This book tells of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites under the leadership of Moses’ successor, Joshua. The opening chapter establishes Joshua’s authority as God’s chosen one. Although God had chosen him, Joshua must have felt unequal to the task when he compared himself with Moses whom he had served 40 years. He knew he was not Moses; he was not as godly; he lacked the stamina and patience to be an effective leader. That is why the Lord spoke such powerful words of encouragement to him. The Lord told him that as long as he and Israel remained faithful to Him and to His word, they would be invincible.
These words of encouragement are certainly appropriate for us as we embark upon any new phase of life or face grueling trauma or daunting challenges. We, like Joshua, like Israel, must recall how faithful God has been to us in the past even when we were faithless. Jews recall His faithfulness every year at the Passover Seder as they mediate on God’s word which proclaims His great deeds in delivering Israel from Egypt.
In a similar way we Christians celebrate feasts and seasons based on the Word of God. At such times we meet together to meditate on His Word and recall what God has done. As we meditate we come to see how we can walk in obedience to the Lord that He will enable us to do all that He commands. In addition, as we know His word we will realize that when we fail, when we sin we need not be discouraged by the words and criticisms of our own selves or of the devil or of other people especially hypocritical Christians who reduce religion to a set of rules failing to see that God’s love is based on relationship and faith not works.
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