Jesus, our Leader. Numbers 27.12-23
Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Leviticus/Numbers (7)
Pray Psalm 110.1, 2.
The LORD said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of Your enemies!
Sing Psalm 110.1, 2.
(Aurelia: The Church’s One Foundation )
“Sit by Me at My right hand,” the LORD says to my Lord,
“until I make Your foot stand on all who hate Your Word.”
The LORD sends strength from Zion: “Rule all Your enemies.”
While those who Him rely on go forth their LORD to please.
Read Numbers 27.12-23; meditate on verses 15-17.
Preparation
1. Why did Moses need to select a new leader?
2. What would this new leader do?
Meditation
Moses disqualified himself to lead the people into the land of promise by his disobedience at the waters of Meribah (Num. 20). Another leader would deliver the people into Canaan, and God determined that leader should be Joshua.
In Psalm 110 we glimpse two aspects of the work of Jesus, exalted in glory. He is seated at the Father’s right hand, where He goes before us to bring us into the Presence of the eternal God and His glory. And He goes out to battle with us, conquering and to conquer. Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us (Heb. 7.25). And He is with us by His indwelling Spirit to empower us for witness by our lives and words (Acts 1.8). The commissioning of Joshua to go out before the people of Israel in battle and to lead them, as the congregation of the Lord, into His Presence thus foreshadows the work of Jesus.
The leaders God seeks must be prepared to fulfill both duties. They must lead people into the Presence of the Lord, by their example and their teaching. J. I. Packer wrote (Finishing Our Course with Joy) that we all have people in our Personal Mission Field who look to us for guidance in following Jesus. They must see us as going in frequently to Him, and we must lead them in the same, that together we might see Jesus and His glory and be transformed into His image. In other words, we must lead others for a more consistent and fruitful spiritual life.
Similarly, those we lead must see us living as a witness for Jesus. All we do should be for His honor and glory (1 Cor. 10.31). All our words should be gracious and edifying (Col. 4.6; Eph. 4.29), showing Jesus by our words. We must be always ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us (1 Pet. 3.15). And we must encourage those in our Personal Mission Field to go out into their own, ready to live and speak for Jesus.
Joshua foreshadows Jesus and Jesus, as He fulfills His ministry, shows us how to lead others into the precious and very great promises of God.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
We have Joshua foreshadowing Jesus, and Moses whose sin required him to step down from his leadership role, so we should probably discuss what happened to precipitate Joshua’s necessity.
“Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron…”
“So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them. Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.’”
“So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him.” (So far, so good).
“And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them,
‘Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?’ (We?)
Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.” (His anger gave way to disbelief and disrespect).
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them’” (Num. 20.2, 6-12).
Moses the leader was held to a higher standard than the grumbling followers. Moses also had fellowship with God and direct guidance from God.
Things are maybe starting to look a little perilous for us—no? Don’t we have fellowship with God through His Holy Spirit and daily guidance through His Word? Won’t we too, be held to a higher standard?
Where have we been told to hallow God and His commands? Here are some starting points:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy…Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Ex. 20.8, 11).
“But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment,
and God Who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness” (Is. 5.16).
“In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed by Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6.9, 10).
Moses was a sincere man of God, whom the LORD spoke to “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Ex. 33.11). And God said to him, “you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name” (Ex. 33.17).
In fact, Moses was “very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Num. 12.3).
So, when his brother and sister were grumbling against him, God said to them: “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?” (Num. 12.6-8). Amazing, yet sinful, Moses foreshadowed our need for a Savior. There He is! Jesus.
Reflection
1. How does Jesus lead us into the very Presence of the eternal God?
2. What can you do to lead people in your Personal Mission Field into a deeper relationship with Jesus?
3. How does Jesus lead you to go out into your Personal Mission Field each day?
This man God appoints to succeed Moses; a man in whom is the Spirit, the Spirit of grace. He is a good man, fearing God and hating covetousness, and acting from principle. He has the spirit of government; he is fit to do the work and discharge the trusts of his place. He has a spirit of conduct and courage…also the Spirit of prophecy. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Numbers 27.15-23
Pray Psalm 110.3-7.
Ask the Lord to fix in your mind His twofold work of going in and leading out. Pray that He will show you what that means for you, as you come before Him and go out into your Personal Mission Field. Wait on the Lord today and each day to teach, guide, and empower you.
Sing Psalm 110.3-7.
(Aurelia: The Church’s One Foundation )
Your people in Your power, arrayed in holiness,
like dew of morning’s hour shall serve like youth refreshed.
The LORD has sworn and never will He His promise check:
“You are a priest forever after Melchizedek.”
The Lord is at Your right hand to execute His wrath,
and judge all kings and all lands—doomed sinners in His path.
Then, all His foes defeated, He takes His hard-won rest,
in glorious triumph seated with us, redeemed and blessed.
T. M. and Susie Moore
We will take next week off from this current Scriptorium series, “Jesus throughout the Scriptures”, to savor the story of Christmas from Luke 2. Then we’ll resume this series on Monday, December 30. Have a blessed Christmas!
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
