A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

contains a chapter which the rabbis came to understand as the prophetic history of the nation
(chap. 32).
“So Moses, the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word
of the Lord. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-Peor; but no one
knows his grave to this day” (34:5-6). Moses had brought his nation out of the land of bondage
and led them through the wilderness for forty years. Now there was a new challenge which laid
before the nation, that of possessing their possession. And for that new challenge, the people
were to receive a new leader.
TWENTY-SIX
JOSHUA:
The General Who Captured the Promised Land
(Joshua 1:1,8:35)
On the death of Moses, all Israel knew a vacuum existed in leadership that would be
difficult to fill. Moses had been a great man who had accomplished a great deliverance for Israel.
The one who would follow Moses had to be just as great to finish the task Moses had begun.
Moses had brought Israel out of the land of bondage, but now God wanted to bring Israel into the
land of promise.
Some talk about born leaders, but it is rarely ever so. “Born leaders” are those who learn
to lead as a result of the disciplines learned early in life. The key to becoming a successful leader
is to first invest time and energy learning how to lead. That usually begins by first learning how
to follow a real leader. When God had to find someone to fill the shoes of a great leader, Moses,
He found that someone in the person of one who had learned how to be a great leader from
Moses, Joshua.
God taught Joshua how to lead by making him the servant of Moses, a necessary part of
his training. Joshua should have learned the discipline of God from his father, but there is some
indication that did not happen. His father bore the name of the Egyptian god “Nun” suggesting
the family had abandoned their faith in the God of Israel and become involved in the worship of
Egyptian deities. God knew Joshua better than anyone knew him. He knew Joshua would
someday lead His chosen people into their possession. But He also knew this leader first had to
learn to lead. He put him under the discipline of Moses and taught him as a servant to obey
orders. It was not until he had spent the better part of his life taking orders that he was then
permitted to issue them.
Forty years prior to his crossing the Jordan River to begin his conquest of Canaan, Joshua
was, like his fellow countrymen, a slave in Egypt. He was a direct ancestor of the Joseph who
had helped preserve the land during a time of international famine and economic crisis, but that
did not impress his Egyptian master. Nothing is known about his experiences as a slave except
what might be implied from the normal experiences of others in that position. He was probably a
young man who cried out to God for deliverance, a cry which was answered by God sending
Moses (Ex. 3:7-10). His father had named him Hoshea which means savior or deliverer, perhaps
in the hope his son might be an instrument by which that deep longing might become a reality in
his experience (Num. 13:8). But it was another who would lead Israel out of the land of Egypt.