Joshua: Military Leader and Aide to Moses

15th in a series on how men and women in the Bible

deal with waiting, disappointment and unemployment

Joshua: Military Leader and Aide to Moses

I just read the autobiography of Colin Powell, who was born in 1937 to parents of Jamaican descent.  He grew to adulthood during a tumultuous time of racism and exceeded many expectations of what a black man could accomplish.  The part of his life that amazed me was that as a four star general he was willing to enter the political world and serve as senior military assistant to the Secretary of Defense.  He said he would rather be in the military where he felt his gifts and skills would most logically be used, but he was willing to submit to those in authority over him.

We discover Joshua in the pages of Exodus and like Colin Powell, makes his   debut as a military leader.  Under the authority of Moses, he defeated the enemies of Israel as they crossed the desert.  In the very first battle it’s clear that God’s sovereignty was in play as He commanded Moses to stand on a hill with his staff raised over his head while Joshua went into battle against the Amalekites.  Whenever the staff was raised Joshua was victorious.  If Moses’ arms got tired, the Israelites were beaten back.  In the end, Moses, Joshua and the Israelites were victorious.  

Moses did not praise Joshua for the victory, but set up a monument to God in honor of this battle where it was evident that God’s favor was upon Israel.  A pattern that when practiced, gave Israel the security that God would fulfill His promise to bring them into the promised land.  Joshua’s military career takes a turn as Moses chooses him as his personal aide.  Is this a promotion?  A proper use of Joshua’s skills?  Moses may have been thinking that he would not always be around and that he would need a successor and this young man fit the bill.  

As his aide, Joshua stayed close to Moses’ side.  When Moses went up the mountain to receive the Law from God, Joshua went with him.  For forty days and nights, Joshua was either with Moses or very close to the conversation between God and Moses.  Other times where it was clear that Joshua had  the this special privilege was when Moses would set up a tent where the presence of God was obvious in a cloud that descended upon it.  Moses would leave the tent and Joshua would remain.  We can only imagine what this experience was like for him.  

The defining episode in Joshua’s life occurred when he and the other eleven representatives from the twelve tribes of Israel went to explore the promised land.  Ten came back fearful, proclaiming “The land we explored devours those living in it.”  Caleb, of the tribe of Judah(ancestor of Jesus) and Joshua of the tribe of Ephraim were incensed.  “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”  This rebellion condemned the Israelites to wander in the desert for forty years.  Everyone over the age of twenty perished in the wilderness.

The people of Israel were led astray by those who had not kept track of God’s miraculous hand upon them.  Caleb and Joshua stood apart from this group as godly men who trusted in God’s promises despite the appearance to the contrary.  The question today is, “Will I be a Caleb or a Joshua willing to be the man or woman God is calling me to be?”  What circumstances am I in that are challenging my character and my faith?

Application:

1. Am I using my gifts and skills to the best of my ability and to the glory of God?  What does that look like?
2. If chosen for a task that I wouldn’t necessarily choose for myself how would I know if it’s God’s will or not?
3. When I am faced with a victory or I have accomplished great things, how do I appropriately receive gratitude and give glory to God?
4. Have I had times in my life when it was clear that God spoke to me?  Did this influence my character development?  Did I change?  Today, regardless of  my current circumstances do I know who I am according to God’s Word?
5. If everyone spoke against what I knew to be the clear will of God am I willing to stand my ground regardless of the consequences?

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

Joshua 24:15