One of my favorite stories as a boy was Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne. The characters are so engaging and the stories so fun. Today I want to focus on two characters from Winnie The Pooh that we find in Joshua chapters 16 - 19.
The first is Eeyore.
To Eeyore, the sky is always black and threatening; the worst thing that could happen will happen. Quotes from Eeyore:
"After all, what are birthdays? Here today and gone tomorrow."
"One can’t complain. I have my friends. Someone spoke to me only yesterday."
"Nobody tells me. Nobody keeps me informed. I make it 17 days come Friday since anybody spoke to me." Eeyore
Then there is Winnie the Pooh
I love Pooh. He goes about life so innocently. When he wants honey he just goes and gets it without a mind to the dangers or the consequences. For Pooh the day is always sunny and everyone is always his friend.
"It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?
So here in Joshua chapters 16 - 19 we need Poohs who will go in and conquer the land that God gave them. But instead we have Eeyores who don’t think they can do anything or are unwilling to put in the hard work needed to get what God has promised them.
As Christians we are faced with this same choice as we live lives in our Hundred Acre Woods. There is plenty of honey to go around but we need to have the optimism to think God can help us get it and the fortitude to go out there and do it! We can whine, or we can win. Which will it be?
What’s happening here is the allotment of Canaan to the tribes other than Judah on the west side of the Jordan. L’s look how its split up: There are 13 divisions of the land of Israel-11 sons, with one getting two shares (Joseph), and the share of one of those tribes split in two again (Manasseh). Levi is the 12th son but gets no land.
Chapter 16
This is the allotment for Ephraim and Manasseh (east of the Jordan). These are Joseph’s sons.
The fact that Joseph gets the 2nd lot shows how important a son he was.
Verses 1 - 9
This describes in rough terms the line across the bottom of Ephraim. Then in a jagged sort of way around the borders again.
Verse 10
Remember the incredible battles in chapter 10? Though Joshua and the armies were decisive in conquering the cities of southern Canaan, not every Canaanite was killed. Gezer’s king was captured and killed in 10:33, but apparently not all the city was destroyed. Sometimes the cities changed hands several times. The enemy proved intractable so Ephraim put them to forced labor.
As it turns out, the Canaanite problem would surface again later for Manasseh west of the Jordan in chapter 17.
Chapter 17 is the allotment for Manasseh west of the Jordan.
Verses 1 - 6
Almost the same exact scene had taken place in Numbers 27:1-11 except that it was before Moses and Eleazar. At that time Moses asked God and the Lord told them that in the case of the father’s death and no sons that the daughters should inherit the land. It’s actually pretty amazing treatment for women in that culture. It may seem obvious to us today in a time of equal rights, but it certainly wasn’t then in a time when women were considered property.
Verses 7 - 13
It’s interesting that Ephraim could not take possession of the cities but did manage to put their inhabitants to forced labor - tribute over triumph.
It says that Manasseh could not drive out the Canaanites but that they "persisted" in staying in the land. The Hebrew word literally means to "sit down." I picture a child who just doesn’t want to obey and so sits down and dares you to move them.
Eventually when the number of Manassites became great the remaining Canaanites agreed to forced labor but this falls far short of what God directed them to do.
So what happened? They lost the will to finish the job. Before the campaign began they were all bravado and promises about the coming battle. But after the initial war is won they lose heart and accept second best. In this case second best was to allow an enemy to remain in their midst, an enemy that would quickly draw the nation away from the most important thing: serving Yahweh.
Verses 14 - 18
Joseph also had problems, or so they thought, in their allotted territory. They come to Joshua and say they need more land because they are such a numerous people. Together Ephraim and Manasseh had a huge tract of land. Their complaint wasn’t really that they didn’t have enough land, but that they didn’t have enough easy land.
So they finally admit that two things stand in their way: 1- if the hill country isn’t enough space then put some elbow grease into it and knock down the forests to make more room. And 2 - if the Canaanites are living in the valleys and they are strong with their chariots you are stronger than they are so drive them out!
Does this not happen to us as well? You could say that the forests represent for us work on our own lives. We get to a certain point in our maturity where we feel pretty comfortable and yet we hear the call of God to move on, mature more, grow more, become more like Him. But that takes such hard work - asking God to examine our lives, seeking the healing of the Holy Spirit, seeking the infilling and transformation of the Spirit, asking for direction from God. We don’t want to have to climb up those mountains to cut down those trees, we just want more valleys.
Or we look in the valleys and all we see is opposition. The world pushes us into a corner, the flesh opposes our efforts to be like God and the enemy uses unfair tactics and seems all powerful at tempting, dissuading, or attacking us.
But you are stronger than you think. You have weapons not of your own making, you have a powerful ally that cannot be destroyed and will be there wielding an axe and a sword right along with you.
Joshua said to Joseph: "You shall have one allotment only." We have only one allotment as well: Jesus Christ. And that’s all we need.
So far 5 tribes have received their inheritance: Joseph (divided between ½ of Manasseh and Ephraim), Gad, Reuben, and Judah.
Chapters 18 - 19
Verses 1 - 3
The land was subdued before them. At least it appeared subdued. In the In fact there were large pockets of resistance that would plague Israel for generations. In the life of a Christian the land of our lives can appear subdued. But if we allow pockets of resistance to God to stay, they will fester and eventually come back to influence us not to serve God or be such a distraction that we are less effective and less at peace.
Here 7 tribes have yet to inherit their land: Benjamin (18:11-28) Simeon (19:1-9), Zebulun (19:10-16), Issachar (19:17-23), Asher (19:24-31), Naphtali (19:32-39), and Dan (19:40-8).
They are apparently just sitting there. The enemy for the most part is conquered, or is he? If they had done the complete job then it would be no problem to go on in and live in the now empty cities.
Joshua rebukes them for not taking what God had already given them. Does that happen to you? Do you ever fail to enter into promises God has given you? Why? Fear, lack of will, lack of faith?
For us there is a vast unclaimed country of souls to win, lives to change, our own character to be transformed, enemies to overcome, blessings to receive, maturity to lay hold of, healing to experience, and love to give.
Don’t be hesitant to get out there and settle in this new territory and new level of relationship with God. It may not be familiar, but it is good.
Joshua then tells them to do a survey of the land that will then be divided up.
Verses 4 - 48
The interesting thing about this is that as they created the portions, it was not up to them to figure out who got them. That way they would be fair about it.
Verses 49 - 51
So after all had been divvied up Joshua himself gets a city. Instead of picking the best, he opts for a town in a rugged, mountainous, infertile area of his own tribe. A humble man from start to finish who just wanted God’s things to get done.
Lessons
You have never arrived
Slackness in the book of Joshua led to the state of debauchery in Judges.
Do not ever be satisfied with your life or your circumstances. There will always be Canaanites to destroy and land to conquer. The more mature you are as a believer the tougher the assignments get. But also the greater the rewards get.
You can do it
Joshua chided Joseph who said they needed more land because it was too hard to cut the forests down in the mountains and that the Canaanites had an unfair advantage in their chariots in the valleys.
They didn’t need more land, they needed more courage. Sometimes when we are faced with a difficult mission or a difficult time in our lives we think that we need more room so we can avoid the problem, but God says "you can do it." Courage, by the way, as we studied in the life of Caleb is "the strength to manage difficult circumstances without giving in to fear." I’d refer you to that study for more.
Joshua said to Joseph "you are a numerous people and have great power." God says to us "my grace is sufficient for you." (2 Corinthians 12:9).
We have a choice: whine or win
I don’t mean to be harsh about this. I’m not saying to put a smile on your face and pretend everything is fine. There is hard work ahead. Much of it is difficult and takes a long time. We will have scars from the work and the battle. But it is worth it.
1 Peter 1:3-9 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith-more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire-may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Let us like Paul "press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:14). Let us not whine, but win in Him!
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