God Will Finish What He's Started (Joshua 12:1-23, 13:1-22) Series

This is a great passage. Let me try, up front, to persuade you about this. It's super helpful for understanding Joshua as a whole. There's hints scattered throughout this section about the Nephilim, if you're into that sort of thing.

And the passage points us to God, and his faithfulness, for times when we feel overwhelmed or inadequate.

So let's start! Joshua 12:1, reading through verse 6:

(1) And these are the kings of the land who the sons of Israel struck,

and they took possession of their land beyond the Jordan, toward the east from the wadi of Arnon up to Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah to the east:

(2) Sikhon king of the Amorites living in Heshbon, (deep breath)

the one ruling from Aroer which is on the edge of Arnon, and from the middle of the wadi and half of Gilead up to Yabbok the wadi the boundary of the sons of Ammon, (3) and the Jordan Valley up to the sea of Kinnereth to the east and up to the Sea of the Arabah the Sea of the Salt to the east on the way of Beth Jeshimoth and from the south under the slopes of Pisgah (deep breath)

(4) and the territory of Og the king of Bashan from the remnant of the Rephaim,

the one dwelling in Ashtaroth and in Edrei

(5) and ruling in Mount Hermon and over Salecah and over all the Bashan up to the boundary of the Geshurites and the Maacthites and half of Gilead the boundary of Sikhon the king of Heshbon (deep breath).

(6) Moses the servant of Yahweh and the sons of Israel struck them,

and Moses the servant of Yahweh gave it as a possession to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half tribe of Manasseh.

The first six verses in this chapter are about Moses. What about him, specifically? Moses' fighting took place in the land on the east side of the Jordan River, in the land that wasn't originally part of the land God promised to his people. These verses describe what Moses accomplished. What did Moses accomplish? Let's reread verse 1:

(ACCOMPLISHMENT #1) And these are the kings of the land who the sons of Israel struck,

(ACCOMPLISHMENT #2) and they took possession of their land beyond the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun from the wadi of Arnon up to Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah to the east:

The promised land east of the Jordan River was controlled by two kings, both of whom are descendants of the Nephilim. Moses put both of these kings in body bags (size XXL). This was his first accomplishment. The killing of Og and Sikhon is a "big" deal.

Moses' second accomplishment was that Israel took possession of their land.

We tend to think that the conquest is only about Moses' second accomplishment. That all of this is just about giving Israel a home. But AJ actually focuses far more on Moses' first accomplishment. Killing off the Nephilim is a critical part of what Yahweh, and Israel, are accomplishing.

So that's what Moses accomplished. He bagged two Nephilim, and he took possession of the land on the wrong (East) side of the Jordan.

Verses 7-24 describe what Joshua accomplished:

(7) And these are the kings of the land who Joshua struck , with the sons of Israel, beyond the Jordan to the west, from Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon and up to Mount Halak, the one going up toward Seir,

and Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their tribes,

Let's pause here. What Moses accomplished, and what Joshua accomplished, are not described the same way.

In 12:1, we read that Moses "struck" the two kings, and "dispossessed/took possession" of the land. In verse 7, we read that Joshua "struck" the kings of the land, but AJ doesn't tell us that Joshua "dispossessed" them. There is a missing verb.

It's true that Joshua gave the land to the tribes as a possession-- but what this actually means, isn't what we think. This will be explained differently as we keep reading, and get to chapter 13. This is really important.

People misunderstand the entire book of Joshua, because they don't realize that Israel doesn't actually possess the whole land.

So let's restart at verse 7:

(7) And these are the kings of the land who Joshua struck , with the sons of Israel, beyond the Jordan to the west, from Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon and up to Mount Halak, the one going up toward Seir,

and Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their tribes,

in the hill country and in the Shephelah and in the Jordan Valley and in the slopes and in the desert and in the Negev: