Moses was going to die before entering the promised land. Who would replace him? Big shoes to fill, for sure. In Numbers 27, Moses calls for the Lord to 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 that have no shepherd” (27:16-17).
The Israelites were like sheep, and they needed a leader, a shepherd. Moses didn’t bring a list of names to recommend—he simply called for the Lord to appoint the right man.
The Lord’s response was this: “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight” (Num 27:18-19).
The new Moses would be Joshua. He would be the shepherd of Israel, leading them across the Jordan River and into the land of promise. The language in the book of Joshua confirms this. God told Joshua, “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (Josh. 1:5).
Fourteen hundred years after Joshua, the Lord Jesus began his ministry. He taught with authority, performed miracles of healing, and demonstrated the heavenly origin of his mission. During one particular context, a great crowd came to Jesus, and “he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34).
The description of the crowd—“like sheep without a shepherd”—recalls the episode in Numbers 27 when Moses knew that the people needed a shepherd to lead them. In Numbers 27, that new shepherd would be Joshua. In Mark 6, that shepherd would be Jesus.
Jesus was a new Joshua to lead the people of God. In that very scene of Mark 6, Jesus would feed thousands with just a few loaves and fish. He was a shepherd who would nourish and care for the crowds. He fed their hearts and their bodies. And by the end of the Gospel story, he would be the Good Shepherd laying down his life for the sheep (John 10:11).
The leadership of Joshua involved crossing into the promised land, and Jesus conducted his ministry in that location. Jesus was baptized in the same river which Joshua crossed. Yet Jesus conquered through wonders. He expelled demons and raised the dead. He opened the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf. His miracles were acts of conquest.
Jesus was a greater Joshua, for Joshua was a type of Christ. In Numbers 27, the new shepherd would be Joshua, and in the Gospels the name was the same. The Greek name for Jesus is equivalent to the Hebrew name for Joshua! And the name means “Yahweh is salvation.” The shepherding role of the earlier Joshua pointed to the later Joshua—Jesus—just as a type points to its antitype.