When you think about Joshua in the Bible, what comes to mind? Is it Joshua marching around the walls of Jericho (with slushies being thrown at them for all you Veggie Tales fans)? Or maybe Joshua and Caleb coming back from spying out the land, ready to take on the giants? What about Joshua being chosen as the next leader of Israel after the death of Moses?
Who exactly is this Joshua character and where did he come from? Even though in our Sunday School retelling of his life Joshua seems to just come on the scene out of nowhere, the Joshua God called in Joshua 1 to lead the nation of Israel didn't just appear. God had been preparing him for this day for years, even back in the book of Exodus.
Exodus is a book usually associated with Moses. But in chapter 33, we find Joshua. "Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the 'tent of meeting.'...As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses...Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son on Nun did not leave the tent." (Exodus 33:7-11)
When I first took the time to really read this verse, it intrigued me (I'm sure I skimmed over it numerous time before I even noticed what it said). "His young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent." Why? So what is he doing in this tent? Verse 7 says they called it the "tent of meeting." It is where Moses went when he met with God.
I wonder if Joshua stayed in the tent so he could stay in the presence of God. Moses met with God here, so surely God's glory is all over this tent, and Joshua just couldn't bring himself to leave the glory of God. It was in this time that God was preparing Joshua for something yet to come years in the future. He was preparing him for Joshua 1, when he would lead the Israelites after Moses' death.
Is God drawing you to "stay in the tent" after everyone has returned to the camp? Stay in the presence of God. It is here that He will speak to you and prepare you for something yet to come.
"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10) What you are doing now is preparing you for what God has planned for you. What is God preparing you for? Don't be afraid to stay in the tent and spend some time with God today.
1 Comments
Nov 8, 2021, 10:47:39 AM
Sandy - There are no coincidences with God. Last night before going to bed, one of the chapters I read was Exodus 33. The same verse...that Joshua stayed in the tent, struck me also. I could picture Joshua face to face with God's glory, bowing down before Him in worship and praise, listening for His Word, My first thought was that Joshua was so caught up in God's presence that he didn't even know Moses left the tent. What an all-consuming honor to be in God's presence face-to-face!! When I looked up the verse in the Believer's Bible Commentary it stated that perhaps Joshua's later spiritual success could lie with this. Spending more time in prayer ushers us into God's presence...something we all should desire and strive to do more of. Praise God for His Word!