WHO DO YOU THINK MADE THE BEST ISRAELITE LEADER, MOSES or JOSHUA?

yeee

who do you think?

Mikoid

This is a very strange topic but I'll give it my best irreverent shot...

I don't really know a lot about Joshua -- except that he led the Israelites when they finally arrived in the Promised Land. He was leader when the Israelites knocked down the Walls of Jericho, which I bet was pretty cool.

Now Moses... well, the Father trusted him to get his people out of Israel. He also had a lot of cool divine abilities -- like turning his walking stick into a snake, among others (or was that in Monty Python?). God did pitch in a lot for him -- like crossing the Red Sea, manna from heaven, or releasing the Biblical wrath on them nasty Egyptians.

There are some points against him, though. It could be argued that he was adopted by an Egyptian family so technically, he no longer was an Israelite and that doesn't make him qualify as a purely Israeli leader -- making Joshua win by default.

Still, I think people will look back more favorably on Moses. God seemed to think so too; after all, it wasn't Joshua who came down from heaven in the New Testament's Transfiguration scene! Nope, it was the great, bearded tablet-wielding "man o' the people" Moses.

Still, others would say it was Yihtzak Rabin (is that how you spell it?). Oh, whatever.

Sorry, this is my moment of light-hearted commentary. Cheers, everyone.

brownpau

Siyempre si Moses, hands-down. (Whoops, no, if he put his hands down, the battle with the Amalekites would have been lost, right? Right?)

MOSES: PROS
- God parted the Red Sea for him
- He sent the Egyptian plagues, too
- Adopted by Egyptian royalty
- cool Egyptian name, with multicultural Midianite background
- Was played by Charlton Heston in Ten Commandments
- voiced by Val Kilmer in Prince of Egypt
- cool white beard to go with the stone tablets

MOSES: CONS
- Struck the rock when God said "Speak to it." Punishment: barred entry into Holy Land
- banned pork and lobster

JOSHUA: PROS
- parting of Jordan River.
- made it into Canaan with everyone (except Moses).
- killed lots of evil pagan Canaanite kings.
- God stopped the sun a whole day for him, and knocked down the walls of Jericho with a shout.
- Established Israel.

JOSHUA: CONS
- poor name recognition; common Israelite name.
- didn't part a whole sea.
- Well, who's played Joshua in a movie? (But he's been in SuperBook. )

... Wala na akong maisip.

[This message has been edited by brownpau (edited 07-14-2000).]

kartoonista

Poor Joshua... But I also have to go with Moses as the better Israelite leader of the two. He passed on a legacy to Joshua who failed to appoint a successor when he was still alive. That's why the Israelites fell into apostasy when the older generation died (see the book of Judges). Other than that there would be no comparison since they both had different callings (Moses to lead the people out of bondage and Joshua to lead them to exterminate the inhabitants of Canaan).