The big picture
The Book of Joshua opens with a death that does not cancel a commission. Moses is gone, but the promise, the law, and the work of bringing Israel into the land continue under Joshua. God gives him real authority while binding that authority to what Moses commanded, so courage is required as much for obedience as for conflict. The chapter then turns immediately from great promises to provisions, officers, and obligations. Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh already possess land east of Jordan, yet they must cross and help their brethren until the others receive rest too. Their answer publicly accepts Joshua's leadership and repeats the central condition of the chapter: the LORD must be with him as he was with Moses. The final command of courage therefore comes back to Joshua from the very people he is preparing to lead.
Central truth
Joshua 1 establishes that Joshua must lead Israel across the Jordan by obeying the LORD’s command, keeping the law before him, and trusting the presence promised as it had been to Moses.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
Joshua 1:1: “Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,”
Slow down at the turning point
Joshua 1:9: “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…”
Keep this word trail visible
Moses, LORD, land, servant, commanded, good
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
Joshua 1:1-2
Begin at a grave, not a battlefield
Open with the first words, "after the death of Moses". Israel has lost the only leader most of them have ever known, and the Book of Joshua does not hurry past that. Point out the two titles: Moses is "the servant of the LORD" and Joshua is "Moses' minister", his assistant. Then read the LORD's sentence in verse 2, which states the loss and gives the next step together. Teach this first because the whole chapter answers one question: what happens to God's purposes when a great servant dies. The answer is that the LORD keeps speaking.
Joshua 1:3-5
The promise is older than Joshua
Show that verses 3 to 5 are not new promises invented for a new leader. The phrase "as I said unto Moses" in verse 3 points back to Deuteronomy 11:24, and "as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee" in verse 5 ties Joshua into the same presence. Explain "coast" in verse 4 as border or territory. Name the boundary words without drawing modern borders on them: wilderness, Lebanon, Euphrates, the great sea. Then land on the last line of verse 5, "I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee", which the teacher should flag because Hebrews 13:5 quotes it to ordinary believers.
Joshua 1:6-9
Courage with a book in its hand
Read the three commands to be strong slowly and in sequence, because each one has a different reason attached. Verse 6 is about the task of dividing the inheritance. Verses 7 and 8 are about the law: say it, ponder it, do it. Verse 9 is about presence. Explain "meditate" as a murmuring over the words, not emptying the mind. Explain that "prosperous" and "good success" are tied to doing what is written and to the mission in hand. This is the theological centre of the chapter, so give it the most time and keep coming back to "Have not I commanded thee?"
Joshua 1:10-15
Faith that packs a bag
Now Joshua speaks, and his first act is administrative. He sends the officers through the camp with a date and a task: prepare victuals. Explain "victuals" as food for the journey. Then turn to the eastern tribes and recall Numbers 32 so the class knows why Joshua addresses them. The phrase to underline is "rest", which comes twice in verses 13 and 15. The two and a half tribes have rest already; their brothers do not. Teach this after verses 6 to 9 because it shows the courage Joshua was given turning straight into ordinary commands that other people must obey.
Joshua 1:16-18
The people say it back
Close with the tribes' answer and let the class hear the echo before you explain it. The line "as he was with Moses" repeats verse 5; "only be strong and of a good courage" repeats verses 6 and 9. The people who receive orders end up encouraging the leader. Handle verse 18 honestly: rebellion against Joshua's command carries death in this setting of a nation under arms entering the land. Say that it describes Israel's covenant discipline at a specific moment, and is not a model for how any leader today treats people who disagree. The chapter ends with human words that sound like the LORD's.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
"Verse 8 promises that if I read my Bible every day I will be rich and successful."
The promise is to Joshua for a particular mission: to bring the people over the Jordan and divide the inheritance (1:2, 6). "Prosperous" and "good success" describe that way going well, and they come after "observe to do according to all that is written therein". The verse does commend daily meditation to every reader, and Psalm 1 says something similar. It does not turn Bible reading into a technique for wealth, and Joshua himself goes on to meet defeat at Ai in chapter 7.
"Be strong and courageous means God wants me to feel brave and confident."
The command is given three times, and each time it has a content. In 1:6 it is about the inheritance, in 1:7 about keeping "all the law", and in 1:9 it rests on "the LORD thy God is with thee". The text never asks Joshua to manufacture a feeling. It tells him what to hold onto when fear comes: a promise, a book, and a presence. Courage in Joshua 1 is obedience that keeps going while afraid.
"Joshua was a second Moses, so God's people always need one great leader."
The chapter keeps the difference clear. Moses is "the servant of the LORD" and Joshua is "Moses' minister" (1:1). What carries over is not Joshua's greatness but the LORD's word and presence: "as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee" (1:5). The officers, the eastern tribes and the people all have work to do (1:10-18), and the people encourage Joshua at the end. Leadership matters here, but the continuity belongs to God.
"Verse 18 shows that disagreeing with a church leader is rebellion against God."
Verse 18 is the people's own pledge in a nation under arms about to cross into war, and it is bound by verse 17: they follow Joshua as the LORD is with him, as he was with Moses. Joshua himself is told to obey the book (1:7-8), so his commands are under the law, not above it. The verse does not teach that any leader today may treat questions as treason, and teachers should say so if the room has been hurt by that.
Learning objectives
- Trace Moses’ death to the command that Joshua cross the Jordan.
- Identify the promises in verses 3–5 and commands in verses 6–9.
- Explain how strength and courage are tied to obedience to the law.
- Describe the officers’ three-day preparation order in verses 10–11.
- Recall the eastern tribes’ prior commitment and why Joshua invokes it.
- Compare the tribes’ pledge with the LORD’s repeated courage charge.
Teacher preparation
- Read Deuteronomy 31:1–8 and 34:1–12 so the transfer from Moses to Joshua is fresh.
- Mark every “be strong” and “good courage” and note their connection to obedience.
- Locate the Jordan and the boundaries named in verse 4 on a map.
- Review Numbers 32 and Deuteronomy 3 for the eastern tribes’ prior obligation.
- Explain KJV “victuals” in verse 11 as provisions for a journey.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Verses 1–2 explicitly identify Moses as dead and command Joshua to arise and cross the Jordan with the people.
Scripture-supported
Numbers 32 and Deuteronomy 3 support the eastern tribes’ duty to help the other tribes before returning home.
Strong inference
The announced crossing “within three days” in verse 11 presents Joshua’s response as immediate execution of the commission.
Possible or traditional reading
Some read verse 4 as territory Israel immediately occupied in full, but Joshua later distinguishes conquered, allotted, and still-unpossessed land.
Limit
Joshua 1 does not explain every historical stage by which the full boundary promise would be understood or realized, and it does not say courage by itself guarantees success.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. What changes in Joshua 1:1–2, and what does not change when Moses dies?
What a good answer contains
Moses is dead, and the LORD says so plainly: "Moses my servant is dead" (1:2). The servant changes. What does not change is the speaker, the land, the people and the command: "arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people". A good answer notices that the LORD himself announces the death and in the same breath gives the next order, so the promise does not die with the man. A weak answer makes the chapter about Joshua filling big shoes and misses that the continuity is the LORD's.
Show teacher guidance
The servant changes from Moses to Joshua; the LORD’s purpose continues in the command to cross the Jordan.
2. In verses 6–9, what is Joshua repeatedly told to be strong and courageous for?
What a good answer contains
Verse 6 gives the first reason: Joshua will divide the land "for an inheritance" to the people. Verse 7 attaches courage to obedience, "that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law", without turning right or left. Verse 9 grounds it in presence: "the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." The strong answer keeps all three: a task, a book and a companion. A weak answer reads "be strong" as a call to feel confident and drops what the courage is for.
Show teacher guidance
Verse 7 ties courage to observing the law, and verse 9 ties it to the LORD’s presence.
3. What does verse 8 require Joshua to do with “this book of the law” before it says he will prosper?
What a good answer contains
Three things, in this order: it "shall not depart out of thy mouth", so it is spoken; "thou shalt meditate therein day and night", so it is pondered; and "that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein", so it is done. Only then comes "then thou shalt make thy way prosperous". Look for answers that see prosperity here as the success of the mission in hand, the crossing and the inheritance, not private wealth. An answer that skips the doing has kept the Bible on the shelf.
Show teacher guidance
Look for speech, meditation day and night, and doing according to what is written.
4. Why do the officers tell the people to prepare victuals in verse 11?
What a good answer contains
Because the crossing has a date: "within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan" (1:11). The manna has not stopped yet (5:12), so the order is not about hunger but about readiness; people who are about to move pack. A good answer links the provisions to the promise, "the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it", and sees that faith here looks like practical preparation. A weak answer treats the verse as a logistics aside with nothing to teach.
Show teacher guidance
Connect the provisions to the announced crossing within three days.
5. Why are Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh singled out in verses 12–15?
What a good answer contains
They already have land east of the Jordan. In Numbers 32 they asked for it, and Moses agreed on the condition that their fighting men would cross with the others. Joshua reminds them of that word in 1:13-15: their wives, little ones and cattle stay, but the men "shall pass before your brethren armed", to "help them; Until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you". A good answer names the principle: those who have received rest first owe help to those still waiting for it.
Show teacher guidance
Numbers 32 records their prior agreement: families may remain east of Jordan while their armed men help the other tribes.
6. How does the tribes’ answer in verses 16–18 echo the LORD’s earlier words to Joshua?
What a good answer contains
They promise obedience, "All that thou commandest us we will do" (1:16); they ask the very thing the LORD promised, "only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses" (1:17, compare 1:5); and they close with the LORD's own words, "only be strong and of a good courage" (1:18, compare 1:6, 9). The strong answer sees that the people now speak back to Joshua what God first spoke to him. A weak answer misses the echo and treats their speech as generic loyalty.
Show teacher guidance
They pledge obedience, invoke the LORD’s presence with Joshua, and close with “only be strong and of a good courage.”
Responsible application
Heart and habits
List the concrete practices attached to Joshua’s courage in verses 7–8.
Relationships and community
Examine the eastern tribes’ obligation to help their brethren before settling fully into their own rest.
Courage with content
Compare a motivational slogan with Joshua 1:7–9.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
45 minutes
After the death of Moses
Read 1:1-2 aloud. Ask question one and write two columns on the board: what changes, what stays.
The old promise
Read 1:3-5. Point out "as I said unto Moses" and "as I was with Moses". Read the last line of verse 5 twice.
Three times be strong
Read 1:6-9. Take questions two and three. Deal with the first confusion, about prosperity, straight from verse 8.
Pack for the crossing
Read 1:10-15. Take questions four and five, using Numbers 32 in one sentence.
The people answer
Read 1:16-18. Take question six and let the class find the echoes of verses 5, 6 and 9.
Respond and hand out
Choose the courage-with-content application, read the key verse together, and close in prayer.
90 minutes
Losing a leader
Ask the group what happens in a family, team or church when someone everyone relied on dies or leaves. Keep the answers short and do not ask for personal details.
The grave and the command
Read Deuteronomy 34:5-9 and then Joshua 1:1-2. Take question one and the third confusion, about one great leader.
An older promise
Read 1:3-5 and Deuteronomy 11:24. Explain coast as border, name the boundaries without modern maps, and connect verse 5 to Hebrews 13:5.
Courage with a book in its hand
Read 1:6-9. Take questions two and three in order. Work through the first two confusions. Give two minutes of silence for each person to choose one phrase of verse 8 to carry.
Faith that packs a bag
Read 1:10-15 with Numbers 32:16-22. Take questions four and five and underline the word rest.
Words that echo
Read 1:16-18. Take question six. Raise the fourth confusion, about verse 18, and answer it from verses 7 and 17.
Application
In threes, complete the heart and habits application, then the eastern tribes application, and share one concrete practice.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse aloud together, explain the take-home line, and pray for anyone facing a transition.
Adapting the lesson
Children
Set a blue cloth on the floor as the river and have the children stand on one side. Read 1:2 and let them say "arise, go over" together. Give each child a small card with a picture: a mouth, a thinking head, two hands, to show say it, think about it, do it from verse 8. Talk about Moses dying gently and simply, and keep the focus on God saying "I will be with thee". Leave verse 18 out.
Youth
Ask them to name the best and worst motivational slogans they have seen, then read 1:7-9 and compare. Push them to say what Joshua's courage is attached to. Give the eastern tribes a hearing: they could have stayed home, and verse 14 sends them to fight for someone else's rest. Ask where in their lives they have rest already and someone else does not, and keep the answers practical rather than heroic.
Adults
Spend time on the transition from Moses to Joshua with Deuteronomy 31 and 34 open, because many adults have lived through a change of leadership that went badly. Give verse 8 careful treatment and name the prosperity misreading directly. On verse 18, acknowledge that some in the room may have been controlled by leaders who used verses like it, and show from 1:7 and 1:17 that Joshua himself stands under the book.
One to one
Read the chapter together and ask which of the three commands to be strong they most need, the one about a task, the one about the book, or the one about presence. If they are grieving or facing a loss, let 1:2 and 1:5 stand side by side: the LORD names the death and promises not to leave. Suggest one small daily practice from verse 8 and agree to ask each other about it next time.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
Joshua 1:1–18
The passage in brief
After Moses dies, the LORD speaks to Joshua and tells him to lead Israel across the Jordan into the land promised to their fathers. The LORD promises to be with Joshua as he was with Moses, and three times tells him to be strong and courageous: for the task, for keeping God's law, and because God goes with him. Joshua tells the people to prepare food for the crossing in three days, and reminds the eastern tribes of their promise to help their brothers. The people pledge to follow.
A verse to keep
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 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What three things does 1:8 say to do with the book of the law?
Why did the eastern tribes have to cross the Jordan when their land was already on the near side (1:12-15)?
Which words of the LORD do the people repeat back to Joshua in 1:16-18?
This week
Choose one verse this week, say it aloud each morning, think about it during the day, and do one thing it asks.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
