The Promise of the Lord | Part One

Joshua 1

We need to remember the history that leads up to Joshua 1 to understand it's colossal significance. So, here's an ultra-condensed summary:

God promised His people a special land and over the course of several centuries, He's about to fulfill His promise.

(Scroll down for the more detailed version of this summary. You'll be glad you did.)

In chapter one, Joshua is riding the crest of the tidal wave of God's promise as it's about to finally crash into the Promised Land. This is a huge moment that proves an important truth about God: He keeps His promises.

This is a simple fact; but one we need to soak in daily. We need to somehow sew our very hearts into the fabric of this truth. We need to attach our thinking to this truth. God keeps His promises.

However, He does so in His way and His timing. And we may not understand it. We may not be able to sense His movements at all. And while waiting, His people tend to get scared and doubt. The nation of Israel was often afraid and as we'll see in the next post, Joshua was terrified.
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A more detailed summary of the history leading up to Joshua 1:

1. Genesis 1: God created everything, including people on a special plot of land called the Garden of Eden.
2. Genesis 3: People rebelled against God.
3. Genesis 4-5: People multiplied in number and corruption.
4. Genesis 6-8: God wiped the slate clean with a flood, saving a small group of people (Noah's family).
5. Genesis 9-11: After the flood, these people multiplied.
6. Genesis 12-15: God selected a man named Abram from these people to bless in a special way. He would make a nation out of Abram's descendants, out of which He would bless all nations, and He would give them a special land (the Promised Land).
7. Genesis 16-18 and 21: God changed his name to Abraham and gave him a son named Isaac.
8. Genesis 25-26: God reiterated His promise to Isaac and gave him a son named Jacob.
9. Genesis 28 and 35: God reiterated His promise to Jacob.
10. Genesis 35: God changed Jacob's name to Israel and gave him12 sons, whose descendants would become the 12 tribes of Israel.
11. Genesis 37: Israel's sons sold one of their brothers, Joseph, to Egyptian slave traders.
12. Genesis 39-47: By God's grace, Joseph rose to power in Egypt, from a slave to the king's right-hand-man. He used his power to bring his 11 brothers into Egypt to protect them from a famine.
13. Exodus 1: They multiplied creating the nation of Israel within Egypt. This nation still had the promise of the special land.
14. Exodus 1: A king came to power who didn’t know Joseph and had no regard for the Israelites. This king saw how many Israelites there were and got worried that they would take over; so he enslaved them, the promise of the special land still hanging out there.
15. Exodus 2-11: God raised up Moses, a deliverer through whom God freed Israel from slavery.
16. Exodus 12: Israel left Egypt under Moses' leadership. After several generations and over 400 years in Egypt, they were finally headed to the Promised Land.
17. Numbers 14: Along the way, Israel disobeyed, grumbled, worshiped idols and doubted God until He finally said 'forget it'. No one in this generation of obstinate Israelites would step foot in the Promised Land. Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years until that generation died off.
18. Deuteronomy 34: Moses died outside of the Promised Land as well.
19. Joshua 1: God commissioned Joshua to lead the new generation of Israel, finally, into the Promised Land.