Yehoshua did not rebuke Israel until he was near death (Sifri Devarim 2). He died only because of the counsel of the serpent (i.e., the sin of Adam and Eve) (Zohar 2:194b).
"As I G-d was with Moshe, so will I be with you" (Yehoshua 1:5). Yehoshua should therefore have lived for 120 years like our teacher Moses. Why were ten years deducted from his life? At the time the Holy One, Blessed is He, said to Moshe, "Avenge the Children of Israel of the Midianites, afterward you will be gathered to your people" (Numbers 31:2). Although he was told he would die, he did not delay, but acted quickly: And Moshe sent them (ibid. v. 6). But when Yehoshua came to fight the thirty-one Kings of Canaan, he said, "If I slay them immediately, I will die immediately, just as Moses did." What did Yehoshua do? He began to delay the wars against them. The Holy One, Blessed is He, said to him, "Since you have done that, I will shorten your life by ten years" (Bamidbar Rabbah 22:6).
When Yehoshua was born, no one took note, when he died, all of Israel took note. However, the Israelites were lax in doing kindness with Yehoshua son of Nun by mourning him properly. One was busy with his vineyard, the other with his field, yet another with his coal. The Holy One, Blessed is He, therefore sought to make the whole world quake, as it is written, “They buried him, north of the Mount of Eruption” (Yehoshua 24:30) (Midrash Shmuel, ed. Buber, 23:7).
