“Moshe did as Adonai had ordered him. He took Y’hoshua, put him before El‘azar the cohen and the whole community, laid his hands on him, and commissioned him, as Adonai had said through Moshe.”-Numbers 27:22-23
The new leader to succeed Moses has been chosen!
And his name is Joshua!
Let’s take a look at what happened here in the closing paragraph of Numbers chapter 27.
The first thing you need to know is that there is one MAJOR DIFFERENCE between the death of Aaron the High Priest (who was Moses’ big brother) and the anointing of his son Eleazar as the new high priest VERSUS…
…the coming death of Moses and the anointing of Joshua as the new leader of Israel who would shepherd Israel into the Promised Land.
First, Aaron did not need to ask HASHEM who was to be his replacement, because the line of succession for the High Priest was already set and automatic.
However, in the case of Moses, since there was no pre-determined successor or inheritor, God had to choose the next leader.
But here’s the thing, Joshua wasn’t really Moses’ FULL replacement.
What do I mean by that?
What I mean is that Moses’ most important role as a MEDIATOR between God and the people was NOT passed on!
And that’s actually the big major difference I’m talking talking about.
Joshua was NOT a mediator.
He was to be a more of a military leader.
Another difference is that when Moses need an answer on something, he spoke with God directly.
This hardly ever happened with Joshua.
Remember in all of history, there have only been and only ever will be ONLY TWO MEDIATORS between God and Israel: Moses and Yeshua.
Neither Moses nor Yeshua had successors.
Yes, it it true that there were some functions, duties, and roles that were passed on.
For example, Joshua was commissioned to rule over, care for and lead Israel as Moses did.
And followers of Yeshua are to demonstrate Yeshua’s sacrificial love and spread the Word of Hashem.
But God forbid if we were to consider ourselves Mediators as Moses and Yeshua were.
About 12 centuries after the death of Moses, HASHEM provided a new Mediator and now that this new Mediator named Yeshua has been offered up for the sins of the world and risen, there will never be another Mediator.
Why?
Because it’s not necessary.
Yeshua’s sacrifice accomplished all that was necessary to pay for the sins of mankind.
When Yeshua returns, he will not be returning as a Mediator but as a blood-avenging Kinsman Redeemer.
Let’s take a look at verses 18-19.
“Adonai said to Moshe, ‘Take Y’hoshua the son of Nun, a spiritual man, and lay your hand on him. Put him in front of El‘azar the cohen and the whole community, and commission him in their sight.'”-Numbers 27:18-19
Notice that Joshua was commissioned by the High Priest.
However, Moses was commissioned by God and what’s even more interesting is that it was Moses himself who commissioned the Priesthood.
Look at verse 20.
“Delegate to him some of your authority, so that the entire community of Israel will obey him.”
So we see here that for a time, Joshua will still be taking orders from Moses while he is still around.
Until Moses actually dies, Moses will always be the senior and the one who has authority over Joshua.
Let’s look at the last two verses of Numbers 27.
“Moshe did as Adonai had ordered him. He took Y’hoshua, put him before El‘azar the cohen and the whole community, laid his hands on him, and commissioned him, as Adonai had said through Moshe.”-Numbers 27:22-23
The verb for laid on here is ISSAMAK (literally to “lean on”) in Hebrew.
Does it sound familiar?
It should have a familiar ring because it’s the base word for SAMAKA, which is the term for the ritual laying-on-of-hands.
The true Torah meaning of the word SAMAKA is to indicate the transfer of authority from one person to another.
Or it can signify the transfer of guilt from one party to another.
Recall that under the Levitical sacrificial system, the worshipper laid his hands on the animal he was about to sacrifice.
This ritual symbolism meant that the guilt for his sin was being transferred to the sacrificial animal.
Finally, Numbers 27 closes with Moses and Joshua standing before the High Priest (Eleazar) and the whole community while Joshua is anointed the next leader (remember “leader”, NOT “mediator”) .
This ordination ceremony was done before the community so that there was no question and no doubt in the people’s minds who the next leader of Israel now was.
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN NUMBERS CHAPTER 28
Yes ‘neither Moses nor Yeshua had successors’ true be told – they were not replaced. Their office is a’continuum’ Indeed they are not dead nor replaced. However they commissioned us ‘followers’ to keep the ‘culture of the Kingdom of HASHEM among men. Shalom
Great comment! Yes! As you said, “they commissioned us to keep “the culture of the kingdom of HASHEM among men”, which is Torah. Shalom!
When Yeshua was asked by the Pharaisees from where he received ws authority to teach and heal, the word use was S’micha ( I may have spelled that wrong) which is a form of Samaka.
Really?! So which person laid hands on Yeshua and gave him authority?
I think that is the whole point. The Pharisees believed in that transfer of authority thru man. Yeshua’s authority came straight from God, as did Moses’ authority so He was essentially saying their understanding of that was incorrect with regards to Him.
Moses points to Christ in Deuteronomy 18v15ff as the one who they should follow who supersedes him. Also you should compare the opening and closing of the sermon on the mount in Matthew to the LXX where Moses goes up and comes down the mountain – it’s word for word. Jesus not only supersedes Moses as the new prophet and law giver (Matthew 5-7) but he also shows himself to the disciples to be the giver of the law Himself in the transfiguration. Also at that point the disciples witness the law and the prophets pass away as Jesus remains as their complete fulfillment. Don’t rob Jesus of his authority and glory. He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Moses, great that he was, was only a poor shadow.
Alright man.