Joshua attended to the words of God, both oral and written. There were general instructions, i.e., be bold and set an ambush. Joshua did. Then there were specific instructions, i.e., raise your javelin now. Joshua did. At the end of the chapter, Joshua is again portrayed as the obedient leader. He built the altar as Moses commanded. He organized the people as Moses commanded. Then he read the law that Moses had commanded.
The portion of the law that the people were commanded to recite between the two mountains after entering were the blessings of obedience and the curses of disobedience (Deuteronomy 27-28). It was not a theory but rather an explanation of the difference between the two attacks on Ai. They had seen firsthand the blessings of obedience and the curses of disobedience. They had watched their leader model it for them.
Their former leader Moses was am amazing man who heard the voice of God and received decrees that changed the world. Joshua was equally impressive but a little more like us. He did not have the ongoing dialogue that Moses seemed to have with God. His guidance was more like ours, i.e., some mix of personal guidance and the written word. He did not have every action explained to him and often filled in the gaps in order to accomplish God's will. For example, all God said was ambush the city; Joshua had to fill in the details of where and how.
Life today seems to follow that model, i.e., God gives us goals, moral direction and occasionally some more specific instructions. Often we are left to fill in the gaps via our own wisdom. Love your neighbor is pretty general; what that looks like will be up to my wisdom and circumstances today. Seek first the kingdom is general; how to do that today will look different for me versus the next guy.
God's promise to Abraham was that the people around him would be blessed. I think that is a standing promise. At the end of the day, everyone in Israel knew that their blessings were due to the obedience of Joshua, in generalities and specifics. We tend to pursue the American dream through insane hours of work and worry hoping to bless our families through it. Yet all it does is leave us exhausted and discouraged. Joshua pursued obedience to God and the result was a blessing for all. Though all the Israelites were God's children, Joshua stood out by his close attention to God's words. Do I? Does my family receive blessings from my efforts to pay attention to the words of God? Do others want to be around me because I am blessed and those blessings overflow to them? Do I work and worry for the American dream or for filling in the gaps of God's instructions? Am I attentive like Joshua or just another face in the superficial crowd of the nominally obedient?
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