Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. You shall invest him with some your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey. 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.
Every coronation bears with it both hope and doubt. In best of men, we hope for a new day either by way of return to former glory or by way of a new path ahead. Even with the worst of men, we might hope against hope that the weight of the office might steer them to good. And so it is. A new leader emerges and we dream again, we hope anew. Even with the greatest of men, the reality never corresponds with our hope. Moses himself, he who spoke with the Lord face to face as a man, he who saw the glory of the Lord, faltered.
For the people of Israel, who witnessed the commissioning and coronation of Joshua, it would seem that even in the midst of hope, there was surely doubt, more than a slight sense that Joshua would fail. It seems almost certain that the people of Israel would doubt him. But what of his commissioners? Was the heart of Moses heavy as he laid his hands on Joshua? Was the mind of Eleazar unsettled with doubt as he consulted the Urim on Joshua’s behalf? Moreover, what of Joshua himself? Surely he had his own doubts not only in himself, but especially in the people he was commissioned to lead. Save for Caleb, Joshua had watched an entire generation of his kinsmen, the generation meant to enter the land, die in the wilderness. He had witnessed them falter in rebellion, crumble in their murmuring, and whore after the gods of the nations. Not even Moses, Joshua must have thought, emerged from leading this people unscathed.
But Joshua had something not even Moses had–he had tasted the fruit of the land. He had walked among the softy rolling hills and in the green pastures. He had beheld the cities, the homes and farms, the Lord had promised them. God had promised a land flowing with milk and honey and Joshua had not only beheld it, he had tasted and seen its goodness.
It was because of Joshua’s foretaste that he was able to overcome doubt and to lead the people. He would lead Israel to their inheritance. He would conquer and they would possess. Truly, in Joshua, we see the best of all men. But even with Joshua, hope outpaces experience. Not long after his death, the people of Israel descends into the darkness of the age of the Judges. But as God raised up each new judge, so did he raise again the hope that this deliverance would be full, this salvation final. And the people were delivered, if only for a time, then darkness again and the need for a new deliverer. And so it was. New leader. New hope. Imperfect leader. Imperfect hope. Only in the true and greater Joshua, his namesake, Jesus do we find our greatest hope fulfilled. He is the leader whom all leaders point to, the hope that all our hope bends toward. He has conquered. He has vanquished our enemies. And he will lead us into the land of truest rest. Might we taste the fruits of that land, the Holy Spirit, and know that in Jesus our hope is not in vain.