August 12, 2025 - Joshua 1:5 - "Christ, the Greater Joshua, Our Unfailing Captain of Salvation"

Joshua 1:5

"There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."

Joshua, standing at the edge of Canaan, faced an immense task. Moses, the servant of the LORD, was gone; the wilderness wandering was over; the Jordan lay ahead; and the land of promise, filled with strong cities and seasoned armies, awaited conquest. In the face of the daunting work of leading the children of Israel into an enemy-infested land, God speaks to Joshua: “There shall not any man be able to stand before thee… I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” This is more than mere encouragement that God is giving him. It is God's sovereign pledge to strengthen and uphold Joshua in everything he was given to do, to ensure the victory of the people over whom God established him as the leader and preserver of the people. The same God Who upheld Moses would uphold Joshua, for Joshua had been appointed by God Himself to lead His people into the land sworn to their fathers.

In this, Joshua is a type, or foreshadowing, of the LORD Jesus Christ. As Joshua succeeded Moses, so Christ succeeds the law, (John 1:17). "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24). Moses represented the law of God and was a guardian of the people while they were journeying through the wilderness, but could not bring the people into the promised land, just as the law cannot declare any sinner just before God. It took Christ coming and fulfilling the law on behalf of the people and leading them into the promised land. The law can only expose sin but cannot bring a sinner into God’s rest. Only Joshua—whose very name means “The LORD is salvation”—could take the people across. In the New Testament, that name appears in Greek as Iēsous, or Jesus. It is no coincidence that the One Who brings God’s elect into the true and heavenly rest bears the same Name.

The promise to Joshua—“I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee”—finds its fullest realization in Christ’s Person and work as the Mediator of His people. God the Father appointed Him from eternity as the Captain of salvation, to bring many sons unto glory (Hebrews 2:10). As Joshua’s charge was certain because it rested on the faithfulness of God, even so Christ’s mission was unshakable. After all, He came not to do His own will, but the will of Him Who sent Him—and that will was that of all the Father had given Him, He should lose none, but raise them at the last day (John 6:39).

Joshua’s enemies were many—giants in the land, fortified cities, entrenched kingdoms. Yet God’s Word stood: no man would be able to stand before him. In the greater Joshua, the LORD Jesus, this is perfectly fulfilled. All the enemies of God’s people—sin, death, hell, and Satan himself—could not stand before Him. He went into the conflict alone, bearing the wrath due to His people, and emerged victorious, crying, “It is finished.” The inheritance was secured.

Joshua led Israel every step of the way into Canaan, as the forerunner, distributing the inheritance by God’s command, so Christ leads His people into all the blessings of the covenant of grace of which He is the Mediator (Hebrews 8:6). Even now, He brings them into spiritual rest by faith, and at last, He will bring them bodily into that eternal land where there is no more curse. His abiding presence is the believer’s assurance as it was with Christ: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). These are the words of Him Who cannot fail and cannot forsake. "He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law,” (Isaiah 42:4).

Joshua 1:5 is not only an age-old encouragement—it is a Gospel promise. The God Who appointed Joshua to lead Israel into Canaan has appointed His Son to lead His elect into everlasting glory. And as surely as Joshua’s enemies fell before him, so nothing will separate Christ’s people from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our LORD (Romans 8:31-39).