Sermon Tone Analysis

“Be Strong and Courageous”

God

Joshua 1:1–9 (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.

3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory.

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. 8 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.

9 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.”

Big Idea: The word of God reveals God’s will for his people, and his presence enables them to achieve his purposes.

Introduction

Joshua had massive shoes to fill.

The man — Moses — who had led Israel out of slavery and to the very edge of the Promised Land had handed him the reigns, and then up and died.

It was a crisis moment in the life of God’s people.

Moses was the one who confronted the evil and powerful Pharaoh,

who brought the awesome and terrifying plagues against Egypt,

who parted the giant Red Sea so that they could walk across,

who called down bread from heaven when they were hungry,

and who received the word of God on Mount Sinai.

When Moses died, a whole nation was terrified.

What is the first statement God makes to them? “Moses my servant is dead” (Joshua 1:2).

He reminds them of what they feared the most: stepping out in faith, into a foreign land, against massive armies, without Moses.

God doesn’t avoid reality, or try to distract his people with something else.

He addresses the hard truth with honesty.

We know God’s people were afraid,

because he says to Joshua three times in four verses, “Be strong and courageous. . . .

Only be strong and very courageous. . . .

Have I not commanded you?

Be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:6–9).

Maybe you can feel their fear in these words.

That makes this passage a kind of field manual for the anxiety and fears we face.

But God means for his people to hear waterfalls of comfort and confidence in those five words.

He calls him, “Moses my servant.”

Yes, Moses is dead, but he was only a servant sent by your God — and your God will not die.

And his promises will never expire.

He 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.”

Moses may be gone, but God’s promises still live.

No matter how bleak the moment, God will never forsake his word to them — or to you.

God does not bring good news that downplays

or ignores harsh realities.

The news he brings is good enough to confront and overcome the worst threats his children face, like death and war and whatever haunts you.

Never once did God leave them alone, to themselves.

And just as he had spoken to Moses for the sake of Israel, he now spoke to Joshua.

Joshua stood with Israel before the land of Canaan, just a Jordan away from God’s promise,

but they also knew they were on the brink of war.

It was an exciting and frightening moment

And God’s words for these weak and chosen people are found in Joshua 1.

The main point of the Text

Joshua must maintain firm faith and fixed focus, leaving fear and despair no place.

The basis for his faith and focus also reiterates a theme in v. 5b—God’s constant, never-ending presence with him (“the Lord … will be with you”).

And the twofold repetition of “wherever you go” (vv.

7, 9) underscores that his presence knows no territorial boundaries.

Joshua need never wonder whether he may unwittingly wander into realms where Yahweh cannot go and is powerless to conquer.

On the contrary, wherever Joshua’s mandate takes him, no human can stop him (v.

5a), and his obedience to the law guarantees success (vv.

7b, 8b).

With God he is unstoppable.[1]

Nothing in life ever happens apart from courage.

What does Courage Look Like?

1. Joshua was to know God’s Word

Joshua 1:7,8 (ESV)

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. 8 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.

He was to read it and study the Word with eager, focused study free of distractions.

The reader’s posture pictures the text’s importance: the reader hunches over it, eyes riveted on every syllable in order not to miss any detail.

The posture also mirrors how critical is the law’s guidance; only rigorous reflection can mine its depths.

To “skim” the law is to imperil one’s future by missing something crucial.

Indeed, it is not enough simply to read it, think about it, or even talk about it.

Joshua must “be careful to act” on it.

—to put Moses’ instructions into practice, live it out, and give it feet in the real world.

Only “doing” the law will give Joshua success,[2]

Joshua was to read the book.

I cannot doubt that Joshua had picked up the importance of the Law from Moses during the years of his association with him.

If Moses had spent much of the preceding thirty-eight years working on these written documents (as he undoubtedly had),

Joshua must have been a witness to that labor, have come to value that Law, and know it to some extent.

In other words, he must already have been a student of the Word, even before God commissioned him to his new responsibilities.[3]

Another way to view that is in 1 Corinthians 16:13, we read this, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”

“Act like men, be strong.”

Now that’s addressed not only to men but to women, and not only to adult men and women but to everybody in the body of Christ in the family of God.

Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, unwavering, uncompromising, faithful to what you know, what you believe about which you hold convictions and find a developing affection.

Stand firm in the faith and act like men.[5]

The hope of Israel wasn’t in their own ability to defeat their enemies and capture the land of Canaan.

No, their hope was in the power of God to fulfill his promise to them.

2. Joshua was to talk about God’s Word.

The text says, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth” (Josh.

1:8)

Joshua was to be conversing about the Bible in his normal day-by-day contacts with family, soldiers, friends, and others who were part of the nation.

Is this contrary to what passes for Christianity in many places today.

Contemporary people are quite tolerant of religious folk in some ways.

It is considered enlightened to respect others’ practice of religion—as long as it is in its place (in church or synagogue on Sunday or Saturday) and does not affect the remainder of life.

But let a follower of God begin to talk about God’s Word at work or while out to dinner with friends or while golfing at the club, and suddenly tolerance begins to fade away.

“This is not the place to talk about religion,” the person is told.