Chapter 40: Moses’s Death Draws Near
Q1 - Why did the Israelites have to look upon the snake to live? What, if any, was the importance of the snake itself?
A1 - The healing power of the serpent on the pole lay not in the image, for that would have violated God’s command to have no images before him. Rather, it lay in the people’s faith in God to heal them. When they looked up to the image, they were looking up toward heaven, and they were trusting in God to save them from death.
Q2 - When Jesus came to earth centuries later, he found the people at that time were indeed “like sheep without a shepherd.” How did He treat the people who flocked to Him? How were He and Moses similar in their roles on earth? How did they differ? See Matthew 9:35–38 and Mark 6:30–44.
A2 - Moses was God’s appointed leader to bring the Israelites to a physical kingdom, the land of Canaan, which He had promised to Abraham centuries earlier. It was also through Moses that God had delivered His Law to the people. However, because Moses was fallible, he sinned and was not allowed to actually bring the people across into the Promised Land.
Jesus was God’s Son who came to earth to offer Himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, something which Moses was unable to do. He had compassion on the crowds who came to Him and presented to them the Good News of the kingdom, a spiritual kingdom which would never end. When He died on the cross and rose again on the third day, He fulfilled the Law. In so doing, He ushered in His eternal kingdom and established His New Covenant.
Q3 - How had God been preparing Joshua for his role as leader of the Israelites? What all did he do and witness during his apprenticeship?
A3 - Joshua had been closely associated with Moses for many years and was likely his confidant as well as his assistant. Of all people, he may have known Moses better than almost anyone else. Here are some of the things the scriptures tell us about Joshua:
He was the son of Nun from the tribe of Ephraim (Numbers 13:8).
He had been Moses's aide since his youth (Numbers 11:28).
He would stay in the tent which Moses had erected outside the camp (Exodus 33:11).
He was the one who went out to fight the Amalekites while Moses stayed on top of the hill with his staff raised toward heaven (Exodus 17:8–13).
God told Moses to write down as something to be remembered that He would completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven, and He wanted him to make sure that Joshua heard this (Exodus 17:14).
He accompanied Moses up the mountain when God delivered the Ten Commandments and His Law to him (Exodus 24:13).
He was sent as one of the twelve spies who explored Canaan (Numbers 13:16).
He, along with Caleb, encouraged the Israelites to go ahead and cross over into Canaan (Numbers 14:6–9).
Of the generation of men who had been counted in the first census, only Joshua and Caleb were allowed to enter the Promised Land (Numbers 14:29–35).
In the second census, only Joshua and Caleb were left alive from among those who had been counted in the first census (Numbers 26:65).
He would be the one to succeed Moses and lead the Israelites into the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 1:38).
In him was the Spirit. God had Moses lay his hands on him before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him as his successor. God also told Moses to give Joshua some of his authority so the whole Israelite community would obey him (Numbers 27:18–23).