A fear not of God
Fear Not, Be Strong and of a Good Courage
Moses is dead. The man who spoke with God face to face, who led the people out of Egypt and through forty years of wilderness, is gone, and the whole weight of a nation has come to rest on Joshua. Ahead lies the Jordan and a land full of walled cities. Into that impossible morning God speaks, commanding courage and promising His presence.
“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.”Joshua 1:9
The moment
Joshua is being asked to step into shoes no one could fill. Moses had been the mediator, the lawgiver, the one the people looked to, and now they will look to Joshua instead, watching to see if the God of Moses is also the God of this successor. Beyond the river wait fortified cities and trained armies, and the memory of an earlier generation that saw giants and lost heart is still fresh. The fear is real: the fear of inadequacy, of being measured against Moses, of leading a whole people to their deaths. God's repeated command to be strong is not a scolding; it is the tender insistence of a Father who knows exactly how frightened His servant is.
Why we need not fear
God does not tell Joshua to find courage inside himself. He anchors the command to a fact: the LORD his God is with him wherever he goes. The strength is not a mood Joshua must manufacture but a Presence he must trust. The same God who parted the sea, who never once abandoned Moses, has now pledged Himself to Joshua for every step across every border. Fear can be set down not because the cities are small but because the God who goes with him is greater than the cities, and He has promised never to fail him nor forsake him.
How Christ answers this fear
Joshua's very name is the Hebrew form of Jesus, and both mean the LORD saves. Joshua led Israel into an earthly land; Jesus, the greater Joshua, leads His people into the true rest that Canaan only pictured. Where Joshua's courage rested on the promise I am with thee, Jesus becomes that promise in person, Immanuel, God with us, and He ends His own commission to His disciples with the same words: I am with you always. The believer facing an impossible calling is not asked to be brave alone. The captain of salvation has gone ahead, and He walks every step of the way in.
Questions people ask
Why did God tell Joshua to be strong and courageous?
Joshua was taking Moses' place to lead Israel across the Jordan into a land of fortified cities and enemy armies. He faced enormous pressure and understandable fear. God commanded courage not as mere willpower but grounded in a promise: He Himself would be with Joshua wherever he went, so the strength came from God's presence rather than from Joshua's own ability.
What does Joshua 1:9 mean for us today?
The verse ties courage to God's abiding presence rather than to our own strength or to favorable circumstances. For a believer facing a daunting task, it means fear can be set down because the same God who promised to be with Joshua has, in Christ, promised to be with us always, even to the very end of the age.