Joshua 1:9

(4 min)

Listen to the context here 🎙️🎧

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In this week's passage, God is speaking to Joshua before he leads the Israelites to conquer the Promised Land from the people already living there.

Author + Audience 🤓

• Author: Joshua (son of Nun), the successor to Moses, is generally considered to have authored the majority of this book.
• Audience: It was originally written to the Jewish people who first entered the Promised Land & experienced the initial fulfillment of God's promises to provide land and a nation to Abraham's descendants (Genesis 12:1–3).

OT Timeline: Moses → Joshua 🕰️

Here's where we are in the biblical narrative:

• Moses leads the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and they wander for 40 years in the desert.
• Leadership transitions from Moses to Joshua (Deut 31:7)
• ➡️ Our passage: Joshua 1:9 ⬅️
• Joshua leads the Israelites across the Jordan River (Joshua 3) where they will eventually conquer the land from people already living there (Joshua 6-12)

Repeated Phrase: Strength + Courage 💪

After God makes promises to Joshua, He instructs Joshua to "Be strong and courageous" three times (Joshua 1:6-9).

When we see a phrase repeated, we should lean in and pay closer attention.

This literary mechanism is used throughout Scripture to emphasize a point.

The Kind of Strength + Courage ✝️

God was not asking Joshua to be heroic in his own human strength and might.

God was calling Joshua to lead the Israelites by following Him and his commands.

Joshua was about to enter some dire situations.

God needed Joshua to obey and trust that He was in control.

The Reason for Strength + Courage 🙏🏽

The second part of our verse tells us why we can be strong and courageous.

"For" = "because" - you can be strong and courageous because God is with you.

For Reflection: What would it look like to trust and obey God in your current situation? 🤔

God wants us to be strong and courageous by trusting and obeying him, especially when external circumstances make that difficult.

As you memorize Joshua 1:9 this week, imagine God speaking these words to you in your context:

Have a blessed week,

Kieran & Isaac 🙏🏽