Numbers 27:23

15-23 Envious spirits do not love their successors; but Moses was not one of these. We should concern ourselves, both in our prayers and in our endeavours, for the rising generation, that religion may be maintained and advanced, when we are in our graves. God appoints a successor, even Joshua; who had signalized himself by his courage in fighting Amalek, his humility in ministering to Moses, and his faith and sincerity in witnessing against the report of the evil spies. This man God appoints to succeed Moses; a man in whom is the Spirit, the Spirit of grace. He is a good man, fearing God and hating covetousness, and acting from principle. He has the spirit of government; he is fit to do the work and discharge the trusts of his place. He has a spirit of conduct and courage; he had also the Spirit of prophecy. That man is not fully qualified for any service in the church of Christ, who is...

Verse Numbers 27:23. _HE LAID HIS HANDS UPON HIM_] As a proof of his being appointed to and qualified for the work. So at the word of Joshua they were to _go out_, and at his word to _come in_, Numbers 27:21. And thus he was a type of our blessed Lord as to his mediatorial office, and Divine appointment as _man_ to the work of our salvation; and to this circumstance of the appointment of Joshua to this work, and his receiving of Moses's honour and glory, St. Peter seems to refer in these words, 2 Peter 1:16: "We were eye-witnesses of his majesty; for he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am...

EXPOSITION MOSES AND JOSHUA (Numbers 27:12-4). NUMBERS 27:12 AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES. IT is impossible to determine the exact place of this announcement in the order of events narrated. It would appear from Numbers 31:1 that the war with the Midianites occurred later, and certainly the address to the people and to Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:1 presupposes the formal appointment here recorded; but the chronologer of the concluding chapters of Numbers is evidently very uncertain; they may, or may not, be arranged in

AND HE LAID HIS HANDS UPON HIM,.... Jarchi observes, that he did this cheerfully, and did more than he was commanded; for the Lord said to him, "lay thine hand", but he laid both his hands: AND GAVE HIM A CHARGE, AS THE LORD COMMANDED MOSES; Numbers 27:19, this is a clear proof that Moses was no imposter, since he sought not to aggrandize his family, or serve the interest of that; nor did he in the least repine or murmur that the priesthood was given to his brother Aaron and sons, and now the civil government to his servant of the tribe of Ephraim; and as for his own posterity, they were only common Levites that waited upon the priests....

4. THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD, THE DEATH OF MOSES AND HIS SUCCESSOR ANNOUNCED CHAPTER 27 _ 1. The daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 27:1)_ 2. Moses' death announced and his request (Numbers 27:12) 3. Joshua appointed (Numbers 27:18) The question of the daughters of Zelophehad was concerning their inheritance. Their father had died in the wilderness and there were no sons. They expected and claimed a possession among the brethren of their father. They fully counted on the Lord and His goodness, though their case was not met by the previous instructions. “It is impossible for God to be like a poor man, who says, ‘You expect more good than I am prepared to bestow.' God could not m

THE RIGHT OF DAUGHTERS TO INHERIT, IN DEFAULT OF MALE ISSUE. To guard against the alienation of property from a family through the absence of male heirs by natural descent, the system of the Levirate marriage was instituted (Deuteronomy 25:5 *, p. 109); and that law, which assumed that only males could inherit, is here supplemented by another law allowing daughters, in default of sons, to become heirs. For a qualification of the present law, see Numbers 36; and for the fulfilment of the claim made by Zelophehad's daughters, see Joshua 17:3 f *. NUMBERS 27:3. The denial that Zelophehad (a Manassite) was implicated in the rebellion of Korah presumes that Korah led a movement of the secular tribes against the

COMMANDED. spake. See note on Numbers 1:1. BY THE HAND. Figure of speech _Metonymy_ (of Cause), App-6 :. by the instrumentality or agency of the hand....

_The appointment of Joshua_....

AND HE LAID HIS HANDS UPON HIM, &C.— Nothing more fully shews the nature of the Jewish theocracy than this transaction. God himself appoints a governor over the state as well as the church; and whom does he appoint? Not one of the relations of Moses; not one even of the same tribe. By elevating Caleb to the dignity, he might have put at the head of the republic a man of the tribe of Judah, and a man as much distinguished by his virtues as by an heroic courage; but he prefers Joshua, of the tribe of Ephraim, to evince that nothing can give a right to the government of the Hebrews but his choice and will. In this manner, down to the time of Samuel, God immediately created the judges of the people: hence it is, that when the Israelites demanded a king, God complained that they had rejected Him himself. What completely fixes this theocracy is, that God determined the great affairs of the re...

I. JOSHUA APPOINTED TO SUCCEED MOSES vv. 15-23 TEXT Numbers 27:15. And Moses spoke unto the Lord, saying, 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 honor upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. 21. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord: at his word sh