If you haven't read about Joshua lately, I hope you will do so. A few of us "internet friends" are reading it together, and the Book of Joshua contains such wonderful reminders and words of encouragement.
Jos 1:6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
Jos 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Jos 1:18 Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.
Jos 10:25 And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.
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The first three "be strong and of a good courage" are actually in Deuteronomy 31:6,7, and 23:
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.
And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.
There are all so to later verses with the same phrase in I Chronicles 22:13 and 28:20 :
Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.
And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.
I think these verses are important. We often think about how God has been promising the children of Isreal this land for what seems like forever. Then we think of Jericho where they just walk around a wall and blow on some trumpets and down it all comes. We think God takes care of it all and we don't have to do anything.
Primitive Baptist are often accused of sitting on the stool of do nothing, because there is nothing that we can do to affect our eternal salvation. However there is work for us to do.
If you look at every instance that this phrase is used it's when someone has to do something.
The first six are to Joshua and he is told that he will lead the people. It's a big and serious job, so he is to be strong and have courage. When you have to lead people they are not always happy with you especially if what the Lord commands to do isn't to their liking.
In the next few the phrase is addressed to the men of Isreal. They were commanded of the Lord to drive out all of the inhabbitants in the land, to tear down their places of worship, and to follow only Him. This was going to be a hard and unlikable thing to do. So they need to be strong and have courage. The first book of Judges will tell you that they didn't do as God commanded and the whole book of Judges chronicles all the trouble that caused.
I can't give alot of thought on the last two verses as we haven't studied that far in depth yet. However, they are from David to Solomon about building the Temple. Doing the service of the Lord is a fearful thing, and we should take it very seriously. Others often insult us, laugh, and are generally unsupportive so we need to be strong and of a good courage.
I think there are two important lessons here. First there is something to do. The children of Isreal first had to go into the land and take it. Second that the Lord's work isn't always easy and we shouldn't expect it to be.
My question, is why does he say to be of good courage instead of just be of courage. Can you be of bad courage? Is there a particular sort of courage that is different from normal courage, that Joshua was to have?
Dani, I was going to ask Gary and you if you started in Deuteronomy... and clearly, you did. That's what I did to get the whole story together.
I appreciated reading your thoughts, and I will respond back to some of them by email. But, maybe Brother Chris or Brother Jeremy has some thoughts about your courage question.
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