Courage in the Presence & Perspective of God

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We have been working through the book of Joshua and following the story of the Israelite nation as they move from a season in the wilderness (a desert like place they were in for 40 years after their escape from Egypt) on route to the land that God had promised them…The Israelites are moving into an unknown geography, are nomadic (no fixed buildings or fortresses to hide behind), limited supply chain and I imagine they needed serious courage for the battles ahead of them.

In Chapters 6, 7 and 8 there are three battles.

Battle 1 - Jericho (Ch 6)

Can you imagine the elation they must have felt - their first battle a triumphant success! They had taken the strategic city of Jericho and it was the perfect start to their campaign in the promised land.. Take notice of the strategy and how God did things differently to how man would in the story - not sure if this had ever been used as a military strategy before (marching around a walled city 7 times)…But they trusted the word of the Lord - acted on it and it leads to an incredible victory! It doesn’t end here though- this was the first of many battles they would fight…

Battle 2 - Ai (Ch7)

They follow their own plans and suffer defeat the city of AI. A series of things then happen and they identify Achan and his family as guilty of having kept some of the plunder.

Battle 3 - Ai v2 (Ch8)

This time, they follow the plans of God and defeat the city of AI.

There are two big themes here in the context of finding courage:

The perspective of God

The presence of God