"Joshua's Successor" Lesson 136

The first appearance of Joshua in the Bible is in Exodus 17:9 when the Israelites are attacked by the Amalekites. And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites”. Joshua leads the counter-attack, defeats the enemy and subsequently becomes Moses’ assistant and protégé. It is believed that Joshua was not involved in the sin of the Golden Calf but waited at the edge of the mountain (Sinai) for Moses to descend (Exo. 19:17, 32:1-4). Moses as you recall, would not enter the Promised Land so he asked the Lord for one to lead the people so that they would not be like sheep without a shepherd (Num. 27:15-17). The Lord chose Joshua, son of Nun, a man in whom was the spirit (Num. 27:18) and Moses laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed (Num. 27:22-23). Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. The Lord buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. No one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all of Israel (Deut. 34). After the death of Moses, God talked to Joshua and told him to get all the people ready to cross over the Jordan River into the land He was about to give them. Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses.

Joshua’s charisma and skill as a leader are evident from the success of the Israelites during his lifetime and their rapid decline following his death. While Moses was primarily a spiritual leader who acted as an intermediary between God and the Jews, Joshua was a capable military commander as well as a religious leader. His leadership was quiet different from that of Moses’ as shown by his capture of the city of Jericho and eventually the rest of the land of Canaan. We need to put emphasizes on the role of God in this leader’s victories. In the battle of Gibeon the Amorites were winning and the day was fading. Joshua prayed to the Lord in the presence of Israel; “o sun, stand still over Gibeon, o moon, over the Valley of Aijalon”. So, as the Scripture states, God stilled the sun until the nation avenged itself on its enemies (Jos. 10:12-14). Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel! Moses performed many more “signs and wonders” than Joshua, although Joshua’s miracle concerning the sun and moon was without comparison. He served as administrator of the allotment of the land to the tribes and when they had finished dividing the land into its allotted portions, the Israelites gave Joshua an inheritance among them, as the Lord had commanded.

Joshua, unlike Moses, did not appoint a successor as his death approached. Seventeen years from the death of Joshua (1426 BC) to the first judge, the elders filled the role of leader and the Israelites served the Lord. After all the elders died the nation abandoned God, lived together with the land’s previous inhabitants and allowed themselves to be swayed by their neighbors’ pagan beliefs. The Israelites asked the Lord; “Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites”? Am I the only one to notice that these people do nothing for themselves? Makes one wonder if Paul had studied the reports of Moses and Joshua and had the Israelites of old in mind when writing Hebrews 5:12-13. After Joshua’s death and the death of all the remaining elders, the Israelites were on their own. Now you would think they would have learned something after 40 years of training in the wilderness. After all some of us have lived as adults for 40 years and we have learned to obey the Lord completely, Right? I will give some of you a minute to take another stab at this answer as I feel some were not exactly truthful. Not until Samuel’s reign hundreds of years later did the Israelites find a compatible leader. The entire book of Judges is a cycle of the people sinning, being oppressed by neighboring countries, being saved by a leader, rededicating themselves to God and starting the cycle over by committing the same sins. It was not until the founding of the Davidic dynasty that the nation had a permanent leadership again.

The Lord answered the question of who would lead, “Judah is to go; I have given the land into their hands” (Judges 1:2). So the men of Judah gathered the people and the bloody battles began. They slaughtered, mangled and terrorized everyone in their path. They attacked and set fire to the cities. They traded daughters for the capture of the opposing leaders. The Lord was with the men of Judah and they took possession of the cities, the surrounding territories and the hill country. The people that they could not drive out, they made slaves of and confined some to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain. All of this is recorded in one short chapter of Judges (Judges 1:1-36). The angel of the Lord spoke to the Israelites, reminding them how they were brought out of Egypt and given the Promised Land. The Lord had not broken His covenant but the Israelites had by not breaking down the altars of the idol worshippers. The people had served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen the great things the Lord had done for Israel. Now that this entire generation had died another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord not what He had done for Israel. They forsook the Lord, followed and worshiped various gods of the people around them and in His anger the Lord turned His hand against them. They were in great distress (Judges 2:15).

Once again as so many times before the Lord felt compassion for the Israelites and raised up judges who saved them out of the hands of raiders. The Lord was always with the judges He raised up to save them for as long as the judge lived. However, when the judge would die the people immediately turned back to their corrupt ways. There are continuous repeated phases in the plights of the Israelites; They continued to sin; this angered God; they were defeated; they cried out to God; God relented and saved them; once again they did evil in the eyes of the Lord and again God saw to their defeat. They went through judges like I go through a 6-pack of cokes. Who in their right mind would want to be a judge in this time? They did not all die of natural causes! (Judges 3:21-22). In Judges Chapter 6 it appears that God has run out of patience or judges because He sends Gideon, a prophet. Gideon argued with the Lord, saying that his clan was the weakest in Manasseh and he the least in his family. The Lord assured Gideon He would be with him but still Gideon requested a sign and the Lord complied with fire from heaven, consuming the meat and bread Gideon had prepared for an offering. I don’t know about you but this would have convinced me that God was talking and in total control. Not Gideon! He asked for two more signs; the wool fleece and the ‘other side’ of the wool fleece (Judges 6:17-22, 6:37, 39). God patiently honored all of his request but sort of ‘got back at’ Gideon by reducing his army down to 300 men, showing His power with unique strategic operations (Judges 7:22). Gideon was very brave and fearless in the face of the enemy (Judges 8:21) and the Israelites said to him; “Rule over us…….you, your son and your grandson” (Judges 8:22). He refused and for a while he seemed to be on the right track when he told them that “the Lord will rule over you”. Although the land enjoyed peace the forty years Gideon was in leadership, he fell victim to the golden idol he made from his share of the plunder.

When we hear the name Samson we usually think of the folktales about a local hero with great strength, tearing apart lions with his bare hands (Judges 14:6); harassing the Philistine men to humiliation (Judges 14:12-14) and then in a fit of anger, killing 30 of them (14:19); and thousands more later in the story (15:16); and charming the Philistine women. However, the Bible dictionary calls Samson the last of the great judges who led pre-monarchic Israel. Samson does not follow military rules but acts alone in his personal vendetta. Samson is the only judge whom Yahweh is said to bless (Judges 13:24) and grants him his last request. The Philistines blind, shackle and imprison Samson, finally forcing him to dance for them in the temple of Dagon, their god. Once again, betrayal and seeming defeat became the occasion for Samson to destroy his enemy. Samson, praying for vengeance, pulls the temple down. “Those he killed in his death were more than those he had killed during his life (Judges 16:25-30). The book of Judges ends with these dreadful words; “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit” (Judges 21:25).

To answer the question as to who succeeded Joshua the answer would have to be a very patient, frustrated God. Why do you think the Israelites needed someone to “see and touch” at every moment? Why do you think we need someone to “see and touch”? We are told that we see Jesus in others, but do we? Do others see Jesus in me and you? God, realizing that the Israelites needed someone to touch continued to provide leaders for them in the forms of judges, prophets and even angels. He provides us with preachers, teachers, pastors, missionaries and volumes upon volumes of literature. Do we act like the Israelites and ‘fall back into sin’ every time something goes wrong in our life? Do we as church members (sheep) scatter when our pastor (shepherd) moves on to another place or retires? Do we hold each other up and encourage one another or do we fight among ourselves? I am not accusing nor judging! Just wondering if there is anyone out there besides myself that needs a self-examination! Anyone that needs to ‘cowboy up’ and get back in the race for God! He will be THE successor when our life here on earth ends. I don’t want to ‘get caught’ idol worshipping, do you?