Josh (02-22-09)A
Feb 22, 2009
“You Have It .. Just Claim It” Josh 18-20
When we left off last week Joshua said to Ephraim & Manasseh ( concerning their God given inheritance ) ( he said ) don’t come to me & complain because .. there is plenty of land for you ( you have to just go out & possess it ) [1]
As we can see from v3 in Ch 18 not much has changed .. except Joshua is now saying this .. to the sons of Israel
v3 so Joshua said to the sons of Israel how long will you put off entering to take possession of the land which .. (note) .. the Lord the God of your fathers .. has given you
Practically speaking .. God is saying this to all of us .. who have come to Him by faith ( He is saying ) .. I have given you all the spiritual blessings needed .. Eph 1:3
blessed be the God & Father of our Lord J.C. who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ
SO .. why have you not taken possession of all your blessings
But possession of your blessings
( like possession of the land / inheritance for Israel in the Promise Land )
will take work it does not come to any of us automatically
The years of fighting is over with . . . the Jordan River has been crossed & the land has been conquered
The rest of Ch 18 & 19 tells us how the land was divided to the remaining 7 tribes Benjamin / Simeon / Zebulun / Issachar Asher / Naphtali / Dan
( & we see ) being a caring leader Joshua took his portion last ( 19:49-51 )
49) when they finished apportioning the land for inheritance by its borders the sons of Israel gave an inheritance in their midst to Joshua .. the son of Nun
50) in accordance with the command of the Lord they gave him / Joshua .. the city for which he asked .. Tim-nath - See-rah Timnath-serah .. in the hill country of Ephraim so he built the city & settled in it
51) these are the inheritances which Eleazar the priest & Joshua the son of Nun & the heads of the households of the tribes of the sons of Israel distributed by lot in Shiloh before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting so they finished dividing the land
As we can see .. Joshua waited until everyone else got their land 1st then the Lord gave him ( Tim-nath -- See-rah ) a mountainous city / similar to Caleb
Chs 18 & 19 reveal that God not only gave Israel land in Canaan but He also gave them .. a particular area & a particular portion of the land to each tribe ( even to each person )
In this .. God has a lesson for us today showing us that He is concerned about each personal life / Matt 6:26 [2]
look at the birds of the air .. that they do not sow .. nor reap .. nor gather into barns & yet your heavenly Father feeds them are you not worth much more than they
Since that is the truth . . . since we are of great value to God we learn a great truth from this point . . . if we watch this section of Scripture closely we saw that at the end of Ch 14:15 “ … then the land had rest from war” & from that point forward the land / their inheritance is given to them
as we see at the end of Joshua 19:51
( note ) “... so they finished dividing the land”
What do we know from this . . . simple .. the land / inheritance is theirs 7 years of fighting for Canaan is over with
Israel finally crossed the River came into the land .. defeated the enemy & they divided up the land / inheritance ( it is now all theirs )
But that defeat of the enemy the dividing up the land will prove to be worthless .. unless they learn how to live in the land
Now .. all they have to do is trust God & learn to live in the land you see .. the most important part of our inheritances / blessings is learning to live with them
18:3 so Joshua said to the sons of Israel how long will you put off entering to take possession of the land which .. (note) .. the Lord the God of your fathers .. has given you
The land is theirs what is holding them back God has told them He has given them the land
( they have to learn to live in it )
Please listen .. what was true of the children of Israel then is just as true of Christians today
Our lives is not meant to be a series of crises / emotional trials . . . NO .. our lives was meant to be lived as an ongoing triumphant march toward the goal .. ( & the goal is )
( to walk with Christ daily regardless of our circumstances )
Of course .. like Israel there are trials in the process Jordan to be crossed / the enemy subdued the Bible never said there wouldn’t be trials who perpetuated this myth
More than likely some uninformed preachers who have led people to believe this lie & for what reason .. who knows . . .
Perhaps .. because they hoped it would be so or perhaps .. to tickle the ears of their flock so they would return next week & their numbers would grow
Listen .. altho we will eternally be saved ( God has you in the palm of His hand ) see: John 5:24 / 6:35-40 / 10:22-33 / 11:21-27
Never the less .. we like Israel
can move out of .. The Promised Land ( move away from .. our walk with Christ )
& back into the wilderness ( back into sin & disobedience )
Some of the lessons that we have learned from the last few Chapters was the importance of our life long walk with Christ .. as we saw Caleb keep his strength .. even in his old age because 14:8 “he followed the Lord his God fully”
Read from Alan Redpath’s book Victorious Christian Living
( pp: 220 to 222 )
Verses:
Eph 1:3
Matt 6:26
John 5:24 / 6:35-40 / 10:22-33 / 11:21-27
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[1]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (2:33). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[2]McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (2:34). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.