Does Joshua get a bum rap?

I am reading in Judges 2. We all know the leadership of Joshua in bringing the people into the promised land. We see God fight for the children of Israel with Joshua at the helm and it says that it was the only time He has done this. I mean, the sun stood still and hail stones killed more than the swords of the army!

We have the often quoted statement of commitment in Joshua 24 - Choose you this day whom ye will serve...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Then in Judges 2 it says

Jdg 2:4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
Jdg 2:5 And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD.
Jdg 2:6 And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.
Jdg 2:7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.
How many times can you count in the Bible that the Angel of the Lord came and talked to the whole congregation of people? The fact that this happened here (albeit the message was a rebuke for turning from the Lord) is an indicator though that Joshua was still, at the end of his life, an approved leader of God. In verse 7 we see that the people did serve all the days of Joshua meaning that through fear and respect for God's hand upon Joshua, the people kept in line and had been taught God's laws.

We all know what the biggest jab on Joshua is. Hundreds, yeah, I'm sure thousands of messages have been preached on Joshua's lack of discipleship. "Surely if Joshua had only trained up another man, Israel would have kept on the straight and narrow."

Who is to say he didn't and God did not publish it due to other plans?

1. First, Moses and Joshua were chosen leaders for a specific, temporary phase in the history of the nation of Israel - the Exodus of Egypt and the Entrodus (I like it!) of the Promised Land respectively. This was another time of transition. Even if Joshua failed to train a leader, surely God could have engulfed another burning bush or knocked a guy off his horse to get His attention and say "You're next" so to speak. We obviously see that what God did raise up next were judges.
2. God let Israel prove again and again that whether led by a leader like Moses or Joshua, whether there were a clear set of rules to abide by, whether He delivered them from wrath by the judges, whether they were governed by kings, whether they were taught by priests or whether they were warned by prophets that they would fail miserably when it was to man or law that they looked and not to GOD alone. It was all part of God's plan. Then we see JESUS - the fulfillment of the law, the great Prophet, High Priest and KING of kings, the great Judge of all the earth, the great Leader - the LORD of hosts! Jesus showed that only God can perfect what man looks for and hopes to find among other sinful men. God gave us these people and used them mightily to give us a type of all that JESUS has been, IS and always Will be. My point - Joshua was the end of that phase for God - 2 leaders of this type to accomplish getting Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised land (again, thats Entrodus) and then onto the judges to give us a different picture of Jesus and accomplish another purpose in the history of Israel
3. What was my second point, kinda lost it... Oh yeah, Somebody help me here - Is there a place in the Bible that I am forgetting where God lays any blame on Joshua for not raising someone up?
4. The Lord raised up others - not leaders, but judges. It was His plan
   Jdg 2:16 Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.
   Jdg 2:17 And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; [but] they did not so.
   Jdg 2:18 And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.
5. Should we also consider who it was that God used next. The first judge used was Othniel - Caleb's nephew. That is fitting considering that Joshua and Caleb were the only two spies that were willing to obey God and trust Him to deliver them into the land.
6. To further demonstrate it was God's plan we see that God chose not to deliver every enemy to Joshua for the purpose of proving the people

Jdg 2:21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:
Jdg 2:22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.
Jdg 2:23 Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.

Discipleship is obviously essential. Joshua committed to all the nation of Israel that at the very least he was going to disciple his own family (as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord). Because another leader was not implemented was not because Joshua fell short by not discipling (although he, like all of us fell short in many other ways), rather God had another plan.

I have heard, agreed with and taught that Moses discipled Joshua and that Joshua discipled no one. Glory will give us that answer. I do know this much, we have been clearly commissioned to evangelize and disciple by our great LEADER and so rather than fault Joshua when I don't see where God did in this area - I will commit to all 3 readers of my blog that me and my house will serve the Lord - in discipleship and otherwise - only through the promises and strength of God.

(Php 1:6) Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

(Php 2:13) For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Put some of thine honour upon him

Num 27:15-23
(15) And Moses spake unto the LORD, saying,
(16) Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,
(17) Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd.
(18) And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him;
(19) And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight.
(20) And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.

The verses before this text were God telling Moses that he could go look at the promised land but not enter because of what happened at the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. Yet we don't read of Moses whining and pleading for another chance. We don't see him trying to reason for his own cause but rather interceding for the people, something he made a habit of doing.
Moses knew the great need that Israel had for a leader. Moses also knew that Caleb and Joshua were the two oldest and likely two most respected men because they were the only ones from the previous generation allowed to enter. Joshua had been with Moses on the mount and was likely very well respected and anticipated as the leader. Moses had invested time, teaching and his wisdom on this man. Discipleship had been taking place but when the time came for the new leader to be appointed - Moses knew the call must be from God. Had Moses just said, "hey, this is the guy", we can well assume there would have been some questioning of his authority over time. The call of the leader must be of God and when God calls, He makes His choice apparent. We have in this situation the call from God for Joshua to lead. The call was given through Moses with specific directions for what to do in this wilderness ordination.
1) Lay thine hand upon him - shows the transfer of authority - the formal transfer of leadership as commanded by God from Moses to Joshua
2) Give him a charge in their sight - the expectations are set. The accountability standards are laid out. The people now know clearly what Joshua is responsible for in this crucial period for the children of Israel. You can read further account of this charge in Deut. 31
3) Put some of thine honour upon him - this was a sign of making Joshua a partner and colleague of Moses. Moses sign of approval, personal testimony perhaps of Joshua's faithfulness and the confidence that Moses had in him. This was an important factor in the people having confidence in him.
So here we have a model for the ordination of a pastor/missionary. An important note is that the leader invested in the one that was faithful, demonstrated the spiritual giftedness necessary for the task (God equips those He calls) and desired to be in that particular ministry. The chain of discipleship needs to be one where the one discipling should be basically multiplying themselves. In other words, the pastors need to be investing their time in the future pastors and missionaries and the Sunday School teachers in future Sunday School teachers etc so that we are maximizing our investment of time, wisdom, experience and skill sets. Although Moses had spent 40yrs as a shepherd, he wasn't training shepherds - since his position had changed, those he discipled changed. Pastors and missionaries in training need the time and investment of those already in that position, both in the classroom and out.

Of course there is no one clear pattern, a common pattern is as follows

• God changes man through salvation
• As man comes to know God better through prayer, the Word of God and teaching/preaching - his desires become more and more in line with God's desires (Jer. 9:23-24; Ps. 37:4)
• Man becomes skilled in the Word through the working of the Spirit and personal discipline, he is faithful in the congregation, bold in witness, a leader in his family as he draws nigh to God. There is a manifestation of the charactersistics of a pastor as laid out in 1 Tim. 3 and Titus 1
• The Pastor invests in this man through teaching, sharing ministry experience, seasons of prayer, fellowship etc
• God calls the man to ministry (This may take place almost anywhere after salvation but it does take place)
• Pastor acknowledges this through attesting to the spiritual gifts God has given, the faithfulness, zeal ajnd conversation of the individual and the testimony of the man and his family. This is where we would see a group assembled for an ordination committee. (Putting his hand on him)
• Pastor publicly charges him in the roles and expectations of the ministry. Encouragement, challenge, warning and blessings are shared. (Gives him a charge)
• Pastor recognizes/titles/ordains/certified/licenses (whatever) this man in a way that the congregation and community recognize that God has called him, he has trained and he has demonstrated the ability to yield to God and perform the requirements of the ministry (put some of thine honour upon him)

Moses likely had no greater joy than to see Joshua succeed him. This was his promised land and reward.