The central theme of the book of Joshua is that God keeps his promises. Over 500 years earlier, God had pledged to Abraham: ‘To your offspring I will give this land’ that is, the land of Canaan–and this promise had been repeated many times since then. Joshua records how the Israelites finally take possession of the land that God had promise to their fathers.
The task facing them is an overwhelming one, but God has not left them to carry it out in their own strength. In the light of his presence with them and his provision for them, Joshua and the Israelites are repeatedly commanded to ‘be strong and courageous’. Years later, Joshua passes on the same charge to the next generation, and testifies that not one word of God’s promises has failed, but that all have come to pass.
Christians are to stand fast and be strong, no matter what circumstances they face in life. The truth that God fulfills his promises also has great implications for the believer today. The apostle Peter tells us that God has prepared for us ‘an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you’. And, like the Israelites of old, we too shall indeed receive our inheritance, because God keeps his promises.