Knowing that he would soon depart, Moses pled with the Lord to appoint a man to lead the congregation of people of Israel. His specific request was for God to appoint someone “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.” More than asking for a leader for Israel, Moses was in fact asking the Lord to provide a king for the people. How so? The words he used here were the same words that the elders of Israel used when they went to seek David and asked him to be their king. In 2 Samuel 5:2 the elders who came to David in Hebron said to him, “Previously, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and in.” The elders even reminded David of what the Lord said to him that, “You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be a ruler over Israel.”
Even
as a King, David was not a good shepherd all the time. While he had a measure
of success, he also had his fair share of shortcomings and failures. Remember
he took one of his own soldiers' “ewe” lamb and had that soldier murdered. He
was to be the shepherd of the people, but he did not execute his role as
perfectly as he should. But there would come one who would be the perfect King
and Shepherd. Remember what Jesus said of Himself in John 10. He referred to
Himself as the Good Shepherd. And as the Good Shepherd He would lay “down His life for the sheep.”
In answering Moses’ request, the Lord told him to commission Joshua. He was to make him
stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation of Israelites to lay
hands on him. Moses was to transfer some of his own authority to him. However,
notice that Joshua would need the assistance of Eleazar, using the Urim to seek
the Lord’s direction for the people. Though Joshua eventually led the people
into the promised land and allotted to each tribe their land, yet he was
nowhere like Moses, whom the Lord spoke face to face. All these Moses did
as he was directed so that the people would not be without a
leader.
Like
the children of Israel, it is not enough to have a capable human leader to
lead us, we need a perfect shepherd king to guide and rue over us. He is none
other than Jesus our Lord and King. He wants to reign in our life. We must seek
each day to enthrone Him as the King of our lives. For when we seek first His
Kingdom, meaning His kingly rule over our lives, the provision we need in our
lives will be added unto us. It is needful to have a leader to guide us in our
journey, but be sure to have Jesus as the Lord, King, and Shepherd of our
lives!
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