Joshua 1:1-3.
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,
Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel
Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.
The LORD actually spoke to Joshua, just as He had spoken to Moses. I’ve often wondered if Joshua was quaking in his sandals! Did he feel up to the task? Did he wish it had been someone else? Well, maybe I can ask him that when I get to heaven
God’s first job for Joshua was to take all the thousands of the people of Israel across the Jordan River. Not an easy job, I’m sure, as they remembered the stories they had been told of Moses taking them across the Red Sea!
God said that every inch of ground that the sole of Joshua’s foot stepped upon would be given to him and to the people of Israel, just as God had promised to Moses. That promise has never been abrogated. It has been delayed, removed through various nations taking Israel into captivity, but the promise stands today just as it stood when Joshua put his armor on and began his immense job of leading a grumbling, recalcitrant people across the Jordan.
(I may or may not take the day off tomorrow. It’s my birthday, and our nation’s birthday! I’ll be 77! Not quite as old as our nation, but sometimes I feel 248 years old! )