AM Bible Study Group; November 27, 2013
Joshua 13:1-14:5
Theme: This chapter teaches us lessons from the story of the beginnings of the possession of the land.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
Chapters 1-12 tell us the story of the conquest of the land of Canaan. With Chapter 13 of Joshua, we begin the second half of the book—and the beginnings of the story of the land west of the Jordan River that had yet to be divided to the people of Israel.
The victorious Christian life—like the book of Joshua—involves a conquest over the areas of our life that are still given over to sin. Just like in the first half of Joshua, we are to rise up and—with God’s help—conquer those areas and gain victory over them. Jesus has ensured that victory for us by His own blood; and He—like the Joshua of old—leads us in the conquest. But then comes the time in which we must take full possession of and settle into all that God has given to us—a task for which the story of Joshua only serves as a faint picture. As it says in Hebrews 4:8-11; “For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. It’s up to use to take possession in the confidence of the sufficiency of Jesus. Victory isn’t complete without fully occupying and entering into the rest that God has provided for us through Christ..
Note in this section of Joshua . . .
I. THE EXPANSE OF THE LAND THAT REMAINED TO BE CONCQURED (13:1-7).
A. The second half of Joshua begins with a statement of how the work is not yet done. God speaks in these first few verses to Joshua himself. “You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed” (v. 1). God doesn’t excuse Joshua from the work, though, simply because he is old. No matter how long we live in Christ, we can be sure that there are still areas of ‘Canaan’ in our lives that are not yet conquered; and for all our days, we must keep growing. Even Paul affirmed that he had not yet “attained”. He still needed to press on (Philippians 3:12-16).
B. The area of the land that was not yet possessed (see verses 2-6a) is quite a bit bigger than what we find on our typical map of Ancient Israel. It included the coastal lands of the Philistines; Sihor, east of Egypt; the southern lands of the Sidonians; and even up into the north-eastern country of Lebanon. This greatly expanded area seems to be part of what is promised to belong to Israel in times to come—as is told in the prophecy of Isaiah 11:14-16.
C. This land is promised by God. It would be He who would drive the people groups out before Israel (see v. 6b). But it was up to Joshua and the leaders to divide the land. Long ago, after taking census of the tribes, God had commanded Moses to divide the inheritance to the people of God by lot (see Numbers 26:52-56). This may have been what David was writing about in Psalm 16:5-6; “O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good inheritance.” Sometimes, we fail to take possession of what God wants to give us because we want something other than what He has chosen for us. Sometimes, we think that the lines have not fallen to us in good places; because they sometimes involve suffering, or illness, or pressure, or loss. We try to move the lines; or make them fall for us where they fell for someone else. But if we will accept the lot that God has given us and allow Him to lead us in it, we will find in the end that—indeed—our inheritance is good and the lines have fallen in pleasant places!
II. THE LAND ALREADY DIVIDED EAST OF THE JORDAN BY MOSES (13:8-33).
A. Before telling us the story of the possession of the land on the west of the Jordan, we’re reminded of the land already conquered on the east. We’re told that this is the land that Moses gave to the two-and-a-half tribes (vv. 8-14; see Numbers 21:21-35) who requested this land for themselves before the crossing of the Jordan (see Numbers 32). Two things are highlighted about this portion of the land: (1) they did not drive out some of the people—remnants of which still lived among them to that day (v. 13); and (2) the Levites were not given an inheritance of land (see v. 14 and also v. 33).
B. Three tribes were described as having possession of the lands on the east: Reuban (as described in vv. 15-23), Gad (as described in vv. 24-28), and half the tribe of Manasseh (as described in vv. 29-31). The descriptions of their boarders are hard to define with absolute accuracy today; and so the best way to understand these portions of Chapter 13 is to consult a map.
C. We’re told in verses 32-33 that “These are the areas which Moses had distributed as an inheritance in the plains of Moab on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward”. But it should be remembered that these tribes on the east went on to suffer trouble and were often unfaithful. They did not choose what God had really wanted for them.
III. THE LAND YET TO BE DIVIDED WEST OF THE JORDAN BY JOSHUA (14:1-5).
A. The story of the setting of the tribes on the east sets the stage for the beginning of the story of the settling of the tribes to the west. “These are the areas which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel distributed as an inheritance to them” (14:1).
B. We’re told that their inheritance was “by lot, as the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe” (v. 2). It was not “by lot” for the tribes on the east. They choose for themselves what they wanted (see vv. 3-5); not even setting aside land for the Levites. But the tribes on the west were given their land by God’s gracious choice.
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It’s hard not to principalize from all this that what is ours through ‘Moses’ is often easily a regret to us. It’s what we grab hold of by our own strength and human efforts. Only what is ours through ‘Joshua’ (i.e., Jesus) is secure and ultimately satisfying to us; because it is our possession by grace. “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:5-6).