Joshua 12: "Too much to do to die"

This is a great passage. Let me try, up front, to persuade you about this. It's super helpful for understanding Joshua as a whole. There's little hints scattered throughout this section about the Nephilim, if you're into that sort of thing. And the passage points us to God, and his faithfulness, for times when we feel overwhelmed or inadequate. So let's start! Joshua 12:1, reading through verse 6: (1) And these are the kings of the land who the sons of Israel struck, and they took possession of their land beyond the Jordan, toward the east from the wadi of Arnon up to Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah to the east: (2) Sikhon king of the Amorites living in Heshbon, (deep breath) the one ruling from Aroer which is on the edge of Arnon, and from the middle of the wadi and half of Gilead up to Yabbok the wadi the boundary of the sons of Ammon, (3) and the Jordan Valley up to the sea of Kinnereth to the east and up to the Sea of the Arabah the Sea of the Salt to the east on the way of Beth Jeshimoth and from the south under the slopes of Pisgah (deep breath) (4) and the territory of Og the king of Bashan from the remnant of the Rephaim, the one dwelling in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (5) and ruling in Mount Hermon and over Salecah and over all the Bashan up to the boundary of the Geshurites and the Maacthites and half of Gilead the boundary of Sikhon the king of Heshbon (deep breath). (6) Moses the servant of Yahweh and the sons of Israel struck them, and Moses the servant of Yahweh gave it as a possession to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half tribe of Manasseh. The first six verses in this chapter are about Moses. What about him, specifically? Moses' fighting took place in the land on the east side of the Jordan River, in the land that wasn't originally part of the land God promised to his people. These verses describe what Moses accomplished. What did Moses accomplish? Let's reread verse 1: (ACCOMLPISHMENT #1) And these are the kings of the land who the sons of Israel struck, (ACCOMPLISHMENT #2) and they took possession of their land beyond the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun from the wadi of Arnon up to Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah to the east: The promised land east of the Jordan River was controlled by two kings, both of whom are descendants of the Nephilim. Moses put both of these kings in body bags (size XXL). This was his first accomplishment. The killing of Og and Sikhon is a "big" deal. Moses' second accomplishment was that Israel took possession of their land. We tend to think that the conquest is only about Moses' second accomplishment. That all of this is just about giving Israel a home. But AJ actually focuses far more on Moses' first accomplishment. Killing off the Nephilim is a critical part of what Yahweh, and Israel, are accomplishing. So that's what Moses accomplished. He bagged two Nephilim, and he took possession of the land on the wrong (East) side of the Jordan. Verses 7-24 describe what Joshua accomplished: (7) And these are the kings of the land who Joshua struck, with the sons of Israel, beyond the Jordan to the west, from Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon and up to Mount Halak, the one going up toward Seir, and Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their tribes, Let's pause here. What Moses accomplished, and what Joshua accomplished, are not described the same way. In 12:1, we read that Moses "struck" the two kings, and "dispossessed/took possession" of the land. In verse 7, we read that Joshua "struck" the kings of the land, but AJ doesn't tell us that Joshua "dispossessed" them. There is a missing verb. It's true that Joshua gave the land to the tribes as a possession-- but what this actually means, isn't what we think. This will be explained differently as we keep reading, and get to chapter 13. This is really important. People misunderstand the entire book of Joshua, because they don't realize that Israel doesn't actually possess the whole land. So let's restart at verse 7: (7) And these are the kings of the land who Joshua struck, with the sons of Israel, beyond the Jordan to the west, from Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon and up to Mount Halak, the one going up toward Seir, and Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their tribes, in the hill country and in the Shephelah and in the Jordan Valley and in the slopes and in the desert and in the Negev: the Hittites, the Amorites and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, (9) the king of Jericho, one, the king of Ai which is on the side of Bethel, one, (10) the king of Jerusalem, one, the king of Hebron, one, the king of Yarmuth, one, the kind of Lachish, one, (12) the king of Eglon, one, the king of Gezer, one, the king of Devir, one, the king of Geder, one, the king of Hormah, one, the king of Arad, one, the king of Libnah, one, the king of Adullam, one, the king of Makkedah, one, the king of Bethel, one, the king of Tappuah, one, the king of Hepher, one, the king of Aphek, one, the king for the Sharon, one, the king of Madon, one, the king of Hazor, one, the king of Shimron Meron, one, the king of Acshaph, one, the king of Taanach, one, the king of Megiddo, one, the king of Kedesh, one, the king of Jokneam for the Carmel, one, the king of Dor for Naphath Dor, one, the king of Goiim for Gilgal, one, the king of Tirzah, one, all the kings, thirty-one. Notice that AJ's focus here is on the kings. Look at the beginning of verse 7: "And these are the kings of the land who Joshua struck." Then, we get this massive list of kings that starts in verse 9. Killing these (Nephilim) kings is the important thing here. These kings had to die (cf. Deut. 25:17ff). And Joshua bagged 31 of them. With this, we are now in chapter 13: (13:1) And/Now Joshua [was] old. He was long in the days, and Yahweh said to him, "You [are] old. You are long in the days, while very much of the land remains to take possession of it. If we've been reading carefully (and following Heiser), the beginning of chapter 13 shouldn't surprise us. We understand that there is a difference between what Moses accomplished, and what Joshua accomplished. There's a lot left to do. This doesn't mean that Joshua failed, or that Joshua was less of a leader than Moses. Joshua took care of the most important business-- he killed off 31 Nephilim kings. But now Joshua's old, and very much of the land remains to take possession of it. Someone else is going to have to finish the job. Starting back up in verse 2: This is the remaining land: all the region of the Philistines and all of the Geshurites. (3) From the Shihor, which is east of Egypt, and up to the boundary of Ekron toward the north, as Canaanite it is considered. The five rulers of the Philistines, the Gazites and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites and the Ekronites, and the Avvim. (4) from the south, all the land of the Canaanites and Mearah that is for the Sidonians up to Aphek, up to the boundary of the Amorites, (5) And the land of the Gebalites and all of Lebanon toward the east from Baal Gad under Mount Hermon, up to Lebo-Hamath. (6) All the inhabitants/dwellers/settlers of the hill country from Lebanon up to Misrephoth Maim, all of the Sidonians. I , I shall dispossess them1 out from before the sons of Israel. Only2, allocate it to Israel as an inheritance just as I commanded you. (7) And, so then, divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh. Joshua is old. He's not going to be able to do everything that Yahweh wants done. So who will finish this task? Who will drive out these people? Who will give Israel the land? Yahweh says, I got this. Verse 6: I , I shall dispossess them3 out from before the sons of Israel. Joshua can take comfort in this. Joshua did his best-- he lived faithfully for Yahweh. He demonstrated courage and obedience to Yahweh throughout his life. And Joshua can leave this world in peace, knowing that God will finish what he has started. In the last line of verse 6, we read this: Only4, allocate it to Israel as an inheritance just as I commanded you. I think this verse, is the key to correctly understanding almost everything else we are going to read in the book of Joshua. Israel doesn't control the land. Yahweh still needs to finish the job. However, that said, Joshua is supposed to allocate the land as an inheritance. How can the land be allocated, if Yahweh still needs to drive out, and dispossess, the people living there? Maybe, the answer is that Joshua is supposed to do this by faith. The tribes receive their land, knowing that God has given it to them, trusting in his promise. There's maybe a second explanation: Yahweh is the Creator of the heavens and earth. Because he is the Creator, he is the rightful ruler over everything. He is King. But the Nephilim resisted Yahweh's authority. At every point, they fought against Yahweh's people. They attacked the Israelites when they were vulnerable in the wilderness (Deut. 25:17ff). They repeatedly joined forces against Joshua to try to wipe Israel off the map. They refused to give up the authority they had claimed for themselves over the land. They had made themselves kings, and they were determined to fight Yahweh to the bitter end. And Yahweh hardened their hearts (=minds), to make sure they wouldn't come to their senses. Yahweh wanted them dead, as badly as they wanted Israel dead. I think the logic here, is that it's through killing them, that Yahweh asserts his authority over the land. Yahweh was always the rightful Ruler of the land-- as Creator, he is King of heaven above and earth below. But what was needed, was for Yahweh and his kingdom to come in power. With the pretenders/enemies to his throne now dead, Yahweh is free to allocate the land to his people. No one else claims it now. Until they were dead, the tribes couldn't receive their inheritance (I think this is the logic between rest and killing the kings in Deut. 25:17ff also). So when Yahweh tells Joshua to allocate the land to the tribes, it's partly in faith. We can picture this as a verse in Hebrews 11: "By faith, Joshua allocated the land to Israel, although they had not yet received what was promised." But at the same time, this land is now Yahweh's to give, both in theory (Yahweh being Creator), and in practice, because the Nephilim have nearly all been killed. Starting in verse 8, we get a description of the allocation the land to the tribes, starting with Reuben and Gad: (8) With him5, the Reubenites and the Gadites took their inheritance,6 which Moses gave to them beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses the servant of Yahweh had given to them: (9) from Aroer, which is on the edge of Arnon, and the city which is in its the midst of the wadi, and all of the plateau from Medeba up to the Dibon, (10) and all the cities of Sikhon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon up to the boundary of the sons of Ammon, (11) and the Gilead and the territory of the Geshurites and the Maacathites and all of Mount Hermon and all of the Bashan up to Salecah, (12) all the kingdom of Og in the Bashan, who had reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei. He was left over from the remnant of the Rephaim/Rephaites,7 and Moses struck them, and he dispossessed them, (13) and the sons of Israel didn't dispossess the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and Geshur and Maacah dwelled in the midst of Israel up to this day. In verse 13, AJ makes it clear that the promised land isn't empty. As you read about the allocations of the land to the tribes, you'll see notes like this all over. Israel and the Canaanites live together in the land. Continuing in verse 14: (14) Only, to the tribe of the Levites he didn't give an inheritance. Offerings made by fire to Yahweh the God of Israel-- that is his inheritance, just as he spoke to him, (15) And Moses gave to the tribe of the sons of Reuben according to their clans, (16) and it was for them the territory from Aroer which is on the edge of the Wadi of Arnon and the city that was in the midst of the wadi and all the plateau by Medeba, (17) Heshbon and all her cities that are on the plateau, Dibon and Bamoth Baal and Beth Baal Meon, (18) and Yahaz and Kedemoth and Mephaath (19) and Kiriath and Sibmah and Zereth Shahar on the hill of the valley, and Beth Peor and the slopes of Pisgah and Beth Yeshimoth, and all the cities of the plateau and all the kingdoms of Sikhon king of the Amorites who reigned in Heshbon, who Moses struck him, and the leaders of Midion Evi and the Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the chiefs/nobles of Sikhon, the inhabitants of the land, (deep breath) (22) while Balaam, the son of Beor, the practicer of divination the sons of Israel killed with the sword in addition to their slain. --------------------------------------- All of you, at some point, are going to die. There's a time limit on how long God has put you on this earth. And someday, at your funeral, people are going to gather to mourn losing you, and they will think about what you accomplished with your life. They will look at your life, in the same way AJ looks at Moses' and Joshua's. People will take turns holding the microphone, and they will talk about the impact you made on them, and they will talk about ways that you faithfully served God, and how God used you to advance his kingdom. Some Christians very obviously sacrificed a great deal during their lives. They lived sacrificially, and left their houses, or brothers, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or land, for Jesus' sake and for the sake of the gospel (Mark 10:29). Other Christians served faithfully, but their faithfulness is more hidden. At their funerals, people are surprised, and touched, when they hear about their secret acts of kindness and love. But it's these Christians--the ones who sacrificed a great deal-- who are going to be greatly missed. That said, it's usually this very group of Christians who look at their lives, and are the most unhappy by what they've accomplished. I think the most dedicated, when they have grown old and are dying, look at the world, and they usually see how much there is still left to do. They know that God has a plan-- a vision-- for the world. God is making one people, one family, who will live in peace with him, and with each other. And as they go through life, they see how much there is left to do. The harvest is ripe, but the workers are few. At the end of their lives, they look at what they did for God, serving Him, and His kingdom, and then they look at the vastness of the job left to do, and they think, "Man, this stinks. Somehow, I got old. Somehow, I ran out of time. And there's so much left to do." This is basically where Joshua is at. He's served Yahweh faithfully his whole life. He's been a model of faithfulness and courage. But he's old, and his time on earth is done. How can he die in peace, knowing how much there is left to do? How can he die, when Israel has so much left of the land to possess? Wouldn't it be better for Israel if he was still with them (Phil. 1:24)? Joshua is not a man who is ready to die. He has to be told that he is old. He has to be told that his time to serve God is done. How can Joshua die in peace? Joshua can die in peace, because Yahweh gives him a great encouragement. Joshua 12:6: I , I shall dispossess them8 out from before the sons of Israel. Our God is a God who finishes what He started.9 God doesn't say this to a man who served himself. We aren't supposed to hear this, and use it as an excuse to be selfish, or as a way avoid responsibility. We are supposed to hear this as a comfort. The job God has given his people is bigger than any one person, or any one generation, can accomplish. And when the day comes when God takes us home, we can leave in peace, knowing that God will finish what he has started. He was happy to use us when we were here-- there were good works that he planned in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10). But God will use others after we are gone. He will finish his job by relying on others. And so we praise God for his faithfulness from generation to generation, and we thank Him for giving us the privilege of serving Him while we are here on His earth. Praise God for being The Finisher. 1 hiphil form of יָרַשׁ ; take possession of, cause to possess, drive out, dispossess 2 limitation on the previous statement. Allocate it, even though Yahweh hasn't yet given it to them. Allocate it on the basis of faith. 3 hiphil form of יָרַשׁ ; take possession of, cause to possess, drive out, dispossess 4 limitation on the previous statement. Allocate it, even though Yahweh hasn't yet given it to them. Allocate it on the basis of faith. 5 Not sure what this means, "with him." With Joshua? Like, Joshua receives his inheritance at the same time they did? 6 so, they faithfully obeyed Moses' and Joshua's commands to not take possession of their land, technically/officially, until all Israel had finished attacking (Joshua 1). 7 I'd be more tempted to try to teach on the Rephaim if I understood this. DBL below lists two different meanings for Rephaim, acting like they are unrelated. Are they? Either way, Rephaim are Nephilim (Deut. 2:9-11; 1 Chr. 20:4-8). AJ isn't saying Og is the last of the Rephaim. Just, he's part of a small remnant of them. DBL: 8327 I. רְפָאִים (rep̄ā·ʾîm): n.masc.; ≡ Str 7496; TWOT 2198c-LN 23.88-23.128 the dead, i.e., a class of beings that are the spirits of the departed, with a focus on the beings as ghost-like, not having material substance (Job 26:5; Ps 88:11[EB 10]; Pr 2:18; 9:18; 21:16; Isa 14:9; 26:14, 19+) 8328 II. רְפָאִים (rep̄ā·ʾîm): n.pr.; ≡ Str 7497; TWOT 2198d-LN 93-pers. (gent.pl.) Rephaites: pertaining to pre-Israelite inhabitants of Palestine (Ge 14:5; 15:20; Dt 2:11, 20; 3:11, 13; Jos 12:4; 13:12; 17:15; 1Ch 20:4+), see also 8329; note: the etymology of the name suggests the name is descriptive and not based in a person or place 8 hiphil form of יָרַשׁ ; take possession of, cause to possess, drive out, dispossess 9 Arguably, this is the idea of Philippians 1:4-6. It's not that he will finish his good work, of bringing people to eternal life. The clause is buried in the idea that God will finish the task of evangelism he's started among the Philippians (KJV/NKJV/NIV are better than ESV or RSV here). --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 9