JOSHUA 17-24 JOSHUAS FAREWELL2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Joshua 17-24 Joshuas Farewell

Well,

We're in the book of Joshua this morning. We'll be looking at chapters 17 through 24, finishing up the book of Joshua and finishing up the chapters we've been reading this week and heading into the book of Judges tomorrow. So great new exciting things in store for us as we continue on reading through the Bible together in three years.

Well, the book of Joshua, one last time, the author is Joshua. He was writing these things down as they were occurring. His name means Yahweh is salvation. It's the Hebrew form of the Greek name Jesus. And so Joshua and Jesus mean the same thing.

It covers the time period 1406 to 1350 BC, which we'll see in just a moment. And then the theme of this book is the conquest of Canaan. Having been delivered from Egypt and spent some time in the wilderness, it's Joshua that God uses to lead his people into the promised land and to conquer the whole land for the people of Israel. And so that's what's recorded here in the book of Joshua. Well,

Well, on our timeline, there's handouts in the back if you want a better picture, a better look at the timeline. But we're looking at the historical books as we begin the book of Joshua.

Well, it's the beginning of the historical books as now we head into the time of the judges and then the time of the kings and then the destruction of Israel and Judah and then the return to Israel later on in Israel's history. So for the next few hundred years, we're going to be looking at the historical books of

and going through that timeline, starting here in Joshua, and then as we head into the book of Judges, we'll be continuing on. And so right at the beginning of the establishing of the nation and the things that God is going to be doing through that.

Well, the conquest of Canaan is the theme of the book. And here you have a map of some of the places and kind of the path that they took. On the east side of the Jordan River, Moses led the people to victory against David.

two areas or two kingdoms, the Amorites and then the kingdom of Og there in the north. And so Moses led the people that far. They conquered those nations. They conquered that side of the Jordan. And then they camped right at the Jordan River about to cross over. But you might remember God would not allow Moses to cross over. So Moses died on that side of

the Jordan River on that side of the promised land and now it's Joshua who leads them across the Jordan and Joshua leads them in kind of three main campaigns as we saw last week. Right there in the middle is where they went first and then they went south and conquered those kingdoms and nations and then they went north and conquered those kings and nations as they had gathered against the people of Israel. And so at this point where we are in chapter 17 today where we start

Those battles have been taken place. As a whole, the land has been conquered. It has been taken. There's still enemies. There's still peoples. But the main kingdoms, the main nations, they've been conquered. And so the people have now inherited the land.

And so what we've been seeing in the past few chapters leading up to where we start today in chapter 17 is the division of the land. And so what's happening now is the land is being divvied up between the tribes of the nation of Israel. There's division.

12 tribes that are given land, 13 tribes altogether when you include the tribe of Levi, but Levi is not given a portion of land. And so the land is divided up between 12 tribes of the nation of Israel.

And last week, as we were studying together, we got to see the division of land for on the east side of the Jordan, Manasseh, Gad, and Reuben. So that's the land that's apportioned to them, that's set aside for them. Then we also saw the land that was given to Judah and the land that was given to Ephraim. And over the next few chapters, we'll be seeing the different portions that are given to the rest of the tribes.

Now, as we talk about the division of the land, this was an inheritance that God was giving to his people.

Now, you and I might look at this. It doesn't mean very much. But for the people of Israel, this was something that was hugely important. This was a great blessing because what was happening here is God was giving them land. And he had designed the system, you might remember as we studied through the law, that they could not permanently sell the land. So,

At the year of Jubilee, the land that they had sold off would always return back. And so it was not really a selling transaction, but more of a leasing transaction if you were to sell your land.

God had designed it to be a great gift because the land was given to the tribe and then within the tribe, each family was given a plot of land. This was a way that God was providing for them to be able to have provision, to be able to feed themselves, to be able to, you know, live and, you know, be able to sell produce and crops and things like that and to be able to have, you

some type of provision for them. It was a way that God was ensuring that they would not lose everything, that they would be continually provided for. And it was intended that this would remain their land for forever. Now there was a problem because the nation of Israel rebelled against God and so they were conquered and that's why these divisions are not there any longer.

But that was not God's intention as he gave them the land. In fact, in the millennial kingdom, as we saw in the book of Ezekiel, probably a couple years ago now, the land is given once again to the different tribes. And the same thing, the different portions are given to the different families of the nation of Israel. This is something that was hugely important for them. It would be as if, you know, if you could imagine Israel,

God gave you, you know, some big plots of land, some provision for you and something that you could have some security in and have some provision from. It was a great blessing to these families as God was giving them this land. And so it's being divided up between the tribes of the nation of Israel, 12 different tribes that are receiving land. And that's the context now as we head into chapter 17 with what we're looking at.

So Joshua chapter 17, verse 10 is the key verse. It says, southward it was Ephraim's, northward it was Manasseh's. And the sea was its border. Manasseh's territory was adjoining Asher on the north and Issachar on the east. And so what we have is the description of the land of Manasseh here in verses 1 through 13. Now Ephraim and Manasseh were sons of Joseph.

And so Joseph's sons now have become tribes or heads of families here in the nation of Israel. And that happened in the book of Genesis. We saw when Jacob took Joseph's sons as his own. And so there was originally 12 sons of Jacob, which became the 12 tribes of Israel.

But then Joseph became Ephraim and Manasseh. So now it's 13 tribes of Israel, but only 12 of them are receiving land in the nation of Israel or the land of Canaan. So the land of Manasseh is given and it's given as one lot, Ephraim and Manasseh, because they're Joseph's sons. And then that land is divided between them. And that's what's being described here in verses 1 through 13.

And yet, verses 14 through 18, we see that Ephraim and Manasseh are asking for more land. They say, hey, Joshua, we're a big nation. We're big families. We've got, you know, a large population in our tribes. You need to give us more land.

I like what Joshua says in response though. In verse 15 he says, if you are a great people, because that's what they said, hey, we're a great people, we need more land. So he says, if you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the giants, since the mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you.

You see, what was happening is they were given this portion of land, and you can see it here. There's Manasseh, that green section there on the left side of the Jordan River. They were given that portion along with Ephraim. That was a combined portion and divided between them. And as they were given this portion, it is a good part of land. I mean, it's a good amount of land.

But they were saying, hey, we're too great. There's too many of us for this land. But the reality was they did not want to fight the battles that needed to be fought. They did not want to do the work that needed to be done. They wanted an easier territory. They wanted an easier land where they wouldn't have to work so hard. Basically, what they're telling Joshua is we would prefer a land that does not have so many challenges.

Because we're going to have to clear the trees. There's forests here. And so in order for us to be able to, you know, take up residence, we're going to have to cut down trees. We're going to have to dig up those stumps. We're going to have to do some hard work. It's going to be difficult. Not only that, but there's mountains. And so we're going to have to be doing some climbing and dealing with the elevation of

There's enemies there, and amongst those enemies are even some of the giants. And so there's going to be some fierce battles, some great difficulties. Joshua, you need to give us a different portion of land or more land. They wanted something with not so many challenges.

You know, I thought it was interesting as I was thinking about this and this mentality of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. And it reminded me of something that Jesus said in Matthew chapter 11, verse 12.

There in Matthew 11 verse 12, Jesus says, And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. And there's lots of discussion about what that means that it suffers violence and that the violent take it by force. But I think the overall meaning and the emphasis that Jesus is sharing there is that God's promises and plans for you are not always easy.

God has some great things in store for Ephraim and Manasseh. He's given them a great piece of land, but it's not that they just are to just, you know, not have any troubles or battles or fights or struggles or difficulty. He wants them to engage, to lean into the troubles that are there, the difficulties that are there. He promises to be with them, to bring them victory, but he

wants them to be involved in those battles, to be engaged in that. And I share what Jesus shared to remind us that the kingdom of God for us is the same. That it's not that we're not to have any difficulties. That's not God's plan for you. That you would never have any troubles, that you would never have any battles, that nothing would be hard work. No, God has great promises for you and I as believers in Jesus.

As part of that, He calls us to battle. He calls us to work, to labor. He calls us to deal with some giants, some great difficulties, some great opposition.

I like what John Corson says about Matthew 11, 12. He says,

in exercise of faith, and an expenditure of energy, lay hold of the promises of God violently and aggressively. I want to encourage you this morning as we look at these different tribes that are receiving the land. All of these portions of land include battles and difficulty. All of them, as they receive their inheritance, their promise from the Lord, it includes battles and difficulty, and God is calling them.

to be aggressive, to be enthusiastic, to press on. And the same is true for you and I as believers. That we need to not just kind of sit around and hope we become holy, but we need to engage in the battle and pursue purity. We don't need to just sit around and hope that one day that, you know, we learn how to use our spiritual gifts and it just kind of happens.

No, we have to practice those gifts. We have to take steps of faith, put them into action. We don't just sit back and wait that, you know, one day God is going to just transform us and then all of a sudden we're going to be different and then we're going to be, you know, fully involved and radical believers and able to share our faith. It doesn't happen that way. The way it happens, the way that we receive God's promises is we have to get involved in the battle.

We have to engage and be pursuing those promises that God has given to us. We'll see that theme continued on throughout our time together. But let's move on to Joshua chapter 18. Joshua 18 verse 10, it says, Then Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord, and there Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions."

Here in verses 1 through 10, we have the land divided between the other seven tribes. So the land east of the Jordan has already been given. The land has been given to Judah, to Ephraim, and to Manasseh. But there's still seven tribes that have not received their land. They've not taken them up.

Joshua calls them in verse 3. It says, Joshua said to the children of Israel, How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you? So why haven't these other tribes received their land? Joshua says, it's because you're neglecting your responsibility. You're neglecting God's promises. You're neglecting the work that God has called you to do.

How long will you neglect? And so he encourages them, go take a survey. Survey the land. Map it out. And come back and then we'll divide it up. If you're not receiving your inheritance, if you're not receiving your promises, Joshua says, it's because you're neglecting to go and do it. To go and take it. Again, we see this theme. God has given us promises. He's given us inheritance in the kingdom of God. But it's not that we're just to sit back and

I wonder how many of us are neglecting God's promises, neglecting God's inheritance, neglecting the work that He has called us to. I would ask you the question that Joshua asked, how long will you neglect God's work, God's word? How long are you going to just put it off and shirk your responsibilities? Your main responsibility, your main mission is to please God. How long are you going to neglect that?

You know, we look at the great promises of the Scripture. How Jesus said that He came to give us abundant life. How do we experience that abundant life? Not by just sitting back and waiting for it to happen, but by pushing forward. You see, today I want to encourage you to experience the fullness of God's plan for you. Press forward in His Word and His promises. The Scriptures promise the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

For those who believe, for those who ask. How many of us neglect the filling of the Holy Spirit? The promise of the Comforter that Jesus declared. That promise of empowering to serve the Lord, to walk with the Lord, to have victory in our lives. How long will you neglect the baptism of the Holy Spirit? And miss out on the inheritance that God has established for you? How long will you neglect victory over sin? We love to be the victims of

Because it's a great excuse for us. I mean, it's like, well, I just, I was overcame, you know. It was just too strong. The temptation was too powerful. What could I do? But that's contrary to what the scriptures declare. That Jesus said, if we've been set free by Him, we're free indeed. Paul told us to walk in the Spirit and not gratify the lusts of the flesh. We have opportunity to obey God, to turn from sin, to have victory. But it's not going to happen if we just sit back and neglect God.

what God has given to us. We've got to engage and push forward. You know, God has given each believer spiritual gifts. Gifts that are described, gifts that are explained in the scriptures in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, Romans 12, Ephesians 4. Great spiritual gifts. Opportunity and responsibility within the body of Christ. But you will not experience the effectiveness of those spiritual gifts that God has given to you

If you're just sitting back and waiting for something to happen. You got to take steps of faith. You got to try and fail. You got to try and succeed. You got to go forward and do things that God gives you opportunity to do. Go into battle. Oh, but it's scary. Or it's hard work. Yes, it is. But how long will you neglect the inheritance that God has given to you? You have a role within the body of Christ.

You have a role within the kingdom of God to further the kingdom of God. How long will you neglect? And so Joshua sends out these other seven tribes and says, look, enough neglecting. Go, search it out, find it out. Take possession of what God has given to you. And so now we see the division of those lands, starting with the land of Benjamin in verses 11 through 28. So the land of Benjamin is right there in between Judah and Ephraim.

The land of Benjamin is given to them. They take it, but as we see in all of the different tribes, they're not able to fully possess the land and drive out all the inhabitants. And that's something we'll talk more about in the book of Judges.

Some noteworthy descendants came from the tribe of Benjamin though. King Saul, the first king of Israel, was of the tribe of Benjamin. And then another Saul, Saul of Tarsus, who now we know today as the Apostle Paul, also was a descendant of Benjamin.

Well, then we move into Joshua chapter 19. The key verse is verse 49. It says, So here in chapter 19, we find the conclusion of the divisions of the land being given to the tribes of Israel and then Joshua receiving his inheritance. So let's walk through these verses.

one by one. We have the land of Simeon given there. It's in the midst of Judah. And so that's the land that's given to Simeon. And then we have the land that's given to Zebulun up in the north, that kind of white section there near the Sea of Galilee. That was given to Zebulun. Then we have the tribe of Issachar.

who's given the land there just below Zebulun in that kind of gold or copper color right there on the border of the Jordan River.

Then we have the tribe of Asher up there on the Mediterranean coast in the north part of the nation, the land that God had given to them. There is someone noteworthy that comes from the tribe of Asher as well. You might remember from Luke chapter 2, the prophetess Anna, who greeted Mary and Joseph as they brought Jesus to the temple. She was a descendant of the tribe of Asher.

Well, then you have the tribe of Naphtali. They're right next to Asher in the north of the land that God had given to them. One of the noteworthy descendants from Naphtali was Barak. You remember in Judges chapter 4, Deborah had to call Barak and say, hey, you're not doing your duty. You need to go into battle and receive the victory over these who are oppressing Israel. And he was a little bit scared, but he said, okay, I'll go into battle if you go with me.

Well, he was a descendant of the tribe of Naphtali. And then finally, we have the tribe of Dan there in the southern part, just atop of Judah. That was the land that was given to Dan. Now, you might notice Dan is kind of that red color. And there's another section at the north of Israel where there's like a little triangle of that same color. That also is land that's going to belong to the tribe of Dan.

It was not divided to Dan at this time. We're going to look at that in the book of Judges because Dan didn't like the land that they were given either. And so they went up and found another portion up there that they wanted to inhabit. So they actually inhabited there, that northern portion and then that southern portion. Well, that brings us to Joshua chapter 20.

Verse 2 is the key verse. It says, speak to the children of Israel saying, appoint for yourselves cities of refuge of which I spoke to you through Moses. So in verses 1 through 9, we have here described the cities of refuge. Now the cities of refuge were commanded by the Lord in the law through Moses. And so we saw them briefly in the book of Exodus. We saw them more clearly.

described more in Numbers chapter 35. As the command is given in Numbers 35, God says in verse 6, among the cities which you give to the Levites, you shall appoint six cities of refuge to which a manslayer may flee. They shall be cities of refuge, in verse 12 of Numbers 35, for you from the avenger that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment.

So the purpose of the cities of refuge were to make sure that justice was administered. Because if there was an accidental killing, so you accidentally ran over someone with your horse and cart or the axe head fell off your axe while you were chopping wood and it hit somebody and killed them.

Well, there would be the need for a right trial, for a fair trial. Was this on purpose? Was it premeditated? And God's word declared, if it was premeditated, if you intended to kill somebody and you killed them, then you are to die. That's murder and you need to be put to death for it.

But if it was an accident, well, then it wasn't fair or right or just to put them to death for that. And so God provided the cities of refuge as a place for the manslayer to flee to. And the idea is they would flee to the nearest city of refuge so that they could have basically asylum, that they could be protected from the avenger of blood.

The avenger of blood was someone from the family of the person who had died. And that person would be responsible to making sure that justice was accomplished. Making sure that whoever killed their relative was given the appropriate judgment for that. And so they were the avenger of blood. They were to make sure that they were to put to death for murder.

But as you could imagine, if someone killed your relative and you were responsible to make sure that they pay for it, the facts might not be so important to you. And so there was a need for some type of protection that people wouldn't be put to death for things that were accidents that took place that they did not intend.

And so that's what God established these cities of refuge for. So that the person could flee there and the avenger of blood was not allowed to, you know, repay them or make sure that they get put to death until the elders of that city are able to put on a fair trial and examine the facts and determine, was this on purpose? Was this premeditated? Does this person deserve death?

And so we saw the east cities of refuge on the east side of the Jordan. In Deuteronomy chapter 4, those are named and established. And here in chapter 20 of Joshua, we have them all listed.

And so on the east side, you have Golan at the top. You have Ramoth Gilead. The wording kind of wrapped there. I apologize about that. And then down in the southern portion, you have Bezer. And then on the west side of the Jordan, you have Kadesh in the north, Shechem right there kind of in the middle, and then Hebron towards the south. And so the idea is, and God instructed, you have to make sure that you establish and maintain roads to all these cities so that they are in, you know, a good distance from...

wherever you are in the land of Israel, that you're able to get to one of those cities very quickly. That there's established roads, they're not too far away, they're distributed between, you know, the different portions of land. And God even gave instruction that if God enlarges your territory, then you need to establish more cities of refuge to follow these same principles so that, you know, you could go and be protected there until you received a fair trial.

So that's the cities of refuge in Joshua chapter 20. And here we go now into Joshua chapter 21. Verse 41 is the key verse. It says, All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were 48 cities with their common lands. So here in chapter 21 verses 1 through 45, the whole chapter, we're looking at the cities that were given to the Levites. 48 cities total that were given to them.

Now, the tribe of Levi was a unique tribe. There was 12 tribes originally, because 12 sons of Jacob. Joseph, his sons were accepted in Joseph's place, and so 12 minus 1 is 11 plus 2, that's 13. Ephraim and Manasseh were added in as tribes of Israel, as Jacob's own sons. And so there's 13 tribes originally,

Why is that? Well, God has explained it several times throughout the law, but one example of that is Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 8 and 9.

It says, So land was given to all of the families of the nation of Israel except for the tribe of Levi.

They were given cities, so a place to live, but not land to be able to develop and provide for themselves. They had a different responsibility, a different role within the nation because their inheritance was not land, but their inheritance was the Lord. They had the unique opportunity and responsibility to serve the Lord there at the tabernacle and later on at the temple.

And so God was treating the tribe of Levi very different because they were to be devoted to the things of the Lord, the things of the tabernacle, and serving him through that. And so here we have kind of a layout of the cities that were spread out throughout Israel that were given to the tribe of Levi. Now Levi was...

into three main tribes because the person Levi had three sons. He had Kohath, Gershon, and Merari. And so these three sons became the heads of these different divisions within the tribe of Levi. And so the Kohathite cities are there in the southern part on the west side of the Jordan River. There are all those red dots there. Those are the cities that were given to the Kohathites. And they

each of these divisions within the tribe of Israel had specific responsibilities regarding the tabernacle and moving it from place to place and then later on within the temple. And then you also had the tribe, or the family of Gershon

And those are the yellow squares. They were in the northern part of Israel and spread out and dispersed among them. And then you had the family Merari, which those are the green triangles. And those are predominantly on the east side of the Jordan with a couple scattered there on the west side. So these are the cities that were given to the tribe of Levi, divided in between the different families. And this is where they were allowed to live. They were able to be there together.

when they were not serving the Lord at the tabernacle. Now this continued on while they were in the wilderness. The tribe of Levi was packing up the tabernacle, moving it, setting it up. But here in Israel, that's not happening anymore. The tabernacle is set up at Shiloh. It's just staying there the whole time. And so their responsibilities kind of changed from moving things to maintaining and continuing to care for the tabernacle.

And later on in 1 Chronicles chapter 23, David will kind of re-enlist the Levites because it kind of fell off and they kind of fell away a little bit during Israel's history.

But David re-enlists them, re-numbers them, and puts them to work. It says in verse 4 of 1 Chronicles 23 that they were to look after the work of the house of the Lord. 6,000 were officers and judges, 4,000 were gatekeepers, and 4,000 praised the Lord with musical instruments, which I made, said David, for giving praise.

And so the work was divided between them. Some of them were officers and overseers. Some of them were gatekeepers, making sure the gates were taken care of. Some of them were musicians. They were, you know, the worship team, and they were to praise the Lord and use the instruments that had been designed for the worship of God. And so these are the cities that were given to the Levites.

They would live there and then they would go to the tabernacle later on the temple to perform their duties according to their schedule as they serve the Lord in those different capacities. And that brings us to Joshua chapter 22. Verse 4 is the key verse. It says, And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brethren as he promised them. Now therefore return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan.

Here in verses 1 through 9, we have Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh returning to their land.

These are the three tribes that requested land on the east side of the Jordan. That took place in Numbers chapter 32. And so Moses agreed, you can have the portion on this side of the Jordan, but you need to send in your warriors to help your brethren conquer the other side of the Jordan. And when they've conquered it, then you can go back and establish your homes and your land there on the other side of the Jordan.

And so that's what we see happening here. Manasseh, Gad, and Reuben are there on the east side of the Jordan. They crossed over with the rest of their brethren, conquered the land, and now it's time for them to go back. But as they go back, we see in verses 10 through 34, there's some conflict at the witness altar. As they are headed back to their land, they get to the Jordan River and they think, you know, we are pretty quick to forget.

And what if later on these tribes on the other side of the Jordan say, hey, you're not part of us. You're not part of the nation of Israel. You don't have an inheritance with us and you're not part of us. And so they said, well, let's establish, let's build a big altar to be a witness, to testify, hey, we belong to Israel.

The nation of Israel. We're part of Abraham's descendants. They're beginning to realize the problem, the difficulty of being separated from the rest of the nation. And the Jordan River was a natural separation. So they had this division and they realized, hey, we've kind of set ourselves apart and it might come that we forget that we're part of them or they forget that we're part of them.

And so they set up this altar. Now, the rest of the nation misinterprets this altar. They think they're worshiping other gods. And there's great zeal demonstrated by the nation here in Joshua chapter 22. Because they go ready to battle these three tribes. Thinking that you've engaged in idolatry. They're ready to battle their own brotherhood.

as they think, hey, you've been involved now in worshiping these false gods. I think Warren Wiersbe had a good point. He said, before you declare war on the brethren, stop and find out what's going on. Maybe you agree after all. And that's what we see happening here.

They're ready to fight. They're ready to battle. And then as the tribes explain themselves, they go, oh, well, that makes sense. Okay, never mind. And it's a good idea, you know, whenever you think you have this battle that needs to be fought. Maybe you should just stop and discuss it for a moment first because perhaps it's not the way that it seems in your own perspective.

What I think is interesting about this portion though is this great zeal that they express in coming against tribes that would turn away from God and yet it's the very next generation that does that and turns away from God. In Judges chapter 2 we'll see that this week that the next generation doesn't know the Lord and turns and follows these false gods.

It reminds me of, well, those times that maybe you and I, we've said, I would never ever do that. I would never be involved in such things. I would never follow those practices. And it's amazing how many times it happens where we say, I would never do that. And it's not that much longer that we find ourselves involved in that very thing. You know, Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 10,

That these things here in the Old Testament are examples for us. And so I pointed out to you today to just say, be warned. You know, those things that you would say, hey, I'm zealous for the Lord in this. I would never be involved in this. Be careful. Be warned. Where you think you stand, Paul says later on in Corinthians, take heed lest you fall. We need to be careful and be on our guard. We are capable of great wickedness.

Just as capable as the nation of Israel that soon after turned away from the Lord. Well, that brings us now to Joshua chapter 23. Verse 15 is a key verse. It says, Therefore it shall come to pass that as all the good things have come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you, so the Lord will bring upon you all harmful things until he has destroyed you from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

Here in verses 1 through 16, Joshua calls Israel to hold fast to the Lord. Chapter 23 and 24 of Joshua are Joshua's farewell addresses. He realizes I'm old. He's passing on the torch to the next generation of leaders. He says, I'm done here. So hold fast to the Lord. Hold on to the Lord. Don't stray from Him. They say,

divided the land and he is encouraging them. The reason why we've divided the land this way is so that you can drive out the inhabitants in the land that was entrusted to you. Joshua explains here in chapter 23, each tribe had their role to play in possessing the land of Israel. As a whole, the nation, they conquered the big kingdoms, but there were still inhabitants in the land. There were still enemies in the land.

And they had to be driven out. How were they going to do that? Well, he delegated. He divided up the work. All right, Judah, this is your responsibility. Not only is it your inheritance and God's great blessing for you, but you have a responsibility to drive out the inhabitants of the land in the area that you've been given. And Ephraim, same to you. Manasseh, same to you. Asher, same to you. Every tribe had the responsibility of driving out the inhabitants of

of their land. And so the work was delegated. It was distributed between these nations, or between these tribes of Israel. This is the way that God continues to work. You know, the body of Christ has been divided up. And part of it is our blessing. It's our inheritance. It's also our responsibility. Each member within the body of Christ is

has their responsibility to perform their role. And you can see that in Ephesians 4 and 1 Corinthians chapter 12. It's something we've talked about a lot. In order for the body of Christ to be pure, for the enemies to be purged, each member has to be responsible for what has been entrusted to them. You are responsible for yourself. And the rest of the body of Christ is affected by...

Well, how effective you are at purging the enemy, at purging the flesh from your life and from your home. The rest of us are impacted by one another because we've each been given responsibility, but we're connected as a whole. Our growth as believers is dependent upon each other. And if you or me are slack in our growth,

walk and our growth and our pursuit of the kingdom of God, it affects the people around us. God has combined us as the body of Christ. It's a unique relationship that we have. It's a picture of our relationship to one another, the body of Christ. It means that we're dependent upon one another, that we are necessary for each other, and that we also affect one another. And so in the same way, how is the body of Christ going to be clean and holy?

Well, each member has to be responsible for their portion, for what God has entrusted to them, for themselves, for their family, for those that they lead. How is the body of Christ going to grow? Each member has to be responsible for their own growth and for the growth of those that God has entrusted to them, and so on and so forth. And so it's part of our inheritance, it's part of our blessing to be part of the body of Christ. It's also part of our responsibility to

Again, to lean in, to be aggressive, to push forward in our relationship with God, to grasp hold of those promises that he's given to us. Now Joshua also encourages them in this. As he says, look, you've been given this land. You need to drive out the inhabitants. In verse 10 here of Joshua 23, he says, one man of you shall chase a thousand for it's the Lord your God who fights for you as he promised you.

So God says, look, as you engage in the work, I'm going to fight for you. It's going to be extra effective, but you have to engage. The Lord wasn't going to fight for them if they didn't go into battle. They had to go into battle in order for the Lord to fight for them. But when they went in with the Lord, one of them would chase a thousand. It would be very effective. You know, the scriptures say, as we draw near to the Lord, he draws near to us. It's very effective when you seek the Lord.

Because the Lord is He who fights for you. He's on your side. And He's accomplishing the work as you engage in it. But notice what it says in verse 15. Joshua says, look, God's going to be with you. You've got your responsibility. But here's something to consider. If you turn away from the Lord, will you experience the amazing blessings of God and everything He promised has come to pass? Every word has been fulfilled of God's blessings.

But God's promises also included cursing. That if you turn away from God and you rebel against God, you will experience these curses, these judgments. Joshua warns the people. He says, God's done a great work. He's given you great inheritance. He's given you great responsibility. As you go with him, he's going to fight on your behalf. It's going to be very effective. But if you turn away from the Lord...

You have this example, you have this model to see every word of God has been fulfilled. Know then, if you turn away from the Lord, every word will be fulfilled. That is, you will experience the curses exactly the way that He declared, just as you experience the blessings exactly as He declared. Joshua is reminding the people that God is fair and just.

If we had it our way, God would give us all the blessings and he would be faithful according to his word in that, but he would give us none of the cursings, none of the judgments for sin. But that's not the way that God works. God is fair and just. He promises blessing and cursing. Blessing on those who

You know, sometimes we ask the question, why do bad things happen to good people? There's some good discussion we could have around that. But as I was considering this verse, I thought, well, maybe we need to flip it around. Maybe a better question is, why do good things happen to bad people? Because we know that, well, we're all sinners, right?

Good things happen to us by the grace and mercy of God, but we cannot take that for granted and think, you know, we're never going to experience penalty or judgment. God's word will be fulfilled. Justice will be accomplished. And those who rebel against him will experience the judgment that he promised. Even if we don't see it right away, it will take place. Well, let's finish this up here in chapter 24. Verse 24 is the key verse. It says, And the people said to Joshua...

Here in Joshua 24, Joshua gathers the nation of Israel to a place called Shechem. Here it is on the map. Shechem is there right between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.

Now, Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, you might remember, are the places where God said as they come into the land that they were to stand part of the congregation on one mountain, part of the congregation on the other. They were to pronounce the blessings and the cursings of the law. They were to put on the stone there and write out the law. We saw that fulfilled in Joshua chapter 8.

And so it was a covenant that the people made with God there at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. And Shechem is right there in between those two mountains. And so Joshua calls them back to that place where they made the covenant with the Lord. And he calls them back there in Joshua chapter 24.

Verses 1-13, he reminds them of their history. Remember how God delivered you. Remember the promises that God gave to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Remember how he went before you and led you in those battles and you were victorious in conquering the land. And then he calls them to the covenant to serve the Lord there in verses 14-28. He says in verse 14, Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve him. On the basis of what God has done for you,

Now, therefore, serve him. Fear him. Obey him. Because what God has done, make a covenant to serve the Lord. He's calling them to a commitment to the Lord. He's calling them to turn to the Lord. Well, then we see his death as well as the death of Eleazar in verses 29 through 33. So he ends his ministry, his time,

With calling the people to obey God, to love Him, and to serve Him. Because of the great things He has done for them. Well, tomorrow as we continue on in our reading, we're going to go through or head into the book of Judges. Quick intro into the book of Judges. It was written by Samuel. Covers a time period of about 1350 to 1075 or 1050. It's about 300 years time period that's covered. And the theme is, the Lord raises up judges who save them.

The very next generation turns away from the Lord and they experience judgment by oppression from surrounding nations. And as the people experience this oppression for a time, then they call out to the Lord and he delivers them. And we see that theme repeated over and over again throughout the book of Judges. Well, as we finish up our time together this morning,

I want to direct your attention to two verses in Joshua chapter 24. It's verse 14 and 15. Joshua 24, 14 says, As we consider today Independence Day for our nation, I think Joshua chapter 24 is an appropriate chapter for us to consider.

Because Joshua here is calling them to put away the gods which their fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt. Israel has just said, we're going to serve the Lord. But Joshua is also saying, you also have those other gods that you're worshiping. You have false gods among you. You need to get rid of those. As Joshua is finishing up his time with the nation, he calls them to repentance.

I would ask the question, what can you do when you know the nation is going to turn away from the Lord? Joshua knew that. God had told Moses. God had told Joshua. The people are going to turn away. And there was even evidence of it already where the people had false gods among them. What can you do when you know the nation will turn away? As we look around at our nation, we know there's false gods. People are pursuing things that are not of God at all.

What can we do? Well, we can follow the example of Joshua here in verse 14, and that's call people to repentance. He calls them to put away those gods and to serve the Lord. That is what we must do. As we care for and consider our nation, we need to call people to repentance and call them to serve the Lord.

And then in verse 15, we see the second thing. Verse 15 says, and if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the river or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. He calls the people to repentance first, but he says, look, that's your choice. And if you choose to serve those false gods,

Well, you get that choice. That's your opportunity. But the second thing I want to close with is, number one, we call people to repentance. Number two, choose that your family will serve the Lord. Of course, this is a famous verse, Joshua 24, 15. We're all familiar with it. But we need to be reminded of it. Choose that you and your family will serve the Lord. What can you do when you know the nation will turn away?

What can you do when you know the nation has turned away from the Lord? Well, you can call people to repentance. Call them to serve the Lord. Call them to make a choice. Stop going back and forth. But secondly, you can choose that you, doesn't matter what everybody else is doing, as for me, as for my house, we are going to serve the Lord. What can we do as we look around our nation and we see what is taking place?

The freedom that we have being used to enslave us in bondage to sin. What can we do? We can call people to repentance and we can choose that we, me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Let's pray.

God, I pray that you would help us to follow Joshua's example. Lord, that we would be involved in calling people to serve you, to turn away from their idolatry, to turn away from their sin, because they can truly be set free in you. And so God, I pray that you would give us boldness to speak forth like Joshua did.

And God, I pray that you would give us boldness to take a stand, to choose for ourselves, for our homes, that we will be committed to you, that we will be faithful to you. No matter what the nation is doing, we will serve you. Help us, God, to take that example, to follow you. And God, I pray that you would help us as we make the choice to follow you. Lord, that you would help us to be passionate about pursuing the inheritance and the promises that you've given to us.

Lord, help us not to be apathetic and just wait and sit back and hope that everything just happens and that you just give us everything that you want to give us. Lord, you desire for us to push forward, to pursue you, to seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to ask and seek and knock and keep on asking and seeking and knocking.

That we might be filled. That we might be overflowing with your Spirit. God, fill us. Help us to have that passion to continue to ask you and seek you and knock for your Spirit. For the gifts of the Spirit. For the chance to share the Gospel. For the opportunity to serve you within your body. Lord, help us to push forward, to be aggressive in our pursuit of you and everything that you have for us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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