In the study of Joshua as a leader we have the benefit of seeing his whole leadership life from start to finish. Having the whole story of Joshua’s leadership life allows us to quickly respect him as a leader but had you been alive back in his day watching him develop as a leader, it is possible you could have had a different feeling about Joshua’s influence as a leader.  According to Numbers 14:10a “But the whole assembly talked about stoning them.” So what happened? How did Joshua’s influence grow from a man saved from being stoned only by intervention of God to a man the people willingly followed into battle when taking the Promised Land?

As the Hebrew nation camped on the border to the land God had promised to give them, Moses selected leaders from each tribe to go in and bring back a report on what it would take to move into this land. There were 12 spies that scouted out the land of Canaan and of the 12 only Joshua and Caleb believed that the Israelites could take the land. After returning with their reports, the 10 leaders had more influence over the people than either Joshua or Caleb. Even though he had the correct position before God, Joshua had not matured into a place of great influence. Read Numbers 14:1-12.

If we look only at this early part of Joshua’s life of leadership, we could get discouraged. I have seen several potentially outstanding leaders give up when they were ineffective in the use of their influence. Fortunately for the nation of Israel, Joshua did not fit into that mold. Joshua had a major setback in his leadership life but he continued to be faithful to God. As he matured he eventually became a leader with great influence and was the man God chose to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land 40 years later.

Every leader will have emotional highs and lows and decisions will have to be made during each of those periods. During the high emotional times it is easy to be proactive and during the low emotional times it is natural to become reactive. Unfortunately, the reactive times may hurt a leader personally and their ability to lead effectively. Read Numbers 20.

By this point in their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, Moses felt unendurably weary of the complaining, the stagnation, and the lack of progress among the people. He was running on empty. Every leader knows the feeling. In Moses’ weakened emotional condition, he made a decision that cost him his future.

There are two kinds of false leaders in organizations: man-appointed and self-appointed. Yesterday, there were truths about Korah, a self-appointed leader, today truths about Balaam, a man-appointed leader. Read Numbers 22:5-24:25.

Not all leaders have pure motives. Korah was a talented Levite, set apart to serve in Israel’s worship of God. His important position gave him both prestige and respect among the people. Read Numbers 16:1-11.

Korah’s gifted leadership and persuasive speaking abilities earned him the backing of 250 other leaders. Yet his desire for more power and authority led to the demise of his followers and their families. Leaders with rebellious hearts always bring harm into their own life and the life of their followers and families.