Numbers 27:12-23Joshua Chosen to Lead Israel
One day the Lord said to Moses, “Climb one of the mountains east of the river, and look out over the land I have given the people of Israel. After you have seen it, you will die like your brother, Aaron, for you both rebelled against my instructions in the wilderness of Zin. When the people of Israel rebelled, you failed to demonstrate my holiness to them at the waters.” (These are the waters of Meribah at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)
Then Moses said to the Lord, “O Lord, you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Please appoint a new man as leader for the community. Give them someone who will guide them wherever they go and will lead them into battle, so the community of the Lord will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
The Lord replied, “Take Joshua son of Nun, who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him. Present him to Eleazar the priest before the whole community, and publicly commission him to lead the people. Transfer some of your authority to him so the whole community of Israel will obey him. When direction from the Lord is needed, Joshua will stand before Eleazar the priest, who will use the Urim—one of the sacred lots cast before the Lord—to determine his will. This is how Joshua and the rest of the community of Israel will determine everything they should do.”
So Moses did as the Lord commanded. He presented Joshua to Eleazar the priest and the whole community. Moses laid his hands on him and commissioned him to lead the people, just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
Moses knew the day was coming, but he still hoped that God would relent. Moses obeyed God perfectly in every action save one. At the waters of Meribah, the crowd taunted and threatened Moses until he reached his breaking point. Although God had instructed Moses to speak to the rock so that it would yield water, Moses struck the rock twice with his staff, shouting, “Listen, you rebels!” he shouted. “Must we bring you water from this rock?” (Numbers 20:10) Although God did cause water to gush from the rock, He was angry at Moses for failing to honor Him by speaking to the rock, rather than hitting it. (The first time God brought water from a rock, he did have Moses strike the rock, but this time God wanted Moses to honor Him by speaking to the rock, instead of striking it. If water gushed when Moses spoke, then there could be no confusion that Moses had happened to strike a weak spot in the rock, releasing water. For this failing, God told Moses that he would never enter the Promised Land but would die on the east side of the Jordan.
But why was God choosing Joshua to succeed Moses? First, there was Joshua’s closeness to God. Exodus 33:11 Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.
Joshua habitually spent time with God, praying and listening to Him. God wanted a man who would listen as closely as Moses had done. And then there was the spying incident as described in Numbers 13. The Israelites were on the border of Canaan and Moses sent twelve men, one from each tribe, to spy out the land. Caleb represented the tribe of Judah and Joshua represented the tribe of Ephraim. Although the spies came back raving about how fruitful the land was, they obsessed over the presence of giants, as if God was going to abandon them once they crossed the Jordan River. Only Caleb and Joshua responded in faith.
Numbers 14:6-9 tells us, “Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”
At the end of the day, the Israelites made a half-hearted attempt to enter Canaan despite God’s orders to retreat and return to the wilderness. This sortie proved disastrous, and in addition, God ordained that all the people who had failed to trust Him would die in the wilderness while their children would enter Canaan. But God also vowed that both Caleb and Joshua would prosper and enter Canaan because they had acted faithfully. Now God was ordering Moses to anoint Joshua as his successor. Although righteous, Caleb was older than Joshua; hence, Joshua was chosen as leader.
But now Joshua has a major problem: Moses has been incredibly successful for forty years. How can Joshua possibly compete with that record? If we assume that Joshua was at least 20 when the Israelites left Egypt, he is now 60 years old. Joshua lives to the age of 110, so he has another 50 years in which he will lead the Israelites. During that time, the Israelites will cross the Jordan River, destroy most of the giants, and conquer most of the land of Canaan. There will be a few exceptions; however, those failures are not Joshua’s fault. Moses has never been a military man; he’s the one sitting on top of a mountain providing prayer support while Joshua leads the troops below. And Joshua will be highly successful in battle. But there’s another key to Joshua’s success.
Joshua 1:1-9 tells us, “After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you—from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.
“Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
WOW! This is God Almighty giving these orders. Look at the promises:
- The time has come for you to lead these people-OK, Joshua, no more soul-searching or agonizing over what to do. God is directing you.
- “I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you—from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live.” God is promising Joshua continuous victory in battle, even if there are giants.
- “For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.” Joshua already knows about Moses’ relationship with God, for Joshua accompanied Moses to the tabernacle and remained there to commune with God by himself.
- ““Be strong and courageous,” God repeats this three times, indicating that this command stands and cannot be revoked.
- “Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left.” This is not the time to divert from Moses’ teaching.
- “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.” If you don’t follow God’s commands, you can’t get God’s results.
- “Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Here is the key to following a legend: Don’t worry about measuring up to the legend, but instead, follow the Lord. “For only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, many of us feel totally inadequate. You are calling us to follow highly successful people, and we are terrified that we will fail to measure up. Help us to remember that when You call us, You will enable us and help us. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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