How long will you wait?PRIVATE 

Joshua 13:1-19:51

Key Verse 18:3

So Joshua said to the Israelites: "How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?

This passage says that we must claim all the promises of God by absolute faith in His absolute faithfulness. Memorize Heb 11:1.

1. Skim through 13:1-7. Although the land described in vs. 2-5 was yet to be taken, the Lord commanded Joshua to allocate the land as an inheritance for Israel. What lesson is there for us to learn (Heb 11:1, 8,10,16; 12:22)?

** We learn that faith in God and His promises is the key to  God's ideals [not man's ideals] becoming for us a reality.

2. Compare 13:8-33 with Numbers 32:1-42. Before granting this land to the so-called Trans-Jordan tribes, how severely did Moses rebuke them (Num 32:7,14)? On what condition did Moses allot the land to them (Num 32:20-24)? What did Moses try to teach them by attaching a harsh condition like this (Heb 11:1)? 

** Moses rebuked them for forgetting God's promise to take possession of the Promised Land. In other words, Moses rebuked them for their lack of faith in God, for Moses did not want them lose all the good and perfect blessings the Lord God had for them.

** Go and fight the Lord's battle standing on the front line, until all the brothers and sisters in the Lord will have claimed the Lord's promises.

** He taught them to fully live by faith in God's promises.

3. Read 14:1-5. The Levites received "no" share of the land. Instead they were to make a living from "offerings" made to the Lord (13:14). What can we learn from this "special" arrangement (Jos 18:7; Deu 8:3, 10-20; Jn 6:7)? 

** The Lord arranged it like this so that the Israelites would not indulge in the blessings and thereby forget the Lord who is the real source of all blessings, visible and invisible.

4. Read aloud 14:6-15. What is the significance of Hebron (Gn 25:10; 49:31; 50; 13; 2Sa 2:2, 3)? Yet who occupied the land so far (12; Num 13:6, 33)? Yet why do you think Joshua claimed the land (Num 13:30; 14:6-9; Jos 14:12; 15:14)? Why did Joshua approve Caleb's claim? What can we learn from Caleb (14:14)?

** It signifies the sum total of the promises made by God to the patriarchs of faith - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 

This small piece of land (which Abraham legally bought for a price) works as a flag-like sign signaling all the descendants of Abraham of the Lord's promise to give the land to the Israelites. In many ways Hebron is like the Holy Spirit who resides in us, working as a deposit of the reality to come. 

Read 2 Corinthians 1:22 Set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

2 Corinthians 5:5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

** Enemies (as strong as Anakites) were sitting there to keep the Israelites away from claiming the land, showing that our enemies know better than us what is really good for us, God's children. These Anakites are symbolic of all who set themselves up against the way of salvation by faith in the gospel of Jesus. And modern day Anakites include all kinds of fears our enemies are planting in us, fears by which they hold God's children in slavery to the power of sin and death. 

Joshua is the precursor of Jesus who eventually came to set these people free from the grip of fear and thereby save them into God's life. 

Hebrews 2:14-15, "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil-- And free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

** He had the zeal to see God's promise fulfilled. So even risking his life, he was willing to go up against the enemies and take possession of the land, not because of his own might but because of His faith in God Almighty. Remember that it was through blessing His faith that the Lord God kept him strong to that day. [Notice that Joshua 11:21 says it was Joshua who drove out the Anakites, but it was only according to the general custom that all credit is given to the commander in chief, even if the actual conquest is accomplished by regular soldiers. Cf. 15:14. 

** Joshua approved it because he recognized his fighting spirit of faith!

** From him we learn that it is by absolute faith in the Lord that one can lay hold of all the promises of God, especially the essential portion of them. 

5. Read 15:1, 12, 13-19, 20, 63. What can we learn from Othniel and his wife Acsah (Mt 11:12; Gen 1:28)? Yet, why was it that Judah could not "dislodge" the Jebusites? Who eventually dislodged them (2Sa 5:6-9)? What lesson is there for us to learn here?

** Othniel had a brave faith. 

** His wife Acsah also had a very positive spirit to claim God's promises without fear. 

** They were not strong enough in faith.

** David did.

** It all depends on faith, for nothing is impossible for the one who believes! 

Mark 9:23  "'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."

6. Read 16:4, 10, and 17:1-6, 12-18. What can we learn from Zelophehad's 5 daughters? Yet, what complaints did the descendants of Joseph file with Joshua? In what respect was it not easy for Joshua to handle their complaints (Num 13:8, 16)? Yet what did Joshua say to them? What can we learn from Joshua?

** They did not entertain any humanistic ideas like "Oh, we are women. We are worthless." Rather they positively claimed God's promises, because they believed that God is fair and just, and regardless of physical condition, God honors those who live by faith in Him. 

** They thought that being descendants of Joseph, one of the prominent tribes of Israel, they deserved more land acreage. They did not admit their weaknesses which resulted in their failure to drive out the enemies. 

Read Joshua 16:10 

They [Ephramites] 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. 

Also read Joshua 17:12 

Yet the Manassites were not able to occupy these towns, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that region.

** He was an Ephramite, so it might have been difficult for him to rebuke his own fellowship members. 

** Yet, he rebuked them to repent of their sinful habit of habitual complaints, and the habit of claiming privileges, but neglecting their responsibilities. He taught them a pioneering spirit. 

** He was a man of principle. He did not compromise because of his physical relationship with his fellow Jews.

7. Read 18:1-10. How did Joshua rebuke the seven tribes who had not yet received their inheritance? However, how did Joshua practically help them out? What can we learn from this passage? 

** He rebuked them for their passiveness, for these seven tribes were a lazy bunch who laid down under a persimmon tree waiting for persimmons to ripen and fall right into their mouth. 

** He made a specific plan to help them out. The plan is very good because it shows how to put down the vision on  paper with all the details made visible in one view.

** Joshua was a good shepherd for the flock, knowing how to help sheep very practically. 

8. Skim through 18:11-19:48, and read 19:49-51. Distribution of the land began first with Caleb and last with Joshua, and both of them received their portions, not by lottery but by faith. What can we learn from them (Heb 11:1; Num 14:6-9, 30)? 

** God's work begins and ends with the one who lives by faith in his promise, from first to last. 

The end.

 

 

page \* arabic4

---