Joshua & the Word:
I read this book once a year.
From Christ Indwelling and Enthroned, J. Oswald Sanders on God’s command to Joshua:
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night….for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success.” Joshua 1:8 & 9
The written Word of God was henceforth to be his hand-book, his manual of instruction in warfare. Obedience to it would constitute the secret of his success. This, not the might of his sword, was Joshua’s only equipment, even as it was Christ’s in His conflict in the Wilderness. If he did not literally soak himself in the Word, his strength and courage would ooze out of his fingertips when he came to meet the foe. In it he was to find his marching-orders, the science of warfare and the plan of his campaign.
Had Joshua lived in our day, he would not, like so many professing Christians today, have saturated himself in magazines and tasty novels, but in the Word of God, of which he then had only a very small portion. Is this what you are doing? The recruit must master his weapons long before he reaches the front lines. Neglect of meditation-hard thinking, not dreamy reverie-on the Word of God, is the most fruitful source of lost spiritual blessing and anemic spiritual life. Note that from Ephesians 5:18 and Colossians 3:16 we learn that the same results follow in Christian character and relationships, from being filled with the Spirit, and being filled with the Word. You will remain filled with the Spirit only so long as you remain filled with the Word.
From Christ Indwelling and Enthroned, J. Oswald Sanders on God’s command to Joshua:
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night….for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success.” Joshua 1:8 & 9
The written Word of God was henceforth to be his hand-book, his manual of instruction in warfare. Obedience to it would constitute the secret of his success. This, not the might of his sword, was Joshua’s only equipment, even as it was Christ’s in His conflict in the Wilderness. If he did not literally soak himself in the Word, his strength and courage would ooze out of his fingertips when he came to meet the foe. In it he was to find his marching-orders, the science of warfare and the plan of his campaign.
Had Joshua lived in our day, he would not, like so many professing Christians today, have saturated himself in magazines and tasty novels, but in the Word of God, of which he then had only a very small portion. Is this what you are doing? The recruit must master his weapons long before he reaches the front lines. Neglect of meditation-hard thinking, not dreamy reverie-on the Word of God, is the most fruitful source of lost spiritual blessing and anemic spiritual life. Note that from Ephesians 5:18 and Colossians 3:16 we learn that the same results follow in Christian character and relationships, from being filled with the Spirit, and being filled with the Word. You will remain filled with the Spirit only so long as you remain filled with the Word.
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