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Wilbur Reid

Dr. Paul Carr

LPHD706: The Psycho-social Dimensions of the Leader as Researcher, Teacher, and

Communicator

September 12, 2010

Leadership of Moses and Joshua

History has provided a number of famous pairs of mentors and protégés that have had a

significant impact on history, including such men as: Socrates and Plato, Medici and

Michelangelo, and Paul and Timothy. One of history’s earliest examples of great leadership

being passed from one generation to the next is Moses passing the torch to Joshua. These two

men were powerful leaders that shared some common characteristics, but also showed distinct

differences in their leadership styles. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the

leadership of both Moses and Joshua, and then compare and contrast three particular

characteristics of these two leaders: self-efficacy, relationships with God and followers, and

type of leadership.

Though Moses would become known as one of the great leaders in world history, his

early life showed character flaws that had to be overcome. Scripture does not tell much about

the first 80 years of Moses life. He was born into unusual circumstances that led him to be

raised and educated in the palace of Pharaoh (English Standard Version Study Bible, Exod. 2),

but his temper became evident when he killed an Egyptian taskmaster and had to flee to
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Midian at the age of 40 (Exod. 2:11-22, Acts 7:24-29). This temperament was also seen over 40

years later as he was leading the Hebrews in the dessert and saw the golden calf that Aaron had

built and “his anger burned hot” (Exod. 32:19). Moses kept flock in Midian until the age of 80,

but God heard the suffering of His people and called Moses to action from a burning bush

(Exod. 3). Moses was a reluctant and uncharismatic leader (Exod. 4:10). Though he frustrated

God with excuses at the burning bush and frequently struggled with followers that did not want

to follow, Moses led between 2 and 6 million Hebrew people for 40 years to the promised land

(Denee 3) and has been called the greatest manager of all time (Baron xix).

Unlike Moses, Joshua was trained for leadership from an early age as the protégé of

Moses. Shortly after leaving Egypt, Joshua led the battle against the Amalekites (Exod. 17:8-13)

and was one of the 12 spies chosen to examine the land of Canaan (Num 13:8). He continued

for 40 years learning from Moses in the wilderness until it was his time to lead the people (Josh.

1:2). Joshua is known as a strategist and military leader that led the people of Israel in a

conquest of the people of Canaan (Josh. 6-12). Though he learned from the feet of a master,

Joshua led in a different situation that required a different leadership style.

Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy is the belief that “one is competent and capable of attaining difficult task

objectives” (Yukl 253). Moses was a reluctant leader, as evidenced by his conversation with

Yahweh at the burning bush. Table 1 shows the attempts that Moses made to excuse himself

from this leadership position, culminating in a blunt “Please send someone else” (Exod. 4:13).
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Table 1

Source: English Revised Standard Study Bible

Moses begins his conversation with God by acknowledging his own unimportance:

“Who am I that I should go?” (Exod. 3:11). Moses was an 80 year old shepherd with no

leadership experience and knew that he was not qualified to present himself to the most

powerful man in the world. He also did not consider himself to be a charismatic speaker, but a

stutterer that was not able to communicate effectively (Exod. 4:10).

There is not a direct scriptural quote that describes Joshua’s self-efficacy, but an indirect

indication in the numerous times that he was told to be courageous. “The growing

uncertainties over Joshua’s leadership spiral in Deuteronomy. God ordered Moses to encourage

Joshua, and Moses obeyed. The result is a litany of encouragement, yielding the impression

that Joshua sorely needed it” (Angel 148). These encouragements are listed in table 2:
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Table 2

Deuteronomy
Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit
it (Deut. 1:38).
But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he
shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see (Deut. 3:28).
Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall
go with this people into the land that the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them
in possession of it (Deut. 31:7)
And the LORD commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the
people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you” (Deut. 31:23)

Joshua

Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to
give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my
servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success
wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and
night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way
prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not
be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1:6-9).
Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put
to death. Only be strong and courageous” (Josh 1:18).

Relationship with God and with followers

Perhaps the most remarkable difference between Moses and Joshua are their

relationships with God and with their followers. Moses had a remarkable personal relationship

with God, but constantly struggled in a combative relationship with his followers. Joshua did

not seem to have the personal relationship with God that Moses did, but had a much more

positive relationship with the children of Israel so that they followed him and followed God

more than they did under Moses. The Talmud says that Moses is like the sun and Joshua is like

the moon (Angel 149).

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Moses was like the sun because he was close to God and his radiance was sometimes so

bright that the people could not even look at his face (Exod. 34:29-35). God spoke to him face

to face (Num. 12:8), but his followers had difficulty speaking to him. “Moses’ unparalleled awe

of God was so great that that he simply could not fathom why his people did not trust God also.

Ironically then, Moses’ incomparable faith may have been precisely at the root of his struggles

in leading the Israelites” (Angel 150). His struggles in leading the people began while they were

still in Egypt and the elders required miraculous signs before they believed that God had sent

him (Exod. 4:29-31), and then the people complain against Moses and Aaron throughout their

lifetime (Exod. 5:20, 21; 15:24; 16:2,3; 17:2,3; Num. 14:2-4; 16:41; 20:2-5; 21:4-6; Deut. 1:12,

26-28). For example, in the wilderness, “the whole congregation of the people of Israel

grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them,

Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat

pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole

assembly with hunger” (Exod. 16:2, 3).

Since the Hebrew people were so rebellious against Moses, it is interesting to note that

they remained loyal to God and to Joshua throughout his time of leadership. In fact, there is

only one sin recorded, Achan’s plunder from Jericho, throughout Joshua’s tenure (Angel 144).

While Moses was aloof and separate from the people, Joshua was appealing because he

allowed people to see his weakness as he did with the disaster at Ai when he tore his clothes

and fell prostrate in front of the altar (Josh 7:6). Joshua was a man of prayer and sought God,

but he was also a man of the people that commanded their respect (Wiersbe 90). “He was

serving the Lord and the Lord’s people, and they followed him because they knew they could
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trust him. His motives were pure, his life was godly, and his character was above reproach”

(Wiersbe 90). Joshua is “a trustworthy servant of Yahweh” (Kissling 70). The absence of

complaining against Joshua by the people, as they had done to Moses, may be the result of his

impressive battlefield record (Exod. 17:8-14) or his “ability to stand up against popular opinion

and show himself to be a person with vision and faith” (Fountain 191). This strong leadership

was established in several events that are documented in table 3.

Table 3

Leadership style (transformational vs transactional)

Burns (1978) describes transactional leaders as those that appeal to followers self-

interests, while transformational leaders appeal to their moral values. Moses is recognized as

one of the greatest leaders of history, but his leadership tended to be transactional. The

Israelites did not accept him as a leader (Exod. 5:21, 6:9) until after nine plagues they realized

that he might be able to get them out of slavery. As long as things were going well, they

followed Moses. However, they rejected his leadership when he was not giving them what they

wanted. This rebellion was seen when Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments (Exod.

32:1), when the people were hungry (Exod. 16:2-12), thirsty (Exod. 17:1-6), threatened (Exod.
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14:11), or didn’t want to fight (Num 14:1-4). Moses responded in a transactional manner: he

provided manna, quail, water, or whatever appealed to their self-interest.

Joshua followed Moses, but appealed to the Israelites moral values. At the end of his

life, he told the people to choose who they would serve and had them swear that they would

follow Yahweh forever (Josh. 24:14-24). His goal was to change the lives of their descendents in

the Promised Land.

Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the
heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And they presented themselves before
God… “Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put
away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the
LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will
serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods
of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the
LORD.” (Josh 24:1, 14-15)

Conclusion

Although Joshua was a protégé under the guidance of Moses for 40 years, there were

several areas that they were quite different. Moses was an 80 year old shepherd with no

leadership experience when he was called. His self-efficacy was quite low as he literally pled

with God to send someone else (Exod. 4:13). Although that type of doubt is not attributed

directly to Joshua, the number of times that he was encouraged to be strong and courageous

provides an indication that he may have had self-doubts. Moses received the unique privilege

of speaking to God face-to-face, but he struggled with his relationships with people. On the

other hand, the Israelites seemed to follow Joshua and God whole heartedly during Joshua’s
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tenure of leadership. Finally, Moses seemed to be a transactional leader that appealed to the

self interests of the people, while Joshua was a transformational leader that appealed to the

moral values of the people. It is unfortunate that strong leadership did not extend more than

one generation beyond Joshua.

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Works Cited

Angel, Hayyim. "Moonlit Leadership: A Midrashic Reading of Joshua's Success." Jewish Bible Quarterly
37.3 (2009): 144-152.

Baron, David. Moses on Management. New York: Simon and Schuster Inc, 1999.

Denee, Ryan P. "Learning Leadership. The Bible is Your Foundation." Pillar (2005): 1-4.

English Standard Version Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008.

Fountain, A. Kay. "An Invesitgation into Successful Leadership Transitions in the Old Testament." Asian
Journal of Pentecostal Studies 7.2 (2004): 187-204.

Jones, Laurie Beth. Jesus, CEO. Using Ancient Wisdom for Visionary Leadership. New York: Hyperion,
1995.

Kissling, Paul J. Reliable Characters in the Primary History: Profiles of Moses, Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha.
Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996.

Wiersbe, W.W. Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament Wisdom and Poetry. New York: Victor,
1989.

Yukl, G. Leadership in Organizations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006.