This Land Is Our Land

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.