I was reading in Deuteronomy this morning and happened upon the "changing of the guard" from Moses, who was "retiring", to Joshua...the new guy. Here's the account...take a minute and read it.
Deuteronomy 31
1 When Moses had finished giving these instructions[a] to all the people of Israel,
2 he said, “I am now 120 years old, and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has told me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan River.’
3 But the Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy the nations living there, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua will lead you across the river, just as the Lord promised.
4 “The Lord will destroy the nations living in the land, just as he destroyed Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites.
5 The Lord will hand over to you the people who live there, and you must deal with them as I have commanded you.
6 So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
What was interesting about this is that this changeover comes after 40 years of Israel wandering around in the wilderness. The land that God was going to give to them was the land He'd promised years and years before. He rescued them from Egypt and in "the great Exodus" they travelled toward this land, fighting battles, enduring strange stuff, being provided for in weird ways, on this incredible journey to what God had promised.
When they got to the cusp of what they had been promised, a group of spies were sent into the land and all but 2 came back saying "no way...the people are giants and we are not enough." The people as a whole revolted (a striking note to the inmates ruling the prison) and said we aren't going. God told them they'd wander about for 40 years...basically, in effect, letting the untrusting adults and leaders die off and God would bring the next generation into the Promised Land...they basically forfeited their prize and took on a bunch of grief and hardship for them and their children...kind of like...no, I won't say it. :D
Fast forward in time...So here...after all that, they are about to enter into the land and what does Moses tell them..."The Lord has told me...But the Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy the nations living there, and you will take possession of their land." So basically, they didn't have to life a weapon...God was taking care of it all. So, after all the mess about them being not big enough to take on the people of the land 40 years earlier...God did it himself and didn't even employ people.
That's a lesson for us, because if God puts a task before you, He may not even need you to do it, just to go along with it, because He might be going to cover it himself...without your "help"...just your participation.
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