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January 28, 2025 - Joshua 1:9 - Christ our Joshua

Writer's picture: Pastor Ken WimerPastor Ken Wimer

Joshua 1:9

"Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."


In the book of Joshua, we witness the moment when God commissions Joshua to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. The weight of this task must have been daunting. Moses, the great Leader who had guided Israel through the wilderness for forty years, had just passed away, and now the charge fell to Joshua. God’s command to Joshua is clear: "Be strong and of a good courage."

This call to courage and strength is not just about Joshua’s personal qualities; it is a reflection of God's ongoing faithfulness to His people in providing for them a Faithful Representative, even as He has done in establishing the LORD Jesus as the Representative Head of His elected people.


As we reflect on this verse, it is essential to see Joshua not only as a historical figure but as a type of Christ—a foreshadowing of the One Who would come to fulfill God’s promises in a far greater way (Hebrews 4:8). Moses, representing the Law, could not bring the people into the Promised Land, just as the Law cannot save (Romans 8:3-14). It requires absolute perfection, which not even Moses could fulfill for himself, much less for the people of Israel. Therefore, the necessity of another, like Joshua, whose Greek name is "Jesus" (Jehovah saves).


Joshua as a Type of Christ

  1. Called by God to Lead and Deliver

Just as God called Joshua to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land, God sent His Son, the LORD Jesus, to lead His people into their Spiritual Inheritance—Eternal Life with the Father. Joshua's leadership is a glimpse of Christ’s ultimate role as the Savior, Who would deliver His people, not from physical enemies, but from sin and death. In the same way that Joshua led Israel into a land of rest, the LORD Jesus has, by representation, led His people (elected by the Father) into Eternal rRest (Matthew 11:28).


  1. Commanded to Be Strong and Courageous

Joshua's call to be strong and courageous echoes the LORD Jesus's perfect courage to earn and establish the righteousness necessary to satisfy God's Law and Justice as the Representative of those the Father gave Him. Notice that here, the instruction is given to Joshua to do the work on behalf of the people, and not to the people, even as the LORD Jesus was to obey on behalf of the people given to Him. When God told Joshua not to be afraid, it was because God Himself would be with him. The LORD Jesus, too, embodies perfect courage, knowing the road ahead would be filled with rejection, betrayal, and suffering. Yet, He faithfully walked toward the cross, knowing that God’s presence would sustain Him. "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).


The LORD Jesus had a perfect nature and, therefore, was never prone to fear, in contrast to Joshua, who was but an imperfect type. Yet, as a man, the LORD Jesus learned obedience through the things that He suffered (Hebrews 5:8). What He endured as the sin-Bearer would have caused any mere man to tremble and buckle under the weight of sin. What our LORD Jesus endured is recorded in His experience in the Garden of Gethsemane, where in His hour of temptation, He sweat as it were great drops of blood (Luke 22:44). Yet, He was sustained and strengthened through His trial, all the way to the cross, thereby fulfilling the work of salvation for His people, culminating in His death on the cross in satisfaction of His Father's Law and Justice.


  1. God's Presence as the Source of Courage

The key to Joshua’s courage was the promise that "the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." Similarly, even as the LORD Jesus was assured of the Presence of His Father and Spirit throughout His life on this earth and was never abandoned, so the LORD Jesus assures those He redeemed that He would be with them always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).


Even as the strength of the LORD Jesus, as God in the flesh, was sustained by the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in Him (Colossians 2:9), so the LORD's people are strengthened by Him and His presence with them and in them by His Spirit. "That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through His Spirit" (Ephesians 3:16).


Our courage is not found in our strength but in the abiding Presence of God with us, even as the LORD Jesus enjoyed the Presence of the Spirit of God without measure to fulfill all righteousness for His people (John 3:34).


As Joshua trusted in God’s Presence to lead Israel into battle as God's appointed deliverer, so the LORD Jesus Christ trusted in the Presence of the Spirit to lead many sons into glory, as the Captain of their salvation (Hebrews 2:10).


  1. A Picture of the Victory in Christ

Joshua’s victory over the nations in the Promised Land points to the greater victory that Christ would win over the powers of the Law, sin, death, and Satan. Just as Joshua conquered the enemies in the land, Christ, through His death and resurrection, has defeated the greatest enemies that stood against those sinners whom the Father chose and gave Him to save. Because of Christ's successful work as the Savior of His people, as believers, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us and gave Himself for us (Romans 8:37).


As with Joshua, so with the LORD Jesus Christ, Who came and conquered every spiritual enemy of His people. Zachariah the High Priest, and John the Baptist's father declared:

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people, And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David; As He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant; The oath which He sware to our father Abraham, That He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life" (Luke 1:68-75).







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