January 31

Joshua 1:2‑3
 
“Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses” —Joshua 1:2, 32Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. 3Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. (Joshua 1:2‑3).
THE book of Joshua is, in the Old Testament, what the Epistle to the Ephesians is in the New. It sets before us the inheritance of the people of God. Of old they were blessed with all temporal blessings in earthly places in the land of promise through Joshua. Today we are blessed “with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” Joshua and Jesus are really the same names. Both mean “Jehovah, the Saviour.” Joshua is from the Hebrew, Jesus from the Greek. This explains the seemingly strange statements in Acts 7:4545Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; (Acts 7:45) and Hebrews 4:88For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. (Hebrews 4:8). The “Jesus” of those verses is, of course, really the Hebrew general, Joshua, who succeeded Moses as leader of Israel. He was distinguished for his faithfulness to God and to Moses, whose assistant he was (Num. 14:6; 26:656And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: (Numbers 14:6)
65For the Lord had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. (Numbers 26:65)). He and Caleb were the two spies who encouraged the people to go up and take possession of the land when the ten brought back their evil report. By divine command Joshua was selected by Moses to be his successor (Deut. 34:99And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses. (Deuteronomy 34:9)), and was filled with the spirit of wisdom so as to enable him to lead the people into their inheritance. He was a valiant man of unimpeachable integrity, whose life and character challenged all to devotion to God and obedience to His Word.
“Oh for a faith that will not shrink.
Tho’ pressed by every foe;
That will not tremble on the brink
Of any earthly woe.
Lord, give us such a faith as this.
And then, whate’er may come,
We’ll taste, e’en here, the hallowed bliss
Of our eternal home.”
―W. H. Bathurst.