“Be strong and courageous, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9
The book of Joshua stands at a hinge in Israel’s history. The wilderness years end, the promises to Abraham begin to unfold in full view, and the people of God cross a boundary that is both geographical and spiritual. Joshua teaches us that the living God is not an abstraction, a fairy tale or myth. He guides, commands, judges, and saves. Human action is sometimes God's means to achieve His will, but human strength is never the source. The story moves forward because God keeps His word.
Again and again Joshua confronts us with this truth. The Jordan does not part until the priests step into the waters. Jericho’s walls fall by obedience rather than force. Israel’s presumption at Ai yields defeat, and humility restores what pride had lost. Each scene presses the same lesson into the heart. Trust in God is not passive. It is a posture of obedience and submission, taken in the confidence that the Lord Himself goes before His people.
Nowhere is this clearer than at the threshold of Jericho. Joshua encounters a mysterious warrior with drawn sword, who identifies Himself as Captain of the Lord’s armies. Joshua falls on his face. He removes his sandals.
The ground is holy.
The One who spoke to Moses from the burning bush now stands before Joshua as Commander. The battle that follows is not Israel’s achievement.
It is the Lord’s, just as he promised.
This moment reveals the true theme of the book. The comes through God's presence. He is not simply giving Israel a land. He is forming a people who know Him, follow Him, and entrust their future to His faithfulness. They were to be God's messenger (malak) to the nations, the means to return exiled humanity to Himself.
Near the end Joshua gathers the tribes at Shechem and places the decision before them with absolute clarity.
“Choose this day whom you will serve.”
That call is not merely ancient. It is perennial. Every generation must decide whether to trust the Lord who keeps His promises or to follow the idols of its age.
Joshua concludes on a quiet and triumphant note. The Lord gave Israel rest. Not one of His promises failed. May this reading help us see the same God at work in our own lives, faithful in every generation, leading His people into the inheritance He has prepared.
