“WHO ME? A LEADER?” JOSHUA 1: 1-15.
JOSHUA 1: 1-5, 6-9, 10-11, 12-15.
It is very significant that the name Joshua is the same as the name that our blessed Lord bore here on earth. Jesus is the anglicized Greek form of Joshua. The word “Joshua” means “Jehovah our Savior,” and we may see in this Joshua of the O. T., a type of the Jesus of the N.T.
The Life Question this lesson addresses is, “How can I lead others?”
The Biblical Truth is that when God gives a person an opportunity to lead, He also encourages and empowers the person to lead.
The Life Impact is designed to help us develop the spiritual leadership skills God desires us to have by listing elements in Joshua’s becoming Israel’s leader and then acknowledging that God wants believers to learn leadership within their areas of influence.
A common way of describing one extreme of poor leadership is that “there are too many chiefs and not enough Indians.” The converse also reflects leadership crisis: Too many Indians and no chief at all. The former can lead to demagoguery and the latter to anarchy. The secret of successful leadership in any organization, including the church, must be found in a healthy balance between those who lead and those who follow.
The four lessons in September provide insight not only into how that balance can be achieved but instruction as to how the Bible describes God-given and God-blessed leadership on the one hand and compliant but informed submission to leadership on the other hand.
Of all the models portrayed in the Bible, Joshua is one of the clearest. He came on the scene after careful mentoring by Moses but at a critical juncture in Israel’s history. Moses, the great leader, had died and Joshua was thrust to the forefront on the very eve of Israel’s conquest and settlement of Canaan, the Promised Land.
For 40 years the people had wandered in the wilderness, complaining and in near rebellion most of the time. Now they were about to launch into the unknown and without their tried and tested leader. No doubt they wondered how the “new man” would do. Could Joshua fill Moses’ sandals and lead the nation to victory and successful occupation?
And Joshua must also have pondered whether or not he was big enough for the job. Was he confident of his own ability? More important, was he confident of God’s presence and power to see him through?
This unit addresses four basic concerns: (1) What constitutes leadership material? How does one know if he or she qualifies? (2) How can godly leaders live with success without taking too much credit? (3) How can we endure defeat without becoming defeated? (4) When is it time to relinquish leadership and how can smooth transition take place? The Book of Joshua helps to answer these questions, and many others, regarding biblical leadership in the body of Christ.
1. PLEASE READ JOSHUA 1: 1-5.
Transition in leadership, no matter how well planned, always has its bumps and jolts, but when it comes without warning and with no advanced notice, it is fraught with danger. At such a time a successor does not become a leader but only reveals whether or not he has been one all along.
The death of Franklin D. Roosevelt is a case in point. Though his declining health was apparent to all, the man who had occupied the White House for 11 years seemed well night immortal.
He had guided the nation through the great depression and most of the World War II. But at a critical moment—the death throes of the Axis powers—he was gone, bestowing the mantle of leadership on Harry S. Truman, a quiet, unassuming, and untested Missourian.
Within days, the true mettle of the man became evident. He was wiser than thought, more decisive than expected, and resourceful beyond anticipation. Whether one agrees with his politics or not, it is impossible not to admire the display of leadership Truman showed in an hour of incredible emergency.
Joshua is first mentioned in Exodus 17, where shortly after leaving Egypt, he led the fighting men of Israel against the Amalekites. He became the servant of Moses and went with him part of the way up Mount Sinai. He was with Moses when he came down and found that the people had made a golden calf. He was selected by his tribe of Ephraim to be one of the 12 scouts who explored the land of Canaan.
Only he and Caleb stood with Moses and Aaron in urging the people to enter Canaan. For this he was told that of the adult generation only the two believing scouts would enter the Promised Land.
The Lord led Moses to choose Joshua to lead the people into the land and conquer it. After Moses died, Joshua fulfilled the leadership role as instructed.
The Book of Joshua tells of the Israelites’ crossing of the Jordan River, the conquest of Canaan, the distribution of the land among the tribes, and Joshua’s final address to the people.
Moses was the only leader the people had ever known. Although some of the people had grumbled against Moses in his early leadership years, the ones who prepared to enter Canaan held Moses in high regard.
God did not let Moses enter the land because of his disobedience, but He did allow Moses to view the land from a high mountain.
Deut. 34:10 records, “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, who the Lord knew face to face.” Another indication of the Lord’s high regard for Moses is that he was given the title the servant of the Lord.
Furthermore, no one would be able to stand against Israel under Joshua’s leadership but would melt away in the face of their irresistible advance.
All this assurance from the Lord should have given Joshua hope. But words of promise, even those of the Lord, are quite different in anticipation of a crisis than they are by reflection after the event. Joshua needed to know that the Lord would be with him as He had been with Moses:
Joshua’s association with Moses can be traced back to the time just after the exodus when Israel was set upon by the barbaric Amalekites at Rephidim. Moses must have detected leadership qualities in the young man even that early for he placed him over a band of troops who engaged the Amalekites in battle and defeated them. Joshua’s skill in military command became apparent from the beginning.
Joshua’s also demonstrated spiritual sensitivity in those early years as well. When Moses ascended Sinai, he took Joshua with him. The text describes him as Moses’ assistant.
As far as Moses was concerned, the man to succeed him must lead in both spiritual and in more political or secular ways. Like Moses himself, he must be well-rounded in his giftedness and exercise of leadership.
The Lord’s command to Joshua to cross over the Jordan to the land He was giving the Israelites was not the first time Joshua was instructed to go there. Along with 11 other spies he had entered Canaan 38 years earlier to spy out the land in order to determine its vulnerability and take stock on its resources.
Only Joshua and Caleb had faith to believe that conquest of the land was possible through God’s mighty power, and they urged Moses to move forward to take possession of it. Besides demonstrating Joshua’s great confidence in the Lord, this episode reveals also a leader of unusual courage. There is little wonder that Moses recognized that God had placed His hand on Joshua and would use him to lead the nation after Moses passed from the scene.
When the Lord assured Joshua with the words “I will be with you, just as I was with Moses”, he could reflect back on four decades of God’s faithful commitment to Moses and claim the promise that he too would be blessed by the presence and power of an omnipotent God. To Joshua it should not have been a merely academic matter but a hope grounded in his own experience of seeing God at work not only in the life of his great mentor but in his own life as well.
Part of the success of good leadership is to be able to study the lives of good leaders of the past, especially those who have inspired and molded one’s own life. Moses was far from perfect, so much so that he was even denied access to the land of promise. But in the final analysis he was a model well deserving of emulation, one of whom it is said in Deut. 34: 10 that “No prophet has arisen again in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.”
One of the good things about Joshua was that he was content to be himself. He was not Moses, and he did not claim to have all of Moses’ skills. He had his own gifts and abilities, and he was thus prepared for the assignment he was given. Moses had served in his day: now it was time for Joshua to serve.
All of us have windows of opportunity to serve the Lord and to do our assigned work, but that window is not open forever. As I have gotten older, I realize how short a time we have to do our work. Generations come and go. People are mortal and time passes quickly. Joshua and the people could have panicked when their leader died, but instead they moved forward under a new leader.
As an example of these principles, let’s take the situation in a church whose long-tenured and highly popular pastor has retired. A committee has recommended a new pastor, and the church has called him. What challenges does this pose for the pastor and for the church?
The church will inevitably compare the new pastor to their beloved former pastor. They need to see that God calls pastors to do what needs to be done at a given time. They should not expect the new pastor to be the old pastor: they are two different people.
Benjamin Franklin was very popular when he served as minister to France. Thomas Jefferson was sent to that position when Franklin left the post. When Jefferson presented his credentials as the United States Minister to France, the French premier said, “I see that you have come to replace Benjamin Franklin.” Jefferson wisely replied, “I have come to succeed him. No one an replace him.”
2. PLEASE READ JOSHUA 1: 6-9.
Moses had spoken these same words to Joshua in Deut 31: 6, 7, 23. In Joshua 1: 6, 7, 9, 18 God spoke the same challenge. Later Joshua spoke these words to Israel in Josh. 10: 25.
These words stress two main facts: (1) The Lord is our source of strength and power. (2) His strength is the source of our courage. The fact that the Lord repeated these words to Joshua four times is evidence of the importance of being strong in the Lord and being courageous in His service. The fact that Moses, Joshua and David used these words shows that they had relied on the Lord’s strength and that this gave them courage. And so we are told in the N.T. in Eph 6: 10,”Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.”
Five hallmarks of successful leadership lie embedded in this passage: (1) courage, (2) intelligence, (3) commitment, (4) obedience, and (5) fidelity to Scripture. Three times in this brief exhortation the Lord commanded Joshua to be courageous, or very courageous. Each time He also urged him to be strong. Spiritual leadership is different from the kind of leadership demanded and expected by the world, the kind that takes hold and by sheer aggression and self-confidence asserts itself no matter what. This kind of courage comes from strength, but not one’s own. Only God can provide the strength necessary to instill this courage.
The strength and courage the Lord urged upon Joshua was not just to enable him to face the enemies in the land and to confront even his own people in difficult leadership situations. It was essential also in his commitment to carrying out the will of God in all matter according to the whole instruction of God’s servant Moses.
The good leader must adhere to principles and guidelines of some kind that are exterior to himself and that provide him legitimate authority.
For the Christian leader this standard is the Word of God, which is called here instruction. The Hebrew word is torah, that is, the law of the Lord designed to govern His covenant nation in all its affairs.
Any leader who bypasses this instruction or who reinterprets it to his or her personal advantage is failing to operate within the guidelines or on the foundation of the only authority upon which the servant of God has a right to assert leadership.
Even a leader who bases his leadership philosophy and his leadership practice on the Word of God must do so in line with its whole teaching and not selectively or half-heartedly. As the Lord instructed Joshua, he must not turn from the whole instruction of Moses, either to the right or the left.
This figure of traveling along a highway and not being sidetracked by attractive and tempting detours is an apt way of describing the single-mindedness that good leaders should exhibit.
Followers have a right to know that their leaders have clear objectives toward which they aim and that they will hold firmly to them. This is particularly the case in matters of doctrinal and theological integrity. The Lord demanded of Joshua that he not deviate from biblical teaching. Failure to heed this admonition would keep both the leader and his followers from having success wherever they were.
The book of instruction that Joshua was to accept as the standard that governed his ministry of leadership was not something to be handled in a casual, indifferent manner.
It must not depart from his mouth but be recited day and night. Only Scripture could be his source of authority. The emphasis here is not on the audience but on the speaker. Christian leaders who have only a superficial knowledge of God’s Word thereby exclude themselves from effective ministry.
To build ministry on the latest human fads and fashions is to forfeit any claim to authentic leadership in the Christian community.
The Lord’s words at the end of v. 7 and 8 promised prosperity and success to Joshua if he meditated on the law and spoke it for others. Some people have tried to make such promises on the basis for claiming that God was speaking of material prosperity.
However, words that speak of prosperity and success are almost never used in the O.T. to speak of financial success. Rather, they speak of succeeding in life when people’s lives are focused on God and obedient to Him.
This was God’s work that had been assigned to Joshua. God would be with him to help him accomplish all that God wanted Joshua to do.
3. PLEASE READ JOSHUA 1: 10-11.
The new generation of Israelites were at the Jordan River, soon to cross over the river into Canaan. Joshua knew that the people needed to prepare for this entry. He chose to communicate his instructions through the officers of the people.
Joshua could have chosen to address all the people, as he did at times; however, he decided to use the leaders among the people. He could communicate to them, and they could tell the groups of people for which they were accountable.
Successful leaders learn to delegate responsibility to others. They share the vision and the responsibility for making it happen. The chief leader must make sure that his communication is clear, and each officer must be sure he delivers the right message. This principle of delegation is essential in any large group. Each of the officers was himself a leader of those assigned to him.
What they were to do they must do quickly and efficiently for within three days the crossing would begin. Joshua did not speak in vague generalities but had a clear plan of action timed to the last detail.
People like and deserve to be informed as to the direction their leaders have in mind for them. Joshua’s officers were therefore instructed to go though the camp and tell the people what their leader’s vision was for them and to enlist their support and cooperation.
Notice the words giveth and possess. The Lord had promised to give the Israelites the land, but they had a part to play. They had to conquer the land. Many of God’s gifts come without any action on our part, but His greatest blessing come in response to our prayers and obedience.
4. PLEASE READ JOSHUA 1: 12-15.
Joshua spoke a special word to the Reubenites and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh. While Moses was alive, people from these groups had asked permission to settle on the east side of the Jordan River.
They saw the land as good for grazing cattle. Moses granted their request on one condition. Taking the land would require help from the tribes who would settle on the western side of the river. Moses told the one who made the request that the others would help them take the land on the east side on the condition that their fighting men would go with the other tribes when they entered Canaan. The people of two-and-one-half tribes promised to do as Moses had said. Moses warned them in vs.23 that if they failed to carry through with this promise, “Ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.”
The territory on the bank was captured and the people of the two-and-one-half tribes moved in their wives and children. Now that the main assault on Canaan was about to begin, Joshua reminded them of their promise.
The families could remain in their new land, but the mighty men of valor needed to be armed and go with the others into the land of Canaan. When the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into Canaan, these trans-Jordan tribes took the point because Joshua spoke of them needing to pass before their brethren. “Your fighting men must cross over in battle formation ahead of your brothers.”
One of Joshua’s goals as a leader was to have a sense of unity among the tribes. Thus he stressed the need for the eastern tribes to help their brothers as their brothers had helped them.
A good leader provides a unifying and stabilizing force among his followers. Joshua did not want the river to separate the sense of oneness among the descendants of Jacob.
The word rest is interesting. The rest was part of the gift or inheritance from the Lord. The inheritance was twofold. One part was the land itself. The other part was the rest from conflict with enemies.
The Book of Hebrews in Heb. 4: 8-11 teaches us that this rest foreshadowed the heavenly rest that lies ahead for God’s people.
Joshua 1: 12-15 thus has at least two leadership principles. One is accountability and the other is unity. I have a friend who distinguishes between the meaning and application of the words accountability and responsibility. Generally they are used to mean much the same thing but my friend sees a slight difference. Applied to vocation, accountability refers to what the company expects of you. It is your job description or your assigned work.
Responsibility refers to your own commitment to the excellence with which you do your work. It moves beyond the minimum the company expects of you and raises your own goals for your work. Godly leaders expect followers to be accountable, and, pray that they will go beyond the minimum that is expected.
To lead is a high and holy calling but to fail in leadership and thus to hurt the Lord’s people and discredit His glorious name and cause brings serious consequences.
NEXT SEEK FROM JOSHUA 4, WE WITNESS THE THRILL OF VICTORY. A.V. DAUGHERTY