‘A Man in Whom is the Spirit’

[385 words]

What will be said of us when we die? How will our eulogy go? If there ever was a funeral that I would have liked to be present for, it would have been Joshua’s. In Numbers 27:18, the description above is given to Joshua. We find much written about him in the Old Testament, and we would be hard pressed to find anything negative said of him. He led God’s people into a partial and temporary rest in Canaan and restored them to the Lord.

Joshua’s life, though, started out in a very difficult manner. As a youth, he lived through the horrible reality of slavery in Egypt. He understood hard labor; it was inflicted upon the people by the taskmasters. He was one of those that cried out to God and was heard, as we see in Genesis 3:7. Joseph was very much in touch with the hardships of life.

His story doesn’t end there, however. Joshua also was able to witness the power of God through the plagues. He was one of the Israelites that crossed the Red Sea on dry land by the miraculous hand of God. He saw God bring victory over the Egyptians as they were covered by the waters of the Red Sea.

Joshua was a mighty warrior and a great military strategist. He was respected among the people, as evidenced by them choosing him when the twelve spies were sent into Canaan to look over the land. Along with Caleb, Joshua was ready to courageously take possession of the land according to God’s will.

When Moses died, Joshua became his successor as the leader of the children oflsrael. He was a conquering leader as they victoriously took the Promised Land. In all of these things, the greatest accomplishment of Joshua was that he was a servant of God. He followed the Lord and did what He commanded.

Joshua certainly experienced a lot of things in his life, from conflict to conquest. No matter what the situation was, though, he remained true to his Creator. He trusted God. He was “a man in whom [was] the spirit.” May the same be said of us!

“And the LORD said to Moses: ‘Take Joshua the son ofNun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him”‘ (Numbers 27:18).