Joshua 1:1–2, 5-7 (ESV) — 1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord,
the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, 2 “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. . . . 5 No
man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was
with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit
the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 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 to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
NOTE: Leadership
change can be a frightening thing, especially during a time when leaders did
not change but once in a lifetime. God chooses the new leader and surprisingly,
no one seems to take issue with the change. One, they either remember what
happened to Korah and others, or two, Moses has done a good job integrating
Joshua into the leadership structure during his time of leadership. Joshua is
ready and Joshua steps up to the plate in a physical sense. But God provides
some final spiritual guidance. God tells Joshua that it will not always be
easy, so be strong and courageous. Leaders face difficult choices that will not
please everyone. And secondly, obey the law. For Joshua, the law was his
blueprint, his key to success. He will fail, as all people do who try to obey
the law, but if his heart is set on obedience as David's heart will be, he will
very successful. In fact, God will ensure his success if he obeys. That is a
basic tenement of the old covenant which is not true of the new covenant. The
old covenant guaranteed physical blessings for obedience. The new covenant does
not make that guarantee on the basis of obedience. The new covenant guarantees
inheritance, future blessing, and sadly "temporal suffering" on the
basis of faith. There is no health and wealth gospel, that is a creation of
charlatans and false teachers whose greed, pride, and lusts have allowed them
to lead many astray. "Woe to them" is the message of Jude. But Joshua
sits in a different situation and yet a not so different situation. His
salvation is guaranteed by his faith (that is the message of Abraham), but his
success and Israel's success as a nation is dependent upon obedience. So what
can we learn if our success is not dependent on obedience? While we are not
guaranteed physical blessings for obedience, there are principles of life that
even the new covenant acknowledges, such as working and then eating, or
committing a crime and suffering punishment. But our purpose for obedience is a
spiritual purpose--it is for our witness, which is required to conquered the
spiritual hearts of people. We walk in obedience in order to attract people to
the kingdom.
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