Joshua 1:9-11 - Have I not commanded you?

1:9

Yet another “be strong and courageous”.  Conversely, he was not to be afraid nor discouraged. Fear and discouragement try to come into all of our lives, almost constantly. We need to resist this. Yet, how can we resist? Because the Lord is with us all the time. In Phil 4:6,7 Paul tells us to be  anxious for nothing, and that God will guard our hearts and minds. As with most things in the Bible, we have a part to play, but it is God who achieves the results.

1:10,11

Joshua knows that it is now time to enter the Promised Land. The death of Moses was sad and a great loss, but the next stage of God’s plans could not be fulfilled until Moses had died. This is not to decry Moses in any way, and throughout the Bible Moses receives greater honour than Joshua. But there is a time when change is needed, when it is part of God’s purposes. So Joshua tells the officers to go throughout the camp to prepare the people for the next stage.