The Successor
to Moses
Moses
was about to die. He had led the people
of Israel for years, but the Lord had made it known to him that he would not be
the one to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land that they had
waited so long to enter. And so Moses
prayed, “May the Lord, the God of the
spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community to go out and come in
before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people
will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” The Lord granted this last request of Moses by
choosing a man named Joshua. He was to
lead the people of Moses passed away.
But I can’t imagine Joshua was too thrilled with the position at first. Because not only was he supposed to be the
new leader for the entire nation of Israel, he was also supposed to take over
the reigns from Moses himself! Moses was
the only leader God’s people had ever known since they came out of Egypt. Moses was the one through whom the Lord
performed all of those incredible miracles - including the Ten Plagues against
Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Moses was the
one who raised his staff over the Red Sea at God’s command and made a dry path
right through the middle. Moses was the
one who talked to God face to face up on the mountain. Moses was the one who received the actual Ten
Commandments inscribed by the Lord’s own hand on stone tablets. Moses was the one through whom God brought
water out of a rock so that the people would not die of thirst, the one through
whom God held the sun back in the sky so that the Israelites could gain the
victory over the Amalekites, the one through whom God miraculously fed his
people with those white wafers called “manna” every morning as they traveled
through the desert. For over 40 years
Moses had led the people of God. But now
it was Joshua’s turn.
Can you
imagine stepping into that role? Who
could take over for a man like Moses?
Who could live up to those kinds of expectations? Joshua was much younger than Moses; Joshua
wasn’t related to Moses and so there wasn’t a natural succession by birth; in
fact, Joshua had been nothing more than Moses’ aid, his administrative
assistant if you will, before the Lord chose him to be the next leader. What an intimidating position to be in! What an intimidating job Joshua was chosen to
do!
Joshua’s Job
was Too Big for Him
Joshua
had a big job in front him. He was
supposed to lead the entire people of Israel across the Jordan River and into
the Promised Land for the very first time.
And not only that, he was also supposed to make sure that the millions
of people under his care were to go to their allotted areas of land that had
been assigned to each of the tribes of Israel.
And not only that, Joshua was also supposed to be the military leader of
the people - charging into battle against the multiple enemies that they would
inevitably face. And not only that, he
was also to serve as the Supreme Court for the major decisions of the
people. And not only that, he was also dealing
with a group of people that had been notoriously disobedient throughout their
history, a nation who had complained, protested, and rebelled against Moses and
the Lord for decades. And if they had
done those things against God and against Moses, what were they going to do
when Joshua was in charge? This job
wasn’t just big, it was too big for
Joshua to handle - even without considering his own faults and shortcoming.
Joshua
certainly had plenty of personal defects, just like we all do. He may have been a Christian leader but he
was far from a perfect leader. He
undoubtedly had his weaknesses, his lapses in judgment, his own personality
flaws. He couldn’t have been prepared
for every single incident that came up; he couldn’t have made exactly the right
decision every single time. And so Joshua
had to have been a little intimidated by what lay ahead of him. Not only because of the magnitude of the
work, but also because of the inadequacy of his own abilities to handle it.
We Have a Job
Too Big for Us
Over the
past three weeks we’ve been focusing our attention on the “Challenges of
Preaching.” We as Christians have been
called on by the Lord to preach - to proclaim - the message of salvation to the
people of this world. And that message
is this: We are sinful to the core. We
cannot get to heaven on our own. And so
Jesus came to this earth on his own. He
lived the perfect life we could not. He
died a terrible death to take our place.
He rose from the dead to conquer death.
And now we get to go to heaven because of his work. Free of charge. No strings attached. That is the simple and powerful gospel
message. But there are certain
challenges that go along with sharing that message!
Two
weeks ago we looked at the challenge of feeling rejected by those we want to
share the gospel with. Last week we
looked at the challenge of feeling unqualified for the job we have been given
to do. This morning we are looking at
the challenge of feeling intimidated by the enormity and importance of the work
in front of us. And it is
intimidating, isn’t it? We are to bring this Word of God to
those who do not yet know it? We are to speak about the Savior to
those who refuse him? We are to invite, encourage, and offer
to bring people to hear something that they have never heard before? And this has eternal implications? Our work will be used to determine what
happens to these people after they die - whether they end up in heaven or
hell? That’s intimidating! This job and how we carry it out is of serious
consequence! I would even say that it’s
a job too big for us to handle.
Because
think about who we are: not only is the job itself of utmost importance, we are
far too flawed to do the job well. At
least I am. I know that I am usually too
lazy to put in the effort that it takes.
I know that I am usually too distracted to keep my mind focused on the
task at hand. I know that I am usually
too intimidated to invite and encourage like I should. I know that I am usually too selfish to step
out of my comfort zone for the sake of souls.
This all-important job of sharing the Good News about Jesus: his life
and his perfection, his death and his forgiveness, his resurrection and his
victory - this job is too big for me. I
cannot handle it. I cannot carry it out
with the integrity and the faithfulness that it demands. And I have proven that throughout my life.
Joshua’s Help
I can’t
help but imagine that Joshua had some of those same misgivings about
himself. When he was told for the very
first that he was going to be the next leader of the Israelite nation, he had
to have been at least a little nervous about how big the job was going to
be! And so the Lord, knowing Joshua and
knowing the nature of human beings in general, made sure that Joshua would know
that he was not being sent out on his own.
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Take
Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on
him. Have him stand before Eleazar the
priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. Give him some of your authority so the whole
Israelite community will obey him. He
is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by
inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his command he and the entire
community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come
in.’”
From the
very beginning the Lord saw to it that Joshua understood that he had been given
1) the abilities to perform the task, that he had been given 2) the authority
to do what needed to be done, and that he had been given 3) the appropriate
calling for everyone to see. And on top
of that, Joshua would be able to inquire of the Lord at any time for any reason
whenever he needed help. “He is to stand
before Eleazar the priest,” God said, “who will obtain decisions for him by
inquiring of the Urim before the Lord.”
The Urim
was an integral piece of the high priest’s wardrobe, usually mentioned in
connection with something called the Thummim.
Unfortunately, we don’t even know what the Urim and the Thummim were. They were supposed to be part of the
breastplate that the high priest wore, so they could have been two other stones
along with the 12 stones representing the 12 tribes of Israel, but we can’t say
for sure. What we can say is this: the
high priest would go to the Lord in prayer and the Lord would apparently answer
that prayer on occasion through the Urim and the Thummim. The way that exactly worked is not known nor
does it matter. What matters is that
Joshua was encouraged to inquire of the Lord at anytime for any reason through
the Urim and Thummim of the high priest.
And Joshua was going to need it!
He would have to go to the Lord on numerous occasions when he was faced
with difficulties. He would have to rely
on the Lord constantly throughout his service to the people. He would have to depend on the Lord and his
wisdom and his power on a regular basis if he was going to be able to handle
the task in front of him. And as we read
about Joshua’s leadership throughout the years in the pages of the Bible, there
is no doubt that he went to the Lord for help as often as possible. The job may have been too big for Joshua to
do alone, but it was not too big for his Lord.
Our Help
You have
a big job in front of you: telling, sharing, inviting, encouraging, offering,
teaching, comforting, guiding, preaching.
And the job is too big for you.
It is too grand. Too
monumental. But it is not too big for
your Lord. The one who long ago took on
the life of a human being in the womb of a girl named Mary is still standing by
your side right now as your brother. The
one who fought off every temptation of the devil while on this earth will
protect you from the same. The one who
bent his head to the fatal blow of death forgives you for every fault and
inadequacy that sent him there. The one
who beat the grave after three days has left your failures behind in that empty
tomb. The one who now reigns on the
throne over all things reigns over everything for you. Nothing is too big for the Lord. Go to him.
Rely on him. Lean on him. Rest on him.
He will see you through.
Because
in this life you will have the opportunity to share the Word of God with
someone you love. And it will be
intimidating! It will be too big for you
to handle! You’re going to have to go to
your Lord. He will give you the
strength. You will have the opportunity
to invite someone that lives right next to you to hear the wonderful promises
of your Lord. And it will be
intimidating! It will be too big for you
to handle! You’re going to have to go to
your Lord. He will give you the words to
say. You will have the opportunity to
encourage your friend with the only words that can give a person peace: the
words of Jesus and his love. And it will
be intimidating! It will be too big for
you to handle! You’re going to have to
go to your Lord. He will give you the
courage. You will have the opportunity
to tell someone what you believe and why you do. And it will be intimidating! It will be too big for you to handle! You’re going to have to go to your Lord. He will give you the confidence. In this life you will have many opportunities
with many different people, and you will let many of them pass by. Because it was too intimidating. Because it was too big for you to
handle. And you didn’t go to your
Lord. You’re going to have to go to the
Lord at times like those as well. And he
will give you the forgiveness and the peace and the comfort that you can’t live without.
You may
not be Joshua called on to lead the entire nation of Israel. You may not be a pastor called on to preach
from a pulpit. But you are a Christian
called on to proclaim the Good News to anyone you can. It is a big job - too big in fact. But your Lord is bigger. He will give you the motivation through his
Word, he will enable your effort through his Word, he will do the work of
moving a heart through his Word. The
Lord will help you through his Word just like he always has. Go with that confidence. And may our gracious God bless our work
together.
Amen.
“The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”
- Gal. 6:18
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment