The last verse of the Old Testament book
of Judges reads ominously, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone
did what was right in his own eyes” Judges 21:25, ESV. In other words each
person decided for themselves what was “right” and in the end did whatever they
wanted to do. The result was calamity for the people of Israel-- rampant
idolatry, famine, immorality, frequent invasion by hostile neighbors, and
ultimately the loss of the nation’s most prized possession, the Ark of the
Covenant.
The worst part is these calamities were
entirely avoidable. When Joshua was
called by God to lead His people into the Promised Land he received this
command and promise from God.
Above
all, be strong and very courageous to carefully observe the whole instruction
My
servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so
that
you
will have success wherever you go. This book of instruction must not depart
from
your
mouth; you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe
everything
written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.
Haven’t
I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you
go.” Joshua
1:7-9
Imagine the thoughts that must have
flooded Joshua’s mind when he learned that the time had come to fill the leadership
shoes of Moses? As the book of Joshua unfolds we see Joshua himself possessed
great leadership ability and military acumen but what set him apart occurred years
earlier when he was a young man. Joshua was commissioned to succeed Moses in
Numbers 27, “The Lord replied to Moses, ‘Take Joshua son of Nun, a man who has
the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him” (Numbers 27:18). From this time
until Moses’ death Joshua served as second in command.
We first meet Joshua in Numbers 13 as
one of the twelve scouts selected by Moses to explore the land of Canaan which
God had promised to Israel. Following this mission only two scouts, Joshua and
Caleb were willing to take God at His Word and enter the land of Canaan. Read
the following selected Scriptures from Numbers 13 and 14. How does Joshua and
Caleb’s recognition of the authority of God’s Word and Moses differ from the
rest?
Numbers 13:1-2, 17-20, 25 (Instructions)
The Lord spoke
to Moses: “Send men to scout out the land of Canaan I am giving to the
Israelites. Send one man who is a leader among them from each of their
ancestral tribes.
When Moses
sent them to scout out the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up this way to the
Negev, then go up into the hill country. See what the land is like, and whether
the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. Is the land they
live in good or bad? Are the cities they live in encampments or fortifications?
Is the land fertile or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? Be
courageous. Bring back some fruit from the land.” It was the season for the
first ripe grapes.
At the end of
40 days they returned from scouting out the land.
Numbers 13:27-29, 31-33 (Majority Report)
They reported
to Moses: “We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed it is flowing with
milk and honey, and here is some of its fruit. However, the people living in
the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We also saw the descendants
of Anak there. The Amalekites are living in the land of the Negev; the
Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites
live by the sea and along the Jordan.”
But the men who had gone up with
him responded, “We can’t go up against the people because they are stronger
than we are!” So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land
they had scouted: “The land we passed through to explore is one that devours
its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size. We even
saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim! To
ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to
them.”
Numbers 13:30; 14:6-9 (Caleb & Joshua’s Report)
Then Caleb
quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, “We must go up and take
possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!”
Joshua son of
Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who scouted out the land,
tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite community: “The land we
passed through and explored is an extremely good land. If the Lord is pleased
with us, He will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey,
and give it to us. Only don’t rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of
the people of the land, for we will devour them. Their protection has been
removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Don’t be afraid of them!”
The people didn’t listen to Joshua and
Caleb and unless God had intervened would have appointed another leader and
gone back to Egypt (Numbers 14:4). The consequence of their rejection of God’s
authority was that they would wonder in the wilderness for forty years. Only
their children and Joshua and Caleb would live long enough to see the Promised
Land! (Numbers 14:22-24)
Everyone is called to live under
authority and the Christian understands ultimate authority is to rest with God
and His Word. In our day we’ve not been promised a land, but just like Joshua
we have been given a mission. To successfully fulfill that mission we must
recognize the authority of the Scriptures over our lives.
All
Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for
correcting, for training in righteousness, so
that the man of God may be complete,
equipped
for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
How is the Holy Spirit leading you to
recognize and submit to the leadership of God’s Word in your life?
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