Your Jordan Is Not the End

Moses was dead.

Think about that for a minute. For forty years, one man had stood between Israel and everything frightening. He talked to God, parted the sea, and brought water out of a rock. Now he was gone, and Joshua was the one left standing there with a river in front of him and enemies on the other side.

I don’t think Joshua felt brave that morning. I think he felt like most of us feel when the person we leaned on is gone, the job is lost, or the diagnosis comes back. He felt like he was not enough.

That’s when God spoke:

“There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” (Joshua 1:5)

I want to walk through this verse slowly, because it is easy to rush past it.

God speaks at the edge, not after it

God didn’t wait until Joshua had crossed over, won a battle, or proven himself. He spoke while Joshua was still standing on the wrong side of the river.

Many of us believe God will show up once we’ve got it together. Scripture shows the opposite. God usually speaks right where we feel weakest, because that’s where we need Him most.

“No man shall be able to stand before you”

Let me be careful here, because people misuse this verse. It does not mean life will be easy. Joshua still had to march around Jericho. He still lost a battle at Ai. He still faced giants.

What God promised is that nothing would finally defeat him. You can be opposed and not defeated. You can be knocked down and not finished. Whatever stands against the person God is with does not get the last word.

“As I was with Moses, so I will be with you”

Joshua was comparing himself to Moses, and I know you’ve done the same thing. You look at the person who held the job before you, the pastor who built the church, the parent who made it look easy, and you think, I can’t be that.

God never asked him to be Moses. He said, “I’ll be with you the same way.” Joshua didn’t need Moses’ gifts. He needed Moses’ God.

“I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee”

This is the line I hold onto. It means God won’t let go and He won’t walk away. He doesn’t get tired of you, and He doesn’t hit a limit with your struggles.

That is a lovely promise. But if I stopped here, I’d leave some of you with a question, and I’d rather answer it than dodge it.

“But I’m not Joshua”

You might be thinking, Pastor, Joshua was a great leader. I’ve failed. I’ve doubted. I’ve wandered off. Does that promise still hold for me?

Here is the good news, and it’s the best news there is.

Look at the name. “Joshua” in Hebrew is Yehoshua, which means “the LORD saves.” Now look at “Jesus.” It’s the Greek form of the same name. The Bible even makes the connection itself: in Hebrews 4:8, the King James Version says “Jesus” when it’s talking about Joshua leading the people into the land.

That isn’t a coincidence. Joshua was a shadow. Jesus is the real thing.

Joshua led Israel across the Jordan into a piece of land. Jesus leads us through death itself into eternal life.

Joshua defeated kings. Jesus defeated sin, death, and the grave.

Joshua gave the tribes an inheritance. Jesus gives us Himself.

Why you can trust this promise

The writer of Hebrews took Joshua 1:5 and gave it to every believer:

“Be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Notice what happened. A promise spoken to one man on one riverbank is now spoken over everyone who belongs to Christ.

And here is why we can believe it. Joshua’s promise rested on God’s word. Ours rests on something finished.

On the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Not “it’s started,” and not “it’s up to you from here.” The price for your sin was paid in full.

Paul says Jesus disarmed the powers against us and made a public spectacle of them (Colossians 2:15). The enemies that “stand before you” were already beaten at the cross.

The curtain in the temple tore from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). God did that. The way into His presence is open and it stays open.

After the resurrection, Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). Hear that? It’s Joshua 1:5 in the mouth of the Greater Joshua.

God told Joshua, “I will be with you.” In Jesus, God came and lived among us, and then He sent His Spirit to live inside us. That’s how close He is.

Nothing can pull you loose

Paul puts it like this:

“If God be for us, who can be against us? ... Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come... shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31, 38-39)

That is Joshua 1:5 with the volume turned all the way up.

So what do you do with this?

•Stop trying to qualify. You can’t earn what Jesus already finished. Your place with God doesn’t rise and fall with your best or worst day.

•Step into the new season. The door that closed behind you doesn’t mean God stayed behind with it. He’s already ahead.

•Face opposition with a different posture. It’s real, but it is not final.

•Rest. Joshua’s story ends with the people in a land of rest, and Hebrews 4 says Jesus gives us a deeper rest than any piece of land could.

One last thing

Whatever river you’re standing at right now, the job, the marriage, the sickness, the silence, hear it again:

He has not failed you. He will not forsake you. And because of Jesus, it is finished.

Go on and take the step. He’s already on the other side.

Let’s pray. Father, thank You that Your promise to Joshua became my promise through Jesus. Where I feel too small, remind me that You are enough. Where I’m afraid of the crossing, remind me that You’ve already gone ahead. I receive Your presence today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.