Joshua was up early and on his way from Shittim with all the People of Israel with him. He arrived at the Jordan and camped before crossing over. After three days, leaders went through the camp and gave out orders to the people: "When you see the Covenant-Chest of GOD, your God, carried by the Levitical priests, start moving. Follow it. Make sure you keep a proper distance between you and it, about half a mile - be sure now to keep your distance - and you'll see clearly the route to take. You've never been on this road before." Then Joshua addressed the people: "Sanctify yourselves. Tomorrow GOD will work miracle-wonders among you." Joshua 3:1-5 The Message.
Then Joshua addressed the People of Israel: "Attention! Listen to what GOD, your God, has to say. This is how you'll know that God is alive among you - he will completely dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. Look at what's before you: the Chest of the Covenant. Think of it - the Master of the entire earth is crossing the Jordan as you watch. Joshua 3:9-11 The Message.
(Joshua is a story of conquest and fulfillment for the people of God. After many years of slavery in Egypt and 40 years in the desert, the Israelites were finally allowed to enter the land promised to their fathers. Abraham, always a migrant, never possessed the country to which he was sent, but he left to his children the legacy of God's covenant that made them the eventual heirs of all of Canaan. Joshua was destined to turn that promise into reality.
Where Deuteronomy ends, the book of Joshua begins: The tribes of Israel are still camped on the east side of the Jordan River. The narrative opens with God's command to move forward and pass through the river on dry land. Then it relates the series of victories in central, southern and northern Canaan that gave Israelites control of all the hill country and the Negev. It continues with a description of the tribal allotments and ends with Joshua's final addresses to the people. The theme of the book, therefore, is the establishment of Israel in the promised land. ~ The NIV Study Bible, The Zondervan Corporation, 1985, pp. 288. )
There will be no victory without war. Nothing sentimental surrounds a battle. Every soldier dreads a looming war, even if a soldier is trained for that very purpose. No matter how impeccably trained a soldier is for battle, the human psyche is not created to stomach the ravages of war. Yet, for a cause greater than self, the soldier will take up his position in the battlefield and take on his enemy until victory is at hand.
Joshua means "The LORD saves" or "The LORD gives victory". After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses assistant, saying: "Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them - the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses." Joshua 1: 1-3 NKJV.
"No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. Joshua 1:5-7 NKJV.
In the face of war, every able-bodied soldier is recalled to fight for his country. Soldiers come in all shapes and sizes, and from very different backgrounds. Yet! Every soldier plays an equally important part on the battlefield. The degree of success and the eventual outcome of a battle very much depends on the degree of commitment and courage of each man, superiority of weapon and warfare. Yet the psalmist declares, "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the LORD our God." Psalm 20:7 NKJV. Get your sword ready, Christian soldier. There is a battle to be won!
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