Bolts Of Wisdom BE ACTIVE AND STRENGTHENED WHEN A LOVED ONE HAS PASSED ONTO GLORY Joshua 1:2 Moses my servant is dead. So now arise [take his place], go over this Jordan, you and all these people, into the land which I am giving to them, the Israelites. (Amplified Bible) In the above verse God is telling Joshua to go into action and lead the Israelites into the promised land soon after Moses had died. Moses had been Joshua’s leader, mentor and spiritual father for over 40 years. Moses appointed Joshua to be army commander soon after they left Egypt (Exodus 17:9) and Joshua was a faithful army commander for almost 40 years under Moses. Joshua 11:15 says “As the Lord commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.” We see that Joshua was very faithful and had an excellent relationship with God and Moses. Moses even trusted Joshua with his close security as Joshua guarded Moses tent (residence)[Exodus 33:11] . Joshua also defended Moses position as leader of the Israelites in the midst of fierce life threatening opposition and rejection of Moses by his own people and family (Numbers 14:1-12). In Numbers 14:4 the Israelites made it clear that they wanted a new leader in place of Moses but Joshua together with Caleb were resolute in defence of Moses, they were prepared to die for Moses. It is clear that Moses was very dear to Joshua and the death of Moses represented a major loss for him. In normal human circumstances Joshua had lost a very dear loved one, it was a major blow. It was big enough to make Joshua sorrowful, confused, fearful and even destroy him. Joshua had good grounds to be worried about how he would face the future without Moses since Moses had trained him and raised him to be effective and successful in life. With this background God tells Joshua to arise and immediately go into action to lead the Israelites in place of Moses. Is God cruel in not allowing Joshua time to grieve and mourn Moses death? God gives Joshua the formula to ensure that the death of a loved one does not bring sorrow, confusion, bitterness, fear, failure, etc. God tells Joshua (i) that no man can defeat Joshua (Joshua 1:5) (ii) Joshua must be strong and very courageous and follow instruction– Joshua 1:6-7(iii) refuse to be dismayed or discouraged – Joshua 1:9 and most importantly (iv) meditate on God’s word – Joshua 1:8. Meditating on God’s Word generates in you the ability to overcome bereavement or loss of a loved one. It generates power in you to go into action without delay but with great intensity and joy. The result of Joshua meditating on God’s Word given in Joshua 1:1-9 is shown by Joshua’s reaction to Moses death. Joshua immediately got into action; he commanded the people that in 3 days they were to go into battle to take possession of the land that God had given them (Joshua 1:10-11). Moses death was not a time to generate reasons for doing nothing but an opportunity to meditate on God’s Word and continue to do what God had told the Israelites to do. Joshua’s decision went against popular culture as the death of a leader was normally followed by an extended period of mourning for 40 days. In these 40 days of mourning, many people would become sorrowful, fearful, sick, confused and even die. Even today some people will wear black clothes or pin black pieces of clothes or other things for at least 40 days or longer to say they are mourning the loss of a loved one. They will make every effort to remain looking mournful, very sad at all costs according to culture. Some people when they lose a spouse will go into permanent mourning, living miserably until their own death happens. MEDITATE ON GOD’S WORD. ONLY DO THE GOOD CULTURAL PRACTICES THAT AGREE WITH GOD’S WORD AND REJECT THE ONES THAT GO AGAINST GOD’S WORD. Joshua achieved great success and was able to easily handle the death of Moses. Meditate on God’s Word and you will be able to easily overcome any bereavement or loss. If this devotional has blessed you, please pass it on and also email us your feedback to [email protected] To subscribe to receive the Bolts of Wisdom daily devotional click here God bless you. Pastor Andrew Mutondoro website: oca.org.za
Posted on: Mon, 05 Aug 2013 12:16:22 +0000
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