Joshua 1:16-18 - The Leaders Encourage Joshua

Whenever God calls and commissions us to attempt a great work for Him in this world, He will also equip us, enable us, and encourage us to be successful! That is the story of Joshua that we read about in Joshua chapter one. Now that Joshua has been encouraged by God’s commission, His promises, His written Word, and His commandment (vv. 1-9), and he has encouraged his leaders (vv. 10-15), we find that the leaders also encourage Joshua.   In verse 16, the pronoun "they" probably refers to all the officers Joshua had addressed and not to the leaders of the two and a half tribes alone. What an encouragement they were to their new leader! But I always wonder when I read these verses, what Joshua might have been thinking when they said it. If he was remembering how they so often rebelled against Moses and his leadership during the forty years in the wilderness, he might have thought, “Oh my, are we in for a rough time!”. But I’m sure that these new leaders must have been sincere and meant what they said from their hearts, and they sought to encourage their new leader in several ways.   To begin with, they encouraged him by assuring him of their complete obedience (vv. 16-17a). "Command us and we will obey! Send us and we will go!" These officers had no hidden agendas, and they asked for no concessions. They would obey all his commands and go wherever he would send them. We could use that kind of commitment in the church today!   Our Joshua, the Lord Jesus Christ, made it very clear that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments (John 14:21, 23). Our surrender to the will of God for our lives should be total and complete (Romans 12:1-2). There is no such thing as a halfway surrender. Today we often ask people to make “commitments” to serve the Lord. But it is obvious that “commitments” can easily be broken. Once you totally surrender to the will of God, you become the will of God, and from love you delight to live for Christ and please Him alone!   The officers also encouraged Joshua by praying for him (v. 17). The best thing we can do for those who lead us is to pray for them daily and ask God to be with them. Joshua was a trained man with vast experience, but that was no guarantee of success. No Christian worker succeeds to the glory of God apart from prayer. Corrie Ten Boom asked the question, "Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?" When Joshua did not pause to seek the mind of God, he failed miserably (Josh. 7 and 9); and so will we.   The leaders encouraged Joshua by assuring him that their obedience was a matter of life or death (1:18). They took his leadership and their responsibilities seriously. Later, Achan didn't take Joshua's orders seriously, and he was killed (Joshua 7:15). "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46) If God's people today saw obedience to Christ a matter of life or death, it would make a big difference in our ministry to a lost world. We obey the Lord's orders if we feel like it, if it's convenient, and if we can get something out of it. With soldiers like that, Joshua would never have conquered the Promised Land!   Finally, they encouraged him by reminding him of the Word of God (v. 18b). Moses told Joshua to "be ye of good courage" when he sent him and the other men into Canaan to spy out the land (Num. 13:20). Moses repeated the words when he installed Joshua as his successor (Deut. 31:7,23). Four times in this chapter you find the words "be strong and of good courage" (vv. 6-7, 9,18). If we are to conquer the enemy and claim our inheritance in Christ, we must have spiritual strength and spiritual courage. "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might" (Eph. 6:10).   The first step toward winning the battle and claiming our inheritance is to let God encourage us and then for us to encourage others. A discouraged army is never victorious.   Be strong! Be encouraged today!!!! The battle is the Lord's!   God bless!