Joshua 1:5, commentary and pictures

After Moses died God appointed Joshua to succeed him and lead Israel into Canaan under great responsibility with direct instruction from Himself. No man would be able to stand before Joshua all the days of his life, for God would be with him as He had been with Moses, sustaining and keeping him and never failing nor forsaking him. That assurance took away his fear, anxiety and self-distrust, so his strength and courage came from God's faithful presence and guidance. With that help the conquest would be easy if he faithfully kept God's commandments, walking in the path God marked out with God as Guide and Counsellor and the Word of God as his first weapon amid real peril and opposing influences. The same presence belongs to all Israel and to God's servants as Helper and strength, so that trusting in Him without fear they can stand firm in truth and grow strong to do His will, as when the stopped waters of Jordan proved He had not failed Joshua.

God's Promise to Joshua

After Moses' death Joshua was appointed with direct instruction to succeed him and lead Israel into Canaan, the promised land, a work carrying great responsibility. To him was given the promise that no man would be able to stand before him or withstand him all the days of his life. As God had been with Moses, so He would be with Joshua, remaining with him, sustaining and keeping him, supporting him with divine guidance, and never failing him nor forsaking or abandoning him.

That assurance removed Joshua's fear, anxiety, and self-distrust about leading Israel, and his strength and confidence came from God's guidance and faithful presence. With God's help the conquest of Canaan would be easy, provided Joshua faithfully observed and kept God's commandments and divine requirements. A leader who walks in the path God has marked out has God as Guide and Counsellor whose wisdom is far above human wisdom, and whose first weapon is the Word of God. The promise was joined to repeated commands to be strong and of good courage, because Joshua faced real peril from the strongest opposing and misleading influences against principles of righteousness, requiring strict integrity and constant divine guidance amid his cares.

The promise that the living God, the King of heaven and earth, is among His people and will not fail nor forsake them belonged also to all Israel. The stopping of the waters of Jordan gave unmistakable evidence of this presence and faithfulness to Joshua himself, to all Israel, and to the Canaanites.

Promise for God's Servants

The promise made to Joshua reaches beyond him to all of God's servants, assuring them that as God was with Moses so He will remain with them. He will stay with His servant as helper and strength, sustaining and keeping him and never failing him nor abandoning him. Without the Spirit people are helpless, but by relying on Jesus they can grow strong to do God's will.

The same assurance upheld Luther when he faced the Diet and the danger surrounding him. If his cause was just, he could go forward without fear, trusting that God would remain with him and would not abandon him. That confidence encouraged him to stand firm in the truth despite the peril before him.

Joshua's commission to succeed Moses came with direct instruction from God Himself. Therefore a claim that another person has been appointed to act as Joshua in connection with God's people would require God's own instruction and cannot be established merely by someone's assertion. The verse does not appoint a modern Moses and a modern Joshua to unite their work to proclaim the truth with power, and its promise of God's presence with Joshua as He was with Moses does not apply to Seventh-day Adventists in that way. To select and arrange this promise of God's presence together with other Scriptures of great force in order to denounce people and things, and to claim that those who refuse such a message have rejected God's message and decided their destiny for eternity, wrestes and misapplies God's Word.