Nationalized Authority

Joshua

Moses comes to the end of his journey and seeks God concerning the man who would replace him. NUM 27:18 So the Lord said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; v19 and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation; and commission him in their sight. v20 "And you shall put some of your authority on him, in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may obey him. God directed Moses to lay his hands on Joshua but only some of his authority would be transferred to Joshua. Joshua’s authority is a more accurate equivalent to those who stand in positional authority today than Moses. Moses is a type of Christ having the ultimate position in spiritual, political/military as well as judicial matters. No one today can claim this.

 

It was not Joshua’s place to dictate what the priest could do nor was it within Joshua’s authority to dictate judicial law, for God already did this through Moses. Joshua was to lead the people into the Promised Land to take control over what God already declared was theirs to control. De 31:7  And Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for you must go with this people to the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it. AKJV Joshua’s job was to cause the people to inherit the land. Joshua could not do it himself. He needed the nation to cooperate with God and be obedient so that they could take control and inherit the land.

 

Joshua is not the ultimate leader in the same way as Moses was. Joshua is not to control every aspect of life for the Israelites. His job is to cause the people to possess the land God promised to Abraham, and his descendants as their inheritance. He is commissioned as the supreme commander of the army to possess the land and really nothing else. Because of this we must understand his authority is limited by this objective. God did not bestow upon Joshua more authority then he needs to do his job.

 

Today we have people who have a “position” whether in a church as senior Pastor, or an apostle or prophet over a ministry or area, who believe that they have virtually unlimited authority. They believe that everything flows through them and that God will speak to them before anyone under their “authority.” They try and control everyone and everything but become totally indignant when someone attempts to control them. This is at epidemic levels in various sections of the current church. We need to learn from Joshua to focus on the job that God gave us to accomplish and not attempt to press our will upon areas we have no right to control.

 

Once Joshua is commissioned to lead the nation into the Promised Land Moses is told to ascend Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah so that he can see all the land that Israel will posses. Moses dies there on that mountain and Joshua becomes the leader of the people of God. 

 

The Lord’s commander tells Joshua to remove his sandals for he was on holy ground, which was the same thing the voice emanating from the burning bush spoke to Moses. Moses received his commissioning to go to Pharaoh and declare deliverance for Israel at the burning bush. Is this Joshua’s commissioning to take the land? We know that Moses laid his hands on Joshua and commissioned him before Israel and it was said that part of Moses’ authority would be given to Joshua. NUM 27:18 So the Lord said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; v19 and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation; and commission him in their sight. v20 "And you shall put some of your authority on him, in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may obey him. According to these scriptures Moses already commissioned Joshua before the Lord but did this mean that God at the same time commissioned Joshua? We must remember that just because we are commissioned to lead people by someone in authority it does not mean we have God’s anointing or that He commissioned us to do the job. Moses was initially commissioned to deliver Israel but he was not accepted as an authority within the nation of Israel. That is why Moses needed the elders of Israel to stand with him when he confronted Pharaoh. What we see in Numbers 27:18-20 is Moses commissioning Joshua as the chief authority within the nation. Moses did not choose Joshua, God did, but he nonetheless needed to be separated and commissioned before all the people to know who had this place of authority. Now if that was the only scripture on this situation with Joshua and Moses it would be finished but it is not. DEU 31:14  Then the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, the time for you to die is near; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may commission him." So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. While the Numbers verses relate that only Moses did the commissioning, the Deuteronomy verse clearly states that God also commissioned Joshua at that time. We should not be deceived by thinking that just because we may lay our hands upon someone that God automatically will recognize them and anoint them for the job. This attitude is not scriptural. In Joshua’s case God initiated the commissioning, not Moses. We should not be pushed by the need or pressure we may feel to fill a position. If we are carnal we will do what King Saul did and make the sacrifice and not wait for the man of God or God’s timing.

 

Back to the situation at hand, we see this commander of the Lord’s army telling Joshua that he needed to remove his sandals because the place was holy. There is no definite explanation about why this was happening to Joshua. I am sure that when the commander told him to remove his sandals that Joshua thought of Moses and his meeting with God at the burning bush. He should have been well aware of Moses’ story of how God met him on the mountain at the burning bush. To Joshua this should have been undeniable proof that he needed to listen to what this man said. The commander tells Joshua the war plan over Jericho and then leaves. Joshua does not rationalize the plan but only follows it faithfully.

 

Joshua gathers the priests and people together and positions them the way he was told to. Joshua tells the people that all the goods in Jericho that are silver, gold, brass, and iron are God’s and will be put into the Lord’s treasury. He further tells them to stay away from things that are under the ban. JOS 6:18 "But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, lest you covet them and take some of the things under the ban, so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it. It really is not important to explain what kind of things would be under the ban but to say that these things would make the camp “accursed and bring trouble on it.” Joshua realized that some of the things in Jericho should be left untouched.

 

Once the city walls fell the people carried out utter annihilation upon all that were living in the city. JOS 6:21 And they utterly destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword. And then Joshua burned all that was left. It was believed by Joshua that everything was carried out even as God wanted him to. He had no idea that Achan took some of the things under the ban and hid them in his tent. We should notice that God does not warn Joshua about Achan’s sin even as God warned Moses about what Israel was doing while he received the law up on the mountain. It can be said that the differences between Joshua and Moses are due to their degree of authority. It is interesting to note that God allowed Israel to be defeated at Ai. It was in this defeat that Joshua realizes that someone sinned against God. Moses’ authority was ultimate while Joshua’s is extremely limited. Joshua’s authority was intended for leading the people into taking the land and then dividing it up to each tribe. Authority always has limits and is usually equal to the job that we are given to accomplish.

 

One man’s rebellion and selfishness resulted in the death of thirty six men. It was suggested by the men that Joshua sent to survey Ai that he needed to send three thousand men against Ai for it was a minor or small place. Achan’s sin resulted in defeat and death for the people. The nation goes from a great victory to utter defeat in a few days. JOS 7:5 And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of their men … so the hearts of the people melted and became as water. The power, assurance, faith, and confidence of victory are turned into doubt and unbelief. Joshua is even seen wallowing in the defeat without any faith. JOS 7:7 And Joshua said, "Alas, O Lord God, why didst Thou ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan! Even though Joshua spent time with Moses and saw how God responded to him it did not make him any more confident in his position before the Almighty.

 

While it may appear that Joshua is responding even as Moses did, there is one big difference. Moses never spoke as if he and the people should not have advanced as God called them to. Joshua prayed to God, If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan! This prayeris evidence of his unbelief as well as inferring that it was their idea to take the land and not God’s. Joshua has authority but he is acting like someone who has no authority before God. He should be seeking God concerning the reason for the defeat instead of wallowing in defeat. He should be the strong one and not be like the people, whose hearts melted and became as water. God wouldn’t have it and rebukes Joshua JOS 7:10 So the Lord said to Joshua, "Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? v11 "Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things. God isn’t standing for such nonsense and quickly tells Joshua what the problem is. God commands Joshua to stand up and then asks why he was on his face? I cannot imagine God being anything but emphatic about this. Doubt and unbelief as well as whining and self pity will never get God’s attention in a positive way. Thankfully God overlooks it and gets to the issue at hand. Israel has sinned.

 

God warns Joshua that He will no longer be with him and the people if they do not destroy those things that are under the ban as well as the person who had taken the things. The nation is on the brink of possessing the land that God spoke to Abraham about and they nearly fail because of one selfish person. Joshua casts lots to see who it is that sinned and the lot falls to Achan. The nation stoned and burned Achan and his entire house.

 

Once Joshua cleansed Israel of the sin of Achan, God encourages him not to be afraid but to take all the warriors and go against Ai. Unlike Jericho, God was permitting them to take spoil and the cattle for themselves. If Achan could have just waited, the very next campaign would have allowed for the gathering of wealth. Unlike the first time around, instead of three thousand men, Joshua sends thirty thousand to set an ambush for the city. Besides the thirty thousand Joshua has another five thousand to ambush from the other side. Even with such overwhelming odds, the men initially felt that three thousand men were enough to take the city, God spoke to Joshua and told him to raise his spear toward Ai and God would cause it to fall to him. JOS 8:26 For Joshua did not withdraw his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. Joshua stood over the battle even as the authority before God and God honored His word and caused Ai to fall into their hands. Joshua continued to hold up the spear until Ai was completely annihilated. Joshua probably wanted to lower the spear but he was well aware that as long as he held it high victory was assured. This is the second time in scripture that we have seen such a thing. Moses stood with his hands raised while Joshua fought Amalek in the valley below. (Ex 17:8-13) It was important for Joshua to realize that the battle was spiritual even though it seemed in their favor because of the overwhelming odds. True authorities are the only ones that can fight the spiritual aspect of battles. Those who may have a position without knowledge of the spiritual will fail miserably.

 

Joshua built an altar to God after this victory and read all the Law of Moses. This alter was according to the specifications that Moses stated. JOS 8:31… as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones, on which no man had wielded an iron tool; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings. Joshua does not over extend his authority, for his authority was to lead the people into possessing the land and not much else. Joshua relies upon what Moses had spoken and accomplishes it even as Moses commanded it to be done. Authority has limits and usually intended for a purpose rather than a general authority over everything and everybody. Joshua’s authority is a more accurate example of what our authority today should look like. God gives us authority to accomplish a specific task not to control everyone we come in contact with. We need to follow what was previously written instead of altering the authority of scripture by redefining it. We are in error when we enforce things that God does not enforce. We need to be mindful of the boundaries of our authority even as Joshua was.

 

Joshua rightly recognized Moses authority in the building of the altar but he fails to exercise his authority correctly when it comes to the inhabitants of Gibeon. Israel’s victory over Jericho and now Ai gets the attention of the other people living in the land. JOS 9:1 Now it came about when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country and in the lowland and on all the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, … heard of it, 2 that they gathered themselves together with one accord to fight with Joshua and with Israel. It would seem that the fighting just increased in intensity seeing that the battle is no longer against each city or people but now against them all as a cohesive group.

 

Gibeonites decided to attain their survival through deception. Men from Gibeon dressed in old clothes approached Joshua as though they were from a distant land. These men were not initially believed, JOS 9:7  the men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you are living within our land; how then shall we make a covenant with you?" v8 But they said to Joshua, "We are your servants." Then Joshua said to them, "Who are you, and where do you come from?" It would seem at this point that the rouse had failed but the men somehow convinced Joshua that they are really from a distant land. These men recounted the fact that Israel defeated Sihon and Og the kings of the Amorites and what happen in Egypt. Was it the knowledge of the exploits of Israel up to this point the thing that convinced Joshua to believe them? We may never know. Joshua failed concerning these people but it wasn’t just Joshua’s failure but all of Israel’s failure. Joshua should rightly bear a greater amount of fault as the leader of the people. Joshua and the people were told to destroy everyone in the land. They were not to make any covenant with the people but drive them all out. JOS 9:14 So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the Lord. v15 And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them. Once the covenant was made there is no going back. God takes covenants seriously and now Israel has to deal with the repercussions of a bad decision.

 

God was not under any obligation to interrupt Joshua before he made the covenant. It was Joshua’s place to get God’s opinion about what they were about to do. Joshua decides to exercise his authority and do this thing without checking with God and they were caught in a trap. PRO 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. If only Joshua had taken a minute to acknowledge God in the matter. How many times do we fail in our authority because we choose to not acknowledge God before we authorize something?

 

Three days later it comes to the people’s attention that these men were living within Israel’s Promised Land. The people began to grumble against the leadership and rightfully so. It was not the people who made this deal but those who had position in Israel who made the covenant. JOS 9:19 But all the leaders said to the whole congregation, "We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them v20 "This we will do to them, even let them live, lest wrath be upon us for the oath which we swore to them." Israel could not put the people to death but they could enslave them and this is what they did. Many people like to beat Christians for complaining about the things that leadership does. They say that this is rebellion and should not happen. Many go as far as saying that God will punish them for such behavior but you don’t see God chastising Israel for complaining about this stupid move. We have already seen that when Israel complained and God was not pleased it was because people in authority were complaining. God is not happy when people in authority (middle management) complain openly. It no doubt has something to do with their ability to approach upper management (authority figures with more authority) and share their concerns. God does not respond to the rank and file in a similar way as those who stand in positional authority. Those who are viewed as authorities have a greater ability to sway the multitudes then some lowly member. Though the leading authorities made an error we see Joshua making the best out of this blunder by subjecting them to slavery. Joshua even prophesies to these deceivers that they are cursed and will never cease being a slave.

 

Adoni-Zedek the king of Jerusalem sends word to four other Amorite kings concerning his anger over Gibeon having made peace with Israel. These five kings decide to attack Gibeon for this outrage. Adoni-Zedek  JOS 10:2 … feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty. This king of Jerusalem is seeing that his kingdom may not last and decides to punish Gibeon for not aligning with him. These five kings take armies and camp against Gibeon and begin warring against them.

 

The men of Gibeon send word to Joshua about this situation and plead with him to come and help them. This is a major test for Joshua. He and the other leaders of Israel made peace with some of the people in the land and now they have to go to war for them. First Joshua is conned by these people and now he is expected to deliver them out of the hand of these other kings. We don’t know the full agreement that Joshua and the elders of Israel made with Gibeon. Joshua could have allowed the kings to do to Gibeon what Israel should have done. It would seem that the kings wanted to destroy the town and the people for making this covenant with Israel. Why not let them? Gibeon was dishonest with Joshua by saying they were from far away and that they didn’t live within the lands border. It would seem that Israel just promised that they would not destroy these people. JOS 9:15 And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them. Obviously the covenant was more than “we will let you live.” Now they must put their lives on the line for people who are liars and deceivers who would have been destroyed. The real test for Joshua and the leadership of Israel is, was this covenant that they made good or not? Will they stand by their word and their integrity? If not, they are no better than the people from Gibeon, who lied to save their lives. Is our word worth anything? Like Joshua we need to stand by our word even if it costs us more then we want to pay.

 

Joshua gathers all the warriors together to go to the aid of Gibeon not knowing how God was viewing this whole mess. God interrupts Joshua not with a word of judgment, nor even criticism, but of encouragement. God says to Joshua, JOS 10:8 … "Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands; not one of them shall stand before you." Wow, Joshua and Israel make a mistake and God still supports and stands with them against the people of the land. We can make mistakes and God will not reject us but continue to fight and support us. We should learn from Joshua’s mistake and find out what God wants before entering into agreements that are ungodly or against God’s will.

 

Joshua marches all night to get to Gibeon and comes upon the kings suddenly. This unexpected encounter with the kings could have ended badly but scripture states, God confounded them before Israel. We see God fighting this battle that Joshua and Israel should not be fighting had they sought God before making this covenant. Not only does God confound Israel’s enemy but as they run from Joshua’s army God causes hail stones to fall from heaven killing more men then Joshua’s army kill by the sword. God forgives and overlooks this blunder by Joshua and the eldership as well as goes to battle for Israel and the Gibeonites. The power that Joshua and the eldership possess to make covenants is seen here. God does not make a differentiation between Gibeon and Israel but see both now as one people with one purpose and one end. This should amaze us and have us trembling in fear of such power and authority. We Christians possess even greater power and authority than this.

 

Some people would say that the power that Joshua displayed that day in commanding the sun to stand still in the sky is more powerful than the covenant that he made with Gibeon but I would disagree. It is quite spectacular for Joshua to command the sun to stand still and have it obey you but do you realize that by making the covenant with the Gibeon Joshua delivered a group of people God had destined to death and destruction. God told Joshua not to leave any of the nations alive in the land so God authorized their annihilation. Joshua and the leadership turn this around by making a covenant with these people and God doesn’t say one negative thing about it and even goes to war on behalf of these non Jewish people. I would rather be known for delivering people from destruction than experiencing the spectacular. Thankfully it’s not an either or proposition but both and much more.

 

Once the defeat of these five kings were completed, Joshua and Israel began to war with all the other cities and kings that remained within the boundary of the land promised to them. JOS 10:40 Thus Joshua struck all the land, the hill country and the Negev and the lowland and the slopes and all their kings. He left no survivor, but he utterly destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. v41 And Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea even as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen even as far as Gibeon. v42 And Joshua captured all these kings and their lands at one time, because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. There were other battles with other kings and their people that lived within the land after which scripture states, JOS 11:23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Thus the land had rest from war. Even though we see this statement in chapter eleven that Joshua took the whole land we see God telling Joshua in chapter thirteen that there is actually more land that needs to be taken (Joshua 13:2-6.) The rest of the people that needed to be defeated and driven from the land would be for individual tribes to drive out and dispossess them from their land. So we see that Joshua 11:23 is true in relationship to the land God intended Joshua to take even though it was not all the land God wanted Israel to take.

 

Joshua after taking the land is told by God to divide the land and give it to the nine and a half tribes that have yet to receive their inheritance. JOS 13:7 So Joshua faithfully gives the tribes land and even sets up the cities of refuge. Joshua refreshes their minds with the requirements and expectations of the cities of refuge. He even oversaw the allotting of the cities given to the Levites. What we do not see Joshua doing is making new laws, setting up new religious duties, establishing rules or customs other than what Moses (the type of Christ) set up. Joshua was aware of and knew what God called him to do and he does not try to expand his authority by changing what God set up through Moses. Joshua is commissioned to do a job and see it to completion. This is probably one of the greatest blunders of the religious today. They do not know what God called them to personally do nor do they understand they should not go beyond the authority God gave them. If we do not know what our job is nor have a description of the job requirements, we will surely not do it correctly. What ends up happening is we do what we have seen others do and believe what others believe. We never really seek out our job description in the scriptures ourselves. We should never trust others’ theology just because they have position or because we like their theology. We need to study to show ourselves approved (2 TI 2:15) not blindly adhere to what others believe. We are beginning to see the fact that spiritual authority is not contained within the four walls of a building we call the church. We may have spiritual authority over any operation in society. This can range from our job as a janitor or president of the company, commander in the military or top judge in the courts. Man may place us in a position but only God gives true spiritual authority. When God gives us spiritual authority it is for accomplishing a job not so we can be megalomaniacs.