Joshua 1:15, commentary and pictures

Moses had settled the Reubenites and Gadites and half-tribe of Manasseh east of the Jordan toward the sunrising, leaving their wives and little ones and cattle there while all their mighty men of valor passed armed before their brethren to help conquer the land west of the Jordan. Those eastern tribes were to return to their own possession and enjoy it only after the Lord had given the rest of Israel rest as He had given them and they also had possessed the land God gave them. That rest is the peaceful, secure possession of the promised land of Canaan as inheritance with enemies subdued, not release from Egypt only and not the weekly Sabbath. That land-rest under Joshua is a figure of the fuller inheritance and lasting rest awaiting Abraham's faithful seed in the heavenly Canaan, which Joshua did not bring Israel into, as Joshua stands to Christ and as literal Israel stands to the church as children of Abraham by faith. The command is a charge to be faithful and courageous, trusting God to lead His people into the promised land in steady courage, calm triumphs, and wise decisions.

Context and Original Meaning

Joshua 1:15 stands at the opening of the conquest after forty years of wandering on the very borders of Canaan. At that overflow stage Israel passed over the Jordan far beyond its banks and entered Canaan in quick and multiplied victories over its inhabitants. The campaign moved in rapid marches and conquests with the elders and priests in the lead going in front of the people until all Israel had passed over and inherited the land. Joshua then divided the land of milk and honey among the twelve tribes and set the people on the way to conquer their foes and enter the promised rest.

The verse repeats the word Moses had commanded to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh. Those two and a half tribes were already settled east of the Jordan toward the sunrising in the possession Moses gave and assigned them. Their wives and little ones and cattle were to remain in that eastern land while all their mighty men of valor passed armed before their brethren. In that array they were to help the other Israelites take possession of their land west of the Jordan.

They could return to their own territory and enjoy it only after the Lord had given the rest of Israel rest as He had given them. That return waited until the other tribes also had possessed the land which the Lord their God gave them west of the Jordan. The eastern possession and rest already given did not complete their duty until the Lord had brought their fellow Israelites into possession of the promised land. Only then were the eastern warriors free to come back to their own inheritance east of the Jordan and enjoy it.

Here rest and inheritance are the peaceful, secure possession of the promised land of Canaan. Rest means dwelling in safety in the inherited land with surrounding enemies subdued and relief from enemies, free from surrounding foes. It is not merely release from Egyptian bondage and it is not the weekly Sabbath.

Type of Future Inheritance

The peaceful possession of the promised land west of the Jordan, free from surrounding enemies with foes subdued and Israel dwelling in safety, was the rest and inheritance given under Joshua, and that land-rest serves as a figure or type of the true rest and inheritance still remaining to the people of God. The eastern settlement already granted to the Reubenites and Gadites and half-tribe of Manasseh on this side Jordan toward the sunrising was their own rest and possession, to which they could return and which they could enjoy only after they had passed armed before their brethren with all their mighty men of valor while wives and little ones and cattle remained behind, until the Lord had likewise given the rest of Israel rest and possession of the land God gave them. That completed Canaan inheritance points to the heavenly Canaan and the lasting rest awaiting God's people, namely the fuller rest and inheritance awaiting Abraham's faithful seed.

Joshua gave Israel the land but did not bring them into the final rest contemplated in God's promise. That unfinished rest bears the same relation to the future inheritance that Joshua bears to Christ and that literal Israel bears to the church as children of Abraham by faith.

The rest in the verse means secure possession of the land, including relief from enemies, not the weekly Sabbath. The Sabbath is a memorial of the rest prepared from the foundation of the world, not a type of that future rest, so the Canaan rest must not be confused with the weekly Sabbath.

Courage and Present Application

The charge surrounding the verse is to be faithful and courageous, keeping God's commandments and trusting Him to lead His people into the promised land. It sounds a note of courage and assurance after forty years of wandering on the very borders of Canaan, opening a vigorous campaign of rapid marches and conquests until all Israel passed over Jordan and inherited the land, with elders and priests in the lead going in front of the people. The two and a half tribes who had received land east of the Jordan were to return to their inheritance only after the rest of Israel had received rest and possessed the land God gave them. That opening of the story stands at Israel's passage of the Jordan when it was overflowed far beyond its banks, their entrance into Canaan, their quick and multiplied victories over its inhabitants, and the actual division of the land of milk and honey among the twelve tribes. It displays true greatness in steady courage, calm triumphs, and clear wise decisions as one completely equipped to be the successor of Moses whom God knew face to face.

The delay after forty years of wandering on the very borders of Canaan parallels the delay at the very entrance of the eternal kingdom before the Lord's coming.

The call of the chapter is to go forward in the strength of God, arousing oneself and one's brethren to give children a godly training in church schools. That work is to be continued where it has been started and begun where it has not, because now is the opportune time to implant truth in their hearts before worldly schools and evil association take hold.