Adult Lesson Plan: Joshua 1–8;23–24

OPENING (2–3 minutes)

Joshua steps into leadership with a problem no résumé can solve. Moses is gone. The promised land stands across a flooding river. Jericho’s walls wait on the other side. The Lord does not begin by handing Joshua a military manual. He gives him a sentence to live inside.

Read Joshua 1:9 aloud and let it sit in the room:

“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:9).

Invite the class to hold two ideas together for today’s discussion. First, the Lord does not deny that rivers and walls exist. Second, He roots courage in a Presence, not in personality. Then ask, “If the Lord’s promise is ‘I am with thee,’ why do we still feel afraid, and what does faithful courage look like when fear stays in the room?”

SCRIPTURE EXPLORATION (15–20 minutes)

Begin in Joshua 1:1–9 and watch how the Lord builds Joshua. The Come, Follow Me introduction frames the moment plainly: Israel faces “the Jordan River, the walls of Jericho, and a mighty people who had rejected the Lord,” and they must do it “without their beloved leader Moses” (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “May 18–24. ‘Be Strong and of a Good Courage’”). The Lord’s answer is not, “You have this.” It is, “the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:9; cited in Come, Follow Me).

Move to Joshua 1:8 and slow down on the Lord’s counsel about “the word of the law.” The manual highlights that this counsel mattered because of Joshua’s “heavy responsibility” (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “May 18–24. ‘Be Strong and of a Good Courage’”). Read the verse aloud and ask the class to listen for verbs:

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:8).

Then ask, “What do you hear besides ‘read’?” The verse includes speaking (“out of thy mouth”), pondering (“meditate”), and doing (“observe to do”). Let class members point out how unusual that is. Scripture is not presented as trivia for the mind; it becomes language, thought, and action.

Shift to Joshua 3–4 and the crossing of the Jordan. Come, Follow Me points to Joshua 3:5 as the spiritual hinge: “wonderful things can happen in our lives because ‘the Lord will do wonders among [us]’” (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “May 18–24. ‘Be Strong and of a Good Courage’). Read Joshua 3:5:

“And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you” (Joshua 3:5).

Ask, “Why might sanctification come before the wonder?” Keep the discussion grounded in the text and in the manual’s question: “Why do you think the Israelites needed to sanctify themselves before they crossed the Jordan River?” (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “May 18–24. ‘Be Strong and of a Good Courage’).

Then focus on the timing detail the manual highlights. The river does not part at a distance; it parts after contact: “the river parted only after ‘the feet of the priests … were dipped in the brim of the water’ (Joshua 3:13, 15)” (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “May 18–24. ‘Be Strong and of a Good Courage’). Ask, “What kind of faith steps into the edge of the water before it moves?”

If time allows, briefly connect the Jordan River to other scriptural moments the manual lists: 2 Kings 2:6–15; 2 Kings 5:1–14; Mark 1:9–11 (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “May 18–24. ‘Be Strong and of a Good Courage’). You do not need to read them all, just ask, “Why might the Lord return to the same river for different kinds of deliverance?”

DOCTRINAL DISCUSSION (10–15 minutes)

Joshua’s story presses on a doctrine many adults live with quietly: God’s companionship does not remove the need for choice, effort, or patience, but it changes what our effort means. The manual states the reason Israel could be courageous: “It wasn’t because of their own strength, or even Moses’s or Joshua’s, but because ‘the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest’ (Joshua 1:9)” (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “May 18–24. ‘Be Strong and of a Good Courage’). That reframes courage. Courage becomes covenantal. It grows from trusting the Lord’s nearness when the outcome still feels uncertain.

Pause and ask, “Where do you see people trying to borrow courage from talent, experience, or other people, and where do you see courage that comes from the Lord’s presence?” Let answers be specific and adult, including work, health, grief, and family complexity.

A second doctrine rises from Joshua 1:8: the word of God forms disciples who can act under pressure. The verse links meditation to obedience, and obedience to a kind of prosperity and success the Lord defines (Joshua 1:8). The manual expands the invitation beyond “just reading,” noting that the Lord “often uses words that go beyond just reading,” and He “promises great blessings” (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “May 18–24. ‘Be Strong and of a Good Courage’). Ask, “How does ‘meditate day and night’ change scripture study from a task into a way of seeing?” Then ask, “What does it look like for ‘this book of the law’ to ‘not depart out of thy mouth’ in a normal adult week?” Let the class explore how covenant language shapes reactions, speech, and decisions.

A third doctrine comes through Rahab in Joshua 2. Come, Follow Me frames her as a living witness that “both faith and works are necessary for salvation,” and it points to Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25 as apostolic readings of her story (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “May 18–24. ‘Be Strong and of a Good Courage’). Keep the discussion close to the manual’s focus: Rahab’s faith and works “sav[ed] herself, her family, and the Israelite spies” (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “May 18–24. ‘Be Strong and of a Good Courage’). Ask, “Why does the Lord sometimes let one person’s covenant courage shelter others?” Then ask, “Where have you seen someone’s faith create safety for a spouse, child, parent, or ward member?”

Bring the doctrines together with Joshua 24:15 as the capstone of a lifetime. Joshua does not end with nostalgia; he ends with a decision. Ask the class to read Joshua 24:15 silently, then ask, “Why would Joshua, after rivers and Jericho, still press the people to choose?” Let the room wrestle with the fact that miracles do not remove agency. They sharpen it.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION (5–7 minutes)

Adults often face “Jordan Rivers” that do not look dramatic from the outside. A conversation you keep postponing. A habit you keep excusing. A calling that stretches you past your comfort. Come, Follow Me applies Joshua’s world to ours: “When we have our own rivers to cross and walls to bring down, wonderful things can happen in our lives because ‘the Lord will do wonders among [us]’ (Joshua 3:5)” (Come, Follow Me, For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “May 18–24. ‘Be Strong and of a Good Courage’).

Invite class members to choose one “edge of the water” step that fits Joshua 3. The priests’ feet touch first (Joshua 3:13, 15, as cited in Come, Follow Me). That can look like making an appointment, offering an apology, setting a boundary, or returning to a neglected spiritual practice. Then connect that step to Joshua 1:8: pick one way to let scripture move from page to life this week, by speaking a verse aloud, pondering it “day and night,” or choosing one act of obedience that grows out of it (Joshua 1:8).

If someone raises questions that touch temple ordinances or current membership policies, respond gently and briefly: This is sacred and personal, please speak with your bishop or refer to the temple recommend questions.

CLOSING TESTIMONY & INVITATION (2–3 minutes)

Return to the Lord’s promise and Joshua’s choice. The Lord told Joshua, “Be strong and of a good courage… for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:9). Joshua later asked the people to decide who they would serve (Joshua 24:15). The pairing matters. The Lord’s companionship and our choosing belong together.

Invite the class to carry one question into the week: “Where do I need to step into the brim of the water, trusting the Lord to do wonders after I move?” (Joshua 3:5, 13, 15). Bear testimony that the Lord keeps His promise to be with His faithful people, and that His word, held in our mouths and hearts, can make our way prosperous in the way He defines (Joshua 1:8–9).