Now God didn't tell Joshua to be strong and courageous because Joshua had it all together and not because he was a brilliant leader or military commander. God was telling Joshua that he could be strong and courageous because God was with him -- God would go with him wherever he went. Because of this, Joshua need never be discouraged or afraid -- no matter what circumstances he faced.
What if God is also speaking these words to you and to me? If your anything like me, then you have been discouraged and you have been afraid. You may be feeling discouraged and/or afraid right now. God doesn't promise Joshua that everything will be easy for him or that he won't face hardship or danger. But I believe that what God was telling Joshua is that whatever Joshua faced, God would be right there with him. And if Joshua would trust and obey God in whatever circumstance he faced that there would be no reason to be discouraged or afraid. If it was true for Joshua, why not for us?
As we've journeyed through "The Story" (Zondervan's abridged version of the Bible), I have been amazed by how this question, "Do you trust me?" just keeps popping up. And with this question is its corollary, "Will you obey me?' Though God had placed Moses, and later Joshua, as leaders over Israel, God desired to be Israel's de facto leader. Where the ark of the covenant and the pillars of cloud and fire went, the leader and the led were to follow. God provided the law (commandments and instructions) that the leader and the led were to obey. And God placed the Israelites in countless situations where it was evident that God's presence and power was on display.
As the Israelites prepare to finally enter into the Promised Land, God instructs Joshua to circumcise all of the boys and men who were uncircumcised. While this was so that they could celebrate the Passover appropriately, I believe it was also a way, yet again, to demonstrate that it was God who was protecting and providing for Israel. God basically told the Israelite men -- many of who were to go into battle in just a few short days -- to make themselves vulnerable. Imagine going into battle, a fully grown man, who has just been circumcised. Now that takes trust!
And when they approach Jericho, a highly fortified city, God instructs Joshua to send a relatively small number of men to simply walk around the city. And instead of weapons, he tells them to take seven trumpets. After walking around the city in silence once each day for six days, on the seventh day they were to march around the city seven times in silence. At the end of the seventh lap around the city, the trumpets were to be blown and everyone else in the contingent was to shout. How's that for military strategy? I wonder if once again God was asking, "Do you trust me?" and "Will you obey me?"
They apparently did because they did as God instructed and as we know (and many of us have sung), "the walls came a'tumblin down!"
Not long after this Joshua leads his warriors on an all night march to Gibeon where not just one, but five Ammorite Kings and their armies are besieging the city. The enemy is surprised and Joshua's forces engage them in battle. At one point Joshua commands the sun and the moon to stand still. And they do! (I can't begin to explain this. In fact, each time I read this I essentially feel like God is asking me, "Do you trust me?" "Do you believe that I heard Joshua and that I am capable of stopping the sun and the moon in their tracks?" And then we read that as the enemy sought to escape, God bombarded them with hailstones and that more of the enemy died from the hailstones than at the hands of Joshua's army. Evidently God wanted to make it clear that this battle, just like the one in Jericho, wasn't won because the strength of Joshua or of his troops.
As we read Joshua, we can easily be turned off by all the blood and gore. Why would our loving God command the Israelites to kill ALL of the Canaanites -- men, women, and children! Doesn't God know about the not yet agreed upon Geneva Convention? Why didn't God give the Canaanites a chance to repent of their wrongdoing? And yet again, I hear that question, "Do you trust me?" "Do you trust that what doesn't make sense to you ... that what seems so distasteful and wrong to you ... is right because I commanded it?"
What can we draw from all this that relates to our every day lives? At the risk of oversimplifications, my guess is that we need to cling to the words, "be strong and courageous." It doesn't matter how horrible our circumstances seem. It doesn't matter how powerful those who seek to hurt us seem. It doesn't matter how unlikely a resolution to our problems seems. God is with us. And though "we can't, God can."
I wonder, the next time I'm feeling overwhelmed by the circumstances of my life, will I remember that I can be strong and courageous because God is with me? Or will I, discouraged and afraid, try to fix things myself? Will I trust that God will protect me and provide for all my needs? Or will I, distrusting God, try to protect and provide for myself? Will I trust God? Will I obey God?
Towards the end of the book of Joshua, Joshua speaks to the Isrealites and says this:
You yourselves have seen everything the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the LORD your God who fought for you.You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed." (Joshua 23:3,14)
May I, may you, cling to these words in the midst of our daily lives and struggles.
Addendum:
As I studied Joshua this week, I was reminded of a Michael W. Smith song I listened to a lot my last year of high school (mainly because it was one of only two cassette tapes I owned). It was titled "Be Strong and Courageous." I've included it here. I've also included a much more recent song simply titled "Joshua 1:9." Taken together, these songs have reminded me this week that I need to hear and believe these words now, just as much as I did 25 years ago!
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