The 'mantle' signifies and anointing from God that empowers a leader to do the work of God. Joshua already had the Holy Spirit working in him, but to do this job of leading this people into the land and conquering the peoples that resided there, he needed the anointing that Moses had. So Eleazar laid his hands upon him for the reception of this anointing.
When the Bible says not to be hasty about the laying on of hands, this is a good example of the wisdom of this verse. Choosing people to serve the body of Christ in leadership is not just a matter of a person wanting to do it or their training or there sincere devotion to God or their talent or who the people want. It is a matter for God to select and appoint, so all involved need to be sensitive to the will of the Holy Spirit in these situations and to anoint only those they are certain God chose.
This also demonstrates that leaders cannot be self-appointed. They need to be selected by God through others, as demonstrated in this chapter, for the selection of David as king, for the selection of each apostle, for the selection of the writers of Scripture.
cont.
The 'mantle' signifies and anointing from God that empowers a leader to do the work of God. Joshua already had the Holy Spirit working in him, but to do this job of leading this people into the land and conquering the peoples that resided there, he needed the anointing that Moses had. So Eleazar laid his hands upon him for the reception of this anointing.
When the Bible says not to be hasty about the laying on of hands, this is a good example of the wisdom of this verse. Choosing people to serve the body of Christ in leadership is not just a matter of a person wanting to do it or their training or there sincere devotion to God or their talent or who the people want. It is a matter for God to select and appoint, so all involved need to be sensitive to the will of the Holy Spirit in these situations and to anoint only those they are certain God chose.
This also demonstrates that leaders cannot be self-appointed. They need to be selected by God through others, as demonstrated in this chapter, for the selection of David as king, for the selection of each apostle, for the selection of the writers of Scripture.
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