Courageous Faith: Joshua Takes Charge

Transcript

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Welcome to our Ancient Future Story, navigating Scripture Through the Eyes of Family, where I share with you biblical stories like a family member would share a story around the dinner table.

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As children of God, we are a part of God's family and his family story has a lot of history.

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Each week we will take one story and talk about it the cultural, historical, geographical and sociological impacts.

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We will be looking at the story from the perspective of our ancestors, through the lens and ancient times, in hopes of learning more about our family.

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This is our Ancient Futures Story.

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Welcome back to our Ancient Futures Story.

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I'm and I am so excited to share with you a new story today.

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It has been a while since we last met together, but I cannot wait to dive into these stories of the life of my favorite Bible character, joshua.

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Joshua is one of the most famous people in the Bible.

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He is most known as the one God chose to lead the people of Israel into the promised land.

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But he didn't start out that way.

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He started as a fantastic military leader and the assistant to Moses, but even before that he was just an Israelite boy growing up in slavery under the oppression of Egypt.

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Joshua's story is my favorite because he is one of the only two people who grew up in Egypt and lived to enter the promised land, and today we are going to start at the beginning of his journey as the leader of Israel.

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But before we dive into it, I want to catch us up through the genealogy of where Joshua is in the lineage of Israel, so we start with our two patriarchs.

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Is in the lineage of Israel, so we start with our two patriarchs.

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So we start with our patriarchs, abraham and Sarah, who had Isaac, who had Jacob, whose name was later changed to Israel, who had 12 sons.

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Joseph was son number 11 and he had a son named Ephraim.

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In ten generations later, from Ephraim's line, joshua was born to a man named Nun.

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So now that we know where we are and where Joshua came from, let's grab a cup of coffee or something to drink and let's get ready to dive into the life of Joshua.

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Joshua.

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Chapter 1 opens with After the death of Moses, the word of the Lord came to Joshua, son of Nun, but his story starts long before this sentence.

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We are going to go backward a bit, back before God's mighty rescue, back before the plagues, even back before Moses returns to Egypt.

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This story starts with a young boy named Yeshua, born into slavery in Egypt.

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We aren't told about his childhood, but we can assume he grew up like all the Israelite slaves.

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He was forced to work from a young age but, as the Egyptian custom, they enlisted young boys even those who were enslaved into the Egyptian army, some even as young as five years old Now.

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They did not engage in hand-in-hand combat that young, but they served the older warriors until they were of age to join the infantry.

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Joshua was very likely one of these young men who were forced to join the Egyptian military and throughout his life Joshua's Egyptian military influence will be an ongoing theme.

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We will discuss the differences in the Egyptian military strategy and the one that Yahweh gives Joshua as the battle plan as we continue his story.

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The first time Joshua appears in our Bible is in Exodus 17.

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He is in a military leader role shortly after the Exodus when he leads the Israelites to victory over the Amalekites.

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Moses had told Joshua to gather men and go fight the Amalekites, while he, aaron and Hur were going to the top of the mountain, and Joshua followed orders, gathered men and fought against the Amalekites while he, aaron and Hur were going to the top of the mountain and Joshua followed orders, gathered men and fought against the Amalekites.

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And when Moses' staff was in the air, pointed toward heaven Israel was winning.

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When his hands were lowered, they were losing.

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So Aaron and Hur propped up Moses' hands the whole day so that Israel would prevail.

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And when Israel had won the battle, yahweh told Moses to write this message and tell it to Joshua over and over again that I, yahweh, will erase the memory of the Amalekites on earth.

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So Moses wrote it down and he told it to Joshua over and over and over again.

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The next time we meet Joshua is in Exodus 24.

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When he is the assistant to Moses, he climbs Mount Sinai and sits in the tents of meeting.

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He learns from Moses not only how to lead, but also how to talk to Yahweh face to face.

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Throughout this experience, joshua learns to trust Yahweh, so much so that when Moses sends 12 spies into Canaan to check out the land, joshua is one of only two positive reports.

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Everyone else brought back fear, saying that God brought them out of Egypt to kill them in the wilderness.

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But Joshua did not fear.

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He urged the Israelites to believe that Yahweh is on their side and that he will give them the land that he promised to Abraham, isaac and Jacob.

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Joshua showed his faithfulness to Yahweh throughout his life.

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So when Moses had to choose a successor, yahweh told him to choose Joshua because he would lead the people of Israel into the promised land.

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And that is where we pick up our story.

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Egypt has been devastated.

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Israel was now wandering in the desert for 40 years.

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The surrounding nations were terrified of Yahweh because his power and fame had spread throughout the known world.

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Our boy, joshua, is now about 59 or 60 years old.

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When Moses has died, the leadership role in Israel officially passes to Joshua, and Yahweh comes to him and says Joshua, my servant, moses, has died.

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Now get up and lead my people, israel, across the Jordan into the land I have promised them.

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Everywhere you set your feet.

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I have given you that land, from Lebanon as far north as the great river Euphrates, all the land from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River.

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No man or tribe or people group will be able to stand against you.

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Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

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I will never leave you, nor forsake you.

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Be strong and courageous, for you will lead my people and distribute the inheritance of the land to them Only.

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Be strong and courageous to uphold the law, just as Moses commanded you.

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Don't turn from it even slightly to the right or to the left, so that you may have success.

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Wherever you go, recite the book of the law.

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Let it never depart from your lips, but meditate it on a day and night so that it gets ingrained into your heart.

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Haven't I commanded you?

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Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid.

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I, the Lord, your God, am with you wherever you go.

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So Joshua gathered the officials of Israel and told them to prepare themselves and their households for in three days we will pass over the Jordan River and take possession of the land that Yahweh has given you as a possession.

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Then Joshua turned to the Reubenites, the Gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh and said Remember the words of Moses.

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You have settled in your land on this side of the Jordan, but all able-bodied men must make the journey with us to support your brothers, to secure their inheritance.

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Once all of Israel has taken their possession, then you can return to the land on this side of the Jordan.

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And all the people answered Joshua, we will do everything you tell us to do.

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Just as we listened to Moses and followed his command.

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So we will do with you.

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May God be with you, just as he was with Moses.

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And there's anyone who does not listen to you, they will be put to death.

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Only be strong and courageous.

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And that is where our story ends, for today, the people of Israel rallying around and supporting their new leader, joshua, as he steps into his new role as the leader.

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If you grew up in church, you have probably heard this story many, many times, and even if you didn't grow up in church, you may have heard this story before.

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But I think there are a few things for us to take note of that will help shape the context of the story for us.

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First location Our story opens in Egypt during the 400 years of slavery.

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It is believed that Joshua was born around 1465 BC if you take the early date of the Exodus, or about 1294 BC if you take the late date.

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Remember there are potentially two dates for the Exodus the early date, around 1446, and 1275 as the late date.

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This means that if Joshua was born in 1465 BC, he was born under the reign of Thutmose III, but if he was born in 1294 BC, he was born under the reign of Horenheb, the pharaoh who took over after King Tut's mysterious death.

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Under the leadership of these pharaohs, egypt was in excellent condition, the height of ancient Egyptian dynasties.

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But after the epic showdown of Yahweh and the gods of Egypt, egypt is left in ruin and a young Joshua flees with the rest of Israel through the Red Sea and away from Egypt in God's greatest rescue.

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Now we know that these pharaohs were known for their military campaigns, so the Egyptian army was a prominent part of their leadership.

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As I said earlier, egypt was known to enlist boys as young as five years old into the military.

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Many of these boys would serve their entire lives.

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Children in the Egyptian military before their 14th birthday served as armor bearers, chariot drivers and campaign aides, and on their 14th birthday they were considered adults and could join the infantry, but they did not see war for another six years.

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And could join the infantry, but they did not see war for another six years.

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After their 20th birthday they could be sent to war or on military campaigns.

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So Joshua's age at this time is an important factor for us because if he was enlisted into the Egyptian army around five, he would have spent his childhood and adolescent eating, breathing, sleeping.

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The Egyptian military childhood and adolescent, eating, breathing, sleeping the Egyptian military.

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Then he would have joined the infantry at age 14 under the reign of tut much the third or in the last year of said to the first, joshua, like all other Egyptian boys, in the infantry, would spend his days training with weapons in hand-to-hand combat and studying military strategy.

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Now this gets interesting when it comes to the Exodus of Egypt, because Joshua has spent his entire life enslaved as a child soldier.

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Many scholars have argued that Joshua was only 19 years old when Israel fled Egypt, which means he was one year shy of officially joining the Egyptian army and being sent out on campaigns into Canaan.

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But how did scholars work out how old Joshua was?

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Well, that has to do with the census that Israel took in the wilderness after leaving Egypt.

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Joshua was excluded from the census found in Numbers 1, where God told Moses to take a census of all able-bodied men 20 years and older.

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Presumably, joshua was not yet 20 years of age.

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However, joshua is specifically mentioned as excluded from the curse in Numbers 14, in the second census in the wilderness taken off after the spies went into canaan and only joshua and caleb would return with a good report.

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So if joshua was 20 years old when they spied out canaan.

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He would have been 60 or so years when he takes over from moses in 1405 BC or 1234 BC.

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The next thing I want to talk about is this reoccurring phrase be strong and courageous.

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Three times, god tells Joshua to be strong and courageous.

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We tend to hear this a lot in sermons, but it isn't just about being physically strong and leading without fear.

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God is telling Joshua to be strong and courageous to keep the law.

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Yes, god is encouraging Joshua that he can lead the Israelites in Moses's place, but he is telling him how to lead the Israelites in Moses's place.

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God tells Joshua to keep the words of the law that Moses had written down.

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These are the instructions that God gave to Israel on Mount Sinai on how they were to live.

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By keeping these laws, they would not only survive, but also live differently from the nations that surround them.

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And in order for Israel to continue to live faithfully to Yahweh, joshua had to live and lead out of his own faithfulness to Yahweh, but in doing so, it would take strength and courage.

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By the end of this chapter, israel accepts Joshua as the new leader.

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They swear to follow him just as they followed Moses.

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Moses had a unique role in Israel.

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As Sandra Richter puts it, moses was the first to serve Israel as prophet, priest and king.

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The role of the prophet was to speak to Israel the words of Yahweh, the priest was to speak to God on behalf of the people, and the king and judge was to be the military leader and point the nation to the true king and judge, yahweh.

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And this is the role that Joshua is stepping into.

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This is what the people of Israel are agreeing to at the end of the chapter to accept Joshua as the prophet and judge.

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Joshua was not a part of the priesthood.

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Aaron's son, eleazar, would fulfill that role, but still the leaders of the tribes of Israel vowed to listen to Joshua just as they had listened to Moses, meaning they acknowledged that Yahweh will speak to them through Joshua and they will follow his instructions.

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So how does this point us to Yahweh?

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Each time we gather together, we will talk about how the story points to Yahweh.

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In today's story, yahweh placed a new leader in charge of Israel and tells him that he has what it takes to lead in Moses' place.

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And almost 1600 years later, yahweh would send his son, jesus.

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And the name of Jesus we get from the Latin Greek translations Yesus, but the Hebrew word for Jesus is Yeshua or Joshua, which means Yahweh saves.

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And as we continue our journey with Joshua, we will see how he is the foreshadow of our Messiah to come and how Yahweh takes on the name of Yeshua to show the people that he does indeed save them.

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So, as we end our time together, I want to spend time reading the scripture from where our story comes from today, in Joshua, chapter one.

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I hope that as we read this together in light of everything that we have just learned, that the story will be illuminated for you.

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Let's read every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon.

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I've given to you just as I promised to Moses, from the wilderness and this Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the great sea, toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.

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No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life.

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Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

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I will not leave you or forsake you.

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Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause the people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them Only.

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Be strong and courageous, be careful to do according to all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded.

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You Do not turn from it, from the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

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The book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate it on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous, then you will have good success.

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Have I not commanded you?

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Be strong and courageous, do not be frightened, do not be dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.

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And Joshua commanded the officers of the people pass through the midst of the camp and command the people prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over the Jordan to go and take possession of the land the Lord, your God, has given you to possess, and the Reubenites and Gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh.

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Joshua said remember the word of Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, saying the Lord, your God, is providing a place of rest and will give you this land.

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Your wives and your little ones and your livestock shall remain in the land that moses gave you beyond the jordan, but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them until the lord gives rest to your brothers, as he has to you, and they also take possession of the land that the lord, your god, is giving them.

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Then you shall return to the land of your possession and you shall possess it, the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you beyond the Jordan, toward the sunrise.

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And they answered Joshua all that you have commanded us, we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.

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Just as we obeyed Moses and all things, so we will obey you only.

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May the Lord, your God, be with you, as he was with Moses.

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Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death.

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Only be strong and courageous.

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Thank you for listening to today's episode of our Ancient Future Story.

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I hope that you really enjoyed it.

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This episode was written and produced by me.

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Vic Harmon Music is Embarking on an Adventure by Evan MacDonald.

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Please support the show by subscribing and rating us, and if you would like to know more or grow deeper, check out our website at ourancientfuturestorycom.

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See you next time.

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Bye.

Courageous Faith: Joshua Takes Charge

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