"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time"

“No one will be able to oppose you for as long as you live. I will be with you just as I was with Moses, and I will never fail or abandon you. So be strong and courageous, for you will lead this people as they acquire and then divide the land I promised to their ancestors.” (Joshua 1:5-6)

God chose Moses to lead the people out of bondage and living far from God and worship. He claimed them, led them to freedom and through Moses, and taught them to be the people of God.

God also chose Moses to raise up the next generation of leadership (Joshua) that would take the people into God's promised land. At the end of his life, Moses stood with God and looked over the land that Joshua would bring the people into. Like David who was told his son Solomon would build the temple, there was also some sense of grieving as Moses was being called to hand off the baton to the next generation.

Moses saw a vision for the future and God's hand upon Joshua to take them there. Moses then called Joshua to be strong and courageous in taking over. Moses blessed the people one final time and then laid his hands on Joshua as his successor and encouraged him and anointed him for God's chosen purpose for him.

In Deut. 34:9 it says that Joshua was filled with a spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him as successor.

It was Joshua, the next generation of leaders, who was called to take the baton and lead the people. He led them not from slavery to freedom like Moses but from wondering around in the wilderness as God's people to entering into this promised life God had for them. Joshua didn't start over on his own but “had walked at the right hand of Moses during the wilderness wanderings” and built off of what had been accomplished by Moses.

The leaders told Joshua, “We will do all you have commanded, and we will go wherever you send us. We will follow your orders just as we obeyed Moses in all he told us. May the Eternal One, your God, be with you as He was with Moses.” (Joshua 1:17)

On their own, the people had no clue or capacity to find their way into this promised land. There was nothing but obstacles that stood before the people of God as they set forth on this journey. It was on the promises and word of God that moved them forward.

It was under Joshua's command that God moved the blockages out of the way miraculously for them to be able to enter in. The Jordan was split, the walls of Jericho came down, and God drove out their enemies right before their very eyes.

God told Joshua, “Today I will do wonders that will begin to show the Israelites that you have My special favor, that I am with you just as I was with Moses before you.” (Joshua 3:7)

The people could clearly see God leading them and truly enter into the good land. Joshua told the people, “Come closer, and hear what your God, the Eternal, has to say: Today you will see a sign that the one, true living God is present among you, the God who will without a doubt drive out all this land's inhabitants.” (Joshua 3:9-10)

As it was the next generation that led the people into the land flowing with milk and honey, it was the next generation that were the ones who entered in. “It was their children and grandchildren whom He raised up to receive the land instead.”

In each generation, God did miraculous works. And the Jordan's crossed in one generation, were to be passed to (inherited by) the next generation and built upon. In Deuteronomy 6:4-7, Moses spoke that we are to not only make God's commandments part of who we are but to teach and pass this to the next generation.

One generation is to gain from the past generations. As my bible commentary notes, “Memory is important in the Book of Joshua and in the stories that follow. When the people of Israel remember God's promises – and His goodness – good things happen.”[1] The next generation did not need to go back to Egypt and be freed because they carried this memory as it was passed down from the previous generation.

Passing off to the next generation is something that happens naturally through relationships. But it is also something that needs intentionality. Moses intentionally raised up Joshua, saw the vision for the future, called Joshua into it and then laid his hands upon Joshua and passed whatever he could give to him. Joshua on the other hand, walked with Moses by his side and learned from him every opportunity he had.

This intentionality of relationship and willingness of heart on both sides was also very evident between Elijah and Elisha when the mantel was passed from one to the other. Once Elisha realized what Elijah was offering, he let go of everything else he had and refused to leave Elijah's side. The two developed a spiritual father / son relationship.

Generational inheritance is significant in advancing the kingdom of God. The very last word in the books of the Prophets is Malachi 4:6, “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

And Luke 1:17 says about John, “And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

Lord, forgive me where I am not intentional in my relationships with the next generation. Help us to have vision to see what God has for them, recognize their callings, encourage and pray for them as they step forward with courage and faith. Turn hearts toward each other as this next generation is equipped to step into the fullness of your promises.

1. The Voice, Reader's Bible:  Step into the Story of Scripture.  Thomas Nelson