You shall invest him with some of your authority that all the congregation of people of Israel may obey him. Numbers 27.20
Moses did what he was told and commissioned Joshua, but we can wonder what he thought about the authority and obedience part. Compliance doesn’t come to mind when we read about the wilderness years. They eventually obeyed, or were forced to, but despite its glorious beginning Moses’ ministry was a story of wandering not of rest. Joshua might have wandered, too. He was there the whole time. Your commissioning had the same ambiguous effect. The minister speaks for God when he speaks from God’s Word. When you comfort, you comfort for God. When you encourage, God is encouraging. When you exhort, you exhort in his Name.
It is, after all, not your authority. It wasn’t Moses’ either. It is God himself his people don’t listen to, and still, he loves them.
Your people know that and count on it when they feel the weight of sin or circumstance. But a lot of the time, they don’t care. If that sounds harsh, read your Bible again. Despite your exceptional gifts and hard work, your ministry won’t be different. Sometimes your ministerial authority will change a soul’s life for the better, even for eternity. But most of the time it will feel ineffectual, which ironically makes it legitimate. It is, after all, not your authority. It wasn’t Moses’ either. It is God himself his people don’t listen to, and still, he loves them. Take that to heart when they don’t listen. You’ve been given a godlike authority.
