Joshua, Chapter 1- Strength & Courage | Prophets of Israel

[music] >> Shalom friends and welcome to the Prophets of Israel daily. [music] This is the book of Joshua chapter 1 and my name is Ari Abramowitz and I'm here with Jeremy Gimpel. I don't know which side he's on but he's on one of them. Anyways, this series is brought to you by our network, the Land of Israel Network at the landofisrael.com. All right, now before we begin this epic journey through the prophets, let's start with the t'filah. Let's start with a prayer. Hashem, please guide us as we step into this journey together. Illuminate the path before us. Help us see beyond the surface of the words. Let the lessons of the prophets strengthen our emunah and let the courage of our ancestors awaken the courage within us. Open our eyes to recognize how your ancient promises are unfolding in our times and help us see that we are not merely observers of this story but participants within it. May these ancient chapters breathe a new life into our generation and may we merit to inherit the mountains you have placed before us with faith that does not waver and with strength that does not fade. Amen. All right, Jeremy. Uh I want to start with a visualization exercise for you, for me, for all of us. Okay. Now imagine you are standing at the edge of the Jordan River and the desert wind is still clinging to your clothes and the dust of 40 years of wandering is is caked into the folds of your tents, right? Now you grew up hearing stories of Egypt, uh slavery and plagues and miracles and redemption. And while your parents told you these stories firsthand, you personally only know the wilderness. Well, now your parents are gone and the graves of that entire generation stretch across the desert, right? And Moses, Moshe, the man who spoke face to face with God and lovingly led the entire generation, he was like a father to us. He's is now. He left the world. And as the entire nation is standing at the edge of the Jordan, the first words of the new era isn't a eulogy. It's a command. Koom. Arise, cross, right? Enter. There isn't really a break between the huge emotional hit of losing Mosha and what comes next. One chapter ends, not only a chapter in the text, but a chapter in history. One chapter ends and the next one begins right away. Are you Are you with me so far, Jeremy? I'm here with you and I'm just really excited that we're going through the prophets of Israel together. I'm really excited for this journey. Good, because you know, we're at the very beginning. And uh and this is how it starts. The whole journey starts with this pasuk, this verse. Vayi Mosha Now it comes to pass after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord. And by the way, I'm just thinking, if I if the description of me was the servant of the Lord, that's the entire eulogy I would want in my whole life. Those words, I don't need anything more than that. So, that's a eulogy in and of itself, but humanity sometimes needs more, you know, that's but that's it. That's how the new era opens after the death, not with battle or conquest, but with absence and pain. And immediately, God turns to Joshua and says, "Moses, my servant is dead. Now arise, cross the Jordan, you and all this people into the land that I'm giving them." Right? There's no There's no cushioning the blow here. No soft introduction. The reality is really stated just plainly. The leader's gone, the mantle passes and the mission continues on. And by the way, this is not about replacing Mosha. This is about Joshua, Moses' beloved student and disciple, continuing Mosha's mission and stepping forward when the moment arrives. I mean, think about it. He spent most of his life in Mosha's shadow and now now he has to find his own voice. You know, when you think about it, you pause and you think about the moment, the weight on Joshua's shoulders just really like unimaginable. For 40 years, he walked beside the greatest prophet who ever lived. Moses was the voice that spoke with God face-to-face, the man who split the sea, he brought the Torah down from Sinai, and Joshua spent most of his life standing in his shadow. And he was learning, he was observing, absorbing everything that he could, and now the voice is gone. Moses is no longer, and God turns to Joshua and says, "Listen, Moses is dead. You need to rise now." And so, you just imagine hearing those words after a lifetime in the presence of Moses behind the scenes, Joshua is suddenly entrusted with the ultimate mission, the very dream that the entire nation carried since the days of Abraham to finally enter into the land that God promised. And I don't know, I would expect like a grand national speech about Moses, some kind of emotional bridge between eras just to process it all. And Hashem basically says, "All right, just lace up your sandals, we're crossing the Jordan." And there's something so Jewish about that. We have a moment to mourn, and then that's it. The history taps us on the shoulder and says, "This story is just not ending right now. You can't just grieve, continue, march, move forward." And it's time for Israel to truly process the land. And that's the real way Moshe would have would have wanted to be remembered. That's right. You know, we they had to keep moving forward. We have to keep moving forward. You know, Joshua is told exactly what lies ahead. "Every place the sole of your foot will tread, I have given to you." But notice the condition. They actually have to step. Right? The promise isn't theoretical, it isn't, you know, a poetic metaphor or whatever. It's actually like a concrete geographic demand for movement. This is actually the first time we see this principle stated so clearly, which is that Hashem expects us to move forward in faith to assert ourselves, to act, not to sit back, passively waiting to be carried on the wings of eagles or whatever it is. He wants us to act, right? And then God redraws the map in unmistakable terms, from the wilderness to Lebanon, from the Euphrates to the Great Sea. Right? This isn't some vague spiritual idea floating in the heavens. It's a living, breathing covenant mapped onto land, onto mountains, onto soil, waiting for a people courageous enough to walk it and to make it real. But I also think that at that moment, Hashem sensed that Joshua needed something more. Right? Not a not a new strategy or a clearer map or even a even a guarantee of ease. He needed chizuk. And it's hard to define, to translate chizuk. He needed reassurance. He needed strengthening. He Not not that the road would be simple again, but that that he wouldn't be walking it alone. You know, and so Hashem says to him in verse 5, "Just as I was with Mosha, so I will be with you. I will not abandon you, nor will I forsake you." And that's exactly the reassurance that he won't be alone. Hashem promises that he'll be with him every step of the way. And then comes the ultimate words of strengthening and reassurance. Words that echo not only through Sefer Yehoshua, but really throughout all of Jewish history. Chazak ve'ematz. Chazak ve'ematz. Chazak ve'ematz. Be strong and courageous. I think that most Jews recognize these words. Right? They're the words your rabbi says to you after you lead a prayer in synagogue or you lift up the Torah or you do anything in synagogue really. They're the words your commander says to you before you go out to battle in Gaza or in Lebanon or in Chevron, wherever it is. Chazak ve'ematz. Be strong and courageous because both strength and courage are required. Joshua needed strength to step into Mosha's shadow. The Israelites needed courage to step into the land. And the Jewish people have needed those two same exact in every generation since then. Strength to stand firm and courage to move forward despite fear. You know, Ari, that really stood out for me, too. Those words "chazak v'amatz" they're repeated again and again throughout the chapter. I think four times just in chapter 1. And I mean, those words really do echo throughout all of Jewish history. And while Joshua is being blessed with those two words, I think he's also receiving guidance. He's being taught that there are two kinds of strength. There's the outward strength, chazak, strength to fight, to stand, to advance, to defend. And then there's inward strength, ometz, the courage. Courage to believe, courage to trust, courage to stay faithful when the outcome is uncertain and may take some time. And Joshua is told Israel needs both. They're both are critical to enter and inherit the land of Israel. And you consider that Israel now is the most respected army in the Middle East by far. We have the strength. We've proven our strength. Our courage is every time it's like a little bit more, a little bit more, but still we haven't grown into the nation that we could be. We're constantly navigating between the pressures of the United Nations and the European Union. I mean, without the US administration, I don't know what Israel would have the courage to do. We're always concerned with what the nations will say and how they'll respond. But courage comes from a deep belief. You know, a belief in your cause, a belief in your rights. And ultimate courage comes from belief in God. And so, the land of Israel is inherited when physical strength is guided by spiritual courage. And that's why these words echo throughout the chapter and that's why they're speaking to us today. Well, I'll tell you, first of all, uh beautiful, true. That's an entire dimension of the chazak v'amatz that I wasn't thinking about, but I agree with it fully. You know, and I think sometimes in this world, um we hyperfocus on physical strength, but we're learning here that strength alone isn't enough. Strength without Torah can turn hard and reckless and encourage which isn't anchored like you said Jeremy and in Hashem can become arrogance and self-destructive because real Jewish strength isn't about physical power and real Jewish courage isn't about ego. It's the strength to stay humble before Hashem and the courage to remember that he is the one who is truly fighting our battles and that's why immediately after saying "Hazak Ve'amatz" Hashem tells Joshua to cling to the Torah. Verse 8. This book of Torah shall not depart from your mouth. You shall meditate upon it day and night. Victory flows from living the Torah in the real world, the world of land and power and politics and war and only then, right, only then does Joshua turn to the people. In 3 days they will cross. No drama and no delay. When the moment of truth arrives, redemption moves very quickly. Keheref Ayin, as the sages teach, in the blink of an eye, right? And then comes one of the most profound moments of the chapter. Joshua addresses Reuven, Gad, and Chatzi Menashe and half of the tribe of Menashe, the tribes already settled east of the Jordan. This is a sensitive point, right? In verse 14, he says, "Your wives, your little one, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moshe gave you on the far side of the Yarden, of the Jordan. But you shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valor, and help them." You You may feel secure, Joshua tells them, but you do not get to sit this one out. Redemption is collective. No tribe is whole while another fights alone. And the people respond and they respond well. They respond with with unconditional loyalty. Verse 16. Kol Asher Tzevichu Tzevichu Na'aseh. All that you command us, we will do. Wherever you send us, we will go. Just as we listened to Moses, so shall we listen to you. Only may Hashem be with you as he was with Moses. And then they add something really powerful. Right? They said to Joshua, verse 18, "Any man who rebels against your word shall be put to death." Did you hear what just happened there? This isn't a frightened nation clinging to a new leader. They're making a conscious choice here. The first time in 40 years that they're actually stepping forward, not as a generation merely reacting to miracles, but as a generation choosing responsibility. Right? Choosing unity. They have agency now. They're they're choosing shared destiny over personal comfort and safety. And it's just such a great way to start. They're not just accepting Joshua's authority, they're reinforcing it. And truth is, I can't help but to feel like Mosha would have been very proud at this moment. And then they do something beautiful. They echo back to Joshua the very words which Hashem has been blessing. "Rock Hazak Ve'amatz." they say. Rock, which means only, Hazak Ve'amatz, "Be strong and courageous." Right? The the charge that initially came from heaven now rises from within them. It rises from the people. And that's not just a beautiful literary moment. That's the entire mission of entering the land of Israel. Right? Open your hearts. Open your hearts, my friends. Jeremy, are you listening to this? This is what it's about. This is it. In the desert, everything came from above. Manna from heaven, water from a rock, clouds of glory. Right? They were clear, open miracles. But now, something shifts. The same words that descended from heaven, Hazak Ve'amatz, now echo upward from the people. And if you ask me, Jeremy, that's the purpose of this whole thing. Not only the purpose of inheriting the land, but arguably the purpose of this whole life of ours, the of us being in this world. You see, in the land of Israel, God sort of I think he he takes off the steering wheels, so to speak, right? Miracles don't only fall from above, but they rise from within. The divine word doesn't just come down, but it becomes internalized and embodied and spoken back into reality by a sovereign nation. And that is what it means to inherit the land. Not to live depending on these obvious miracles, but to become partners in revealing those miracles. In letting those miracles manifest in the world through us. All the while never forgetting that Hashem is the source of those miracles. Not our power or brains or courage or strength or technology, God forbid. No. Right? So, when the people say to Joshua, "Only be strong and courageous." Hazak ve'ematz, they're no longer passive recipients of destiny. They're participants. The voice of heaven is now flowing through them. And that is the deepest shift of Joshua. And perhaps of all of Jewish history. The miracles are not ending. They're just changing form. From open signs above to a covenant that we live below. From mana falling to courage rising up. And and that is the true crossing of the Jordan. You know, so as we close chapter one, I think here's the question for us. Are we waiting for miracles to fall from heaven? Or are we ready to rise to the occasion and to act boldly with courage and faith? Are we molding ourselves into vessels of faith and trust through which God's miracles, through which God's light will shine through us to the world in these times of darkness and confusion? This is it. You know, because the Jordan still stands before us. And the call is the same. Hazak ve'ematz. Step forward. Partner with Hashem and cross over. I'm sorry, my friends. That went longer than I wanted it to. I'm sorry. But what can I say? I'm just really excited about this journey together. And I bless us that it should go grow richer and more beautiful every single day. So, Hazak ve'ematz, my friends. Be strong and courageous. And be'ezrat Hashem, we will see you all tomorrow as we dive into chapter two with Jeremy.