We are coming to the end of this book JOSHUA. A major part of the campaign to occupy Canaan has been completed.
• We have a survey of the land and the description of the allotments given to the various tribes.
• By now Joshua was aged (the Lord says in Chapter 13). Joshua assigned the outstanding lands to the tribes and they will conquer their respective allotments in smaller missions.
• We see the division of the land in the next few chapters.
This division of land means nothing to us, of course, if we read it from our perspective. We have to approach it from the perspective of an Israelite.
• This is their long-awaited home. The nation has gone on for hundreds of years without a home, an inheritance that is their own.
• This land is now their home, a fulfilment of the promise God gave to their forefathers.
The sense here is like the unveiling of a will, the execution of the will when the inheritance is apportioned.
• Imagine being beneficiaries of a will and now in the lawyer’s office about to hear the announcement of the will and divisions of the assets.
• The allotments are clear and detailed, as expected of a will. Every tribe is given an inheritance (except the Levites, because they are set aside for the service of God).
• Feel the excitement here. Sense the joy of seeing God’s gift of the land being allotted to them. It’s a place they can finally called home.
SEE GOD’S FAITHFUL PROMISE FOR HIS PEOPLE
Moses: “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change his mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfil?” (Num 23:19)
God made a promise to Abraham in Gen 12:7 “The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.”
• That was some 650 years ago. Many things have changed since then. Many nations, many generations have come and gone. But God’s promise remains.
• Joshua concluded it this way – Josh 21:43-45
“So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”
For God to keep His promise, He needs to liberate an entire nation from Egypt, cross obstacles (Red Sea, River Jordan, overcome fortified cities), and then bear with an obstinate generation for another 40 years and to keep them alive in the wilderness with daily supply of manna and water.
• In that sense, God has to overcome many “obstacles” to keep His promise intact.
• And He did, after a period of over 600 years, through ups and downs, through twists and turns, and many human failures in between. Nothing can derail God’s promise.
Missionary Hudson Taylor made a very interesting comment in his journal:
Our heavenly Father is a very experienced One. He knows very well that His children wake up with a good appetite every morning… He sustained 3 million Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years.
We do not expect He will send 3 million missionaries to China; but if He did, He would have ample means to sustain them all…
Depend on it, God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.
Our Daily Bread, 16 May 1992
Even if we are faithless, God will remain faithful, because that’s Him.
• 2 Tim 2:13 “If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown himself.” We cannot change Him.
• God will keep His part of the deal, always. We are the ones who don’t.
Do you know that Israel did not obey God completely?
They were instructed, prior to entering the Promised Land, to utterly destroy the Canaanites, BUT THEY DID NOT.
• Josh 13:13 “But the Israelites did not drive out the people of Geshur and Maacah, so they continue to live among the Israelites to this day.”
• Josh 15:63 “Judah could not dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the people of Judah.”
• Josh 16:10 “They [Ephraimites] did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer; to this day the Canaanites live among the people of Ephraim but are required to do forced labor.”
• Judg 1:21 “The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.”
• Judg 1:27-34 “But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. 28 When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. 29 Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, who remained among them; but they did subject them to forced labor. 31 Nor did Asher drive out those living in Acco or Sidon or Ahlab or Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob, 32and because of this the people of Asher lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. 33 Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them.”
In the days to come we are going to see the consequences of their disobedience.
This is what I want to highlight: God is faithful.
• You cannot fault Him. He did not and will not wrong you. He is the faithful One.
• What He says is true and will come true. We don’t need to be too concerned about what people say, or what the world says.
• Be concerned with what God says because it is true and it will come true.
SEE GOD’S FAITHFUL PASSION FOR HIS PEOPLE
Moses: 7The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.” (Deut 7:7-9)
God has our interest at heart. It is a covenant of love. He is faithfully good to His people, a faithful lover of our soul.
• In reading of Israel’s history, we see this recurring and unchanging theme – God does everything FOR Israel, for her good.
• In different ways – God delivers them from slavery, provides for them as long as they need, teaches them the right way, fights for them and give them victories…
• It comes in different ways but in EVERY way, He is acting FOR them.
God protected Israel by removing all forms of evil and idolatry from around them, and that was the reason why the Canaanites have to go.
• It is not that God is bias and unfair, killing innocent people and letting Israel take their land. He is not brutal or cruel. In fact, He is merciful.
• When Abram first stepped onto this land, God said: “You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” (Gen 15:15-16)
• In order words, there comes a time when the sin and the pervasion of the Canaanites will reach its climax and God will step in to judge.
Just like Sodom and Gomorrah. Gen 18:20-21 the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me…."
• Abraham prayed. What if there is 50 righteous people in the city? 45, 30, 20, 10 righteous people. God: “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.” (Gen 18:32)
Just like the days of Noah.
• Last year there was this movie NOAH which distorted the biblical account and depicted God as the ruthless One out to destroy mankind without mercy.
• Gen 6:11-12 “Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. 12God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.”
• You know how God feels? Gen 6:6 “The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.”
It took Noah 100 years to build the Ark. Peter said, “God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.” (1 Pet 3:20)
• Noah, the preacher of righteousness (2 Pet 2:5) urges the people to repent for 100 years! And then the flood came and it lasted 40 days.
This is our God. He is out to protect us from harm and evil.
• In today’s context, He is the one out to destroy ISIS. We won’t accuse him; we will cheer him on. That was what God did in Israel’s time.
• Can we not trust Him, who is faithful to His promise and faithfully in love with us?
Let me close with this parable:
A man got lost in the desert. After wandering for a long time he ran out of water and his throat became very dry. About this time he saw a little shack in the distance. He made his way over and found a water pump with a small jug of water and a note. The note reads: “Pour all the water into the top of the pump to prime it, if you do this you will get all the water you need.”
Now the man had a choice to make, if he trusted the note and poured the water in and it worked he would have all the water he needed. Or he could choose to drink the water in the jug and get immediate satisfaction, but it might not be enough and he still might die.
After thinking about it the man decided to risk it. He poured the entire jug into the pump and began to work the handle. At first nothing happened but he kept going and water started coming out. So much water came out, he drank all he wanted, took a shower, and filled all the containers he could find.
Now the note also said: “After you have finished, please refill the jug for the next traveller.” The man refilled the jug and added to the note: “Please prime the pump, believe me it works!”
We have the same choice to make today. Do we believe the Word God has for us?
• Or do we take what we have in our hands, what the world offers. Go for the immediate gratifications, but a temporary one.
• If we have tasted the truth of God’s Word, can we not tell the rest: “Go, prime the pump, believe me, the Word is true, it works!”
God is faithful. Stay faithful. Love Him and serve Him.
• You can either be faithful or you are not, there is no in-between. There is no such things as “I’m somewhat faithful or sometimes faithful.”
• BE FAITHFUL because God is faithful to you.
