God Honors His Faithful Servants

"Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, 'May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be like sheep which have no shepherd.”' Numbers 27:15-17

Joshua, the son of Nun, was a man of God who served God faithfully under Moses. We first read of Joshua in Exodus 17:10-14, when he, at a young age, led the Israelites into a victorious battle against the Amalekites. Joshua is also mentioned when God called Moses up to Mount Sinai to receive the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 24:12-17). As Moses remained up on the mountain for forty days and forty nights, Joshua faithfully remained at the bottom of Mount Sinai until he returned.

Moses frequently spoke with the Lord in the tent of meeting and it was Joshua that guarded the tent of meeting when Moses returned to the camp (Exodus 33:11). As Joshua served under Moses, Joshua did not seek Moses’ position as leader. As a matter of fact, we read of Joshua's zeal to honor God’s chosen leadership, as well as the authority of Moses, when he thought that Moses’ prophetic leadership role was possibly being dishonored, he sincerely requested that Moses restrain those that were prophesying (Numbers 11:28). Regarding the conquest of Canaan, Joshua was also among the 12 men sent to spy out the land of Canaan. Among the 12, only Joshua and Caleb returned with a good report and thus survived the plague of judgment towards those who gave a bad report (Numbers 13:17; 14:30-38; 26:65).

​Now, after Joshua's many faithful years of serving the Lord, God chose him to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land.  Although, during his many years of servanthood, Joshua was neither in the leadership roles of Moses nor Aaron, Joshua had already been serving the Lord faithfully as a leader while he assisted Moses. Among the many years of serving the Lord under Moses, unbeknownst to Joshua, it prepared him to become Moses’ successor.
 
From Joshua's years of serving, we learn that God honors His faithful servants and that Joshua’s ambition was to remain faithful to God as he served under God’s chosen leader. To Joshua, his service was as unto the Lord. While he served, Joshua did not seek honor, attention, nor did he seek the roles of Moses, Aaron, or the leadership positions of God’s other chosen leaders.  Joshua served his purpose and remained faithful to what God called him to do, which was to serve God as he served as Moses’ assistant. As we remain faithful to serve God while we serve others, in God’s timing and in His way, like Joshua, we too will receive honor from the Lord.  Remember as you serve, remain faithful and do not grow weary in doing good (Galatians 6:9). God honors His faithful servants.