No man will stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, I shall be with you; I will neither leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous to take care to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not slip 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 success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or fear, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
*(This teaching is based on the commentary of Rabbi Don Isaac Abravanel, born in 1437 in Portugal, died in 1508 in Venice.)
The book of Joshua opens with God’s words to Joshua as he began his assignment as the leader of the people of Israel. In the five verses quoted above there appear to be several redundancies.
- Three times in this passage God tells Joshua to “be strong and courageous.” The second time includes the word “very.” And the third time God first says, “Have I not commanded you?” What exactly is this referring to?
- Verse 7 states: “to take care to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.” Verse 8 states: “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 success.”
This seems repetitive. What exactly was God telling Joshua? Why these apparent repetitions?
Be strong and courageous
Let’s take a closer look at the three times God told Joshua to “be strong and courageous.”
What does it mean that Joshua will “give this people possession” of the land? Joshua will lead them in battle to conquer it, but is he the one who gave them the land? Victory in battle is always attributed to God. This verse does not refers to the war of conquest. Rather, it refers to the difficult task of allotting portions of land to each of the tribes. This was a daunting assignment. Certainly, there would be contention between the various tribes of Israel, disputes over who would take possession of which piece of land. In this respect, Joshua was, indeed, the one who would “give this people possession of the land.” God told Joshua to be strong and courageous in his dealings with the leaders of the tribes. This is the intent of the previous verse as well.
Your leadership will not be challenged
No man will stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, I shall be with you; I will neither leave you nor forsake you.
Imagine Joshua’s mindset as he assumed the mantle of leadership after the death of Moses. He knew that nobody would ever be able to replace Moses in the eyes of the people. The final verses of Deuteronomy, just after Moses’ death, testified to Moses’ greatness.
Stepping in to replace Moses must have filled Joshua with doubt. He witnessed the numerous occasions when the people of Israel rebelled and challenged Moses’ leadership in the desert. Now Joshua would need to lead this nation through many years of war and conquest. When God said to Joshua, “No man will stand before you,” He was not talking about enemies of Israel from other nations. He was talking about challenges from the people of Israel themselves.
To sum up, in the opening two verses of our passage God encourages Joshua to be strong and courageous and to not fear the people he is leading. He would have difficult decisions to make in the years ahead. He must not be afraid to lead the people.
Be obedient to God
Then God told Joshua that to guarantee the success of his leadership, he would need to be personally obedient and pious in his adherence to the word of God.
Here, God warns Joshua that he must “be strong and courageous” with regard to his obedience to God’s law. He goes on to tell Joshua that the only way he will be able to remain obedient is by studying and “meditating” on the words of the Torah all the days of his life. Joshua must not allow his leadership position to lead him to think that he is on par with Moses. Moses was the greatest prophet. It is only through Moses that law came to Israel. Joshua must humbly recognize this and submit himself to the law of God given through Moses.
Which command?
Regarding the third time that God told Joshua to “be strong and courageous,” we asked what is meant by God when He said, “Have I not commanded you, Be strong and courageous!”? Where is this command? Towards the end of Deuteronomy, just before the death of Moses, Joshua was appointed to succeed him in leadership. There we read,
Here we have the “command” to Joshua to “be strong and courageous.” With this in mind, our verse makes perfect sense. In this third call for Joshua to “be strong and courageous,” God referred back to the original command to Joshua in Deuteronomy. And as we see clearly, the subject of that command was the conquest of the land. This third time that God tells Joshua, “do not tremble or fear” in our passage He was telling him not to fear the Canaanite nations on the field of battle. And as He says to Joshua, this was already commanded earlier, in Deuteronomy 31.
This passage contains a very important lesson about leadership. First, a leader must not be afraid of the people he is leading. He must have the courage to state and implement his convictions. He must not be a follower, afraid to speak the truth because of how it may be received. Second, a leader must remain humble before God. He must immerse Himself in God’s word so that He does not fall prey to the natural arrogance that often comes with power. He must overcome the urge to follow his own inclinations over the expressed will of God. Finally, a leader set the example of courage in the face of the enemy. This is God’s leadership lesson for Joshua.
Leadership requires strength and courage. Here we learn that these traits must be directed in three ways. First, we must have the courage to state truth to those that we lead. Second, we must have the courage to constantly remind ourselves of God’s truth. Third, we must have the courage to face the enemy from without.
