Moses’ Successor: Joshua’s Indirect Path to Leading the Jewish people

The lecture deals with the verses in Num. 15-21 dealing with Moses asking God to choose his successor and God’s subsequent answer to Moses. Joshua, in many ways, was an unlikely choice for becoming Moses’ successor. After showing how Moses likely was thinking of others to be his successor, the lecture examines the text in Numbers and looks broadly at successful and unsuccessful cases of succession within the larger story of Tanakh. By that, a new-found appreciation of why God chose Joshua and what that choice says about leadership more generally is uncovered.