1. The Lord calls Joshua.

Joshua 1:5 I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee

‘We can find courage and strength in this promise that the Lord will always be there for us and will never leave us alone. We are taught that Heavenly Father knows and loves each of His children. As one of His precious daughters, you have access to His assurance and guidance through the power of prayer. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read, “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers”  (D&C 112:10)’ (Anne M Dibb, General Conference, April 2010)

Joshua 1:1-11 Be strong and of a good courage

‘As the record opens, Joshua has already been chosen as Moses’ successor, according to the pattern described in Numbers 27:18-23. In the first recorded revelation to Joshua as Israel’s leader, the Lord instructed him to take Israel into the promised land. There were conditions in order to have success and prosperity.

The boundaries of the promised land were laid out. The dimensions vary from text to text in the Old Testament, but these, in verse 4, represent the farthest extent of the boundaries.

In the face of such a daunting leadership challenge, Joshua was assured the same help and support Moses was given from the Lord. Joshua was told at least four times in this first chapter to be strong and very courageous (vv 6, 7, 9, 1). He would need both strength and courage. He was commanded to make the ‘book of the law’ the centre of his thoughts and actions and was promised ‘good success’ (v8). Making the scriptures the centre of our lives is still appropriate counsel for all of us in our day, as it has been in other dispensations (see John 5:39, Acts 17:11)’ ( Andrew C Skinner and D Kelly Ogden, Verse by Verse the Old Testament)

2. The Israelites cross the Jordan River on dry ground; through their faith, Jericho is destroyed.

Joshua 7:3-17 Crossing the Jordan

‘When Moses was about to depart, God required of him that he should lay his hands upon another man to take his place to act as the leader of the people of Israel. He laid his hands upon Joshua, and a portion of that spirit and power that had attended the ministrations of Moses in the midst of Israel was immediately manifested through Joshua, (Num. 27:18-23 Deut. 34:9) and God confirmed the selection and impressed upon the people by the signs and the mighty works which Joshua accomplished that he was indeed God’s chosen servant. He magnified him in the midst of the people; he was enabled to perform mighty works, and the people, if they had had any doubts whatever, had those doubts removed by those manifestations of power. You remember how the Lord showed in the sight of all Israel that Joshua was His inspired and chosen servant, for under his direction the children of Israel crossed the river Jordan dry shod. (Josh. 3:7-17 Josh. 4:1-24) It was at the time of high water in the river Jordan; but the Jordan was stayed in its onward course, its waters stopped running, and the whole hosts of Israel, by the direction of this servant of God, passed over dry shod. In this manner God showed unto His people that He had indeed chosen this man to be His servant. And so it has been in the entire history of God’s dealings with His people. He has not left them without a testimony. He has not left them to proclaim His word unaccompanied by His power. They have not been left to argue for themselves, to plead for themselves, to protest in the ears of the people that they were the servants of God, and to constantly contend for their rights as leaders of the people of God. But in every instance when He chose a man to be His servant, He accompanied that choice by the manifestations of His power, by the outpouring of His spirit, and His gifts, so that every honest soul, every humble man and woman who sought the Lord, might know for themselves that those men were His chosen ones.’ (George Q Cannon, Journal  of Discourses)

 Joshua 4 Why Did Israel Set Up Memorial Stones?

‘Biblical peoples were very fond of symbolic acts to commemorate great events. In order to memorialize God’s blessing in parting the waters of the Jordan River, Joshua commanded that twelve stones be taken from the riverbed and placed where all the people could see them: “These stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever” (v. 7). In later years, when their children would ask the meaning of the stones, Israel could rehearse the story of God’s miracle; thus, the stones would serve as a visible reminder of God’s power.’ (Institute Old Testament Manual)

Joshua 6:1-19 The fall of Jericho

‘Chapters 6-9 report Israel’s central campaign…..Instructions for the extraordinary attack on Jericho were presented. For seven days the siege proceeded. There were restriction on plunder and booty; some things were to be preserved for holy purposes and other things were to be destroyed – but there was to be no looting.

Throughout ancient times those inhabitants of the Holy Land who controlled the hill country protected themselves from enemy attacks, particularly from the west, the ‘front door’ to their territory. By far the majority of enemy assaults occurred from the west. But the Israelites were coming in the ‘back door’ and had to gain strategic control over the oasis of Jericho. It was something of a bread basket. Archaeologically, the city exhibits more than twenty occupation levels. It was a crucial site for a new people to control. Since Jericho was undoubtedly a centre of idol worship, the Lord was signalling the overthrow of false religions as well as the conquest of a powerful Caananite city. The Lord helped again. Fear had called the thousands living outside the walled city to flee inside for protection. Marching around the city with trumpets, or shofars (rams’ horns), signified a declaration of war. The shofar thus became an instrument of warfare. It undoubtedly terrified the indigenous population. The preponderance of the number seven – seven priests, seven trumpets, seven days, seven circumlocutions – emphasised the completeness of the Lord’s battle, its connection to the covenant, and the inauguration of a new order and era, much like the seven days of creation. The Ark of the Covenant symbolised the Lord’s presence in the action. An earthquake possibly brought the walls down in order for the Israelites to quickly overrun the place. Seismic activity is frequent at that site in the Rift Valley: the epicentre of the strongest earthquake in the land during the twentieth century was near Jericho.’ (Andrew C Skinner and D Kelly Ogden, Verse by Verse, The Old Testament)

3. Joshua and his people covenant to serve the Lord.

Joshua 24:14-15 Choose ye this day

;In our day, we are being admonished in the same manner through apostles and prophets. We are to fear the Lord, serve the Lord, put away worldly gods, and choose whom we will serve.

Fearing the Lord means to be reverent and to love Him and to keep His commandments.

We show that we serve the Lord by the way in which we live the commandments received from Him, by the work we do to help establish the kingdom of God on earth, and by the way we act towards our neighbor.

Putting away worldly gods means keeping impure thoughts out of our minds, shedding all hateful feelings from our hearts, and ridding our lives of everything which may prevent the Holy Ghost from being always with us.

For some, putting away worldly gods may mean giving up a small habit. For others, it may mean giving up serious sins they are committing. For others still, it may mean forgetting sad events which happened earlier in their lives. Whatever the situation, in each one of us there is the power to change our life, the power to transform the bad feelings we have in our hearts. The Lord Jesus Christ will give us this power and will help us. All He asks from us is that we have faith in Him, follow His example, and obey His commandments.

When we love God, serve the Lord sincerely, and give up the things of this world, we become true followers of Christ.’ (Adhemar Damiani, General Conference, October 1999)