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“Be Courageous and Very Strong”The Watchtower—1986 | December 15
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3, 4. (a) Why do we need to cultivate fearlessness? (b) How may we do this?
3 Very soon now, God’s people will march into Jehovah’s new system of things. In view of events that are shaping up in the world, we need to cultivate fearlessness. How can we do this? As Joshua prepared to enter the Promised Land, God instructed him: “Only be courageous and very strong to take care to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn aside from it to the right or to the left, in order that you may act wisely everywhere you go. This book of the law should not depart from your mouth, and you must in an undertone read in it day and night, in order that you may take care to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way successful and then you will act wisely.”—Joshua 1:7, 8.
4 Ah, there is the secret! Read the Bible daily. It contains God’s law for us. Meditate on it. Heed its reminders. Do not let yourself be turned aside into the materialistic, immoral world around you. In whatever situation you find yourself, act with wisdom. Make practical application of the accurate knowledge and spiritual understanding that you have gained through your study of God’s Word. Speak about it to others. By doing so and by relying on Jehovah, you can indeed ‘be courageous and very strong, and make your way successful.’—Compare Psalm 1:1-3; 93:5; 119:165-168.
5. (a) Like Joshua, how can youthful ministers today gain strength? (b) What fine goal may young Witnesses have today?
5 Joshua had been “the minister of Moses from his young manhood” onward. (Numbers 11:28) No doubt this close association had helped him to gain spiritual strength. Likewise, youthful ministers today can gain strength through working along with devoted parents, pioneers, longtime Witnesses, and other loyal servants of Jehovah. Engaging in house-to-house witnessing with such zealous ones can be a joy and can help to build in our youths maturity and a desire to move forward in the ministry. (Acts 20:20, 21; Isaiah 40:28-31) What finer goal could young Witnesses have than full-time service in behalf of Jehovah’s Kingdom!—Psalm 35:18; 145:10-12.
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“Be Courageous and Very Strong”The Watchtower—1986 | December 15
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6. How was Joshua an example to us in connection with the campaign against Amalek?
6 When Moses sent Joshua to fight the Amalekites, “Joshua did just as Moses had said to him.” He was obedient; so, he gained the victory. We, too, will share in Jehovah’s vindication if we pay close attention to the battle instructions that we receive through his organization. Jehovah told Moses to memorialize His triumph over Amalek by writing it in a book and propounding it in Joshua’s ears. No doubt Joshua further magnified Jehovah’s victory by speaking about it to others. In the same way, we today can make known the mighty acts of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, and we can proclaim his impending “day of vengeance” upon the wicked.—Exodus 17:10, 13, 14; Isaiah 61:1, 2; Psalm 145:1-4.
7, 8. (a) What confidence did Joshua and Caleb express on returning from Canaan? (b) What warning and encouragement do we find in Jehovah’s handling of matters at that time?
7 When Moses sent 12 chieftains to spy out the Promised Land, he included Joshua in their number. On returning, ten of the spies expressed great fear of the Canaanite inhabitants of the land and persuaded the people to campaign for a return to Egypt. But Joshua and Caleb boldly declared: “If Jehovah has found delight in us, then he will certainly bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that is flowing with milk and honey. Only against Jehovah do not rebel; and you, do not you fear the people of the land, for they are bread to us. Their shelter has turned away from over them, and Jehovah is with us. Do not fear them.”—Numbers 13:1–14:38.
8 However, the assembly of Israel continued to murmur, so that Jehovah stepped in and condemned those fearful Israelites to 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Except for Caleb and Joshua, all their men of war died without seeing the Promised Land. What a warning for us today! Let us never murmur against Jehovah’s arrangements. Even if we meet up with difficult witnessing territories, let us be courageous and strong in going to the people’s homes with the lifesaving Kingdom message. May we never be like those modern-day apostates who, rather than give a public witness, prefer to slander their brothers and to fall back into the ways of the world—antitypical Egypt.—Numbers 14:1-4, 26-30; Luke 12:45, 46; compare Acts 5:27-29, 41, 42.
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“Be Courageous and Very Strong”The Watchtower—1986 | December 15
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Jehovah’s Name to the Fore!
9. How did Joshua live up to his new name?
9 The Bible list of 12 spies names Joshua as Hoshea, meaning “Salvation.” But at this point the record says: “Moses continued to call Hoshea the son of Nun Jehoshua [meaning, ‘Jehovah Is Salvation’].” Why did Moses thus emphasize Jehovah’s name? It was because Joshua served primarily for the vindication of that name. Joshua became a living example of obedience to the command that Moses would later emphasize to Israel: “You must love Jehovah your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your vital force.” In so doing, he was privileged to demonstrate that ‘Jehovah is salvation.’—Numbers 13:8, 16; Deuteronomy 6:5.
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