Deuteronomy 3:27-29 — Get thee up into the top of ??Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan. But ??charge Joshua, and ??encourage him, ??and strengthen him: for ??he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see. So we abode in ??the valley over against Beth-peor. 

God is really good at succession planning. I found a good definition on Wikipedia — “Succession planning is a process for identifying and developing internal people with the potential to fill key business leadership positions in the company. Succession planning increases the availability of experienced and capable employees that are prepared to assume these roles as they become available. Taken narrowly, ‘replacement planning’ for key roles is the heart of succession planning.“

You might say it’s an odd thought, but the notion popped into my mind this morning when I read God’s instruction to Moses : “charge Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him.” One of God’s companies has always been “Israel Limited”, and for a long time He took particular care to provide leaders. Moses and Joshua are not the only great examples of mentor and pupil. We could think of Elijah and Elisha, or Samuel and David … But Moses and Joshua set the pattern.

Joshua first makes an appearance as the military commander under who defeats the Amalekites at Rephidim (Exodus 17:8–13). He spent a lot of time serving as Moses’ assistant, spending a lot of  time in the tent of meeting.

Moses took care over Joshua’s training. When Joshua told him about Eldad and Medad prophesying in the camp instead of with the elders in the tent of meeting. Moses was quick to correct him saying, “Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord ‘s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them.” (Numbers 11:29)

Joshua was also chosen for important tasks. He went up Mount Sinai with Moses at the giving of the law on the stone tablets (Exodus 24:13). When Moses sent the spies into Canaan, Joshua was one of them (Numbers 13:8) and he and Caleb were the only two who brought back a good report.

Before his death, Moses asked God to appoint a man over the congregation of Israel to lead them and God named Joshua as Moses’ successor, stating that His Spirit resided in him.

It’s something we need to consider — in work, in family wealth management, and above all in ministry. How are we going to make sure that anything the Lord allows us to do continues when we are gone. There’s a process — selection, education, testing and anointing. We can see it clearly, time and again in the Bible. So how about it? Are your succession plans going ok?