PREPARE OTHERS! TELL OTHERS!
PREPARE OTHERS! TELL OTHERS!
“Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.” And Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the LORD directed through Moses. —Numbers 27:16-23
Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever. —Psalm 48:12-14
Preparing the next leader and generation. Moses was about to die. He would not enter the promised land because he rebelled against God’s “word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled, failing to uphold (Him) as holy at the waters before their eyes.” So Joshua, who Moses had been mentoring for decades and had God’s Spirit in him, was chosen to take the place of Moses. Joshua would be the next shepherd of the Israelites and have the authority of Moses. And so “Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the LORD directed through Moses.” Joshua would shepherd the next generation.
Whether is Joshua shepherding the next generation or we ourselves, we are to “tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.” This starts with our “oikos” or household. How are you and I impacting our immediate and extended households for our Lord? How are we encouraging them to live for Jesus and to tell others about Jesus as well? How are we bearing witness and discipling the next generation that they would do the same with others?
What a joy it is to know that “this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.” Rejoice in our relationship with Him through Jesus which is forever and ever! Oh, we should be so jubilant day by day, knowing we will, one day, be with Jesus in that perfect place where there will be no wrong any longer— only perfection! Yes, Dear Father, may we prepare the next generation to understand these things with joy and expectation. May this be so by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Son Jesus. So be it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eQd3K2Fxp4