Nehemiah knew what it was to have enemies who tried to intimidate him

and so prevent him from accomplishing his purpose:

'For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened

from the work' (Neh. 6:9).

This word is used of Pharaoh in Exodus, when he said:

'The tale of the bricks ... ye shall lay upon them ... for they be

idle' (Exod. 5:8).

Of all the renderings, however, those that seem to illuminate our subject

most are 'forsake' and 'slack':

'When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee

... if thou turn to the Lord thy God ... He will not forsake thee'

(Deut. 4:30,31).

'Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go

to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given

you?' (Josh. 18:3).

'There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of

thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail

thee, nor forsake thee.  Be strong and of a good courage' (Josh.

Let us look at the context of some of these passages.  The promise made

to Joshua in Joshua 1:5 is surrounded with encouragement and strength.

Joshua is told to go over Jordan with the people, and to be assured that

every place that the sole of their feet shall tread upon is theirs.

Joshua is a pre -eminent type of Christ.  His very name when written in

Greek becomes 'Jesus', and is so rendered in the New Testament on two

occasions, namely in Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8.  He foreshadows the Lord as

the Captain of salvation, and comes into power at the death of Moses the

representative of law.  The promise given in Joshua 1:5, is a repetition of

that already given in Deuteronomy 31,

'And Moses ... said ... I am an hundred and twenty years old this day

... the Lord hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

The Lord thy God, He will go over before thee, and He will destroy

these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and

Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath said ... be

strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the

Lord thy God, He it is that doth go with thee: He will not fail thee,

nor forsake thee' (Deut. 31:1 -6).

It is this passage that is quoted in Hebrews 13:

'He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.  So that we

may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man

shall do unto me' (Heb. 13:5,6).

The Lord Jesus Christ is the true Joshua of the church of the Hebrews:

'Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into

His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it ... for if Jesus