“Standing in the Doorway of a New Promise” (Part One)

Doors open and close. They offer exciting new opportunities and perhaps some significant (and often painful) challenges. Doors abound. They are all around us - beckoning us to new rooms of experience. Some doors come into focus through meeting new people, others are first clearly seen through the tear-filled eyes of loss. One Bible character found himself in the threshold of a new door facing a commission from the Most High through the tears of such a loss.

Joshua spent nearly forty years of his life serving behind the towering figure of Moses. Yet, the day finally came that God took the mantle of leadership off of the lifeless shoulders of the old chief, and placed it firmly on Joshua. The door opened to a new era of God’s people, and the lessons involved in this new direction were captured eternally in the Biblical record, in a book that bears Joshua’s name.

The Church through the ages has primarily thought of the Book of Joshua as a historical record, but the ancient Jewish organization of the Scriptures placed the book as part of the Prophets (Nevi’im). The Prophets are divided into the Early Prophets (Nevi’im Rishonim) and the Latter Prophets (Nevi’im Ahronim). Joshua was placed at the opening of the Early Prophets. The writing can easily divided into three sections: Entering Canaan (Joshua 1-5); Conquering Canaan (Joshua 6-12); Dividing Canaan (Joshua 13-24). The first chapter of Joshua is read in the final reading of the annual schedule of synagogue portion readings (parashot) at the end of the Hebrew calendar year, as the Haftarah (selections from the prophets and writings that accompany the Torah selections) reading to follow the text from Deuteronomy 33:1-34:12 called Vezot Habrachah (“And this is blessing”).

The Preparation Stages: Seven Critical Lessons

Joshua 1 opens with the memory of a meeting between God and Joshua. The text relates:

“Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying: Moses my servant is dead: now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel…”

Though God met with Joshua and spoke directly to him for the first time in the Scripture record, Joshua had a long road of preparation to get to that point. God did not simply clone Moses, but rather included in the record of His Word a slow and steady training of Joshua from military adviser to Chief of the Tribes, an office that had only one prior leader (Moses) and left tough sandals to fill! Serving Moses from about age 40, Joshua did not receive the mantle of leadership until about age 80, yet he no doubt seemed young compared to his mentor and predecessor (who was about 120 when he passed on)!

The Bible writer took great pains to show the gradual formation of Joshua, as he was prepared by God to lead the people into the very critical operation of attaining the land God had promised to their fathers. Joshua was groomed for the job, and the Torah reveals that he had seven specific experiences that shaped his leadership style, his heart for God and his daily priorities. A closer look at these seven events of Joshua’s life can help us understand the preparation this choice servant of God experienced, but it can offer much more. Observing these shaping experiences can also help us understand how our Lord shapes those who He can use. Each experience was a stage in his training and included:

Stage One: Learning the Power of Intercession (Ex. 17:9-16)
Stage Two: Learning the Mystery of Communion (Ex. 24)
Stage Three: Learning to Hear the Hearts of Men (Ex. 32)
Stage Four: Learning the Process of Worship Encounters (Ex. 33)
Stage Five: Learning to Overcome the Need for Recognition (Num. 11:26-29)
Stage Six: Learning to See with the Eyes of Faith (Num. 13:16; 14:6-10; 14:38)
Stage Seven: Learning to Receive a Commission (Num. 27:12-23; 34:17; Dt. 1:38; 3:21; 31:3; 34:3)

Without fanfare or special announcement, Joshua emerged into the scene of the Bible record amidst a brewing conflict with the desert people called the Amalekites. The children of Israel were tired by the beginning of the Amalekite conflict. Part way through the fifty-day journey from the territory of Egypt to the mountain of the law (recalled now in the days between Passover or Pesach and Pentecost or Shavuot they already neared exhaustion.

They had seen God’s provision at the healed bitter waters of Marah (Ex. 15:23-26) and the refreshing oasis of twelve pools and ten palm trees at Elim (Ex. 15:27), yet they were compelled to move on to the mountain where God planned a meeting with Moses on their behalf. To the mountain they trudged, sheep and goats, carts and children. Suffering hunger in the dry and barren wilderness, God rained upon them first bread, then quail from the heavens to fill their stomachs (Ex. 16). Their incessant complaining and overt disobedience led even God to ask, “How long will you refuse to trust Me?” (16:28). The manna in a pot became the first of many memorials for the Israelites, and was later placed beside the tablets of the law that Moses received from God (Ex. 16:34).

Arriving inside the fanlike fingers of the Wadi Feiran system, a connected system of valleys with water in underground rivers beneath, the Israelites arrived depleted of water in their storage, and thirsty. Though God had shown them His might at the parting of the Sea, the cloud and pillar of fire, and numerous supply demonstrations, the people again panicked. The huge uplifted granite mountains of the Sinai peninsula sloped above them, and God directed Moses to take the elders to the slope of a mountain he knew well from his shepherding days (cp. Ex. 3:1). This was the shepherding territory of Jethro the Midianite, the father-in-law of Moses. Unknown to the people, but familiar to Moses, he did not doubt that God could, and would supply the water necessary for the people. He also knew how to get the water.

In areas of that desert where the metamorphic rock (sand stone and the underlying granite beds) meet sedimentary rock there are strata deposits of water. Shepherds of the ancient world, as the Bedouin Sinai dwellers today, knew exactly where these deposits of water awaited their needs. As we travel through the desert today on camel back through this Egyptian landscape, we still see the places where the calcified deposits on the walls of the great Wadi Feiran have been pierced by sticks and rocks to access the water deposits that exists in those pockets behind the walls. Moses knew the method, and had he had the time to look carefully, he could even predict with fair accuracy the location of water deposits. The appearance of small mosses and damp surfaces can be signs of water deposits. He was, after all, a skilled shepherd from the region before he led the children of Israel. A modern discovery of this phenomenon by a westerner illustrates what a Near Eastern shepherd of the region knows so well. This selection is taken from records of the British governor of the Sinai region of the 1930’s, Major C.S. Jarvis (today a part of the “Palestine Exploration Fund” records:

“Several men of the Sinai Camel Corps had halted in a dry wadi and were in the process of digging about in the rough sand that had accumulated at the foot of a rock face. They were trying to get at the water that was trickling slowly out of the limestone rock. The men were taking their time about it and Besh Shawish – the colour sergeant – said, “Here, give it to me”. He took the spade of one of the men and began digging furiously in the manners of NCO’s the world over who want to show their men how to do things but have no intention of keeping it up for more than a couple of minutes. One of his violent blows hit the rock by mistake. The smooth hard crust which always forms the weathered limestone split open and fell away. The soft-stone underneath was thereby exposed and out of its apertures shot a powerful stream of water. The Sudanese, who are well up in the activities of the prophets but do not treat them with a vast amount of respect, overwhelmed their sergeant with cries of ‘Look at him! Prophet Moses’!”

What a miracle God demonstrated at the rock! In order for such a large cask of water to have been stored in the rock ledge deposit, the rain waters would have begun to accumulate long before Joseph even lead the children of Israel into Egypt. God may have instantly stored to necessary water, but there is no reason to believe He did not begin to supply the answer long before the question! It may well be that hundreds of years before rains began to form in the water deposit so that it was ready for God’s thirty children. It would be just like our God to be creating the solution before we face the problem. Is that not like His character?

Stage One: Learning the Power of Intercession (Ex. 17:9-16)

Not long after, the masses of Israel came to a resting place along the soft bed of the wadi near the sheer walls to the south. The name they gave the place gives a hint of the character of the place, Rephidim. The word comes from the descriptive verb Rah-fahd which literally means “to spread a mat for the bed”, or to create a bedding area. The word was sometimes used to denote a place of comfort – a place of rest. Just what the doctor ordered, a little rest for the weary troops. Finally, the Israelites probably thought, a little break. That’s when the armies of Amalek hit, just about the time the guard was down and the group was depleted. How like our enemy that is!

Out of the story of the Amalakite attack came the first lesson to the “Chief in the making”, Joshua. Moses faced a tough situation, and Joshua watched the solution unfold. He was able to pick out what any leader needs to quickly understand: Everyone can see the problem, leaders devise solutions. That is what the people needed, and that is what Moses provided.

Moses focused immediately on the six things a leader must know to make good decisions, and Joshua got the benefit of seeing the lesson close up:

1. Leaders must know the circumstances, the situation they are faced with. Nobody conquers a demon they don’t know about. Every significant move of a leader is preceded by an accurate assessment of the circumstances that they face. (17:8).

2. Leaders must know the enemy they face. Sometimes reconnaissance is necessary to gain knowledge (Num. 13 and 14), as knowledge of the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses make all the difference in battle. Whether physical or spiritual, battles are won or lost often on the enemy assessment. Understand where and how an enemy will attack is essential to preparing defenses that will withstand his onslaught (17:9).

3. Leaders must know their resources for problem solving. Foolish leaders tackle every problem on their own. Wise leaders assess their own team to meet the demand of battle (17:9).

4. Leaders must understand that even the physical problems of God’s people are fought in Heavenly places. This is a critical area often neglected. Paul later addressed the physical disturbances to his work with the truth that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers” (2 Cor. 10:3ff). Moses didn’t need a simple head count and weapons assessment, he needed to bow before God and intercede for the battle. (17:10-13). The upward palms have long been understood by rabbis as a position of prayer. In the Hebrew world of long ago (as in Orthodox traditions today), prayers of supplication were symbolized by holding the hands palms up. In times of extreme need, the arms were lifted upward and palms were held up, a position probably referred to in the instruction of Paul to Timothy (1 Tim. 2:8). If understood in this way, there was nothing mystical about the hands of Moses, but POWER lay in the intercession of the leader. What a great lesson for any leader that gets caught up in the mechanics of the problem to the exclusion of the spiritual reality!

5. Leaders must be good followers (17:9-10). Look at the unquestioning obedience of Joshua. Moses said, “Jump!” Joshua jumped. It is worth highlighting that Joshua was not prepared to lead if he was not prepared to follow.

6. Leaders must acknowledge where true victory comes from. Note the instruction at the end of the battle (17:14). Joshua was to be brought in to hear the specific promise of God; He would cut off Amalek from the earth because of this attack. Joshua needed to hear it, and understand that any work that he would do in that cause was not his victory, it was God fulfilling His promise. Leaders need to feel responsible to faithfully execute the work of God, but not to own the work. It is God’s work, and we are privileged to be a part of it.

In the final analysis, Joshua needed to see the power of an interceding leader. The troops can do the work, but they will easily believe that it was at their hands that victory was attained -because of their skill, their ingenuity, and their power. They, of course, would draw the wrong conclusion. It is only an interceding leader that can see the truth.

(End of Part 1 -tbc)