(申31）主所设立的代表 The Representative Appointed by the LORD
(ChatGPT was applied for English translation from Chinese. 中文在后面）
Deuteronomy 31:3: “The LORD your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them. Joshua will go over before you, as the LORD has spoken.” [1]
Here, who is it that “will go over before you”? The verse mentions both the LORD and Joshua. The LORD is the name of the Creator; Joshua is the second-generation leader of the nation of Israel. Then, who is it exactly that leads? Is it a plural leading, the two of them discussing together? No. It should be both the Creator (as God’s singular leading over Israel including Joshua), and Joshua (as the man representing God’s singular leading over Israel). (In Hebrew, the verbs have singular and plural forms.) In the matter of leading Israel, Joshua represents the Creator.
A human can represent another human, or represent a group. For example, in the modern history of China, in the army there were Party representatives, in some factories there were military representatives, in the congress there were people’s representatives. But when it comes to a limited human representing the infinite Creator, this is inconceivable. Yet the Bible indeed has such a concept, and often it is for the sake of the Creator leading His people. For example, prophets represent the Creator in speaking His word, priests represent the Creator in receiving some first fruits, and kings represent the Creator in governing and fighting wars. Even pastors in the modern church, when preaching from the pulpit, represent the Creator in transmitting His word. But such representatives cannot be self-appointed by humans; they must be chosen by the Creator Himself.
Chinese emperors were often called the “sons” of Heaven, intending to represent Heaven governing the common people on earth. But since they were not chosen by the Creator through the Scriptures, every dynasty experienced rise and fall, and now they have all passed away. But the Jesus Christ whom the Creator appointed—he has reigned for nearly two thousand years already. His birth defined the common era. His disciples have followed him generation after generation, not relying on force, not relying on human wisdom, but relying on the Creator of heaven and earth—the one who also raised Jesus Christ from the dead.
The preceding Scripture also foreshadows that Jesus Christ is the representative appointed by the Creator to lead us. For Joshua and Jesus have the same Hebrew root. Joshua prefigures Jesus Christ, who is the mediator between the Creator and His chosen people. Yet unlike other leaders such as Moses, Joshua, and David, Jesus Christ not only has complete humanity, but also has complete divinity. He is the perfect representative. A Jewish Christian once noticed (though regretfully I cannot remember the source online), that the verse mentioning Joshua’s leading ends with “as the LORD has spoken,” and the original “the LORD has spoken” shares its root with “the word of the Creator”, so this connection may foreshadow the Word made flesh, namely Jesus (sharing the same root with Joshua), who is the “word” (or “logos”) of the Creator become flesh.
What meaning do these connections between Old and New Testaments have for Christians? Later in Deuteronomy 31, it is mentioned several times to be strong and courageous. Christians, as the people of the Creator, should, just as the Israelites followed their leader Joshua to enter the Promised Land strong and courageous, likewise follow Jesus Christ strong and courageous to enter the kingdom of the Creator. To follow Jesus Christ, the representative and leader appointed by the Creator, is to follow the leading of the Creator Himself.
(Note [1]: The verse’s mention of “destroying these nations” must not be misunderstood as indiscriminate physical genocide, and must not be blindly imitated today. We must pay attention to the spiritual meaning behind the text. For example, Rahab the prostitute in the book of Joshua, though also one of the local people, led her whole family to be saved based on faith in the Creator—she was not destroyed. The New Testament more clearly promotes spreading the gospel. What we must “destroy” is the ideology opposing the Creator. Physical genocide must not be advocated blindly. Jesus and his disciples also did not overthrow the Roman invaders by force, but rather overcame by spreading the gospel, so that a few centuries later Christianity became the state religion of Rome.)
（申31）主所设立的代表
申命记31：3 “耶和华你们的神必引导你们过去，将这些国民在你们面前灭绝，你们就得他们的地。约书亚必引导你们过去，正如耶和华所说的。”【1】
这里说的是谁“必引导你们过去”？经文既提到耶和华，也提到约书亚。耶和华是造物主的名字，约书亚是以色列民族的第二代领袖。 那么到底是谁带领呢？是两者商量着一起的复数的带领吗？ 不是的，应该既是造物主（作为神对包括约书亚的以色列人）单数的带领，也是约书亚（作为代表神的人对以色列人）单数的带领。（希伯来语的动词是有单复数的。）在带领以色列人这件事上，约书亚代表造物主。
人可以代表人，可以代表一个团体，比如中国现代史上的军队里有党代表，有些工厂有军代表，人大会议有人民代表，但说到有限的人代表无限的造物主，这是不可思议的，但圣经里确实有这样的观念，而且常常是为了造物主领导祂的子民，比如有代表造物主说话的先知，代表造物主接受某些初熟土产的祭司，和代表造物主行政和打仗的君王。甚至现代教会里的牧师也在讲坛上代表造物主传递祂的话语。但这些代表，不能是人自己加封的，必须是造物主自己选定的。
中国的君王常被称为”天子”，企图代表上天管理地上的庶民，但因为不是造物主通过圣经选定的，每个朝代都经历了兴盛衰亡，现在都已经过去。但是造物主所立的耶稣基督，他已经掌权近两千年，他的出生定义了公元纪年，他的门徒们一代一代地跟随他，不靠武力，不靠智谋，靠的是造天地的造物主，祂也是使耶稣基督从死里复活的那一位。
前面的经文也预表耶稣基督是造物主为领导我们所设立的代表。因为约书亚与耶稣有共同的希伯来语字根，约书亚预表耶稣基督，是造物主与祂选民之间的中介。然而与其他的领袖如摩西，约书亚，大卫等不同，耶稣基督不但有完全的人性，也有完全的神性，他是完全的代表。一个犹太基督徒网友注意到（可惜我记不得来源了），前面经文提到约书亚的带领时以“正如耶和华所说的”结束，而原文“耶和华所说的”与“造物主的话”词根相同，所以这个联系预表道成肉身，即（与约书亚有相同词根的）耶稣，是造物主的“话”（或“道”）所成的肉身。
说到这些新旧约的联系，对基督徒有什么意义呢？申命记31章后面数次提到要刚强壮胆。基督徒作为造物主的子民，应该像以色列人跟随他们的领袖约书亚刚强壮胆进入应许地那样，跟随耶稣基督刚强壮胆进入造物主的国度。跟随造物主所设立的代表和领袖耶稣基督，就是跟随造物主自己的带领。