Last week we began by talking about mentoring and how we affect other people's lives. We saw how Jethro impacted Moses’ life in his ministry. Moses’ ministry changed in his methods and I'm sure that he was grateful for Jethro's advice.
People impact our lives sometimes more than we realize. Think about who it was that influenced you as you were growing up or later in life as you became close friends. When I became involved in teaching young adult Sunday School and becoming a deacon years ago, I had a lot of questions about different things. I had a good friend, Larry, that helped me work out a lot of the details very early on in my ministry.
I'm so grateful for Larry and how his influence and his lifestyle impacted much of my life today. As I grew in the ministry and became a pastor, Larry began calling me with questions about the pastorate. We were just close friends like that. So, I guess you could say that this was a case of my mentor becoming the person I would mentor one day.
Last week we also talked about how we reach out to mentors for advice but also how others reach out to us for advice. That is what I meant when I said you are more of a mentor than you realize. In last week's message, Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, mentored Moses. In our story today, it is years later and we find Moses being a mentor to his assistant Joshua. God used Moses to mentor Joshua, who became a strong leader under God's direction, and was a product of Moses’ mentorship. Can you see how important it is to think about the mentoring responsibility? Let's get into our passage today in Numbers 27, but before we do let's pray. Prayer.
Psalm 90:12 includes this prayer: “Teach us to number our days carefully
so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.”
When I read that verse. I thought that this was probably the principle that was front and center in Moses mind when God told Moses about his coming death. In that announcement, Moses got a glimpse of the future that was waiting for the nation of Israel. God told Moses to climb to the top of the Abarim mountain range to view the future location that had been prepared for the Israelites. God allowed Moses to see the Promised Land but God prohibited Moses from entering it.
Numbers 27:12 – 14 – “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range and see the land that I have given the Israelites. 13 After you have seen it, you will also be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was. 14 When the community quarreled in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you rebelled against my command to demonstrate my holiness in their sight at the waters.” Those were the Waters of Meribah-kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.”
God is reminding Moses of his disobedience. Let me digress for a moment and stress how important it is to be obedient to God. Because of his disobedience, Moses was forbidden to enter the Promised Land. This was the point of the exodus of the Israelite people out of Egypt. Moses had been their leader and led in the crossing of the Red Sea and supplying the needs of the Israelite people for 40 years. Now we are at the point of crossing over into the Promised Land and Moses disobeyed God.
The people we're in need of water for themselves and their animals. Moses met with God and God told Moses to speak to the rock and water will flow from it. Moses got angry at the people and instead of speaking to the rock he struck the rock with his stick. The water still poured out of the rock but Moses exemplified his distrust in God by striking the rock instead of simply speaking to the rock. Because of this disobedience, Moses was not allowed to enter into the Promised Land.
Mountains played a significant role throughout biblical history. In the Old Testament, the garden of Eden, with the four rivers flowing down or out of Eden, appears to be on a mountain. Moses received the law from God on Mount Sinai. Elijah faced off against false prophets on a mountain top. Jesus delivered one of the most famous addresses on the Mount of Olives. Jesus also went up on the mountain tops to pray. But we need to remember that Jesus told the Samaritan woman that true worship is not bound by space but it is to be done in spirit and in truth. That is telling us that we don't need to be on a mountain top in order to worship God.
Even though he was forbidden to enter the promised Land, Moses still focused his thoughts on the people of Israel and their need for strong leadership in the future. Instead of complaining to God about the fact that he wouldn't be allowed into the Promised Land, Moses spoke with God about the next leader of the nation.
This is the mark of a great leader; being more concerned about others than about self. It's also a mark of a great mentor. Moses didn't try to dictate to God who the next leader should be. Moses had done his duties in mentoring Joshua. At the same time, Moses knew it wasn't his place to appoint Joshua as his successor. He would leave that to God. Do you know what I gather from that?
What I gained from these verses is to seek God's direction in who will carry on after us. As the Old Testament unfolded, God's people eventually entered the land Moses viewed, but they did so under Joshua's leadership instead of Moses leadership. Mentors should always desire that those whom they mentor will go further and achieve more than they have.
Numbers 27:15 – 17 – “So Moses appealed to the Lord, 16 “May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all, appoint a man over the community 17 who will go out before them and come back in before them, and who will bring them out and bring them in, so that the Lord’s community won’t be like sheep without a shepherd.”
I don't know if we ignore it or just try not to think about how brief life is. When compared to eternity, our life here now is very brief. That's why it is so important for us to set up the next generation and direct them through our mentorship. Like Moses, we too should consider our responsibility to the next generation. What kind of legacy will we leave them? What can we do to help them develop the skills they need to be successful in life? How can we instill in them a passion for living for Jesus Christ? We can serve as an important link from the previous generation to the next.
In these verses that we just read, Moses spoke directly with God about somebody to take over his leadership role. He saw the need and issued a petition to God to install a new leader over the nation to shepherd the people. Moses used the description of sheep without a shepherd to describe the children of Israel because he had seen how wayward they were during their exodus from Egypt. This new leader would have responsibility to lead the nation in battle and in peace, in times of need and in times of plenty.
Numbers 27:18-20 – “The Lord replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him. 19 Have him stand before the priest Eleazar and the whole community, and commission him in their sight. 20 Confer some of your authority on him so that the entire Israelite community will obey him.”
What we are seeing here is the transition of leadership. Moses was instructed to reveal God's call on Joshua's life to the people. Up to this point, Moses was the only leader the people had known. Because of that, it was very important for Moses to endorse Joshua and lead the people to see God's hand in the transition. The people would need to understand that they were to follow Joshua's leadership in the same way they did with Moses.
Joshua had been the servant of Moses from the days of the exodus event. Joshua certainly profited from serving under Moses for those 40 years. In Numbers 11:28 Joshua was referred to as Moses’ assistant since his days as a youth. While we might believe Joshua was showed all the qualifications for being the successor to Moses, in the long run, our opinion matters very little. It was God's assessment of Joshua that was essential. By the way, the same is true for this church transitioning into a new pastor once I retire down the road.
To God, the essential characteristic about Joshua was that he was a man who has the spirit in him. Joshua was deeply committed to following God and His directions. He was a man who was filled with the Spirit of God and who was obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Joshua might have been Moses choice, but more importantly he was God's choice to succeed Moses.
Moses was instructed to commission Joshua in front of the people. A part of that public commissioning was the laying on of hands. This was an important practice of passing on blessing or authority to another person. In Joshua’s case, the laying on of hands was a public recognition that Joshua was well qualified to take the lead in the years ahead. It would be viewed by the people as a Divine affirmation that God was with Joshua.
If you have ever attended one of our Deacon ordination services you may remember that we lay hands upon the Deacon candidate and pray for them. What we are seeing here in this passage is the reason we do that. We are publicly recognizing that new deacon is well qualified to handle the position of deacon.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 – “These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
In this passage I remember that this was God's instruction to Moses. Moses was diligent in leading and discipling Joshua to follow the pattern that God had given for living. Moses modeled these words that he proclaimed to the Israelites. No doubt there were many discussions between Moses and Joshua. In addition, the two shared many experiences together. During this time, Moses is mentoring Joshua to become the leader that God appointed him to be. Then God gives more instructions.
Numbers 27:21-23 – “He will stand before the priest Eleazar who will consult the Lord for him with the decision of the Urim. He and all the Israelites with him, even the entire community, will go out and come back in at his command.”
**********22 Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua, had him stand before the priest Eleazar and the entire community, 23 laid his hands on him, and commissioned him, as the Lord had spoken through Moses.
As God continues His instructions to Moses, He included details about the commissioning ceremony for Joshua. Why was this important? This would involve the services of the high priest. The high priest represented God before the people and the people before God. In this instance, the presence of Eleazar the priest, was representative of God's presence for this occasion.
So Moses did exactly as God directed. He publicly affirmed God's call on Joshua's life. This was an important moment for Joshua and for the people. The same will be true for those we choose to mentor. Public affirmation of the work of God in their lives is vitally important.
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We started today with God informing Moses that he would be dying soon. The biblical record gives little detail on the length of time between the commissioning ceremony and the death of Moses. Whatever time remained with Moses, it's possible that Joshua took on increased leadership responsibilities. Soon Moses would be gone, and Joshua would assume the entire load of leadership for years to come.
What do we get out of this story? This biblical record serves as a pattern for training the next generation. Whether you realize it or not or want to or not, it is our responsibility to train, to mentor the next generation. Whether you choose to do this formally or informally, the person you mentor is someone who you can spend time with.
God wants each of us to realize how important the task is to helping others grow spiritually and to grow in their ability to serve others. As we do this, we realize that this mirrors the pattern of Jesus with the disciples. In the beginning, Jesus called the disciples to be with Him while He taught and healed. Next, they were sent out to teach and heal as well. Finally, Jesus returned to the father, and they carried out the ministry as He had taught them.
So from our story today we can find a great mentoring principle: allow the person your discipling to spend time with you. Share both your wisdom and your experiences. Many times we can learn from the experience of others. In a sense, we are passing on our life experiences to others who can profit from them, just as Joshua profited from what Moses taught him.
I pray that each of us realizes the importance of us shaping the next generation.
How are you shaping the next generation. Remember, too, that bad examples are passed on as well.
- If you don’t think that coming to worship each week is that important, others will follow that example.
- If you don’t feel that supporting the church financially is important, neither will your children.
- If you don’t feel that getting directly involved in the church’s ministries is vital, neither will others as they follow your example.
- If your attitude, whatever that is, is one that mirrors worldly ways instead of Jesus’ ways, our children, our youth, our family, our friends will learn from your attitude.
Jesus shaped the disciples’ lives, the disciples passed that knowledge on through the years and here we are today. Now it is up to us to pass on what we have learned.
Ask yourself this question: If everyone else did exactly as I do, what kind of world, what kind of community, what kind of church would this be?
