Old Testament # 18
“Be Strong and of a Good Courage”
Joshua 1–6; 23–24
Introduction
Well this week’s reading is full of intrigue, strategy, loud noises (!!), subterfuge, and miraculous divine intervention. The mighty Jordan river is parted, the sun stands still, and the children of Israel sweep into Canaan as the cleansing flood the Lord intends. I know some cast Brigham Young as the modern Moses, but to my mind Joseph Smith is the better parallel as he it was who re-established the Lord’s Church, as Moses did for Israel; Joseph re-introduced temple worship and led his people to the threshold if you will of Zion in the West. Joshua, like Brigham, took them the last (arduous) journey to the Promised Land, having been as true and faithful to Moses as Brigham was to Joseph.
The lesson this week is to “be strong and of a good courage.” As we continue to spend time working on our ability to receive revelation on how we personally minister and to whom, it occurs that what we need is the strength to believe in ourselves and increase our faith in God. If I remember correctly, when the tornado hit Salt Lake some years ago, the image that comes to mind is that of a straw I think it was going right through a car window. (I did try to find that, but couldn’t.) At any rate the point is that with God nothing is impossible, and when we need strength to do something the Lord asks us to, that we maybe don’t think we can do, through faith we will gain His strength to do it. 1 Nephi 3:7.
1. The Lord calls Joshua. Joshua 1.
One difference between Brigham and Joshua is that Brigham had the rest of the Twelve to help him. Joshua appears to be mostly on his own, although the structure Moses had established was still in place. But the Lord had made a covenant with Abraham and this was His people, so his words to Joshua are explicit and trustworthy: “There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Joshua 1:5).
In 2013, President Monson told us:
Whether it is the best of times or the worst of times, He is with us. He has promised that this will never change. My brothers and sisters, may we have a commitment to our Heavenly Father that does not ebb and flow with the years or the crises of our lives. We should not need to experience difficulties for us to remember Him, and we should not be driven to humility before giving Him our faith and trust. May we ever strive to be close to our Heavenly Father. To do so, we must pray to Him and listen to Him every day. We truly need Him every hour, whether they be hours of sunshine or of rain. May His promise ever be our watchword: “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”[1]
Jehovah further instructed Joshua in verses 8–9:
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
For us, this is extended to our scriptural canon, and especially the Book of Mormon from which we know that no plain and precious truths have been removed.
2. The Israelites cross the Jordan River on dry ground; through their faith, Jericho is destroyed.Joshua 3–4and 6.
Although this isn’t part of our reading, I’d like to pose the question as to why the story of Rahab was included in this account? In a way, it reminds me of the story of Zoram and how he was included in the eastward trek of Lehi and his family. Because of her kindness to Joshua’s two spies, the Lord included Rahab and her family in the covenant people.
There is a significant difference between the parting of the Jordan and the parting of the Red Sea. Forty years on, the Lord expects a demonstration of their faith. Isn’t this also a parallel to ministering. Throughout the relatively short history of the Church, specifics have given way by inspiration to interpretation through personal revelation. There have been several changes, for example, in the temple ceremonies which cause us to seek for revelation to understand what we are being taught. Moses did everything for the children of Israel through the Lord. With Joshua, the Lord tells the priests who bear the ark to step first into the over-flowing river, and then the way through on dry ground would be revealed.
Again, though, the trumpet blowing is surely a test of their faith. The noise alone wouldn’t have been sufficient to bring down the walls.
President Kimball talks about this:
It takes faith—unseeing faith—for young people to proceed immediately with their family responsibilities in the face of financial uncertainties. It takes faith for the young woman to bear her family instead of accepting employment, especially when schooling for the young husband is to be finished. It takes faith to observe the Sabbath when “time and a half” can be had working, when sales can be made, when merchandise can be sold. It takes a great faith to pay tithes when funds are scarce and demands are great. It takes faith to fast and have family prayers and to observe the Word of Wisdom. It takes faith to do ward teaching, stake missionary work, and other service, when sacrifice is required. It takes faith to fill foreign missions. But know this—that all these are of the planting, while faithful, devout families, spiritual security, peace, and eternal life are the harvests.[2]
Toward the end of his life, Joshua, like Moses, calls the people together to address them. The Lord knows the end from the beginning, and the promise to the children of Israel echoes that given to the Nephites—if you obey the commandments you will prosper, if you do not, you will suffer. Joshua will do everything he can to prevent the latter. As do our modern-day prophets. I don’t often cite the Journal of Discourses, but this quote from Erastus Snow is particularly apposite here (obviously addressed to the brethren, but not less applicable to sisters):
If good and evil is placed before us, does not the person who chooses the good and refuses the evil exhibit his agency and manhood as much as the man who chooses the evil and refuses the good? or is the independence of manhood all on the side of the evil-doer? I leave you to answer this question in your own mind. To me, I think the angels and saints and all good people have exercised their agency by choosing the good and refusing the evil; and in doing so they not only exhibit their independence and manhood as much, but show a much higher and greater nobility of character and disposition; and I leave the future to determine who are wise in the choice of their freedom and independence.
“Joshua said to ancient Israel: ‘Choose ye this day whom ye will serve; if the Lord be God, serve him; if Baal, serve him. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ I think what we need to learn are the true principles that shall lead us to peace, to wealth and happiness in this world, and glory and exaltation in the world to come. And that if we can learn these principles, and receive them in good and honest hearts, and teach them as our faith, and practice them in our lives, we shall show our manhood, our independence and our agency as creditably before the angels and the Gods, as any wicked man can, in refusing the good and cleaving to the evil, exhibit his before the devil and his angels. (In Journal of Discourses, 19:180–81.)
In conclusion, maybe ministeringcomes down simply to choosing this day to serve the Lord.
Additional Material
The Conquest of Canaan
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