Faithful Steward Ministries and FSM Women's Outreach

JOSHUA 1

Chapter CONTEXT from Gill’s Exposition of the Whole Bible: Moses being dead, the Lord directs and encourages Joshua to take the command of the children of Israel, and go over Jordan with them, and take possession of the land of Canaan, and divide it to them; giving him gracious promises and strong assurances of his presence, and some good advice with respect to his conduct, Joshua 1:1; upon which Joshua orders the people to be ready in three days to go along with him, Joshua 1:10; and particularly addresses the Reubenites and Gadites, and half tribe of Manasseh, and puts them in mind of what Moses had ordered, and they had promised, to go along with their brethren, and assist them in conquering the land, Joshua 1:12; which they readily agreed to do, and promised obedience to him in all things, Joshua 1:16.

Verse CONTEXT from MHCC 1:5-9: Joshua is to make the law of God his rule. He is charged to meditate therein day and night, that he might understand it. Whatever affairs of this world we have to mind, we must not neglect the one thing needful. All his orders to the people, and his judgments, must be according to the law of God. Joshua must himself be under command; no man’s dignity or dominion sets him above the law of God. He is to encourage himself with the promise and presence of God. Let not the sense of thine own infirmities dishearten thee; God is all-sufficient. I have commanded, called, and commissioned thee to do it, and will be sure to bear thee out in it. When we are in the way of duty, we have reason to be strong and very bold. Our Lord Jesus, as Joshua here, was borne up under his sufferings by a regard to the will of God, and the commandment from his Father.

Most folks (even me) look at this verse and focus on the fact that one should never forget God’s Law or as in a previous post that spiritual success comes to those who diligently study, apply, and keep God’s commandments on a daily basis. The one thing that I missed was God’s command or charge in this.

Looking at MHCC above I highlighted in bold all the words that make it clear this is an order to a soldier of God. I command or charge to do something that is vital to mission success. The similarities between armed forces personnel and those in God’s Army can not be ignored. Everyone has a chain of command and everyone is given orders. Those orders are always (at least we hope in the physical world) issued for the success of the battle.

The following Commentary is by far the best explanation of this charge I have ever read.

THE NEW LEADER’S COMMISSION – THE CHARGE TO THE SOLDIER OF THE LORD,
Joshua 1:7 – Joshua 1:8.