"Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, 16 “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation 17 who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” 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. 19 Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. 20 You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey. 21 And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.” 22 And Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, 23 and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the Lord directed through Moses."
Numbers 27:15-23
We have been speaking about disqualification, but now we can think of qualification. Grace is of course the principle on which the work of God operates, and we cannot speak ever of qualifying for grace. But, at the same time, just as sin reduces our capacity for the kind of enlargement that God's work needs, so in the same way obedience and responsive- ness to the grace of God and His good and perfect will creates the possibility of enlargement of capacity, and sets us in the way of further, positive service. Jesus said, 'To him that hath it shall be given', and these words are particularly true in this connection. God had His hand on young Joshua from the beginning, and had destined Him for a work of strategic significance. And early on in the story, Joshua 'passed a test' that did something to him (cf the story of the spies, and Joshua's spirited testimony at Kadesh Barnea (chs 13/14); it enlarged his capacity, and led him on. And in the fulness of the time, God called him forward (cf Isaiah 49:2 hidden in the hollow of His hand, and in His quiver, till the appointed time).
We should notice particularly Moses' pastoral care for Israel. He accepts his own situation humbly and with all submission, and his concern is only that Israel be not left as sheep without a shepherd. And Joshua is chosen as the next undershepherd of Israel. Here is the Old Testament apostolic succession; and we should note particularly the spiritual qualifications ('in whom is the Spirit', 18). There was nothing arbitrary or hereditary here. On such an one the mantle of Moses (20) was to rest. It is not for us to assert that Moses was set aside by God, in the sense that Paul uses the word 'disqualified' in 1 Corinthians 9:27, nor can we say how long he might have gone on as leader of Israel if he had not spoken unadvisedly with his lips. But what we do see is that God's work goes on none hindering. Soon Moses was to climb up the mount, his work over, and lie down to rest, being gathered to his fathers. The saying has it, 'God buries His workmen and carries on His work.' And we see in the appointment and anointing of Joshua the steady, onward movement of the divine purposes. His work goes on. He invites our cooperation and participation; when we are obedient, the work goes on and we are blessed and enriched in sharing in it. When we disobey, it still goes on but we are hurt and damaged by our folly. God help us to learn and to obey at all costs in humble submission and surrender to His holy and perfect will.