Joshua 23:3-5 – The Confident Assurance of the LORD’s Help

In v3 Joshua refers to the LORD’s help in the relatively recent past: “And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the LORD your God who has fought for you”. Then in v4-5 he anticipates the immediate future: “Behold, I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain … The LORD your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the LORD your God promised you”.

This is the Bible’s picture of the conquest of the Promised Land: a decisive conquest (v3) and a continuing occupation (v4-5). The LORD had given them rest (v1) but there was still work to do (v4-5). This is not a contradiction! God had told His people long before that there would be a gradual process to the conquest (see Ex. 23:29, 30).

Joshua’s intention is to provide the people with a basis for confidence. He wants those who remain to be sure of the LORD’s help. He grounds them in this assurance by appealing to the LORD’s recent activity (v3) and to His previous promise (v5: “just as the LORD your God promised you”). Both God’s action and His Word should support them. Anyone who had seen the LORD in combat at Jericho (ch.6), Ai (ch.8), Merom, Hazor and Beth-horon (ch.11), should be able to trust Him for the task that remained. And if God’s promise had proven true to date, surely it was adequate for what lay ahead. Indeed Joshua does not stress Israel’s bravery or prowess but exalts the LORD’s power: “for it is the LORD your God who has fought for you” (v3) and “The LORD your God will … drive them out of your sight” (v5).

This is the plain logic of faith. The confidence of the people of God comes from remembering His faithful actions and His faithful Word.