Joshua The New Leader

by R. Armstrong, Toronto | Category: From Egypt To Canaan | Nov 1969

Selection

There are long years of preparation in the lives of great men of God. Moses, for example, spent forty years in the royal court of Egypt, learning the political, cultural and military sciences of that great dynasty. Then came the flight to Midian, and Moses entered the second forty-year period of his life which was spent in the lone ranges of the wilderness tending a few sheep. He had gone from the royal court to the shepherd's tent, and by human standards his life was a failure. But the ways of God are sure. These experiences paved the path to leadership for Moses.

Paul, too, as a young man seemed far removed from the centre of divine selection of leaders as he persecuted the disciples of the Lord Jesus even to foreign cities. Yet, from his mother's womb he was destined to be separated to the gospel of God.

Such are the marvellous ways of God. His purposes are unaffected by the changing surface tides of human experience:

"For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance" (Romans 11.29).

Training

Joshua springs into view in the Scripture record during the drama of Israel's first full-scale military encounter after the Exodus (Exodus 17.8-16). Israel were no match for Amalek as a fighting force. Only the upheld hands of Moses swayed the battle in favour of Israel, and that by divine intervention. Joshua was the young man who that day led the forces of Israel to victory.

Many vivid experiences had left deep impressions on the heart and mind of this young Hebrew. Joshua had undoubtedly been amongst the able-bodied young men of Israel, who had toiled under tropical sun, making bricks for the Egyptians, and could perhaps show the marks of a taskmaster's whip on his body. He had thrilled to the sound of "Go forward" (Exodus 14.15) at the Red Sea, and had watched the miracle happen. He had purposed very early to serve the LORD only, and made himself available to Moses at every opportunity.

He was doubtless glad to be free and alive to serve in this glorious emancipation. He had already learned of the promise that God was going to bring Israel into a land of their own, and the prospects of its abundance and glory tugged at his heart. What a future lay ahead for Israel!

God had filled Joshua with the spirit of wisdom and his vision was filled with victory. He was a man of humility, wisdom and action. He lived under the shadow of the Almighty and, with thoughts directed towards the kingdom of God, he longed for the day when he would enter the land with his people.

Appointment

Moses, quick to discern the hand of God on Joshua, knew him to be a man for future leadership in Israel. He is spoken of as Moses' minister (Exodus 24.13) at the time Moses went into the Mount of God to receive the Law and the tabernacle plans, and he was allowed to accompany him while the elders were requested to remain behind (see verse 14). He is also seen returning with Moses from the Mount when he descended with the two tables of stone, containing the law of God (Exodus 32.17). He heard the shouts of the people as they danced around the golden calf, and he witnessed the tragic results of idolatry. Again Joshua is seen with Moses when God spoke to him, "face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend" (Exodus 33.11).

So close was he to those holy experiences, that of him it is said, "but his minister Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the Tent" (Exodus 33.11). It is essential that young men learn to serve with humility of spirit in the house of God. The Lord Jesus Himself said to His disciples, "I am in the midst of you as He that serveth" (Luke 22.27).

Joshua was one of the twelve men chosen from the tribes of Israel to spy out the land of Canaan, and with Caleb gave a good report and encouraged the people to go forward, "for we are well able to overcome it" (Numbers 13.30). These two men, of all the thousands of men of war who left Egypt, were permitted to enter the land. Joshua was destined to lead Israel into their inheritance, and one simple statement seems to sum up the secret of this great man's life, He "wholly followed the LORD" (Numbers 32.12).

Paul wrote to Timothy, "Give heed to reading, to exhortation, to teaching. Neglect not the gift that is in thee ... be diligent in these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy progress may be manifest to all" (1 Timothy 4.13-15). Young men like Joseph, Joshua, David and Daniel were scarce in their times, and are scarce today. When leaders of spiritual experience and maturity see young men of this calibre growing up in the churches of God, they should be quick to recognize the hand of God upon them. May no jealousy or animosity sear the spirit of any who see the evident work of the Holy Spirit in a young man.

Although Joshua spent forty years with Israel in their wanderings, his heart was in the land. He saw it and longed after it for a possession. While Israel wandered because of disobedience, Joshua set a straight course of obedience and moved in heart toward Jordan. He knew Israel would never enjoy the promised blessings until the reproach of Egypt was rolled away. Doing the will of God is basically a matter of the heart. Total involvement in the will of God demands detachment from the world, and a cleaving to the Lord with purpose of heart.

Joshua, not Moses, was to lead Israel into the promised land. But why not Moses? The failure of Moses, who in a moment of uncontrolled emotion struck the rock a second time instead of speaking to it, forfeited his entrance into the land. This was the human side. Moses, although a type of the Lord Jesus Christ in both redemption and constitution (the giving of the law), was not permitted to lead Israel into their inheritance. This is the divine side.

The human and divine sides are seen in that the hand of lawless men crucified the Lord, yet the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God permitted it. The Lord Jesus died on the cross "to put away sin" (redemption). He rose again, and before going back from Olivet to heaven, taught the apostles "the things concerning the kingdom of God" (constitution), and now lives to lead the people of God into the "rest for the people of God" (inheritance). It took both Moses and Joshua to foreshadow these greater things to come. God will not permit even the best of His servants to eclipse His Son in His work or His offices. "My glory will I not give to another" (Isaiah 42.8).

Leadership

The mantle of leadership was transferred from Moses to Joshua at the end of Israel's forty years' wandering in the wilderness. They paid a year for every day of the forty spent by the spies who came back in unbelief after searching the land. These were God's terms to pay the price of disobedience. It is always costly to disobey God (Numbers 14.33-38). Israel knew the bitterness and frustration of spending their lives in a desert. God kept them there until their carcases fell in the wilderness, mute evidence that disobedience had exacted its price. For Joshua, the forty years was a day of opportunity, service and training in the house of God, a truly joyful experience.

Moses was instructed by God, "Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay thy hand upon him; and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight. And thou shalt put of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may obey. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall enquire for him by the judgement of the Urim before the LORD: at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in" (Numbers 27.18-21).

As the new leader of God's people, Joshua received a solemn charge from the LORD through Moses, "Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt go with this people into the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And the LORD, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not neither be dismayed" (Deuteronomy 31.7,8).

God tenderly laid to rest the body of Moses, His great servant. Somewhere in the shadows of Beth-peor in a lonely valley of Moab the secret burying place was hidden from the eyes of His people. God wanted no monument for a returning pilgrimage. A new leader was ready to take His people into the land, a man who knew every step of the way from the brick-kilns of Egypt to the banks of the Jordan. A man upon whose heart and mind the visions of the glory and power of God had left indelible impressions. Some of the fine God-like characteristics which came out in Joshua's life are worthy of emulation.

He knew God.

He appreciated His holiness.

He understood the lines of communication with God through Eleazar the priest.

He stood fast when others turned aside.

He had great courage and purpose of heart.

He was a man of action who was not hindered by indecision, when he was right.

Joshua is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Leader of God's people today. Those who have bowed to His authority, and keep His word, are His disciples indeed, and He brings them into the inheritance of the rest of God for His people, in the house and kingdom of God. He has conquered in His death and resurrection all the enemies we encounter in our spiritual warfare, the world, the flesh and the devil. He has overcome the world" and won the victory. For every enemy which stands between us and the completion of our redemption at the Lord's coming, we claim the promise of the Spirit through Paul, "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15.57).

As Christ is received by faith for our salvation, so must the promise of the blessings that "accompany salvation" be received by faith. "As therefore ye received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him" (Colossians 2.6). The Greater than Joshua is the Author (Captain) of our salvation, and He was made perfect through suffering. This is an office of our Lord Jesus Christ which can be fully appreciated by those in the house of God, over which He is Son. May we not fail to obey Him (Hebrews 5.9).

R. Armstrong, Toronto | Nov 1969
From Egypt To Canaan