THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
Joshua 13.1-22.34
S: Possessing the Promise
Th: A People with Purpose
Pr: GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES.
?: What? What happened as a result?
KW: Results
TS: We will find in our study of Joshua three results that came to being as God kept His promises to His people.
Type: Propositional
The ____ result of God’s promises is…
I. POSSESSION (13-19)
II. SPIRITUAL LIFE (21)
III. UNITY (22)
PA: How is the change to be observed?
• Depend on God’s promises
• Take what has been given you
• Enjoy the spiritual growth that is available
• Maintain good communication in your relationships
Version: ESV
RMBC 01 July 07 AM
INTRODUCTION:
ILL Possessions (H)
In Marine Corps basic training, one recruit soon learned that everything the recruits used belonged to their drill instructor. For instance, the drill instructor referred to the stuff in their footlockers as "my trash" and to the racks where they slept as "my racks."
One time when they were all whispering in the bathroom while making "head calls," while supposed to be maintaining silence, their drill instructor overheard them.
To their surprise, the drill instructor suddenly yelled, "Why do I hear voices in my head?"
This shows us that it is important to be careful about what we claim as our own possessions.
We may end up claiming that which we really don’t want.
A general principle that I believe is worth living out when it comes to possessions is this:
It is good to have a loose grip on possessions in general, but a tight grip on what God gives.
TRANSITION:
We are returning this month to the book of Joshua that we began last June and concluded in August.
It is a story of possessing what God has given.
It is a story about living with purpose.
In the same way…
1. We are to remember to be a people with purpose.
You may remember that was our theme last year.
God would have us live lives that are deliberate.
We are not to let life just happen to us.
We are to live life with intentionality.
For the Hebrews, it was time to change gears, so to speak.
They had lived for centuries in Egypt.
They had wandered for decades in the wilderness.
They had spent years fighting.
It was now time to settle down.
It was time to build homes, cultivate soil, raise families and live in peace.
This would be the direction they were to deliberately live, once they took full possession of the land.
Up until this point…
2. The people of Israel have made significant inroads into Canaan.
They have followed a successful strategy of dividing the north from the south.
Their opponents have been severely weakened, and attempts by them to unite against the Israelites continually ended up in disaster.
Now, Joshua the soldier and the general takes on a new role.
He becomes the Joshua the administrator.
And what he continues to find is that…
3. GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES.
What God said He was going to do, He has been doing.
So, what has happened for the Israelites as they have entered into the Promised Land?
Well…
4. We will find in our study of Joshua three results that came to being as God kept His promises to His people.
Do note that this is a very large text today.
It is more like we are on a tour of these ten chapters.
We can’t see everything, but we will attempt to understand some of the highlights.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first result of God’s promises is POSSESSION (13-19).
As we come to the beginning of our text today, we see…
1. There is instruction to take the rest of the land (13.1).
Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess.”
The Israelites have successfully entered into the land.
And they need to continually understand that this land is inherited.
It is now their land.
It has not been earned.
It has not been a prize of warfare.
It has not been purchased.
It has been, rather, a gracious gift of love.
So the following chapters are descriptions of how the land is to be divided up.
Much of the text reads like legal descriptions of real estate deeds.
They are meticulous reports of who is to live where.
In the midst all these reports, one individual stands out.
His name is Caleb.
And…
2. Caleb has the faith to act (14.10-12).
Caleb is a Kenizzite.
This means is that he is not a descendant of Jacob.
Instead, he is outside the covenant, a descendant of Esau.
Nevertheless, adopted into the tribe of Judah, he represented the tribe decades earlier when they went to spy the land.
When he returned with the others, he, along with Joshua, had urged the people to trust God for the victory.
They disagreed with the majority report who only saw the difficulties and the risk.
And, it is not that Caleb minimized the problem.
Instead, he magnified God, for as far as Caleb was concerned, God was bigger than the biggest problem.
So now Caleb says…
(10) And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. (11) I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. (12) So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.
Caleb is now eighty-five years old and he has not lost a step.
He still has as much faith in God as he had before, probably more so.
He is a man of total faith.
He has followed God wholeheartedly.
This is no half-hearted man.
Even at eighty-five, he is a man of hope, confidence, expectancy, and optimism.
So when he is asked where he wants, he does not pick some place that has already been taken.
He requested a place yet to be conquered.
He requested the area that had struck fear into the hearts of the ten spies.
He says, “Give me that mountain. Give me that hill country. Give me that place where the giants live, because I have a giant of a God!”
But not everyone was so faithful.
The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh…
3. Joseph’s tribes complained about what had been chosen (17.17-18).
(17) Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only, (18) but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.”
These two tribes had complained that they did not have enough land.
But this was a ridiculous complaint.
First of all, Joseph was the firstborn, so they had received a double portion of land.
The problem, though, was not that they did not have enough land.
The problem was their inertia.
They had become unwilling to change the circumstances.
They wanted the status quo.
They did not want any more work.
Unfortunately, they had become self-centered and whiny.
Joshua, however, with tact and firmness, told them that there was plenty of territory available to them.
There was more land to conquer.
They were to clear the trees and settle in the forested hill country.
And Joshua is clear with them.
They will succeed.
God has determined the outcome.
They need to have the faith to possess it.
What is interesting, in the midst of the Ephraim territory, is a city called Shiloh.
It is there, that…
4. The worship location is moved to the center of the country (18.1).
Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there.
This was both a symbolic and practical matter.
The tabernacle was taken to the middle of the Promised Land, for worship was to be central.
Their national unity was centered around God.
So, placing the tabernacle in this isolated and protected location, served as a reminder that the key to prosperity and blessing in the land was worship.
As we come to this section, every one has a place, except for one person – Joshua.
Throughout this ordeal, though…
5. Joshua demonstrated selflessness (19.49-50).
(49) When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun. (50) By command of the Lord they gave him the city that he asked, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he rebuilt the city and settled in it.
Joshua stands in contrast to Lot (who lived before him) and the sons of Zebedee (who would live after) that desired place and prestige over service.
So, Joshua went last.
He is a prime example of servant-leadership.
He claims no special privilege for himself.
He doesn’t demand a corner office or his own parking space.
He takes what is left with no complaint.
Now we come to the second result…
II. The second result of God’s promises is SPIRITUAL LIFE (21).
When the land was divided up between all the tribes, there was one tribe that did not get any allotment of land – the tribe of Levi.
Their inheritance was distinctly different.
They had an inheritance of abiding spiritual significance.
1. The Levites were the leaders of worship.
They were to serve in the tabernacle, and later, in the temple.
They were to assist in all the great annual feasts and festivals.
They were to lead the music with choirs and orchestras.
They were to be composers of psalms and hymns.
They were to play the many, many roles in the sacrificial system.
They were to be the religious leaders.
This meant that…
2. The Levites were to influence all the tribes (21.41).
The cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel were in all forty-eight cities with their pasturelands.
Interestingly, the Levite cities were set up in an oval perimeter.
The Levites were not located in the center to be safe and secure.
Instead, they were scattered out on the frontiers.
The cities were located in such a way so that no one was too far away from a levitical presence.
In doing so, they were to model worship as a lifestyle in the midst of each tribe, as they both lived and taught the Scriptures.
III. The third result of God’s promises is UNITY (22).
ILL Presume (H)
A radical feminist is getting on a bus when, just in front of her, a man gets up from his seat.
She thinks to herself, "Here’s another man trying to keep up the customs of a patriarchal society by offering a poor, defenseless woman his seat," and she pushes him back onto the seat.
A few minutes later, the man tries to get up again. She is insulted again and refuses to let him up.
Finally, the man says, "Look, lady, you’ve got to let me get up. I’m two miles past my stop already."
Well there is often trouble when one presumes they know what another is thinking.
And this happens here when the eastern tribes return to their territories east of the Jordan.
They have kept their commitment to the western tribes and are returning home.
But as they were crossing the Jordan, they decided to build an altar.
As soon as the report of this incident came to them…
1. The western tribes suspected the eastern tribes of rebellion (22.16).
Was this a break from Shiloh?
Was the building of this altar showing that they were going to do their own thing and forget about their identity as a nation?
Were they backsliding?
Was apostasy already an issue?
So, Phineas goes with a delegation to the eastern tribes and asks the question…
Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, “What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the Lord by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the Lord?”
It is commendable that they were determined to keep the purity of their faith, because compromise is always costly.
Morality is never individualistic.
You never sin alone.
All suffer when there is disobedience to God.
In this realization, the western tribes make a gracious offer.
They say, “Come and live with us. If living over here is causing you to leave God’s ways, then come back and live with us on this side of the Jordan. We will make room for you.”
But…
2. The misunderstanding was resolved with an explanation (22.26-27).
The neat thing that happens here is that the eastern tribes express a willingness of accountability.
And here is how they explain it…
(26) Therefore we said, “Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, (27) but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we do perform the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, ‘You have no portion in the Lord.’”
They communicate that they are fully aware of God’s laws governing worship, but that this altar was not intended as a place of offerings.
Instead, it was meant to be a memorial.
It was meant to be a witness to all generations that they were worshippers of God.
It was meant to be a reminder of the history that they shared and it was their right to cross the Jordan and worship in Shiloh.
Therefore, it was not meant to mark division, but oneness.
APPLICATION:
So what do we learn from this tour we have made?
First, just as Caleb has taught by example,…
1. We can trust in God’s promises to us.
God is with us.
He is always with us.
This is His promise to us.
So when God has given us an assignment, we can move forward in faith.
We are not to back off in the face of opposition.
We are to speak the truth and act on it.
Too often, we live by the excuses…
There is no time…
We are too busy…
It is a task that is not suited for us…
We are too old…
We are too young…
We can’t do that.
That is a lack of faith.
When God has given us an assignment, we are to possess the possession.
We are to do it.
This is why we must not ever be caught to be a whiny people.
I believe the Lord is very displeased when we allow ourselves to be dominated by a negative and critical spirit.
We slow down the progress of the community when we become complainers.
Second, just as God provided the Levites for the nation of Israel,…
2. We are to take advantage of the spiritual growth opportunities that are available.
In Scripture, we see a progression from the tabernacle to the temple to the church.
These organizational structures are the means for which a community uses for faith to be lived out.
One of the ways that we fulfill our purpose of making committed followers of Jesus is by celebrating the person of God.
It is a matter of corporate worship.
We come together, across our generations, to accomplish one thing together – to give glory to God – to recognize that we have one audience during our worship.
We also fulfill our purpose of making committed followers of Jesus by cultivating spiritual growth in Christ.
In other words, this is a place for biblical training and spiritual nurture.
It is a place for training, equipping, and counseling.
So make use of the opportunities that are available.
Third, just as the western and eastern tribes taught us in their potential conflict,…
3. We should maintain good communication in our relationships and so enjoy God’s favor.
The Israelites came together and talked.
It prevented a huge problem from developing.
And we need to do the same.
By keeping communication going, we love one another.
Caring for one another always has to be a priority because unity is always a top priority to God for us.
Finally…
4. We are to be people with purpose.
ILL Personal
I have seen people living with purpose over the past weeks...
I saw it over and over again this past week, as people participated in Vacation Bible School. I saw a young college student take on the huge task of co-directing the program. I saw a recently retired man use his new available time as a way to minister to Junior age children. I saw many teens make themselves available to help in the kitchen, recreation and as teachers. I saw people use their creative juices in order to present the good news about Jesus in a creative way.
I know of another man here in our church who desires to grow in his faith. So as a part of his own growth plan, he has begun to minister to the poor at the City Mission.
We have a living example in our midst of a person who has not given up on his purpose. He has said “Give me that mountain” and gone to Ethiopia. He has not offered excuses. He has not said he was too old, just because he is in his late 80s. He has seen the ministry opportunity and gone.
There are many more examples all about us if we will possess the spiritual eyes to see them.
They occur because there is a belief in God’s promises.
And I believe, God’s blessing will come their way because of it
Let us not forget that for Randall, the Williamsville community, and its environs, continue to be our mountain.
God has given it to us to fulfill our purpose to make disciples.
He has promised to go with us.
Are you moving forward in that promise?
For Further Study: Exodus 32:25-29; Numbers 13.1-14.45, 26.54-56; Deuteronomy 7.22; II Timothy 2.13; James 1.19-20
COMMUNION:
ILL Salvation (S)
The September 11, 2002 issues of TIME magazine has a touching article about 31-year old Genelle Guzman. Genelle was the last of just four people caught in the debris of the Twin Towers to be found alive.
After the planes hit the World Trade Center, Genelle was descending a stair case from the 64th floor of the North Tower. Steel beams weakend to their breaking point. Solid concrete was pulverized. But somehow her body found an air pocket.
Her right leg was pinned under heavy concrete pillars. Her head was caught between stacks of wreckage. But somehow she was still alive.
For twenty-seven hours Guzman lay trapped and seriously injured.
In recent months before the attacks Genelle had started attending the church called Brooklyn Tabernacle, and wanted to get her life turned around. So while she was stuck in the rubble, she started to pray. She’d trail off into sleep – wake up and pray some more.
Shortly after noon on Wednesday the 12th, she heard voices. So she screamed as loud as she could, “I’m here! HEY, I’M RIGHT HERE!” A rescue worker responded, "Do you see the light?" She did not. She took a piece of concrete and banged it against a broken stairway overhead—probably the same structure that had saved her life. The searchers find the noise.
Genelle wedged her hand through a crack in the wall, and felt someone grab it. She heard a voice say, "I’ve got you," and Genelle Guzman said, "OH GOD, THANK YOU.”
It took 20 long minutes, and then she was saved.
In many ways, Genelle Guzman represents the plight of all people. We are buried under an enormous mess of spiritual black marks – ways we have wronged our perfect God. The Bible calls these things sin. We have no hope of freeing ourselves. We are truly stuck. In need of rescue.
But by admitting the need to be forgiven – by reaching out and saying, “God, help me! I can’t get out of this unless you save me,” we can be confident that he hears and helps.
That’s what we remember at communion--that God reached down into the rubble and saved us by the death and resurrection of Jesus.
SOURCE: Matthew Rogers. Citation: TIME Magazine, 9/11/02, p. 38.
If you, by faith, recognize Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you are invited to share in the elements of the table.
You do not have to be a member of this church to partake, but we do ask that you have a relationship with Jesus.
If you do not know Jesus, that is, you are not yet a person of faith, you do not trust Him with your life, please let the elements pass by.
Please wait until the time comes when you do have that personal relationship with the Lord Jesus.
We practice “communion” because we are to remember the death of the Lord Jesus.
We take the bread to remind us that it was by the body of our Savior that our salvation came.
He died in our place.
He became our substitute.
Being led in prayer by ____, let us take a moment and thank Him for being our sacrifice.
(Prayer)
The apostle Paul writes, "The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."
Let’s partake together.
We take the cup to remind us that it was by the blood of our Savior that our salvation came.
He died for our sins.
He became our sacrifice.
It is here we rejoice in the forgiveness we have received.
____ will now come and lead us in prayer.
Again, the apostle Paul writes, "In the same way, after supper he took the cup saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."
Let’s partake together.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
BENEDICTION:
Now…
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
Amen.
RESOURCES:
SermonCentral:
Cook, Pat You Then Me
Goins, Doug The Spoils of Victory
____ This Land Is Our Land
____ Initiative or Inertia?
____ Cities of the Levites
____ And When the Battle’s Over
Hamby, John Give Me that Mountain
Richards, Tim It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over
Robb, Robert Division of the Land
____ Rash Judgment
Books:
Boice, James Montgomery. Joshua: An Expositional Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1989.
Campbell, Donald K. No Time for Neutrality. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1981.
