📖 Joshua Intensive — Unit 1: The Commission

Course Orientation

Welcome to the Joshua Intensive — a ten-unit, deep-dive study of the Old Testament book of Joshua. The course follows Joshua chapter by chapter, walking through the conquest of Canaan, the great battles of faith, the dividing of the inheritance, and finally Joshua's farewell charge: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Each unit ends with a thirty-question exam, requires 90% to pass. A failed multiple-choice section locks for two minutes; for master's-level students, a failed short-answer section locks for fifteen minutes. The course awards a certificate of completion upon finishing all ten units.

The book of Joshua sits at a hinge in the Old Testament. Genesis through Deuteronomy tell the story of how Israel got to the land. Joshua tells the story of how Israel got into the land. The five books of Moses end at the Jordan River with Moses dead and the people camped on the eastern bank. Joshua picks up at that exact moment and carries the story across the Jordan, around Jericho, through Achan's sin and Ai's defeat, into the Gibeonite deception and the long day of Joshua, through the conquest of the north and the south, and finally into the dividing of the inheritance among the twelve tribes. The book closes with Joshua at one hundred and ten years old standing before the people he had led for a generation, charging them to choose whom they would serve.

The keyword that holds the book together is Promise. God had sworn the land of Canaan to Abraham more than five hundred years before the events of this book. He repeated the promise to Isaac, to Jacob, and to Moses. The book of Joshua is the historical fulfillment of that promise. What God said He would do, He did. What God promises, God keeps. That is the theological heartbeat of the book, and it will be the heartbeat of every unit of this course.

The Book at a Glance

Author: Joshua himself wrote the bulk of the book, with Joshua 24:1–26 specifically identified as his composition; the closing account of his death and burial was likely added by the priest Eleazar. The earlier portions were clearly written by an eyewitness of the events recorded.

Date: The Exodus from Egypt occurred around 1448 BC; the conquest of Canaan under Joshua took place around 1400 BC.

Background: Canaanite religion at the time of the conquest was deeply corrupt — temple prostitution of both sexes, infant sacrifice, and a wide array of abominations. The conquest was God's judgment on a culture that had filled up its measure of sin (Genesis 15:16; Leviticus 18:24–25). It was not Israel's war; it was God's war, fought through Israel as His instrument.

Three central emphases: the faithfulness of God to His promise of the land; the supreme importance of the written Law of God (1:8; 8:32–35; 23:6–16; 24:26–27); and the holiness of God in judging the sin of the Canaanites.

I. The Setting — A Funeral and a Commission (Joshua 1:1–2)

The book opens with one of the most consequential transitions in all of Scripture. "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'" (Joshua 1:1–2).

Moses, the deliverer who led Israel out of Egypt and shepherded them through forty years of wilderness, was dead. The greatest leader Israel had ever known was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere on Mount Nebo. Israel had wept thirty days for him on the plains of Moab (Deuteronomy 34:8). And now the question hung over the camp like the dust of the wilderness behind them: what now? Who can replace Moses? Who can lead this people across the Jordan into a land of fortified cities and battle-hardened kings?

God's answer comes immediately. "Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise." God buries His workmen. He does not bury His work. The death of even the greatest leader does not slow the purposes of God by a single day. Joshua, the apprentice who had stood beside Moses for forty years, is now the man. The funeral is over. The commission begins.

II. The Promise — Five Hundred Years Delayed, Now Fulfilled (Joshua 1:3–5)

"Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. 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" (Joshua 1:3–5).

The land Joshua was about to enter had been promised to Abraham five centuries earlier in Genesis 15. To Abraham, then to Isaac, then to Jacob, then again to Moses — God had repeated the promise generation after generation. Now, five hundred years later, the time of fulfillment had come. The God who keeps His word across centuries was about to demonstrate that He keeps His word across centuries.

Booker T. Washington tells the story of an ex-slave from Virginia who, two or three years before the Emancipation Proclamation, made a contract with his master to buy his freedom over time. When the Proclamation came, this freedman was still in debt to his old master for three hundred dollars. Legally, the Proclamation freed him from any obligation. But this man walked the greater portion of the way back to Virginia and placed the last dollar, with interest, in his old master's hands. He told Washington he knew he did not have to pay the debt — but he had given his word, and his word he had never broken. He could not enjoy his freedom until he had fulfilled his promise.

That is a parable of God. What God says, God does. What God promises, God keeps. Five hundred years is nothing to a God who keeps His word. The same God who promised Abraham, who walked with Isaac, who wrestled with Jacob, who spoke from the burning bush, was now standing with Joshua at the edge of the Jordan and saying, "Every place the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given you." The promise was not delayed. It was timed.

III. The Charge — Be Strong and Courageous (Joshua 1:6–9)

Four times in the opening chapter God charges Joshua to be strong and courageous. The repetition is not accidental. "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" (1:6). "Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law" (1:7). "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage" (1:9). And later in verse 18, the people themselves echo the charge back to Joshua: "Only be strong and of good courage."

God knew what Joshua needed to hear. The man stepping into Moses' shoes was looking across at fortified cities, walled fortresses, and giants the previous generation had refused to face. He was the leader of a people whose fathers had already failed at this same border once before. He had every reason to be afraid. So God repeated the charge until it was burned into Joshua's bones: be strong, be courageous, do not fear, do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

This is the anchor verse of the book and the course Scripture for this entire intensive: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9).

Joshua was being commanded into courage, but the basis of the command was not Joshua's natural temperament. The basis was the presence of God: "the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Strip away that companion presence and Joshua had no courage to summon. Add that companion presence, and there was no place Joshua could not go.

IV. The Word Day and Night (Joshua 1:8)

Tucked between the charges to courage is a verse easy to overlook but central to everything that follows. "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe 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" (Joshua 1:8).

Notice the conditions that link to prosperity and success. Not military genius. Not political skill. Not natural charisma. The Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth. You shall meditate in it day and night. You shall observe to do all that is written in it. Then you will make your way prosperous. Then you will have good success. The leader's success is tethered to the leader's saturation in the Word of God.

Joshua had been Moses' personal attendant for forty years (Exodus 24:13). He had seen the giving of the Law on Sinai. He had seen what happened when Israel obeyed and what happened when Israel rebelled. He knew. And now, on the threshold of the greatest assignment of his life, the first thing God reminded him of was not the battle plan but the Book. Saturate yourself in My Word. Speak it. Meditate on it. Obey it. Everything else flows from there.

V. Joshua's First Order (Joshua 1:10–15)

Joshua's first move as commander is striking. He does not call a war council. He does not consult the spies. He turns to the eastern tribes — Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh — whose inheritance had already been settled on the eastern side of the Jordan back in Numbers 32. They could have stayed home. Their land was already theirs. Their families were already settled. They had every excuse to send the rest of Israel across the river without them.

But Joshua reminds them of the agreement they had made with Moses: "Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, 'The Lord your God is giving you rest and is giving you this land.' Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But you shall pass before your brethren armed, all your mighty men of valor, and help them" (1:13–14).

This is the first lesson in pastoral and corporate leadership the book of Joshua will teach. The settled cannot abandon the unsettled. Those who have already received their inheritance still owe their brothers their swords until every brother is across the river. The eastern tribes will fight in the conquest until every tribe has its land — and only then will they return home in peace.

VI. The People Respond (Joshua 1:16–18)

The eastern tribes' answer is one of the most striking commitments in all of Scripture. "All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the Lord your God be with you, as He was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words, in all that you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage" (1:16–18).

Notice three things in this answer. First, total obedience: all that you command we will do. Second, conditional dependence: only the Lord your God be with you, as He was with Moses. They are not committing to Joshua because of Joshua. They are committing because they recognize Joshua as the man God has set in Moses' place. Third, an echo of God's own charge: only be strong and of good courage. The commander hears from God in verse 9, and from the people in verse 18, the same word: be strong and of good courage. Joshua's calling is confirmed both vertically and horizontally.

VII. The Name "Joshua" — Yehoshua, Yahweh Saves

The Hebrew name Yehoshua is built from two parts. The first part is the personal covenant name of God — Yahweh. The second part is the verb meaning to save or to deliver. Put together, Yehoshua means Yahweh saves, or the Lord is salvation.

This is more than a name. Yehoshua, when carried into Greek, becomes Iēsous — the very name we know in English as Jesus. Joshua and Jesus share the same name. They share the same meaning. They share the same office in different forms. Joshua leads Israel out of the wilderness and into the inheritance of the land. Jesus leads His people out of the bondage of sin and into the inheritance of eternal life. Joshua fights with sword and trumpet. Jesus fights with the cross and the empty tomb. Joshua brings Israel into Canaan. Jesus brings the Church home to glory.

The book of Joshua is not only history. It is shadow. Every page points toward the greater Joshua who would come fifteen hundred years later, bearing the same name, leading a greater people into a greater inheritance.

VIII. Application — Claiming What Is Already Ours

Years ago an Englishman moved to the United States. Soon after he arrived he dropped out of sight. One day his uncle in England died and left him about a five-million dollar estate. Scotland Yard tried to locate him; his last known address had been in Chicago. They searched and could not find him. Later word came that he had been found one morning frozen to death in the entryway of a cheap hotel. He could not afford twenty-five cents for a room — although he was heir to five million dollars. He did not claim what was his. He did not lay hold of what belonged to him.

That is a haunting image of what far too many Christians do with their inheritance in Christ. Every promise of God in Scripture, every blessing won at the cross, every gift of the Spirit secured by the resurrection — all of it stands waiting to be claimed by the believer. And many believers freeze to death in the entryway of a cheap hotel, never having laid hold of what was already legally theirs.

God did not say to Joshua, "I will give you the land if you fight well enough." He said, "Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you." The land was already given. Joshua's work was not to earn it. Joshua's work was to walk into it. The work of the Christian life is largely the same — not earning what is already given, but walking into it by faith, by obedience, by the daily pressing forward of feet on ground that has already been deeded by God.

Closing — The Promise and the Pioneer

Chapter one ends with the camp poised at the edge of the Jordan. The funeral is behind them. The promise is ahead. The commander has been commissioned. The Word has been put in his mouth. The people have pledged their obedience. Tomorrow they cross.

This is where every Christian life finds itself eventually — at a Jordan, with a promise on the far side and a river in between. Be strong, brother. Be of good courage. Do not be afraid; do not be dismayed. The Lord your God is with you wherever you go. The promise He made five hundred years ago to the man whose name you do not know is the same promise He keeps today to the woman in the village, the pastor in the city, the student in the seminary, and the missionary in the field. What God has spoken, God will do. The God who finished the work in Joshua's generation will finish the work in yours.

Cross your Jordan. Take the next step. The land ahead is already deeded.

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