The Chronicles of Snobbery; vol. #3

*The Chronicles of Snobbery, a writing about history as His-story.

Joshua 1

God Commissions Joshua

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             1After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, 2"Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and this entire people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. 4From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. 5No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

   

            What gives a person courage in the face of insurmountable odds?  What kind of person can look at the possibility of death and know it is a big possibility, and could even be imminent, yet… follows his call, his commitment, his duty, and his responsibility towards his call? 

            On July 18, 1861 a brigade under the command of General Thomas Jonathon Jackson headed toward the little sleepy town of Manassas Junction.  While his troops slept in a field just east of Ashby’s Gap, General Jackson stood guard while events led him to quite a fateful date with destiny, July 19, 1861. 

            Jackson, at a very young age, had come to grips with suffering.  His father passed away before he was yet two years old, and his mother, an impoverished widow, clung to the only way she could see her family survive by marrying a man that despised her children.  When the young Thomas was just seven years old his mother died also, sending Thomas to live with his Uncle and Aunt.  The relatives that now surrounded Jackson were hard working and treated the young Jackson well.  Not having many opportunities for academic rigor led him at the age of seventeen to be a local law enforcement officer.  Jackson was known for his pluck, determination, and superhuman work ethic.  Congressman Samuel L. Hays recognized this hidden potential in Jackson and recommended him to West Point.  Studying with the resolve to do anything in his power to make his way to the Academy, he waited for the results of an entrance exam, and when the list was read for new recruits, his name was the last on the list, but he had done it!  Eventually, he became the professor of physics at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), from his background of poverty, loneliness, orphan hood, and many other difficulties, one would not have imagined that General Thomas Jackson would have ever come to that place in life.

            Jackson had the courage of Joshua.  “Be strong and courageous… be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”  Moses had died, Jackson’s family had died, and instead of either Joshua or Jackson feeling sorry for themselves, or calling themselves victims, they saw a calling that was greater than they were.  God called both of these men to lead the way.  According to the Bible’s definition of success, He led them to live a blameless, godly life.  These are the attributes of leaders.  Joshua was scared, or God would not have reminded him to be courageous.  Jackson was scared.  Before he had headed toward Manassas Junction on that fateful day, July 19^th, 1861, he had not only lost his parents, his first wife, and two children, but he thought for a time that success was in having a family.  God took this man, used the suffering in his life to fill him with courage, and change his definition of success.  God became the strength of his life and his portion forever.  That is the only way we can have real courage and strength in life.  When we know that God is our strength, and that our success is following Him wherever He leads, then we become godly men and women that follow Christ wherever He leads. That is true courage.