Introduction: Would you like to be successful? You know, of
course, that book stores and the Internet have all sorts of
“How to” instructions? How to be happy. How to be content.
How to be more efficient. How to get rich. How to lose
weight. How to buy land with no money down. Of all the books
to consult, why not first look to God and what He says in
the Bible? Our lessons this new quarter continue from the
journey we have taken in Exodus with the Hebrews and Moses
to the land God promised Abraham. Moses has now died and our
lesson this week tells Moses’ successor, Joshua, how he can
be a successful leader for God. It is a powerful lesson for
personal and evangelistic success. So let’s plunge into our
study of the Bible!
I. The New Leader
A. Read Joshua 1:1-2. How would you react to such a
commission from God? (It is like God telling you
that you will be the head of your country to lead
the people to a new land. What could be more
challenging?)
1. What is the cause for new leadership? (Moses
died.)
2. What is Joshua told to do first? (Cross the
Jordan river.)
a. What is the significance of this after
their forty-year experience in the
wilderness? (They are finally going
home.)
B. Read Joshua 1:3-4. What does God promise Joshua
that is an extension of His promise to Moses?
(Wherever Joshua walks, God’s people will own that
property.)
1. As you consider verse 4, what land is Joshua
told is open to his conquest? (The land
bordered by the Mediterranean on the west, the
Euphrates river to the east, the Lebanon
mountains to the north, and the wilderness to
the south. This would, at a minimum, include
all of modern Israel, the Palestinian
territories (West Bank/Gaza), Lebanon, western
Jordan, and southwestern Syria.)
C. Read Joshua 1:5. What promise does God make about
this vast property option? (That if they move
forward to defeat the current occupants, none of
them will be able to defeat Joshua and the
Hebrews.)
1. One commentator explains that the area that is
described in about 300,000 square miles
(777,000 square kilometers). The most that
Israel ever claimed was about 30,000 square
miles (77,000 square kilometers). What is the
first lesson for success that you can draw
from this? (We need to trust God for much more
than we think we can achieve.)
II. Reaching Your Goals
A. Read Joshua 1:6. How important is Joshua to taking
the promised land? (God says, “You shall cause the
people to inherit the land.”)
1. When we studied Exodus, over and over again we
read the lesson that God is the power to whom
we should turn. How do you understand that
Joshua “causes” the conquest? (God is in a
partnership with us. We have an essential role
in accomplishing the will of God on earth.)
2. What are the essential qualities for Joshua’s
success? (To be “strong and very courageous.”)
B. Read Joshua 1:7-9. In these verses two additional
times God instructs Joshua to be “strong and
courageous.” Is that essential advice for us?
(The week I wrote this lesson I watched an amazing
evangelistic service of the kind I doubt will ever
be repeated in my lifetime. Charlie Kirk, a
political activist who was also a Christian
evangelist, was assassinated. Charlie was “strong
and very courageous.” At his memorial service I
was astonished that several of the most powerful
political figures in my country shared the gospel
of Jesus! I read that 100 million streamed the
Kirk memorial on the Internet.)
C. Look again at Joshua 1:7. What is the required
companion to being strong and courageous? (Obeying
God.)
1. When God commands Joshua not to turn from
obedience “to the right hand or the left” what
does that mean? (The law of God is our
centering point. This is where my old friend
Deuteronomy 4:1-2 comes in. We must not
instruct others to do things God has not
commanded, and we must not teach others that
they can violate God’s commands.)
D. Look again at Joshua 1:8. What keeps us centered?
(A constant consideration of God’s law.)
1. You might say, “I have a job. How can I be
thinking about God’s law all the time?” (You
make decisions all day. As you make decisions
you should ask what is God’s direction on
those decisions?)
E. Did you notice that both Joshua 1:7 and Joshua 1:8
promise that the result of courageous, centered,
Bible-based decision making is “good success.” Do
you want to be successful in life? This is the
formula!
F. Read Romans 2:9-11. What additional blessing is
promised to those who obey God? (Not just success
(glory and honor), but also “peace.”)
1. Would you like more peace in your life?
2. How can it say, “God shows no partiality?”
Didn’t it just say God chooses winners and
losers? (Paul is talking about race. God does
not choose winners and losers based on race,
He chooses them based on whether you promote
good or evil. You can be sure that those who
connect goodness or evil with a specific race
are promoting evil.)
3. Let’s have a reality check. Joshua and the
people faced years of battle. How can that
constitute peace? (Peace is not what is going
on outside us, it is what is going on inside
of us. We must have a courageous confidence
that God is with us as promised in
Joshua 1:9.)
III. Gad and the Crossing
A. Read Joshua 1:10-11. What critical thing is Joshua
doing in response to God’s instructions to him?
(He is following through. He is acting on what God
told him to do.
B. Read Joshua 1:12-14. This seems very odd. Why are
these two and a half tribes not crossing over
Jordan into the promised land? (Recall the
territory that God promised Joshua that he could
conquer? The Jordan river is well west of the
Euphrates river. This is area promised to God’s
people. And note that Joshua says that Moses
approved them living on the east side of the
Jordan.)
C. Read Numbers 32:20-22 and Joshua 1:16-18. What
have Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh
promised? (The warriors will cross over the Jordan
and help secure the land promised to all the other
tribes.)
D. Read Joshua 4:12-13. Did they keep their promise
to Moses, Joshua, and the rest of the tribes?
(Read Joshua 22:1-4. They kept their promise!)
E. Read Joshua 22:9. This tells us that God permitted
them to stay in Gilead as opposed to Canaan. Why
would they not want to cross over the Jordan to be
with the rest of the tribes? (Read Numbers 32:1-2.
The land east of the Jordan had great grazing land
and these tribes had a large number of livestock.)
F. Read Joshua 22:10-12. How easy is it to have
misunderstandings among church members? Is being
on the other side of the Jordan a contributing
cause for mistrust? (Read Joshua 22:19. Being on
the other side created mistrust.)
G. Read Joshua 22:15 16 and Joshua 22:21-23 and
Joshua 22:24-27. Why did the two and a half tribes
build this giant altar? (It was to dispel the idea
that being on the other side of the Jordan meant
that they were not followers of the true God.)
1. What lessons for success in our church today
do we find in this story in which the tribes
almost went to war over a concern about
obedience to God? (Both sides were concerned
about obeying God. They mistrusted the other
side to do the right thing. But talking it
over instead of going to war resolved the
conflict.)
2. Did either side compromise on the issue of
obedience? (No one compromised.)
3. Is Deuteronomy 4:1-2 part of the solution
here? (Yes. The Jordan divide was not a
deviation from the words of God. Both sides
were concerned about a matter of free-choice,
not a matter of sin.)
H. Friend, would you like to do great things for God?
Would you like to conquer territory held by
demonic forces and their allies? Would you like to
create a new and powerful force among humans that
is devoted to God? Then go forward. Be strong and
very courageous. Be obedient and do not turn to
the right or the left. With God that is possible!
IV. Next week: Surprised by Grace.
Copr. 2025, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are
from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All
rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within
parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail,
but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this
link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the
Holy Spirit as you study.
