I WILL BE WITH YOU – PART 1

Secret Services, employs people to protect presidents or prime ministers and to safeguard nations money supplies. In order to give the president or prime minister constant protection, these agents stick extremely close to him wherever he goes. When he is walking, when he is riding in his armoured vehicle, when he is on vacation at a ski slope or a lake, the Secret Service is there surrounding him, constant following his car, skiing or fishing right beside him. If the president or prime minister goes scuba diving, agents put on masks and tanks and go with him under the water. Would it not be nice to have someone who would always be with you, protect you and help you, not out of duty, but because you were friends? Joshua knew YHVH to be just such an Elohiym as he stood at the border of Canaan, ready to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land. YHVH makes the greatest Promise of all: [I will be with you.] Let us find out what YHVH means by this wonderful promise:

Now after the death of Moses the servant of Adonai it came to pass, that Adonai spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister saying, 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, from the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I swear unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the Law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I Commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for Adonai thy YHVH is with thee whithersoever thou goest. -- Joshua 1:1-9.

1 – YHVH’s Promise of Intimacy Brings us Strength and Courage:

YHVH tells Joshua that he needs to be strong and courageous. In fact, we find that this is a theme throughout the book of Joshua. Five times in this book YHVH repeats these words to Joshua. YHVH said the same thing to Moses in Deuteronomy 31:6 -- Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for Adonai thy YHVH, He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. The one important fact in YHVH's Commandment to be strong and courageous is that this Command is attached to YHVH's Promise to be with them and to never leave them or forsake them. What we learn from this is that we can be strong and courageous, not because we are strong and courageous people, but because we know that in our weakness YHVH is right there beside us and that He will never leave us. There are times in all of our lives when we need to be strong and courageous people. In the Moscow circus a beautiful woman lion tamer would have a fierce lion come to her meekly, put his paws around her and nuzzle her with affection. The crowd thundered its approval. All accept an Armenian who declared, [What is so great about that? Anybody can do that?] So, the ringmaster challenged him, [Would you like to try it?] The Armenian's reply came back, [Yes, but first get that lion out of there.] When is it that you need strength and courage?

A -- For Joshua it was when he was called to take over as leader of the people of Israel and lead them into the Promised Land; you would need a lot of strength and courage for a job like that.

B -- For Yeshua it was when He had to face the cross and in the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed to YHVH.

C -- For Yeshua' disciples it was when they had to face a hostile world with the message of the Gospel. But what about us, when do we need to draw strength and courage from YHVH's presence? When we have decided to do something great for YHVH, when we find ourselves with the opportunity to be a witness, when we are dealing with some sin that has taken control of our lives, when we are having marital problems and do not know where to turn to, when we have lost our job and do not know where our next pay check is going to come from. We need strength and courage in both the good times and the bad times. We need to understand that we can be strong and courageous in any and every situation because: Our strength and courage come from knowing that YHVH is with us. Joshua would not take the Promised Land, YHVH would. Joshua knew that it was only through a reliance on the presence of YHVH that he could be strong and courageous while facing the enemies of Israel.

Once a prison warden told a condemned man to order whatever he wanted for his last meal and he offered some suggestions: [Lobster, Filet Mignon, Beef Wellington, Caviar or Shrimp?] [No], the prisoner said, [I will just take a bowl of mushrooms]. [Why mushrooms?] the warden asked him. [Well, because I have always been afraid to eat them until now.] Oftentimes instead of being strong and courageous we find ourselves weak and afraid because we face the unknown. But know that YHVH makes us the promise, [I will be with you], helps us to know that no matter what comes our way YHVH is by our side.