Here Moses begins his farewell speech for the people. He challenges the people, appoints Joshua as his successor and challenges him as well. We can see the challenge of leadership along with the knowledge of the right thing to do and communicating that to others. Without a leader, it is difficult for people to stay the course. Leadership for Moses has been the blessing of influencing people in positive ways, but also the burden of seeing his followers fail and knowing they will fail in the future.
Probably everyone leads at some level and is faced with the same issues as Moses. How do we instill the right vision and values in the people we lead? If we can somehow get them to a good place, will they stay there? Who can carry the vision forward when we are no longer able? For any leader, trusting God for the outcome is still required. We can never rely solely on our own ability to lead because we will never have total control.