Joshua 13

The Finish Line Is Beyond Your Lifetime

Living for Jesus is a race we must run together

Text: Joshua 13

Introduction

Q — Have you ever looked back at the life you have lived and said, “I have lived through a lot, accomplished a lot, grown a lot, etc?”

Q — Have you ever looked ahead and said, “Life is too difficult! How can I finish the goals that are before me?”

Joshua has successfully completed the first half of the commission he had received from God.

Hindsight — Joshua 1:1–5 “1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, 2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. 5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

As we enter into chapter thirteen, it begins with pointing out how Joshua had now reached the fourth quarter of his life. Notice verse 1.

Read the latter part of verse 1: Joshua 13:1 “...there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.”

Joshua now had the second part of God’s commission in front of him. It would be the task of dividing the land. This would allow each tribe to claim its inheritance and enjoy God’s promised blessings.

There is a word that I want you to give special attention to. It’s a word that will help you not over look the spiritual application of these next nine chapters. That word is “inheritance.”

“Inheritance” — Found fifty times in chapters 13-21.

Q — Did the Jews win their land or inherit it?

Leviticus 25:23 “23 The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.”

There was a “rent” God required for them to remain in their inherited land? It was this: They had to honor God with genuine worship and obedience. This stems back to the Palestinian Covenant they agreed too.

Turn to Lev. 26.

This promised land was a gift of love from God!

Loving Him in return was the stipulation of whether or not they got to remain there.

Deuteronomy 4:37–39 “37 And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt; 38 To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.”

Q — What did the Jews eventually do? God allowed the Babylonians to capture them.

There are four stages in the distribution of the land. Throughout these stages, we will discover very needful spiritual lessons for our life today.

This chapter emphasizes the 2.5 tribes (Reuben, God, 1/2 tribe of Manasseh) who would dwell on the east side of Jordan.

Historical Info About the 12 Tribes of Israel:

The 12 tribes of Israel were named after the 12 sons and grandsons of the patriarch Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel). Ten tribes are named directly after his sons, while two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, are named after his grandsons, the sons of Joseph.  

Sons of Leah: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

Sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

Sons of Zilpah, Leah's maid: Gad and Asher.

Sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid: Dan and Naphtali.

Important note: While there were 12 sons, the 13th tribe is often cited because Joseph's sons Ephraim and Manasseh were adopted by Jacob, creating a total of 13 tribes (including Levi). The tribe of Levi is sometimes excluded from the list because they were set aside to serve as priests and had no tribal land of their own. 

What was the process of dividing up the territories?

Found in: Numbers 34:13-29.

Joshua 14:1–2 “1 And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them. 2 By lot was their inheritance, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half tribe.”

Proverbs 16:33 “33 The lot is cast into the lap; But the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.”

Joshua will relocate the camp at Shiloh. Once established, the system will change — Joshua 18:1–7 “1 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them. 2 And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance. 3 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you? 4 Give out from among you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall come again to me. 5 And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall abide in their coast on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coasts on the north. 6 Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. 7 But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance beyond Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”

1) The Work Is Bigger Than One Person

A. Joshua was now much older

The message you don’t get from this is that the age that you are does not expire you from the work God has called you too.

Joshua could have become discouraged because of his age. HE DID NOT!

Joshua was captivated by his age or limitation. He was captivated by the spiritual reality of his life

a) One important person he had in his life that led this way was Moses

He had observed Moses for many years.

He was the law giver and a great leader.

Joshua might have remembered back when Moses went up to the top of Mount Nebo.

As Moses gazed upon the Promised land, what could have went through his mind?

His role was done, but the work would have to be carried on by another.

b) The ongoing nature of the Christian work needs to be realized today

It goes against our “goal-setting” and “get the job done” mindset.

Maybe a good exercise would be to walk through a cemetery sometime.

This reminds you that you are not the center of the universe!

The Apostle Paul grew to see himself as a runner in a relay race — Philippians 3:12 “12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”

B. Joshua’s faith was worthy of the hall of faith

Joshua didn’t get here because he moaned and groaned about the difficulties. He got to the point he accepted that life was difficult and God was his strength.

Quote: (Psychiatrist M. Scott Peck) “Life is difficult.This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult—once we truly understand and accept it—then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.

Most do not fully see this truth that life is difficult. Instead they moan more or less incessantly, noisily or subtly, about the enormity of their problems, their burdens, and their difficulties as if life were generally easy, as if life should be easy. They voice their belief, noisily or subtly, that their difficulties represent a unique kind of affliction that should not be and that has somehow been especially visited upon them, or else upon their families, their tribe, their class, their nation, their race, or even their species, and not upon others. I know about this moaning because I have done my share.

Life is a series of problems. Do we want to moan about them or solve them? Do we want to teach our children to solve them?

Quote: God will never give us more resources than we need to live one day at a time. If perchance we think we have more, we tend to get spoiled. (Jr. Huffman John A. and Lloyd J. Ogilvie)

Joshua had made the decision to enter into the honor roll of faith.

Hebrews 11:30–31 “30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.”

a) What epitaph could be carved on your tombstone?

Would it describe the fruit of faith you produced?

Even though the Hebrew author didn’t mention Joshua by name, he did mention the fruit of his leadership. That is far more important.

Matthew 5:16 “16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

b) Are you thrilled to be able to carry the baton for a few short seasons and then able to pass it on to another generation?