After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, ... the
LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant,
saying: "Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, {D1}
arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the
land which I am giving to them — the children of Israel.
{P1} Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon
I have given you, ... {P2} No man shall be able to stand
before you all the days of your life; {P3} as I was with
Moses, so I will be with you. {P4} I will not leave you nor
forsake you. {D2} Be strong and of good courage, ... be
strong and very courageous, that you may {D3} observe to do
according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded
you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left,
that you may prosper wherever you go. {D4} This Book of the
Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall {D5}
meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do
according to all that is written in it. {P5} For then you
will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good
success.... Be strong and of good courage; {D6} do not be
afraid, nor be dismayed, for {P6} the LORD your God is with
you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:1-9, NKJV)
Moses had been a prophet like none other in the entire
history of Israel, and was probably the very first apostle,
the second being Jesus Christ Himself (Hebrews 3:1-2,
Deuteronomy 18:15-1). The nation of Israel had learned to
respect and obey Moses over their 40 years of wandering in
the wilderness. Moses had demonstrated his power and
authority through a variety of miracles that had been
performed through him, and through the demonstration of the
wisdom the Lord had bestowed upon him. Now that Moses was
dead, a new leader had to be commissioned.
Immediately after the death of Moses, the Lord turned to
Joshua, the son of Nun, who had been Moses' faithful
servant for the previous 40 years. He had been with Moses
at Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:13), spent considerable time in
the tabernacle in the wilderness (Exodus 33:11), and was
one of only two of twelve spies sent into the land of
Canaan that stood up on behalf the Lord and survived the
plague that killed the other 10 (Numbers 11:28 - 14:38). He
was probably at least 60 years by this time, (he ultimately
lived to be 110 (Judges 2:8)), having spent the last 40
years as Moses' attendant and disciple. Yes he had
developed his own personal relationship with the Lord, yes,
he had been carefully observing Moses in virtually
everything he did, yes he was aware of the call that was on
his life, but now he was being asked to step into Moses'
position himself, without his close friend and mentor.
Notice in the passage cited above, the Lord made six
demands of Joshua {D1-D6}, but also gave him six promises
{P1-P6}. Three times Joshua was told to be "strong and
courageous", and was also told not to be afraid. It is
very understandable that Joshua should be nervous about
taking over the command of an entire nation, especially
after witnessing Moses' hardships as the leader of that
same nation. Joshua must have felt incredibly inferior to
the task in light of the immense power and wisdom that was
demonstrated by Moses, even though he had been commissioned
by Moses himself several months or years before (Numbers
27:22-23). Joshua wouldn't be alone in this task since he
would be essentially a co-ruler with Eleazar the priest
(Numbers 32:28, 34:17).
There are no grandchildren in the kingdom of heaven. Even
the children of greatly anointed ministers of the Lord must
ultimately make conscious individual decisions to follow
the Lord and live in a close relationship with Him. Each
and every believer is responsible for his/her relationship
with the Lord. The Lord may provide a mentor and teacher
for a time, but each believer will stand or fall based on
his/her exercise of faith in the Lord, and righteousness
before men.
----------------------------------------------------
Jon Straumfjord is the author of numerous articles about
the Seven Spirits of God and the God of the Bible. He is
also the creator of the website http://www.7-spirits.com ,
and is the author of the book "The Seven Spirits of God."
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