moses and Joshua still keeps His promises today.
Guide the group to discuss the second question set on page 18 of the PSG. Lead a brief discussion of specific promises found in Scripture and the impact those promises can have on our lives as
Christ followers.
Distribute index cards and pens. Direct adults to record an area in which they need strength and courage on one side of the card. As they are working, play the song “Promises” by Maverick City Music. On the other side of the card, encourage them to write a prayer related to what they wrote on the front of the card. Give them a moment of silent prayer. Challenge them to continue using Pack Item 9 (Handout: Praying Scripture in Joshua, Judges, Ruth) to pray through these issues this week.
Email the group to let them know that you are praying for them to stand strong and courageous for God this week. Share one of your favorite promises from God and ask them to share one of their favorite promises from Scripture. Direct them to reflect on and respond to the first question set on page 18 of the PSG. Encourage them to suggest ways the group can partner with other believers in the days ahead.
The Holy Bible is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. (See Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 2 Timothy 3:16-17.)
Note repeated words and phrases to gain additional insights.
Biblical writers sometimes used repetition of key words or phrases to emphasize a theme or message. Identify and examine the repeated message or challenge in Joshua 1:6,7,9,18. Who was the speaker in each instance? Who was the recipient of the challenge in each verse? Think about what this phrase’s repetition helps communicate in Joshua 1:1-18. What message does the repeated phrase convey to Bible readers today?