1 Now Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2 and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 and the Negev and the plain in the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants'; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there." 5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6 And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day. 7 Although Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated. 8 So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.
9 Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses. 10 Since then no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 for all the signs and wonders which the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and for all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel. NAS
Even the casual reader of this last chapter of Deuteronomy cannot but help being moved by the scene described. Moses, the faithful servant of God – aged but not weary, is allowed to go up to the top of Mt. Pisgah and view the Promised Land one last time. After this special privilege – Moses dies and is buried in an undisclosed location.
For thirty days the children of Israel wept and mourned for him after which they record this epitaph, “Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face” (Deut. 34:10). Yet, God does not leave His people leaderless! Instead, He already has chosen a man to take the place of Moses. This successor to Moses is Joshua.
Joshua was not Moses, but he was a man supremely prepared to lead the people and to carry on that which Moses started (Deut. 34:9; Josh. 1:1). Joshua, more than anything else, is a positive example of an Old Testament leader – prepared by God, over a period of time, to accomplish a specific task.
In our first introductory post we looked at the book of Joshua, today we are going to be introduced to Joshua the man.
JOSHUA THE MAN
His Name
Numbers 13:8 tells us that Joshua was the son of Nun and of the tribe of Ephraim – it also tells us that he was originally born with the name Hoshea which mean salvation. At some point Moses changed his name to Joshua which means The Lord is Salvation or Jehovah is Salvation (Num 13:16).
Both names are significant in their application. For example,
¨ Hoshea / Salvation
By naming their child Hoshea, Nun and his wife were bearing witness to their faith in God’s promise of redemption for His people. In Biblical times names had a great deal more significance than they do today.
¨ Jehoshua / Joshua / The Lord is Salvation
When Moses changed Hoshea’s name to Joshua he was very likely reflecting the spiritual qualities which he saw in this young man.
In addition, the name surely revealed to Joshua two important things.
First, it served to remind Joshua of the sacredness of the ministry to which he had been called and secondly, it served to remind him of Who Israel’s real Leader and Deliverer was (Jehovah).
Gene Getz writes,
It is true that Joshua would be God’s human instrument to lead Israel into Canaan. In that sense he would be a means of salvation for God’s chosen people….Yet it was God who would indeed lead Israel back into Canaan. It was He who would roll back the waters of Jordan, cause the walls of Jericho to fall down, and defeat the people of Ai. It was God who would defeat all the giants in Canaan. Thus God changed Hoshea’s name to Joshua to illustrate that He and He alone was Israel’s salvation (Joshua: Defeat to Victory, pp. 21).
One other important fact needs to be mentioned about the name Joshua / Jehoshua – the Greek form of the name is Jesus!
Matthew 1:21
21 "And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins." NAS
Joshua in a sense typifies what Jesus would do for His people (Heb. 4:8). God would use Joshua to lead His people into their physical rest and He would use Jesus to lead His people into their spiritual rest (Matt. 11:28).
His Preparation
Joshua’s preparation for his ministry can be seen in four specific life experiences.
Life Experience #1 – As a Slave
Joshua was born into a slave family in Egypt. No doubt as a young boy Joshua saw his father come home from the fields, weary and exhausted from the toilsome day serving under the harsh Egyptian taskmasters. It is very likely that Joshua’s earliest memories were not pleasant ones.
That is of course except for the memories of what God was beginning to do through this man named Moses. Based on Exodus 33:11, Joshua must have witnessed the signs and wonders God performed through Moses (Exodus 7-12).
First the waters of the Nile were turned to blood, then came the lice, then the flies, and then the destruction of the Egyptian livestock. After that came the boils, then hail, then locusts and then darkness. Finally came that fateful night of the Passover when all first born children were killed.
1 Chronicles 7:20-27 tells us that Joshua was the firstborn of the son of Nun. This means that his life too would have been in danger if it were not for the faithfulness of his parents. No doubt that as Joshua sat that night under the cover of the blood of the lamb, that he pondered all that he had witnessed and his faith in Jehovah grew (after all Jehovah had demonstrated Himself to be the one true God).
Later his faith would once again be enlarged as he witnessed that great event at the Red Sea as the Lord opened the waters for Israel to pass through, and then closed the waters to drown the Egyptian army (Exod. 14-15).
So in those early years God used the events he witnessed to settle Joshua’s faith in Jehovah and His servant Moses.
Life Experience #2 – As a Servant
At some point right before or very soon after the Exodus – Joshua became Moses’ special assistant. In Numbers 11:28 Joshua is called “the attendant of Moses from his youth.” In Exodus 24:13 Joshua is specifically called, “his (Moses’) servant.” This indicates that he stood beside Moses and assisted him in his task of leadership, learning as he went along.
As Moses’ assistant Joshua was privileged to accompany him to Mt. Sinai as he went up to receive the law (according to Ex. 24:12-14, only Joshua was allowed to go with Moses up the mountain). Quite a privilege for a young man, though at some point Moses left Joshua so that he could actually receive the tablets (Exod. 24:16). When it came to access to the Lords presence Joshua was second only to that of Moses.
It is also evident that that Joshua had the additional responsibility of guarding a special tent that Moses had set up out side the camp. In this tent Moses would meet face to face with God (Exod. 33:7-11).
Joshua was learning the valuable lesson of how to live and worship in the presence of God.
He was also learning a great lesson in humility (Numbers 11:16-30).
It is not wrong to want to honor the authority of your leaders…..however we must never become separatist or exclusionary (Luke 9:49-50).
Joshua’s first life experience as a slave helped prepare him for his future task; his second life experience as a servant helped prepare him for his role as Moses’ successor. His third life experience would help him become a general.
Life Experience #3 – As a Soldier
The first official recorded act of Joshua in Scripture is his defeat of the Amalekites in Ex. 17:8-16. This was also the first hint that Joshua was going to become a skilled military leader. As a soldier Joshua learned the importance of courage in battle and was reminded that God was on his side. This was an important lesson because of what he faced in leading the people in the conquest.
Ex. 17:14 hints to us that God had already chosen Joshua for a special work in the future. Unknown to Joshua at this time, that battle with the Amalekites was a time of testing for the future.
“Make every occasion a great occasion, for you can never tell when someone may be taking your measure for a larger place.” Marsden (Quoted by Warren Wiersbe in Be Strong, pp. 11)
Life Experience #4 – As a Spy (Numbers 13-14)
When Israel arrived at Kadesh-Barnea, on the border of the Promised Land, God commanded Moses to appoint twelve men as spies to go out and survey the land of Canaan – Joshua was among them. After 40 days of investigating the land the spies returned and reported to Moses and the people that the land was indeed a good one.
However, ten of the spies in a blatant act of unbelief discouraged the people by saying that Israel wasn’t strong enough to overcome the enemy. After all, there were fortified cities and giant warriors in the land (Num. 13:26-33). Because of their report the people began to complain and rebel against Moses and Aaron. In addition, they began to make plans to go back to Egypt (Num. 14:1-5)
At this point Joshua (demonstrating his spiritual qualities) and Caleb confronted the congregation and challenged them (Num. 14:7-9). If it wasn’t for the intervention of God, they would have been stoned (Num. 14:10). Because of the unbelief of this generation of people only Joshua and Caleb would be allowed to enter into the Promised Land (Num. 14:26-38).
Joshua and Caleb would be charged with leading the next generation into taking the Land. Through this experience Joshua learned that no matter the consequences and no matter the Numbers against him – it is always worth standing up for what is right. “One with God is always in the majority.”
All of his life experiences as slave, as servant, as soldier and as spy helped prepare him in a very special way to be the successor of Moses. In the process of his experiences Joshua became so much more than a successor.
As a young slave he became a watcher and learner.
As a servant / assistant he became a worker and worshipper.
As a soldier he became a warrior.
As a spy he became a witness for God.
His Character
What can we glean about Joshua’s character from his experiences?
· He was filled with the Spirit – Num. 27:18
· He was willing to learn – Deut. 34:9
· He was a man of faith – Num. 14:8-9
· He was a man of courage – Num. 14:9; Ex. 17:8-17
· He was diligent and loyal – Num. 11:24-30
· He was patient
Warren Wiersbe makes an interesting point,
“Think of the years of blessing in the Promised Land that Joshua forfeited because the people had no faith in God! But Joshua patiently stayed with Moses and did his job, knowing that one-day he and Caleb would get their promised inheritance (Num. 14:1-9)”(Be Strong pp. 13).
His Commission
We have two biblical records of the mantle being passed from Moses to Joshua (Num. 27:12-23; Deut. 31:1-8, 22-23). Joshua was chosen by the Lord to carry on the work that was started by Moses. He was publicly inaugurated or commissioned in order to remind the people that they were to follow Joshua’s leadership. He was reminded and challenged by Moses to trust the Lord and not be afraid. Again, Wiersbe makes a great point,
“Like Moses, Joshua was human and made his share of mistakes; but he was still God’s chosen and anointed leader, and the people knew this. This is why they said to Joshua, ‘Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you’ (Joshua 1:17, NKJV). God’s people in the church today need to acknowledge God’s leaders and give them the respect that they deserve as the servants of God (I Thes. 5:12-13)” (Be Strong pp. 14).
Gene Getz suggests three practical lessons to be learned from Joshua for Christians today.
First, it takes time to become prepared for any leadership responsibility.
Joshua’s prominence came only after many years of faithfulness both to the Lord and to Moses. He proved himself worthy of trust. Many Christians today want to bypass the process of faithfulness and instead desire instant recognition, instant prominence and instant responsibility in areas of leadership.
Second, there is a unique balance between dependence on God and confidence in oneself.
Joshua and Moses both knew that while they were being used by God to accomplish His work, His work was going to be accomplished in His power and His wisdom. There is always a balance in Christian work between human ability and divine enablement.
Third, we must begin to serve God now in order to be prepared for future responsibility.
It’s doubtful that at the beginning Joshua knew that he would be used by God to replace Moses as leader of his people. He simply got involved and was faithful at whatever he was asked to do (Joshua: Defeat To Victory, pp. 22-23).
For us, the challenge is to get busy serving the Lord now, so that He can accelerate the preparation process.
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