By Tom Thomas.
“Then Moses said to the LORD, ‘May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all humanity, set over the community someone who will be their leader in battle and who will lead them out and bring them in, that the LORD’s community may not be like sheep without a shepherd.'” Nm 27: 16-17)
About the tail-end of the Book of Numbers we come across the above passage from one of the greatest leaders of all time – Moses. He knows that he is unable to lead the people into the Promised Land as a result of earlier transgressions, and he implores the Lord to appoint a new leader as his time on earth is drawing to an end. We see in the next verse ( Nm 27: 18-21), that the Lord asked Moses to choose Joshua, the son of Nun , and lay his hands on him and introduce him to Eleazar and all the congregation and commission Joshua in their sight.
This marked the culmination of an over forty year period of selection of the next leader to take over from the now 120 year old Moses. Moses was the initially a reluctant leader commissioned to lead the chosen people out of slavery from Egypt into the Promised Land. And many a time Moses found the burden of leadership too much to bear alone (Nm. 11:14) for which the Lord directed him to appoint seventy elders to help him ( Nm. 11: 16-18). But the next leader was not found from these seventy. How do we know this? From the earlier scriptural verses where the 12 men appointed by the elders (Dt. 1:13 & Nm. 13: 1-3) were sent out to survey the land, only Caleb and Joshua gave a truthful report (Num. 13:30) . The chosen people needed to undergo a-40-year sojourn in the desert filled with hardships as a result of their disobedience and the Lord ensured that only Caleb and Joshua survive the journey into the Promised Land. And before that period itself, Joshua was an apprentice to Moses from his youthful days (Nm.11:28) and proved his loyalty to Moses over a time by following his direction in many tasks (Ex. 17:9) and accompanying him to the foot of the Mountain and waiting patiently for forty days and forty nights as the Lord was communicating with Moses about the Ten Commandments.
What do we learn from this leadership transition that is also treated in Deut. 24: 9, where we see that Joshua was full of the spirit of Wisdom for Moses had laid his hands on him and all the people obeyed Joshua and did as the Lord had commanded Moses? We can learn that:
It is a long path to selecting the next leader: Being the leader of a large nation as Moses was or as we might also be leading our own teams, congregations and families, it is a long process of selecting the next leader after us, but one that needs to be done. We have to remember that even at 120, Moses’ eye was undimmed and vigour unabated (Dt. 34:7), yet he had been planning for a successor to his leadership for over forty years. The tasks that he delegated to Joshua and others over the years, helped him discern and to make the right selection for the next leader.
Pray about it: As we saw in Nm. 27, Moses prayed for a successor to lead His people. This is the most important aspect and the starting point of the leadership transition process.
Different tests of loyalty, honesty and ethics: Joshua proved himself worthy of being the next leader after Moses through the numerous tests he was subject to over a time. He did not desert the Mountain while waiting for Moses to come down while the rest of the people were celebrating and carousing ( Ex. 32: 17-19). Joshua and Caleb did not succumb to the pressures of the other ten spies in giving false reports too. In other words, he embodied the qualities of all that Moses was looking for in a leader.
Make a public announcement: Once Joshua was chosen, Moses declared this choice in front of all the people. A very important step as it affirms to all the choice of the next leader when the current one is still in full possession of all his faculties. This leaves no doubt in anyone’s mind as to who would lead the chosen people after Moses’ time.
Having been selected for leadership over such carefully thought out process over the years and with the Blessings of Moses and the Lord, Joshua was able to carry forth in leading the chosen people into the Promised Land even after Moses’ departure from this world ( Jos. 11:23) and he could achieve great progress in his role as a leader. But we find no evidence that Joshua himself groomed a leader to take over after him after he passed away at 110 years. We can infer this from Jgs 2: 8-10, where the generation after he passed arose that did not know the Lord or the work He had done for Israel, a fundamental responsibility of the leader of His chosen people.
“Joshua, son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten, and they buried him within the borders of his heritage at Timnath-heres in the mountain region of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. When the rest of that generation were also gathered to their ancestors, and a later generation arose that did not know the LORD or the work he had done for Israel”
These are important lessons for us to learn from by studying the Spirit-led leadership transition from Moses to Joshua. Similarly in the New Testament, we find in Lk 6: 12-16, the Lord Jesus praying the whole night before the selection of the twelve apostles.
In whatever role we have today, are we thinking that we will not be here one day and who would be the best person from within to take forward the initiatives we are spear-heading today? Let us take heed and follow the prayerful selection steps that Moses undertook to ensure that the one most worthy could take up his mantle after him. Let us never forget our Mission (and those we lead) in life to glorify Him in whatever we do.