Ｂ
Joshua led the children of Israel to enter the promised land and to take it, possess it, and enjoy it (v. 6):
１
The response of Israel to Joshua implied their willingness, their readiness, and their being in one accord not only with Joshua but also with Jehovah their God, as expressed by their blessing Joshua in the name of their God (vv. 16-18).
２
Israel had become a corporate Joshua, chosen, called, redeemed, saved, trained, prepared, and qualified by God, ready to go on with God as one to take the land of Canaan (3:11, 17).
３
To gain the all-inclusive Christ, we need to be a corporate Joshua, fighting the battle, taking the land, and enjoying Christ as our inheritance (1:1-3, 6, 9).
Ｃ
After being formed, constituted, disciplined, trained, and qualified, God's people had come to the plains of Moab, where they were waiting to enter into the good land, to take it, and to possess it (Num. 36:13):
Morning Nourishment
Josh. 1:16-17 And they answered Joshua, saying, All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. As in all things we listened to Moses, so we will listen to you. Only may Jehovah your God be with you, as He was with Moses.The content of the book of Joshua is that Joshua led the children of Israel to enter the promised land and to take it, possess it, allot it, and enjoy it. The sequence here is quite significant. First, the children of Israel entered the promised land, and then they possessed it and occupied it. Following this, the land was allotted, apportioned, to each tribe in a particular way. Then they enjoyed the land. (Life-study of Joshua, p. 4)
Today's Reading
The children of Israel agreed with Joshua in taking God's commission [Josh. 1:16-18]. Their response implied their willingness, their readiness, and their being in one accord not only with Joshua but also with Jehovah their God as expressed by their blessing of Joshua in the name of their God. They were one with the Triune God in the great wheel of His economy for the purpose of gaining the good land. (Life-study of Joshua, p. 12)The pagan tribes which occupied the promised land signify the different aspects of the natural life....God has promised to cut off all the pagan tribes, all the aspects of our natural life.
However, it is important for us to realize that God's driving out of the natural life depends on two matters. First, it depends on our growth, on our increase, reproduction, and multiplication. The more we grow, the more God drives away the natural life. Second, God's driving out the pagan tribes depends on our taking the initiative to drive out these tribes. In Exodus 23:28-30 God indicates that He will drive out the tribes, but in verse 31 He says, "You shall drive them out from before you." Yes, God promises to drive them out, but we must take the initiative. (Life-study of Exodus, p. 881)
Joshua 1 shows us that everything was ready. Israel had been prepared through God's dealing with them for several hundred years in Egypt and for forty years in the wilderness. Israel had become a corporate Joshua, chosen, called, redeemed, saved, trained, prepared, and qualified by God. There in the plains of Moab they did not have any land or inheritance. They were ready to go on with God as one to take the land of Canaan, which typifies the rich, all-inclusive Christ.
In Joshua 1, God's move had reached a certain situation. At that time the entire earth was full of idols and demons. In a sense, God had been chased away from the earth, which He had created for Himself, and did not have a way to be the Lord of the earth as well as of the heavens. However, among all the nations and peoples, God had separated Israel, His elect, for the carrying out of His economy. They had nothing to do with any idols or demons. On the contrary, they were occupied with the God of the heavens and the earth. After being formed, constituted, disciplined, trained, and qualified, God's people had come to the plains of Moab where they were waiting to enter into the good land, to take it, and to possess it.
God came in to call Joshua and to tell him to take the lead so that he and the children of Israel could enter into the good land and possess it. Joshua took the word from Jehovah and charged the children of Israel to perform God's commission (vv. 1-15). The land-takers had to prepare themselves to move with God in His move....To take the good land, they had to enter into a full coordination with God in His move. If the children of Israel had looked at themselves, they would have said that there was no possibility. But their possibility was the unique God, who needed His elect people to cooperate with Him in His move to carry out His economy, in His desire to move in His economy as the great wheel. Here God seemed to be saying, "Israel, My elect, you must know that there is no need for you to do anything. Simply cooperate with Me. I am motivating the wheel to run. You need to be one with Me. Go in to possess the land, and I will slaughter the idol worshippers through you. Without you I cannot do anything." (Life-study of Joshua, pp. 13-14, 8-9)
Further Reading: Life-study of Joshua, msgs. 4, 6, 10