Having received his marching orders from Yahweh, Joshua prepared to mobilize the nation.
1:10-11 Joshua expected to be able to cross the Jordan within three days.
"The Jordan River wanders about two hundred miles to cover the sixty-five mile distance from the Lake of Galilee to the Dead Sea, dropping an additional six hundred feet below sea level as it goes."21
1:12-18 The concept of "rest"(vv. 13, 15) is an important one to grasp to understand what the conquest of the land gave the Israelites. It also clarifies what the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews had in mind when he referred to the rest that we enjoy as Christians (Heb. 3-4).22It was not rest in the sense of freedom from conflict but in contrast to journeying. Even after the seven-year conquest of the land there was still much land that the Israelites still had to take from the Canaanites and possess (13:1; 23:1-13; cf. 24:1-28; Judg. 1:1). Rather this rest was the entrance into and initial participation in the inheritance the Lord had promised His people (cf. Deut. 12:10; 25:19; Josh. 21:44; 23:1; 2 Sam. 7:1, 11; 1 Kings 8:56; Ps. 95).23
"This theologically significant term [rest] . . . is one of the key words for understanding the book of Joshua as well as later revelation."24
In Christian experience the crossing of the Jordan does not just correspond to the believer's death and entrance into heaven, which some popular Christian songs suggest. It also parallels the believer's entrance into the enjoyment of his or her eternal life now through dedication to Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:13; 12:1-2) and walking by means of the Spirit (Gal. 5:16). The wilderness wanderings resemble the experience of the redeemed believer who has not yet fully committed himself or herself to God and is walking in the flesh. When the Israelites crossed the Jordan they encountered enemies and had to contend with their spiritual adversaries just as a believer does when he dedicates himself to God and walks by the Spirit. The Christian's rest is not the absence of hostility. It is the beginning of the enjoyment of some blessings God has promised us (i.e., eternal life, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, victory over our spiritual enemies, etc.).
"Entering the land does not parallel the believer's entrance to heaven; it signifies his willingness to cross the Jordan' and engage the enemy. In other words, it is a decision by a regenerate saint to submit to the lordship of Christ and trust God for victory in the spiritual battle."25
In another sense Canaan corresponds to the additional blessings that believers who follow God faithfully in this life will receive following death.26
Not all the warriors from the two and one-half tribes went with (not "before,"v. 14) their brethren across the Jordan. Only 40,000 of the 110,000 did (cf. 4:13 and Num. 26:7, 18, 34). The rest evidently remained in Transjordan. We should understand "all"(v. 14) in this limited sense.
The attitude of the two and one-half tribes was commendable. They followed through with their commitment (Num. 32:25-27). There were no significant instances of complaining or rebellion among the tribes during Joshua's lifetime according to what the writer recorded. In this respect the nation enjoyed greater unity than it did in its former or later history.
To be successful in our corporate task of overcoming our spiritual enemies God's people must unite behind the leaders God has raised up to lead us. We should not complain or rebel against them (Heb. 13:17). Furthermore God's people must commit ourselves to entering into conflict with our spiritual enemies, rather than avoiding such conflict, to possess the fullness of God's inheritance for us. The Christian's spiritual enemies are the world, the flesh, and the devil (1 John 2:15-17; Rom. 7:18-24; 1 Pet. 5:8).
