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Joshua 1

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1 Now after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the word of the Lord came to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' helper, saying,

2 Moses my servant is dead; so now get up! Go over Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the children of Israel.

3 Every place on which you put your foot I have given to you, as I said to Moses.

4 From the waste land and this mountain Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, and all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea, in the west, will be your country.

5 While you are living, all will give way before you: as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not take away my help from you or give you up.

6 Take heart and be strong; for you will give to this people for their heritage the land which I gave by an oath to their fathers.

7 Only take heart and be very strong; take care to do all the law which Moses my servant gave you, not turning from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may do well in all your undertakings.

8 Let this book of the law be ever on your lips and in your thoughts day and night, so that you may keep with care everything in it; then a blessing will be on all your way, and you will do well.

9 Have I not given you your orders? Take heart and be strong; have no fear and do not be troubled; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go,

10 Then Joshua gave their orders to those who were in authority over the people, saying,

11 Go through the tents and give orders to the people, saying, Get ready a store of food; for in three days you are to Go over this river Jordan and take for your heritage the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

12 And to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said,

13 Keep in mind what Moses, the servant of the Lord, said to you, the Lord your God is sending you rest and will give you this land.

14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle will be kept here in the land which Moses gave you on this side of Jordan; but you, the fighting-men, are to go over before your brothers, armed, to give them help;

15 Till the Lord has given your brothers rest, as he has given it to you, and they have taken their heritage in the land which the Lord your God is giving them: then you will go back to the land of your heritage which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you on the east side of Jordan.

16 Then they said to Joshua in answer, Whatever you say to us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.

17 As we gave attention to Moses in all things, so we will give attention to you: and may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses.

18 Whoever goes against your orders, and does not give attention to all your words, will be put to death: only take heart and be strong.

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Jordan (the river)

  
Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant, by Benjamin West

The river Jordan separates the land of Canaan from the lands to the east. This separation represents the division of the human mind into an internal part and an external part, and it is the internal mind where the church is formed in a person. The river is also limited by two lakes in the north, Merom and Galilee, and the Dead Sea in the south. Inside these limits are the interior things of the mind, and outside are the exterior things. The countries outside, as they are mentioned in the Bible, can be helpful. They represent basic knowledge, reasoning ability, rationality, curiosity, and other qualities that, as friends, can support our religious beliefs, or as enemies can argue against them or conjure up false gods for us to worship. The land inside represents a regenerating state, or it can represent the ultimate end of that state, which is heaven. From outside, then, the Jordan is the entrance to something better, the goal of the journey, and its waters represent the mental washing of repentance, which is the first thing of the church, which is why John baptized there, and Naaman washed there. From the inside the Jordan is the edge of what is outside the church, and for this reason the Children of Israel were so often troubled by those nations outside: the Midianites, the Ammonites, the Syrians, Egypt, and Babylon, and the other nations we read about in the Books of Judges and Kings, and in the Prophets. The mental abilities of our external minds can work for what is good, but they can also work for what is bad.