In a certain city in ancient Egypt, a shocking scene was witnessed. It was early spring, close to midnight. In several humble houses throughout the city, fresh blood was dripping from the doorposts.
Fortunately, it was not from human sacrifices, but from the immolation of lambs, consummated at dusk with a view to celebrating a new solemn feast that would later be called Passover. This sign distinguished the dwellings of the Hebrew families, who had been oppressed by the Egyptians for four hundred and thirty years.
Perhaps someone would be startled to see the bloody doors, but what did it matter? Nobody had painted them to be seen by mortals. The unique marking had been commissioned by God himself who, through Moses, His prophet, had promised that on that night His exterminating Angel would pass through the town, meticulously checking each house. In those where he did not find the sign of blood, he would sow death, slaying all the first-born, even of the animals.
Elishama’s house
Let us dare to anticipate the arrival of the destructive scourge by a few minutes and enter one of the houses that figure in our scene. It belongs to the family of Elishama, the conspicuous leader of the tribe of Ephraim.
By the light of a torch, the family hastily consumes a lamb prepared according to divine instruction, as if ready for an imminent escape. It is a strange celebration in which the participants do not talk or laugh, but pray, meditate and wait.
Suddenly, some distance away, a piercing cry rends the air: it is an Egyptian who has just learned that his firstborn has died. In Elishama’s house, a distressed mother instinctively clasps her son in her arms. As for the latter, his attitude shows tranquillity, not because he is a heedless and empty-minded young man, like so many adolescents, but because he has a deep trust in Moses. That venerable old man full of fire had fascinated him! For him, the prophet’s word had become law and his promises were tantamount to certainty.
What is this young man’s name? Hosea. He is the grandson of Elishama (cf. 1 Chr 7:26-27; Nm 13:16). We will deal with him shortly. For now, let us return to the sequence of events.
“I called my son from Egypt”
In a few moments, the cries multiplied; the wailing became atrocious (cf. Ex 11:6; 12:30-33). It was the sign that had been announced. The time for departure had come.
In all haste, the diners leave their houses. Outside they meet other Hebrew families in the same situation and they all begin to form a caravan, which gradually takes on disconcerting dimensions…
A memorable scene: the crowd setting out at night towards the unknown, illuminated by a miraculous pillar of fire, leaving behind the city in desolation. Before them marches Moses, like another Angel of the Lord, his figure blending with that light at once blinding and majestic, and carrying with him the remains of Joseph of Egypt. One people is reborn from the shadows of slavery, while the other sinks into mourning. The prophecy is finally fulfilled: from the land of Ham, God calls Israel, His son (cf. Hos 11:1), and the exodus begins.
Hosea, for his part, is close to the great prophet and endeavours to serve him in every need (cf. Nm 11:28). The bond between the two is obvious. Perhaps some Hebrew, seeing them, wonders what will become of that fine young man. However, no one, not even Hosea himself, can truly imagine the fabulous future that awaits him…
Precisely who was that young man?
The events that have been recounted so far took place in the city of Ramses, probably located in the eastern part of the Nile delta. It was the 14th day of the Hebrews’ first month, Nissan – between March and April on our calendar. What year was it? Perhaps in the first half of the 13th century BC, as many have surmised…1 but nobody knows for sure.
And the young Hosea? Let us simplify our identification efforts a little by moving forward to a particular episode in his life. When, years later, he is chosen by Moses to join the expedition to explore the Promised Land, he will be given the name Joshua, which means “the Lord saves”2 (cf. Nm 13:16).
That said, with apologies to the reader for the anachronism, from now on we will refer to the boy using this new name, with which he will be immortalized.
The battle of Rephidim
The first mention of Joshua in Scripture is found in the seventeenth chapter of Exodus. There, his figure is presented from the start as belonging to Moses’ most trusted group. And indeed, the wise prophet appointed him from a very early age to missions of great responsibility.
One of these missions took place when all of Israel, already close to Horeb, was attacked by Amalekite Bedouins. Against all expectations, Moses ordered not a great man of the people, but the very young and inexperienced grandson of Elishama – also known as the son of Nun – to take some men and go out to fight them.
While Joshua went off to fight, his spiritual father climbed a hill to pray with his arms raised, an uncomfortable position to hold for the entire duration of a battle. And time passed relentlessly…
Little by little, Moses lost his strength. When his arms were lowered, Amalek began to get the upper hand, but while they remained raised, Joshua surged forward. Realizing this, Aaron and Hur went to his side to support him in the prayer position. In this way, the Hebrews achieved their first military victory.
Moses during the Battle of Rephidim, by Joaquín Ramírez – National Art Museum, Mexico City
The crossing of the Red Sea is often compared to the baptism of the chosen people. Well, this was another baptism… the baptism of fire. And not just for Israel, but above all for Joshua.
We can only imagine what impressions all this had made on him. Until then, Moses had been Israel’s sole and undisputed guide; he would naturally have been at the head of the people and would have commanded them under any circumstances. In this last battle, however, this was not the case… The disciple found himself “alone” for the first time, having to decide for himself.
From time to time, Joshua had to look up to the top of the hill. Then a consolation dawned on him: Moses was there, standing and praying for him. However, the presence of the two assistants holding him up pointed to a harsh reality: the prophet could get tired and was therefore a man. Now, the biological life of every human being has an inexorable course, and he was already a very old man… The question finally loomed large: who would lead the Hebrews into the Promised Land?
More than a leader, the founder of a lineage
Such reflections caused him understandable perplexity. After all, Joshua’s admiration for his master had become unqualified. The wonders he had performed had followed one another at a dizzying pace: the parting of the waters of the Red Sea, the sending of the manna, the “rain” of quails, the gushing of water from a rock…
All this had only cemented in his soul the conviction that Moses was the man raised up by God to change the course of history and found a new civilization in the lands to which they were heading. That man seemed irreplaceable to him, and indeed he was, but not in the way he imagined.
The Book of Numbers tells us that, on a certain occasion that is difficult to pinpoint in time,3 Moses complained to God that he did not have the strength to lead the Hebrew multitude through the desert on his own. In response, the Lord commanded seventy elders of the people to gather at the Tent of Meeting and took a portion of the prophet’s spirit and placed it upon them. As soon as they received it, they began to prophesy, but did not continue.
However, it happened that two of the seventy men appointed did not appear at the Tent. When Joshua learned that these two were making oracles in the camp, he was indignant: “My lord Moses, forbid them” (11:28). To which the latter replied: “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His spirit upon them!” (11:29).
Much more than a lesson in humility, these words were an occasion for the son of Nun to open his horizons. Moses was not just a leader, but the founder of a lineage. Men die, but the founders raised up by Providence become immortal in those who share their spirit.
Another Moses
A month and a half after leaving Egypt, travelling south, the Israelites arrived at the foot of Sinai, the mountain of God, where they would witness great divine manifestations, sometimes accompanied by lightning storms, sometimes by telluric events similar to volcanic eruptions.
Joshua, still a young man, was the only one authorized to accompany Moses to the top of the mountain during his mysterious forty-day stay in the presence of Yahweh. And after that, he had free access to the Tent of Meeting, where God came down to speak to Moses, “as a man speaks to his friend” (Ex 33:11).
These privileges, not granted to any of the elders of the people, not even to the priest Aaron himself, had no other purpose than for Joshua to “soak up the spirit”4 of the great prophet. In fact, the transmission of a mentality takes place above all through close contact. The young elect was introduced to this sacred intimacy in order to live it in all intensity and thus become another Moses.
Revolt, punishment and reward
When there were only ten days short of their year-long encampment on Sinai, Israel resumed their pilgrimage northwards until they came to a halt in the region of the great oasis of Kadesh.
This is where the episode mentioned earlier in this article took place, when Moses sent an expedition to reconnoitre the land of Canaan. It was on this occasion that the Jewish revolt brought about the famous punishment: that generation, with the exception of the faithful Caleb and Joshua, would not enter the Promised Land (cf. Nm 14:20-31). They would have to spend approximately thirty-eight years in Kadesh (cf. Nm 33:36; Dt 1:46; 2:14).5
After continuing their route for some time, the Hebrews would reach another historic mountain: Nebo.
The Mount of farewell
God’s fondness for heights arouses curiosity. From Moriah to Tabor, via Horeb, Carmel and Zion, earthly elevations are often chosen by God as the setting for His manifestations. What is the reason for this?
In our opinion, there is a mysterious parallel between mountains and the souls of the righteous. The mountain seems to be a piece of land so fond of the sun that it rises above the geographical median in order to unite with it! And in return, the king star envelops it completely, making it a privileged receptacle for its light. A similar phenomenon occurs among the saints: rising to the Most High through love, they become true nuncios of God!
However, unlike the sun’s golden radiance, the glow with which the Lord fills His elect is scarlet in colour, because it is through suffering that He glorifies them. By virtue of the sacrifice that follows the divine manifestation, a covenant is made. Thus we can add a cross to Tabor and we will have Golgotha; and we can add the holocaust to the prophet and we will have a redeemer.
Mount Nebo would be a witness to the consummation of the calvary of the man of God, the place from which he would see the fulfilment of the promise, without, however, being able to live it. Scripture states that this was a divine punishment for his rebellion (cf. Nm 27:12-14). However, was this not more justly applied to the people, whose rebellion only did not lead to their complete annihilation thanks to the intercession of Moses himself (cf. Ex 32:10-14)?
In fact, much more than the victim of a punishment for his own sin, at that moment the prophet took upon himself the guilt of Israel, becoming, in more ways than one, a pre-figure of Jesus Christ, who “has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows […]; He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities” (Is 53:4-5).
The moment of the supreme sacrifice is also the moment of the supreme mediation. When God announced to Moses that he would go to join to his own, he thought of nothing else but ensuring Israel’s entry into the Promised Land. For this, a guide was indispensable. So he prayed: “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in; that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep which have no shepherd” (Nm 27:16-17). And Yahweh answered: “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand upon him. […] You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey” (Nm 27:18-20). It was all said and done: on Joshua would rest the fulfilment of the promise!
“Be strong and of good courage!”
Moses then gathered the people together and urged them to be courageous and confident. Then he called Joshua to bless him in front of everyone. It was the moment of farewell and there was no hiding his affection. The great leader’s words were full of emotion: “Be strong and of good courage; for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you; He will be with you, He will not fail you or forsake you; do not fear or be dismayed” (Dt 31:7-8). Moses then went up to Nebo, where he died and was buried by God himself (cf. Dt 34:5-6)
Yahweh promised to be with Joshua as he had been with his spiritual father (cf. Jos 1:5), a vow He fulfilled exactly. In all the events that followed – from the crossing of the Jordan and the triumph over thirty-one kings, to the distribution of the land among the tribes – the son of Nun showed himself to be exceptionally wise, of implacable tenacity and, above all, of profound faith.
He “wholly followed” Yahweh (Nm 32:12), Scripture tells us. Undoubtedly, this immaculateness earned him the grace of a most sublime exchange of hearts with the prophet. Joshua was Moses fighting on earth, while Moses was Joshua triumphing in Heaven! ◊
Notes
1 For a brief explanation of the historical moment when the exodus probably took place, see: BRIGHT, John. História de Israel. 3.ed. São Paulo: Paulinas, 1985, p.157-158.
2 ORIVE, Julián Cantera. San Josué. In: ECHEVERRÍA, Lamberto de; LLORCA, SJ, Bernardino; REPETTO BETES, José Luis (Org.). Año Cristiano. Madrid: BAC, 2005, v.IX, p.4.
3 The difficulty in establishing the time of this event is due to a divergence between the sources. While the Book of Exodus seems to place it just after the departure from Egypt (cf. Ex 18), the Book of Numbers tells of it later, on the road to Kadesh (cf. Nm 10:11-12; 11:10-30).
4 COLUNGA, OP, Alberto; GARCÍA CORDERO, OP, Maximiliano. Biblia Comentada. Pentateuco. Madrid: BAC, 1960, v.I, p.550.
5 Contrary to popular belief, the Hebrews were not lost in the desert, wandering aimlessly for forty years. Israel’s punishment was more directly due to the withdrawal of Yahweh’s help in the battles against the frontier peoples, which forced the people to spend a long time in Kadesh and take a diversion through Transjordan (cf. Nm 14:41-45; Dt 1:41-46; BRIGHT, John, op. cit., p.164).
