Rev. Don Campbell
Joshua 1-4
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, March 23, 2019
“PASSING THE TORCH”
Moses was dead, but the torch of leadership was passed to Joshua. Three times in Joshua 1:6-9, God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous. God is not repeating the exhortation for emphasis. Each has a different point to make. First, there is the preamble: “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you” (v.5). The first exhortation is based on God’s promise to be with him, ensuring success: “Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them” (v.6). The second exhortation qualifies the success as contingent Joshua’s commitment to and immersion in the word (vv.7-8): “Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful 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.” The third becomes a command (v.9): “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
We fast forward to the end of the book and see that Joshua was indeed successful: “Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work the Lord did for Israel” (24:31).
No one lives forever. Moses died, Joshua died, James and John died, Peter died, Paul died, and Timothy died. The faith did not die with them because they passed the torch of leadership to others whom God had prepared. In Paul’s words to Timothy, we see a line of succession not from office-holder to office-holder, but from the faithful to the faithful: “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything” (2 Timothy 2:1-7).
CONNECTIONS – 1 Kings 19:18, Ephesians 4:11, Ephesians 4:15-16
1. A preacher once wrote to a friend, saying that when the two of them were dead, the cause of Christ was lost. What did God say to Elijah when he said, “I’m the only one left that is faithful”? (1 Kings 19:18)
2. Paul says that God gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some shepherds, and some teachers, so not all are leaders (Ephesians 4:11). He went on to say that all of us should do what? (Ephesians 4:15-16).
3. In Ephesians 6:10-20, a very familiar passage about the Christian’s armor, Paul exhorts us to “be strong” (v.10), “stand firm” (v.13), and “keep alert” (v.18). What are some “civilian pursuits” that often entangle soldiers of the Lord?
“Link to YouTube Video – Onward Christian Soldiers”
