Moses said to the Lord, “May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him."

Numbers 27:15-18

Moses was lead runner in the 40-year marathon to the Promised Land! His lap was now drawing to a close (vs 12,13). To whom would he pass the baton? It had to be someone who would be a good shepherd to God’s flock (v 17). Without falling into self-pity or resentment toward God and resentment toward the people who sometimes rebelled and forfeited his privilege of entering the promised land. It shows that Moses was a great shepherd as he prayed for the shepherd of his people after him. The Lord designates Joshua, a man with a ‘spirit of leadership’ (v 18), who had trained under Moses for nearly 40 years, serving as army general, trusted aide, and a faithful and fearless ally.

Prayer: Father God, help us to be like Moses who was a true shepherd. He was like Jesus, our good shepher who laid down his life for us. May we pray for good shepherds to be raised up for our time.