And Jehovah said to Moses, Lo, the days are near for thee to die; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.
God tells Moses two things at once. His death is near, and he must bring Joshua to the tent of meeting. One man's work is ending and another's is starting, and God calls both to stand before Him in the same place.
Joshua was no surprise choice. Earlier in the chapter Moses had already set him before the nation, so what happens here is not a selection but an installation.
Moses had already approved Joshua before all the people (v.7), but now the Lord tells Moses that he must die shortly, and to call Joshua, so that God would inaugurate him as leader of Israel. Then the Lord appeared at the door of the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud (vs.14-15).
Notice where the two men must go. Moses does not hand over authority in private. God calls both into His own presence, and there Joshua receives his charge. That is the pattern for every true commission.
The Lord calls Joshua with Moses into His own presence to receive his charge. It is like this with all true leaders. "Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?" In the end, only the One who has the right to give commissions can give them. And He does not keep those He sends out at a distance from Himself.
Moses would die outside the land. His own failure was part of the reason, but commentators see more than that. His office itself had a limit built into it.
Look at this beloved and honoured man in his official role. It is very plain that it was not his place to lead the people of Israel into the promised land. The wilderness was where he worked. It was not for him to lead the people across the river of death into the inheritance meant for them. His ministry was tied to man's responsibility under law and the government of God. So it never could bring the people into the enjoyment of the promise. That was left for his successor. Joshua pictures the risen Saviour. He was the instrument God appointed to lead His people across the Jordan and plant them in the inheritance God gave them.
Another writer presses the point further. Even apart from Moses' own failure, the law could never bring Israel into its inheritance.
Their inheritance could not in any way be of the law. So Moses, the mediator of the legal system, could not lead the people over the Jordan — quite apart from his own personal failure. As a picture, it was impossible... Joshua — Israel's saviour in this sense — was the vessel God chose to carry out His purpose. Joshua pictures Christ in spirit, as the Leader of His people in their conflicts.
God tells Moses his days are numbered. In the same breath He tells him to call the man who will replace him. It is a searching test, and Moses passes it without a word of protest.
Moses shows the people that they were the cause of his exclusion from the land. Yet he does not say one word of complaint. He bows humbly to God's judgement. He is not only content for another to take his place; he is ready to appoint and encourage his successor. There is no trace of jealousy or envy here. That beloved and honoured servant was satisfied if God had the glory and the people's need was met. He was not occupied with himself or his own interests, but with the glory of God and the blessing of His people.
Israel is about to lose its leader. Losing a leader brings a fear with it, and one writer names that fear and answers it.
How often in our own day, with its increasing corruption, our limited outlook leads us to imagine that the work of God depends on one or two devoted and faithful servants of the Lord. We imagine that once they are gone, all testimony for the Lord will cease. We have to learn that servants pass but God remains, and that God has other servants in training for His service.
- The summons. God calls both leaders, old and new, to the same door. The handover happens in His presence, not in private.
- The charge. Only the Lord has the right to give authority to serve. He gives it face to face, not at arm's length.
- The limit. Moses' place was the wilderness. His ministry was tied to law and government, so it could never bring the people into the inheritance.
- The successor. Joshua, not Moses, brings God's people into their inheritance. In that he pictures the risen Saviour.
- The continuity. Moses bows without a murmur and encourages the man who replaces him. Servants pass; God remains, and He already has others in training.
And Jehovah appeared at the tent in the pillar of cloud; and the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.
Moses' days are ending, and God calls him and Joshua to stand together at the tent of meeting so He can commission the next leader. What follows is not a human ceremony but a visit from God — and the first words from that cloud warn of Israel's future.
Moses had already named Joshua in front of the people, yet God would not leave the matter there. One writer marks the order of events:
Moses had already approved Joshua before all the people (v.7). But now the Lord tells Moses that he must die soon, and tells him to call Joshua, so that God would install him as leader of Israel. Then the Lord appeared at the door of the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud (vs.14-15).
Why call Joshua into the tent at all, when Moses could have appointed him? Because of what a real commission needs:
Joshua is now called with Moses into the presence of the Lord Himself to receive his charge. It is the same with all true leaders. "Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?" So in the end a commission must come from the only One who has the right to give it. And He does not keep at a distance from Himself those He sends out.
The cloud standing at the entrance was not weather. It was the settled way God made His nearness visible to Israel:
Clouds fill an important place both in the Old Testament and New Testament. They were the heavenly veil of the presence of God — His chariot, and the hiding place of His power. It pleased God to make His presence known to Israel in a cloud. The PILLAR OF CLOUD guided the children of Israel through the wilderness (Exodus 40:34-38). When they built the tabernacle the Lord promised to appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:2). On special occasions the Lord came down in a cloud, and spoke to Moses (Numbers 11:25).
The cloud both showed God and covered Him:
The cloud which led Israel through the wilderness was the servant and the companion of the camp. But it was the veil or the covering of the glory also. Usually it appeared in the sight of Israel only as a cloud, and the glory was known only by faith to be within it. But still the glory was always there, and at times it shone out.
The same writer traces where the glory shows itself through Israel's history. He gives this moment one line:
Deuteronomy 31. In the cause of Joshua, a chosen and faithful vessel, the glory reappears in the cloud.
God did not appear to congratulate. The message from the cloud was that the nation He had treated so kindly would turn away:
Then the Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, when Moses and Joshua presented themselves at the tent of meeting. The all-knowing One, who knows everything from the beginning, announced that the nation would fail and turn away. He had dealt with them in such wonderful kindness, and they had been the witnesses of His power and glory. They would break the covenant and fall away. He would forsake them also, because they turned away from Him to go after other gods. He would hide His face.
So where should Israel's confidence rest now? Not in the new leader:
They need not be afraid, then, though Moses' strength is now to fail. They need not lose heart even if God strikes him down and sets him aside. The Lord remains, and He will go over ahead of them and defeat all their enemies. Joshua too will go before them. They will have a leader, so that they may learn to submit; and yet it must be God to whom they are truly subject. Leader and people, let them be strong: weakness dishonours Him whose they are. He will not fail nor forsake.
- Presence — The cloud was God's visible nearness: a veil over His glory, a hiding place of His power, and a guide through the wilderness.
- Presence gives the charge — Moses' word alone does not install Joshua. God calls him into His own presence, because only the One with the right to give a commission can give it.
- Presence comes close — God does not keep at arm's length those He sends out. He comes down to the tent door to commission them.
- Presence outlasts the leader — Moses' strength fails and God sets him aside. The Lord remains, goes ahead of Israel, and will not fail or forsake.
- Presence can be lost — The first words from that cloud warn of a people who break the covenant and a God who hides His face. They will throw away the very nearness God showed them at the door.