Hashem told Moshe that he should take revenge for the Jewish People against Midian, and then he would die. Instead of delaying, Moshe immediately hurried to do what Hashem told him.
Not only that, but Moshe established the cities of refuge in Trans-Jordan that he knew would not be in effect until the Jews entered Eretz Yisrael. The halachos of those cities are given in Parshas Masei and Moshe separated the future arei miklat in Parshas Va’eschanan.
He wanted to do what he could while he still lived, and fulfilled Hashem’s commands with speed and alacrity.
Not so, though, was the case with Yehoshua, Moshe’s disciple. Explains the Midrash Tanchuma, Moshe did not delay to carry out the war against Midian though his death was tied to it.
However, when Yehoshua was commanded to wage war against the thirty-one kings in Canaan, he thought to himself, “If I kill them all, I will die, just as happened to my master Moshe.”
What did he do? He began to fight but then tarried and delayed, as the posuk tells us, “For many days, Yehoshua waged wars against the kings.”
Hashem told him, “Because you did this, I am taking away ten years of your life. You were worthy to live to 120 like Moshe, but because you delayed, to save your life, I am shortening it.”
This is as it says in Mishlei, “Many are the thoughts of Man, but Hashem’s counsel will endure.” We may think we can outsmart Hashem, but we only fool ourselves.
Thought of the week:
If I were running the world, it would look a lot worse.
Author Unknown - but very appreciated.
