Joshua 6:27 So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country
I was thoroughly encouraged this morning to read Joshua 6:27, “So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country.” I was encouraged because this is the other bookend to what started in the first chapter of Joshua. In Joshua 1 Moses had died and Joshua is yet untested as the leader of Israel. God said to Joshua, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.” There is a history here. “As I was, so I will be.” There is a promise here, “I will be with thee.” Then, there is a fact here, “So the LORD was with Joshua.”
This is written in the context of the victory at Jericho. The result was that Joshua’s fame was noised abroad. You read about this in other places in the Bible. Was Joshua frightened? God said, “Fear not.” Was he proud because his name was noised about the country? We are reminded that the Lord did what was done. In fact, in Joshua 5:15 Joshua is confronted by the captain of the host of the Lord and he is told to loose his shoes off his feet “for the place whereon thou standest is holy.”
The next verse is Joshua 6:1 where God gives exactly what He was going to do. It says, “Jericho was straightly shut up because of the children of Israel,” but God said regarding Jericho and what was to come, “I have given into thine hand Jericho.” Joshua was not taking it; the Canaanites were not giving it. God was giving it.
What you can take from all of this is that the Lord’s presence moderates both fear and pride. What would have caused fear before the battle of Jericho would have caused pride after the battle of Jericho. The thing that moderates both is a recognition of God’s presence before, during, and after. How can I be fearful when God is with me? How can I be proud when God was with me? The Lord’s presence moderates both fear and pride.
As to fear, think about instances in which you were very close to certain danger but you were not afraid. For example, I recently went to the zoo with my grandkids. We saw predators, animals that could rip you limb from limb, but there was no fear because there was a big moat, fence, or some kind of barrier between you and that threat.
Back a month or so ago, we were in Florida driving along Alligator Alley, the interstate that runs across the south of the state. We counted scores of alligators sunning themselves on the side of the interstate. I wasn’t afraid because I was in a truck and they were across a big ditch. It would have been a danger, but there was no need for fear because there was protection. My truck protected me from the gators, and at the zoo, the cage protected me from the predators. Whatever fears, challenges, and giants you may face today, the Lord’s presence should moderate that fear.
On the other end, sometimes we fear something, get a victory, and then tend to erase God from the story. We think, “I probably could have done this without God.” That is pride. I remember in my twenties I flew with a pilot in a private plane and he allowed me to take the controls on some basic maneuvers. We did a couple takeoffs and landings. I think he was doing pretty much everything, but I nervously had my hands on the controls. I did notice that even though he asked me to do certain things at the controls, there were controls on both sides of the cockpit, the pilot and copilot side. So, I had my hands on the controls, but he was the one who had control of the plane. We were safe and succeeded because he was in control. How foolish it would have been for me to get out of the landed plane and say, “Wow, I did really good up there.” If I had just focused on my own hands, I may have not noticed or thought about the fact that the pilot had his hands on the controls.
I also remember years ago playing soccer at college. I don’t know anything about soccer, and someone nailed the soccer ball which flew right into my face. As it turns out, it amounted to a defensive measure for my team. Guys congratulated me on heading the ball. I didn’t tell them differently, but my nose was pulsating because the ball just about broke my nose. My head just got in the way. So, pride in that case would have been really silly. How many times has someone said, “You did a great job,” and you never took a moment to think about God in heaven?
If you are about to face a challenge, you may be fearful. If you have just overcome a challenge, you may be smug. It is great to remember as Joshua did, that the Lord’s presence moderates both fear and pride.