Book: The Way of the Word: Chapter 6: Joshua: Strength and Courage in the Promise
- Dr. Layne McDonald
- Jun 9
- 14 min read
Joshua is a book about transition, courage, conflict, covenant, and inheritance. It opens with grief, because Moses is dead. It moves into courage, because Joshua must now lead. It enters conflict, because the promised land is not received without battle. It ends in covenant, because the real issue was never only whether Israel could take the land, but whether Israel would remain faithful to the God who gave it.
That rhythm still speaks to the Church. Many believers love the language of promise, but Joshua reminds us that promise is not passive. God gives, but He also calls us to trust, step, obey, fight, remember, and remain. The book is not merely about ancient Israel crossing into Canaan. It is about what happens when the people of God stop circling the edge of His will and finally step into what He said.
Joshua stands at a defining hinge in redemptive history. The Pentateuch gave Israel identity, law, memory, and covenant structure. Joshua shows what it looks like when those truths begin to take visible shape in the life of a nation. God had promised Abraham a land. He had delivered Israel through Moses. Now He would establish them under Joshua. The promise had not failed. It was ripening in history.
For Christians, Joshua is not a license to force every Old Testament battle into a direct one-to-one model for modern life. We must read it carefully, in context, and with Christ at the center. Yet the book still teaches us profound spiritual truths. We learn about courage that flows from God’s presence, obedience that trusts divine wisdom over human strategy, inheritance that comes by covenant grace, and leadership that calls households to wholehearted allegiance.
1. Stepping into the Promise: The Theology of Courage and the Crossing of the Jordan
The opening chapter of Joshua is one of the clearest statements in Scripture that courage is theological before it is emotional. God does not begin by telling Joshua to believe in himself. He does not build Joshua’s confidence on personality, charisma, or military pedigree. He roots Joshua’s courage in divine presence, divine promise, and divine Word.
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9, NIV)
That command matters because Joshua is stepping into a role that could crush a lesser man. Moses had towered over Israel’s history. He confronted Pharaoh, stood on Sinai, and spoke with God in a unique way. Joshua is not just replacing a leader. He is following a giant. Many people know what that feels like in a smaller but still real sense. A parent dies. A pastor retires. A mentor moves on. A previous season ends, and suddenly you are asked to carry responsibility you once watched from a distance.
God’s answer to that fear is not flattery. It is presence. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you (Joshua 1:5). That is the foundation of biblical courage. Courage is not pretending fear is absent. Courage is choosing faith-filled obedience because God is present.
There is also a strong Word-centered theology here. Joshua is told not to let the Book of the Law depart from his mouth, but to meditate on it day and night (Joshua 1:8). In other words, courage is not self-generated resolve. It is sustained by a mind and mouth shaped by revelation. The leader who will stand in battle must first stand under the authority of God’s Word.
That matters for us. A lot of modern ideas of courage are built on hype, personality, or adrenaline. Biblical courage is different. It is slower, steadier, and more durable. It grows where the soul has been anchored in what God has said. The believer who keeps Scripture close is not guaranteed an easy road, but he is stabilized against panic, drift, and spiritual confusion.
The Jordan crossing in Joshua 3 deepens this theology. Israel is not crossing a symbolic puddle. At flood stage, the Jordan was a real barrier. It represented the final threshold between wilderness life and covenant inheritance. But unlike the Red Sea, where Israel was fleeing Egypt, here they are advancing into promise. The Red Sea was deliverance from bondage. The Jordan is entry into calling.
Notice the order of events. The priests carrying the ark step into the river first. The waters do not part from a safe distance. The miracle meets obedience in motion. This is important. Sometimes we want total clarity before any action. We want dry ground before obedient feet. But in Joshua, God often reveals His power as His people move according to His command.
The ark is central here because it symbolizes the presence of God. Israel does not enter the land with mere national ambition. They enter behind the presence of the Lord. This was never supposed to be human conquest for human glory. It was covenant fulfillment under divine leadership.
Joshua also commands the people to consecrate themselves, "for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you" (Joshua 3:5, NIV). Consecration comes before crossing. Holiness comes before breakthrough. That is still true. We often want victory without surrender, movement without cleansing, promise without consecration. But the way of God is wholeness, not shortcuts.
After the crossing, twelve stones are taken from the Jordan and set up as a memorial (Joshua 4). That memorial theology matters. God did not want Israel merely to survive the moment. He wanted them to remember it. Their children would ask what the stones meant, and the parents would tell the story of God’s faithfulness. Memory was part of discipleship.
That has direct application for Christian life and family leadership. We need memorial practices. We need testimonies, journals, marked prayers, family stories, anniversaries of God’s faithfulness, and habits of public remembrance. A faith that forgets quickly will drift easily.
So what is the theology of courage in Joshua? It is this: courage is not emotional bravado but covenant confidence. It is born from the presence of God, shaped by the Word of God, expressed in obedient action, and sustained through remembrance of God’s faithfulness. Courage does not deny the river. It steps into it because God has spoken.
2. The Walls of Jericho: Understanding Spiritual Warfare and Obedience
Jericho is one of the most unforgettable scenes in the Old Testament because God’s strategy makes no sense by ordinary military reasoning. Marching around a fortified city in silence for six days and then shouting on the seventh does not sound like conquest. It sounds foolish. And that is part of the point.
Jericho teaches that victory belongs to the Lord, not to human cleverness. Before the battle, Joshua encounters the commander of the army of the Lord (Joshua 5:13–15). This moment reframes everything. Joshua asks, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" The answer is essentially neither in the way Joshua means it. The issue is not whether God joins our agenda. The issue is whether we submit to His.
That is a needed correction for modern believers. We often talk about spiritual warfare as if it is mainly about getting God to bless our plans, our preferences, and our timelines. Joshua shows that spiritual warfare begins with surrender. The first battle is not against the wall outside us but against the self-will inside us.
There are several layers to the Jericho account.
First, Jericho reveals that spiritual warfare is real. Israel was facing actual resistance in the land God had promised them. Likewise, Christians should not be naïve about resistance. The New Testament makes it plain that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12). We live in a fallen world. Opposition is not always proof that we missed God. Sometimes opposition is exactly what happens when we walk in obedience.
Second, Jericho reveals that spiritual warfare is not fought with worldly methods. Israel did not win through superior siege technology. They won through obedience to God’s strange instruction. In Christian life, we do not fight spiritual battles through manipulation, fleshly anger, intimidation, or carnal force. We fight through truth, prayer, holiness, faith, obedience, worship, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Third, Jericho reveals that silence and patience are sometimes part of warfare. For six days, Israel marches quietly. There is no immediate visible result. No falling bricks. No public evidence. Just repetition. Just obedience. Just trust. That is a word for every believer in a season where obedience feels unimpressive. Some walls do not fall on day one. Some victories are prepared through patient faithfulness long before they become visible.
Fourth, Jericho reveals that worship and warfare are not enemies. Priests, trumpets, procession, ark, and shout all blend liturgical and military imagery. Israel’s victory is framed as an act of covenant obedience in the presence of God. This does not mean we should turn every challenge into dramatic symbolism. It does mean that worship is not a side activity in spiritual battle. Worship reorders the heart, exalts God above the problem, and keeps the people of God from making idols out of fear.
We should also say something honest about the difficult passages in Joshua. The conquest narratives can be hard for modern readers. They should not be handled carelessly or triumphalistically. These were unique acts in salvation history tied to God’s judgment on entrenched evil, the establishment of Israel in the land, and the unfolding covenant story. They are not a blank check for religious violence, cultural domination, or prideful misuse of Scripture. Christians read Joshua through the full witness of the Bible and ultimately through Jesus Christ, who fulfills the law and reveals the heart of God.
Jericho also contains the story of Rahab, which reminds us that judgment is not the only note being played. Grace runs through the account. Rahab, a Canaanite woman with a broken past, believes the God of Israel is the true God and acts on that faith. She and her household are spared (Joshua 2; 6:22–25). She later appears in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5). That is stunning. In the middle of conquest, Scripture shows us mercy. In the middle of judgment, Scripture shows us redemption. God is not only tearing down walls. He is bringing outsiders into covenant grace.
There is a sober counterpart to Jericho in the sin of Achan in Joshua 7. Israel moves from miraculous victory to humiliating defeat at Ai because hidden disobedience contaminates the camp. This is another key lesson in spiritual warfare. Not every setback is random. Sometimes private compromise weakens public strength. Hidden sin matters. God is holy. His people cannot claim covenant blessing while cherishing rebellion.
So how do we understand spiritual warfare in Joshua? Not as hype. Not as superstition. Not as blaming demons for everything. Spiritual warfare is the lived conflict between the purposes of God and the resistance of evil in a fallen world. And victory comes not through fleshly force but through surrendered obedience. The walls that matter most are brought down when God’s people walk in truth, holiness, prayer, repentance, worship, and faith.
3. Allocation of Inheritance: Why the Division of the Land Matters for Our Spiritual Inheritance
Many readers slow down when Joshua turns to land boundaries, tribal allotments, and geographic details. At first glance, it can feel less dramatic than river crossings and collapsing walls. But the division of the land is not filler. It is theology in map form.
Once the major campaigns are described, Joshua 13–21 carefully lays out the inheritance given to the tribes of Israel. This matters because God is not vague with His promises. He does not merely say, "I bless you in general." He places His people somewhere. He gives shape, order, stewardship, and belonging. The land allotments are visible proof that His covenant word to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was not poetic language. It was real.
In Joshua 21:43–45, Scripture gives a powerful summary:
"So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there... Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled." (NIV)
That statement is one of the mountain peaks of the Old Testament. God keeps His word. Not one promise failed.
Why does this matter spiritually?
First, inheritance is covenantal before it is material. Israel did not invent its own future. It received what God assigned. In Christian life, we also do not define blessing merely by self-invention. Our inheritance is first in Christ. The New Testament says we have obtained an inheritance through Him (Ephesians 1:11), and that we have been born again into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade (1 Peter 1:4). Joshua’s land points forward to a greater inheritance secured in the gospel.
Second, inheritance involves stewardship. Each tribe had to dwell in, cultivate, defend, and honor what had been given. Likewise, believers are called to steward grace. Gifts, callings, families, ministries, local churches, opportunities, and assignments are not trophies for ego. They are stewardships under God.
Third, the land division teaches that belonging matters. God did not save Israel into abstraction. He formed a people with names, places, responsibilities, and memory. In a hyper-individual age, this is deeply corrective. Christians are not saved into isolation. We belong to the body of Christ. We are joined to a people, not merely given a private spiritual experience.
Fourth, Joshua’s inheritance language reminds us that some promises require patient possession. There is a difference between receiving title and fully driving out resistance. Several passages show that Israel still had work to do in possessing the land given to them. That tension is familiar to believers. In Christ, much is already ours by covenant grace. Yet we are also called to grow, mature, resist sin, and walk out what has been given. There is an already-and-not-yet pattern to discipleship.
The daughters of Zelophehad in Joshua 17 also deserve attention. Their inheritance concern, first raised in Numbers 27, is honored within Israel’s legal structure. This shows that God’s justice is not careless. He is attentive within covenant order. Scripture here is not random bureaucracy. It is the faithful administration of inheritance under God’s law.
The Levites receive no large tribal land portion in the same way as the others because "the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritance" (Joshua 13:33, NIV). That line is rich with meaning. While they were provided cities and means of support, their identity was tied especially to the Lord Himself. This reminds us that behind every gift of God stands God Himself as the highest gift. Land was never meant to eclipse the Giver. The same is true for us. Spiritual inheritance is not merely what God hands out. It is ultimately participation in His life, His presence, His kingdom, and His redemption in Christ.
The cities of refuge and Levitical cities also show that inheritance included mercy, justice, worship, and communal structure. The land was not just space to occupy. It was a place where God’s order was to be embodied. In Christian terms, our inheritance in Christ must shape how we live together. Grace should produce justice, holiness, mercy, worship, and witness.
So when Joshua maps the land, he is doing more than geography. He is showing that God’s promises become livable. They become embodied in community. They become generational. They become visible. And all of that points us forward to the fullness of our inheritance in Jesus Christ, where every promise of God finds its Yes and Amen (2 Corinthians 1:20).
4. "As for Me and My House": A Call to Resolute Family Leadership
The final chapters of Joshua move from conquest and inheritance to covenant renewal. That is exactly right. If victory and possession are not followed by consecration, decline is never far away. Joshua understands that the deepest battle is not merely over land, but over loyalty.
At Shechem, he gathers the people and rehearses the story of God’s faithfulness from Abraham onward (Joshua 24). This is leadership through memory. Before he asks for commitment, he reminds them of grace. God chose, called, delivered, preserved, and gave. Only then does Joshua bring the people to decision.
"But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15, NIV)
This is one of the most quoted declarations in Scripture, and for good reason. It is clear, courageous, and deeply needed. But we should hear it carefully. Joshua is not making a decorative slogan. He is issuing a covenant challenge. Neutrality is not presented as a live option. The people will serve someone. The only question is whom.
This has special force for family leadership. In a confused age, many homes drift because no one is willing to name the direction. Joshua does not outsource spiritual responsibility to the culture, the state, or vague good intentions. He speaks plainly: as for me and my house. That is not authoritarian posturing. It is covenant responsibility.
For husbands, fathers, mothers, grandparents, and guardians, this means the home should not be spiritually leaderless. Family leadership does not mean controlling every person by force or pretending to save others by pressure. Only God changes hearts. But it does mean setting a clear tone of allegiance to Christ. It means Scripture in the house, prayer in the house, repentance in the house, forgiveness in the house, worship in the house, truth in the house, and a pattern of faithfulness that children and others can see.
Joshua’s words also challenge passive Christianity. It is possible to inherit blessings and still become spiritually divided. It is possible to enjoy God’s gifts and slowly absorb the idols of the surrounding culture. Joshua knows that Israel’s future danger is syncretism: trying to keep the language of covenant while giving the heart to other gods. That danger remains very real today. Modern idols may not look like Baal poles, but they are just as demanding: comfort, success, entertainment, sexual autonomy, political obsession, self-worship, and endless distraction.
Resolute family leadership begins with personal surrender. Joshua says, as for me. Before he speaks for his house, he speaks for himself. That is important. No one can lead others into what he refuses to practice. Spiritual leadership is not perfected image management. It is lived repentance and visible devotion.
It also involves courageous clarity. Joshua does not soften the call so much that it loses all edge. Love does not mean vagueness. Grace does not mean silence. In a pastoral way, families need clear commitments. We will serve the Lord. We will gather with the people of God. We will honor Scripture. We will repent quickly. We will forgive deeply. We will not let the world disciple us more than Christ does.
At the same time, Joshua 24 is not a guarantee that every household member will always respond rightly. Scripture never supports simplistic formulas. Faith cannot be inherited automatically by bloodline. Each generation must personally respond to God. But covenant leadership still matters because households are shaped by what is normalized, practiced, celebrated, and repeated.
The chapter ends with covenant renewal, witness, and burial. Joshua dies, but not before leaving Israel with a public decision and a remembered testimony. That is faithful leadership. He does not merely achieve. He hands off. He does not merely conquer. He consecrates.
Living Joshua Today
Joshua is not calling us to take up swords in the name of religion. It is calling us to trust the faithfulness of God, obey the Word of God, resist spiritual compromise, and walk courageously in the inheritance secured for us in Christ.
So what does that look like in practice?
Cross your Jordan. Identify the place where obedience has become overdue. Stop demanding total emotional certainty before taking the next faithful step.
Face your Jericho. Bring strongholds to God through prayer, truth, worship, and persistent obedience rather than fleshly striving.
Receive your inheritance. Stop living as if the promises of God are abstract. In Christ, you have real spiritual inheritance, real belonging, and real hope.
Lead your house. Establish visible, practical patterns that make allegiance to Jesus clear in your family life.
Joshua is a book of strength and courage, but not the world’s version of either. Its strength comes from the presence of God. Its courage comes from submission to the Word. Its victories come through obedience. Its inheritance comes by promise. Its final appeal comes down to one question every generation must answer: Who will you serve?
And here is the real tension: if God has already brought you to the edge of promise, what would it mean to stop wandering and finally step in?
Reflection Questions:
Where is God calling you to be strong and courageous right now?
What "wall" in your life requires obedience, prayer, and surrender more than panic?
How are you stewarding the spiritual inheritance you have in Christ?
What would it look like for your household to say with fresh conviction, "We will serve the Lord"?
About the Author
Layne McDonald, Ph.D. is a pastor, author, and teacher dedicated to helping believers understand the depth of Scripture and the reality of the Christian life. With a background in media and a heart for the local church, Dr. McDonald creates resources that bridge the gap between historical theology and modern cultural discernment. His mission is to see a generation of Christians who are "Sheep No More": equipped, discerning, and fully alive in Jesus Christ.
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