Bible Men: Joshua: Why Good Courage is Taught

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. Jos 1:9  

The Changing Face of Courage

There was a time when an old man’s cough left no doubt what it meant. It sent shivers down the spines of men. Today a man coughs for fear of darkness.

At one time Saul wreaked havoc on the young church in Jerusalem. No one doubted his courage. It took the coming down of Jesus to face him. On the road to Damascus one courage died and a new one was born. “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” 

We knew John (together with his brother James) as the “sons of thunder.” Today we know John as the apostle of love. So the times have changed. And the nature of courage too.

Our grandfathers’ courage was raw. They lived and died as lions. Today a man would draw curious looks for behaving like a lion.

The tough ideals have thawed. Tolerance has flattened the field and made everybody a hero in his own right.

Men escaped to live in the deserts once. They inspired awe. Today men have gone to the moon and come back. What is a desert?

And then God went to Job’s sick bed and commanded him to behave like a man. Of course today saying such a thing might sound grossly insensitive, especially to a dying man.

If you would pay a visit to any of our national hospitals something strange will strike you. The difference between male wards and female ones is stark. In the male wards the silence is daunting. In the female wards you will pause for a minute just to confirm you’re in the right place.

So our fathers spoke their minds and they suffered no depression. Today we suppress speaking our minds until we fall sick. We have extensive knowledge, but we are also extensively uncertain. A man’s kingdom has shrunk. And so has his heart.

Tolerance has dignified fear. And so the diseases which afflict us have also become bold. But “at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them.” In prayers prison doors break open (Acts 16:25-26).

Life is war. Fight it to death. Sun Tzu taught the physical war very well. But life is not only physical, life is also spiritual, and in the latter, I need someone superior than Sun Tzu. I need God. He has never gone wrong and never will. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.      

God’s Encouragement to Joshua

“The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name” (Exo 15:3). 

And from childhood we know Joshua as a man of war. As Moses’ assistant his courage was never in question. And in the school of wilderness only he and Caleb passed the test of courage.

The rest died. Fear and lack of a high ideal killed them.

We know Joshua’s courage stemmed from his knowledge of God. He was there as Moses took his commands. He was there as Moses rose and fell and rose again. He had proof of God’s faithfulness.

But here is God commanding him again to be courageous!

His first assignment was done and it was good. His next assignment was harder. We rise from one hard assignment into a harder one. Getting saved is fairly easy. It’s the keeping of faith which is always difficult.

God knows that. So he says again and again “Don’t fear. Just believe.”

Temptations come. We mourn, we cry, we are torn and we’re bruised. But he restores the broken parts. And not a single word of his falls to the ground.   

Jesus birth was hard. His life harder. And his death the hardest. Yet throughout it all Christ triumphed. And it is through such testimonies that courage is built.

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair. 2Co 4:8  

Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. 2Co 4:9  

Patience as Courage

So Joshua studied courage under Moses. He waited many years. Waiting pays a good dividend in the end. Can you picture Moses as the teacher of courage? Yet with God nothing shall be impossible.

Moses, the one who started in fear, has ended up as the greatest encourager of all time. His courage didn’t come suddenly. It came in drips. And Joshua watched. They sat at the feet of God for long periods of time. And in the end they were not ashamed.

For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. Heb 10:36 

And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. Heb 6:15  

That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Heb 6:12   

So courage is something we learn every day for the rest of our lives. Even on the last day on our death beds we shall pant for a word of encouragement. So give it freely. Give as much as you’ve received. “Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (2Co 1:4).  

So God encouraged Joshua. Think of someone you may encourage today and encourage them too. They may just have been waiting for such a word.

Enduring to the End

We live in perilous times. Daily we are weighed down by questions we cannot find answers to. We need courage. And God gives that and much more.

So he says “Come unto me all ye that are heavy laden and I will give you rest,” and “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not… For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

And always when God calls it is because he wants to give more. In the end Joshua’s life testified of God’s faithfulness. “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

May your life and mine too draw to such a resounding conclusion. So too may we say with the apostle in valediction, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”