Top 7 Bible Verses About Joshua

Here are seven great Bible verses focusing on Joshua.

Joshua 1:5-6 “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”

This is the chapter where God speaks to Joshua after the death of God’s servant Moses and God is encouraging Joshua to “be strong and courageous” in the face of this great change in Israel’s leadership. God promised Joshua (as He does us) that He will be with him, just as God was with Moses, and that He “will not leave you or forsake you” and will “be with you.” This is just what Joshua needed to hear. Don’t we also need this reassurance? This is exactly what the author of Hebrews wrote too in writing “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb 13:5b) and since “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me” (Heb 13:6).

Deuteronomy 31:7-8 “Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Prior to Moses death, Moses called Joshua and spoke to Him before all of Israel, to “Be strong and courageous” because “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you,” and more than that, “he will not leave you for forsake you,” so there’s no reason to fear or be dismayed. Moses promised Joshua and Israel that the Lord is going to go before them…not with them, but before them, in preparing the way into the Promised Land. Jesus does the very same thing to those who repent and trust in Him.

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

The phrase “Be strong and courageous” is repeated often in Joshua 1 because He knew that there was probably some apprehension about the loss of the only leader that they had ever known in Moses. To remind Joshua and Israel of God’s faithfulness, God again declares that “the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” and that is His promise to us, His very own children.

Numbers 14:6-7 “And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.”

When Moses sent out the twelve spies into Canaan, one man from each tribe, they came back to give an evil report because ten of the spies thought it was impossible to take the land from such a strong people, but Joshua and Caleb had great faith in God. They saw for themselves that the land was “exceedingly good” and thought that they should cross over immediately but, the other ten spies gave a report that made Israel fear (Num 13:32). Caleb tried to reassure the people by saying “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it” (Nub 13:30) but Israel refused to listen; therefore their generation would remain in the wilderness for forty years.

Joshua 1:7 “Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.”

We are starting to see a pattern in God’s admonitions to Joshua and Israel in the oft repeated phrase, “Only be strong and courageous” but this one comes with a warning and that is “to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you.” This means don’t turn to the right or to the left but go forward in obedience. If so, “success [will go] wherever you go.” The same thing is true for us. Obedience brings success while disobedience brings curses.

Joshua 24:15 “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua speaks to Israel and really, to all of us, to serve the Lord and to choose whom we will serve. It if is the gods of this world, then we will go the way of all who do not put the Lord our God first. Joshua takes a solid stand and firmly states that he and his household “will serve the Lord.” God spoke to Israel and said “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil” (Deut 30:15) and has “set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deut 30:19). He offers us this same choice.

Joshua 1:8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

In this final verse about Joshua, the Book of the Law must “not depart from [our] mouth” but instead, we should “meditate on it day and night” in order that we might “be careful to do according to all that is written in it.” Only then will God “make your way prosperous” and only then will you “have good sucesss.”

Conclusion

Joshua’s name in the Hebrew sounds very much like what Jesus’ name means. In Hebrew Joshua is “Yĕhowshuwa`” and means “Jehovah is salvation.” Jesus’ name and Joshua’s name are essentially the same. In the Greek, Jesus is “Iēsous” and means “Jehovah is salvation,” the very same thing that Joshua’s name means. Joshua prefigured Jesus’ coming role. Joshua and Jesus were to bring their people into the Promised Land. They both point to God and have “salvation” in their name and the truth is there is salvation found in none other than in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.