No Longer Able To Lead

Deuteronomy 31:1-6 – Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’ The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said. And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. The Lord will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Numbers 20:11 – Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

Joshua 1:5,7,18 – No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you…“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go…Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!”

Jeremiah 1:8 – Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

Genesis 28:15 – I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Matthew 28:19-20 – Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Psalm 94:14 – For the Lord will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance.

Application:

• ·         In his rage Moses disobeyed the Lord’s instruction to speak to the rock.
• ·         “Be strong and courageous” was the Lord’s exhortation, often through His servants, to the people of Israel, to Joshua, to Solomon and to Hezekiah’s military officers.
• ·         The people’s words of encouragement to Joshua echo and reinforce those from the Lord.
• ·         The Lord does not promise that Jeremiah will not be persecuted or imprisoned but that no serious physical harm will come to him.
• ·         Unlike the gods of pagan religions, in which the gods were merely local deities who gave protection only within their own territories, the one true God assured Jacob that He would always be with him wherever he went.
• ·         Matthew ends with the reassuring and empowering words of Him who came to earth to be “God with us”.
• ·         The Lord will not abandon the powerless among His people to the injustice of their oppressors.
• ·         Success was not guaranteed unconditionally.
• ·         God was with Joshua to direct, sustain and assure success.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV