Few men have accomplished so much so well as Joshua. He was responsible for a nation of 2 million people and led an army of over 600,000. From the day he ventured into battle against Amalek until his moving farewell address (recorded in Joshua 24) he committed himself wholeheartedly to the service of God.
Warts? Yes, Joshua had his warts – but they were few. We consider two; the first minor and the second more serious.
When others disregarded the word of Moses, Num. 11. God instructed Moses to select 70 elders to share his burden, and to gather them to Him outside the camp at the Tabernacle. Moses ‘told the people the words of the Lord’. The Spirit rested on the 70 to equip them for their task and they ‘prophesied’ as a token and evidence that God had put His Spirit upon them. The problem was that, for some reason, two of the 70 did not respond to Moses’ summons and remained inside the camp. Joshua was offended because, in exercising their prophetic gift independent of Moses, they effectively called his authority into question. Joshua spoke out to jealously defend Moses’ name and position, and would have suppressed the men’s spiritual gift. Joshua had much to learn. Moses nobly rebuked Joshua’s narrow spirit, pointing out that he was far too concerned for Moses’ reputation. It was God’s honour and work that mattered.
When Joshua disregarded the word of Moses, Josh. 9. Moses was unique in that God spoke to him face to face, Exod. 33. 11. Joshua could never be another Moses. The Lord had therefore told Moses to provide Joshua with a special facility for consulting Him. Joshua was to stand before the high priest, who would use the Urim and Thummim to discern God’s will for him, Num. 27. 21; Exod. 28. 30. But, in the incident of the Gibeonites, Joshua singularly failed to do this. The artful men came with their persuasive words and convincing props. Although initially cautious, Joshua and the men of Israel were totally hoodwinked. Their sin lay, not in being deceived but in that they ‘asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord’, Josh. 9. 14. Old rags and dry bread would never have fooled the oracle of God!
Lord, help me to seek both Thine honour and Thy will.
