(Background) Joshua Before His Time of Leadership

So before we begin in Joshua, we should know that Joshua’s life started way before. Joshua is first mentioned in the Bible in Exodus 17. “And Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.’” (v. 9) The very first time Joshua is ever mentioned, Moses is commanding him to gather some men together and to battle against the Amalekites. It is apparent then, that Joshua had already established himself as a capable warrior. When battle was upon them, Moses went straight to Joshua. There is a level of trust there. As a side note, Exodus 17:13 records that Joshua defeated the Amalekites…Moses’ trust seems well-placed.

Later in Exodus 24, we see the passage of when Moses gathers a small group of trusted men and takes them with him up on Mount Sinai. Now it’s commonly believed that Aaron was Moses’ right-hand man during the early years of Moses’ leadership, yet this passage implies differently. Here is the passage:

Exodus 24:9-13 “Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God and they ate and drank. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.’ So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God.”

Check out that last verse. Moses took Aaron and the seventy-two others part of the way, but when God called him to go further up to receive the Ten Commandments, who did he take with him? His assistant, Joshua. We do not know how far Joshua went with Moses…but it is unlikely that he went all the way to the top and met with God alongside Moses. Joshua’s time to lead hadn’t come yet. But in verse 18, it says “So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and nights.” Joshua hung out on the mountain waiting on Moses for forty days!

How do I know this? Jump to Exodus 32 when the Israelites make the golden calf. Verses 15 and 16 say “And Moses turned and went away down from the mountain and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, ‘There is a noise of war in the camp.’”

So get this picture: Moses is climbing down the mountain because God told him of Israel’s creating of the golden calf when he meets Joshua part of the way down. Joshua tells him that he hears noises of war going on in the camp below. First, this tells us that Joshua was still on the mountain after all that time. Though those below had forsaken God and Moses, Joshua remained loyal. Would you and I be loyal to a friend as to wait on them for forty days on a cold and lonely mountain? Probably not. Next, this tells us that Joshua did not accompany Moses all the way to the top because God specifically told Moses what Israel had done and if Joshua had been with Moses, he would have known of Israel’s sin and would not have assumed there was a battle. So this is obvious evidence that Moses left his assistant half way up the mountain for forty days. Alone. The other seventy-two men were at the foot of the mountain with Aaron and were probably the ones who had created the golden calf. So Joshua was on a mountain for over a month by himself waiting on an old man to climb down and meet him again when his business with God was concluded. Do you see the faith of Joshua here? Some of us might be willing to wait a few hours for a friend to get back from an errand. But how many of us would wait the whole day? Joshua waited forty days. He totally put his whole life on pause and followed Moses up the mountain. And then Moses left him alone. Moses above him, the elders of Israel below him, Joshua was by himself. And no reward was promised him for waiting around for all this time. I do not know if he was aware that he would be succeeding Moses at this point, but I doubt that God told him if he’d wait things out, he could succeed Moses. God does not bribe us like that. We can only assume that Joshua stayed because he was loyal and faithful to Moses and to God.

Now after the Lord had disciplined the Israelites for their disloyalty in creating the golden calf, He commanded Moses to pitch his tent far away from the Israelite camp. Moses’ tent came to be known as the tabernacle of meeting. The tent was a place to find God for those who sought Him. Now I love this…check out verse 11 of Chapter 33. It says “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.

You understand what that verse said? It said that God spoke to Moses face to face on a personal level and afterwards Moses would return to camp, but Joshua refused to leave the presence of God. Do you understand now why I love Joshua so much? He faithfully waited for Moses for forty days and kept his hands clean when the rest of the camp sinned against God. And then when Moses established a place of dwelling for God, Joshua refused to depart from it! And Scripture was clear that Joshua was still a young man at this time. His days of leading Israel are still far off and yet you can see his faithfulness.

Later in Numbers 11, there is an instance where the Spirit of the Lord came upon two men in the camp and they began to prophecy. When Moses and Joshua heard of this, Joshua said “Moses my lord, forbid them!” (v. 28) What did Joshua mean? I do not know if he understood that God was at work, yet what he saw was a threat to Moses’ authority and so he loyally stood by his master. Moses gently corrected him saying “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” (v.29) We can see that even now, Joshua still remains loyal. He knows Moses to be God’s chosen leader and so he immediately rises to defend Moses’ authority. Moses recognizes that Joshua’s heart is in the right place and does not rebuke him in anger.

Eventually, the Israelites arrive at the Promised Land in Numbers 13 and it is no surprise when Moses sends out his close friend and servant to be one of the twelve spies. I think many of us know this story. When the twelve return to Moses, ten of them give Moses a negative report. Yet Joshua and Caleb trusted the Lord and they alone survived out of that generation to see Canaan conquered. Indeed, Joshua led the way! Now I want to mention something here that we should know about Joshua. Joshua was not his real name. Nun named his son Hoshea (v. 16) Hoshea means “salvation” or “deliverer”. This sounds nice, but it doesn’t go beyond the scope of man. When Hoshea began his service to Moses, he changed Hoshea’s name to Joshua which means “the Lord saves”. Joshua and Jesus are two forms of the same name. See how Moses took Hoshea and gave him a heavenly purpose by changing his name? There are many instances in the Bible where a person is named according to what their purpose is. Well a Hoshea could not achieve God’s purpose because such a name was too man-centered. So Moses changed it to Joshua early on to show Hoshea that he was meant for great things and that God would use him mightily. Just a really cool side note about Joshua.

Now back to the story about the twelve spies. Caleb and Joshua stood before Moses in the presence of their ten comrades and told Moses clearly “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” (v. 30)

And yet the other ten spies did not share Joshua and Caleb’s trust in God’s promise. And so the Lord was angered and led Israel away from Canaan and forced them to endure forty years in the wilderness until that whole generation (except Joshua and Caleb) died off. But here’s the thing: Joshua and Caleb did not just set up camp at the border of Canaan and wait for Israel to return. They participated in Israel’s punishment. Though they had the faith, they were forced to be patient and endure the sins of their fellow spies. Yet we do not read of any complaints. Joshua remains loyal to God and to Moses through it all.

Let’s fast-forward to Numbers 27 where God tells Moses to anoint Joshua as his successor. (v. 18) Joshua became a little more powerful after that and was given greater authority and was assured his position to lead after Moses was gone. Now we will see if Joshua truly endured serving Moses all those years just to get such a position. Yet Joshua continues to serve Moses as if nothing has changed. He continues to honor and respect his master and wait patiently for his turn to lead. He does not plot to undermine Moses’ authority or kill him to speed up his time of leadership. He allows the Lord to govern the timing of things and serves faithfully where he’s at for many years following being anointed. This is a true sign of his heart!

Deuteronomy 1:37-38 says “The Lord was also angry with me for your sakes, saying ‘Even you shall not go in there. Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.”

Here, God clearly tells Moses that he will not enter the Promised Land. The era of Moses shall stay in the wilderness and a new era of leadership will begin in Canaan. God tells Moses to encourage Joshua because he will be the one leading Israel into Canaan. The passage said “Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go there.” It is possible that Joshua was beside Moses when the Lord spoke this. Joshua clearly knew his purpose. He knew that Moses’ time was ending soon. And yet he remained patient still in serving Moses while he was still alive. Such loyalty!

In Deuteronomy 31, we see that Moses declares he is one hundred twenty years old (perhaps it was his birthday) and that he could no longer lead. In verse 23, we see Moses inaugurate Joshua. Moses is surrendering the last of his authority. When Joshua was anointed in Numbers 27, he was given a little more authority, but Moses was still in charge. This time is different. Moses has signed his will and Joshua gets everything. Joshua is now in charge. Listen to Moses’ final words to his most faithful servant:

“Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land of which I swore to them, and I will be with you.” (v. 23)

It is likely that after all the years they have been together, Joshua sees Moses as he would see his father. He truly loved and respected Moses and I’m sure Moses treasured his loyal friend dearly. There are few bonds in the Bible that can compare to the bond between Moses and Joshua. And Moses’ last words are “be strong and of good courage…I will be with you.” Joshua’s time of waiting is over. He is now in the leader after so many long years of waiting and serving Moses. And yet, based off of the attitude of humility we’ve seen by Joshua, I do not think he looked forward to it. In fact, he was probably dreading being in charge. Which explains why Moses had to encourage him to be of good courage; Joshua was afraid.

Joshua was a still a man. He was just a person. He was not perfect and he felt the weight of leading a whole nation settle on his shoulders as Moses spoke his final words to him. And in that moment, we can remember that Joshua is human.

To conclude, let’s look at Deuteronomy 34. The next chapter is Joshua 1 and we will begin there in the next Note. But look at this with me:

“Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses has laid his hands on him; so that the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. But since then there has not arisen a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.” (v. 9-12)

This simply says that Joshua was the new leader and his leadership was blessed because Moses had publically anointed him and the people respected Joshua as Moses asked of them. This is Joshua’s shining moment…his first moments of being the new leader. And look how God, in His sovereignty, chooses to conclude: “There has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses…” In the end, the Lord was pleased with His servant Moses. God knew Moses face to face and aside from Adam, I cannot think of any other person who had such a relationship Almighty God. Joshua could have been jealous that God would award such prestige to the old man when he was finally the leader. Yet…I think Joshua was well pleased to see his old friend so honored and lifted up. Deuteronomy concluded the era of Moses. I think Joshua was pleased in the way it was concluded. Loyal to his friend and master to the very end.