In my Bible reading this week, I was reminded that this concept was at work long before the NT authors began to explicitly teach it. We find an example in Joshua as he hears from the Lord, heeds what he hears, and calls others to follow in his footsteps.
After Moses’ death, Joshua took up the leadership of the nation just as they were about to enter Canaan and take the land. To that end, the LORD gave a somewhat lengthy word of exhortation, including this excerpt from 1:8:
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night…
To “meditate” here carries the idea of thinking out loud or muttering, which is why the Lord says the “book of the law shall not depart from your mouth.” In other words, this is tantamount to a command: be speaking the law (to yourself) all the time. It suggests more than simply thinking about the Word. Rather, in a sense, preach it to yourself. Why?
…so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.
There are three components here: intentionality (“be careful”), obedience (“do according to”), and content (“all that is written in it”). Meditation on the law represents being intentional, not haphazard, about obeying the whole law, not just parts. What will be the result?
For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
The context defines the terms “prosperous” and “success” for us. It is not simply that if Joshua obeys the law, he will have a nice slab of real estate in Canaan. More significantly, Joshua will be equipped for the mission God has given him. The “way” referred to here is the way of war and conquest that awaits Joshua. Canaan isn’t vacant. There are people there who believe they own the land. Some of them are giants. Humanly speaking, taking this land is a task so daunting that ten of Joshua’s contemporaries forty years earlier said, “It can’t be done; let’s go back to Egypt” (Num 14:4 Texas Standard Version).
If Joshua will preach the Word to himself, he’ll be careful to love God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, he’ll trust God, he’ll obey, and he’ll find the strength to accomplish the mission before him. He’ll make is way prosperous and have success.
The following 22 chapters record that while there are missteps (Joshua 7, 9), for the most part Joshua follows the Lord’s 1:8 counsel and enjoys that prosperity and success. This means that Joshua is in a prime position to pass this exhortation on to others, having experienced its truth.
In chapter 23, Joshua is about to die. What counsel does he give them before he goes? His exhortation sounds very similar to the exhortation God gave to him in chapter 1:
6 Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left… 11 Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God.
The striking similarity of the language–even more obvious in the original language–indicates that Joshua is passing on to the people what the Lord had delivered to him, a concept that we continue to find in the rest of the Bible.
Paul, in sharing the gospel with the church at Corinth, was passing on what had been delivered to him (1 Cor 15:3–10). He explicitly called others to do the same (2 Tim 2:1–2).
The church at Thessalonica, in setting an example of faith for the believers in Macedonia and Achaia, were simply passing on the example set for them by Paul and his companions (1 Thess 1:5–7).
This is what Jesus had in mind when He gave the great commission—disciples making disciples. He called disciples to pass on to others what they received from Him (Matt 28:19–20).
There is a long line of this going all the way back to…Joshua. Where will it end? Let it not end with us.
To whom are you passing on what you have received? What are their names? If there aren’t any, it isn’t too late. Make a phone call. Make a lunch or coffee appointment. Ask your unsaved colleague out for breakfast and tell them about Jesus. Ask the younger believer over for dinner and share with them what you’ve learned about how to be faithful.
Pass on what you have received.
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