Joshua 14

This short chapter is an introduction to the next five chapters where the apportionment of the Land of Canaan among the Twelve Tribes of Israel is recorded.

(1) The remaining tribes of Israel received land in Canaan as allotted by *Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the tribal leaders.

• *Eleazar:
• Numbers 34:17: “Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun are the men designated to divide the grants of land among the people.
• Notice the order: the high priest (the religious leader), Joshua the political/military leader then the leaders of each tribe.
• Eleazar was Aaron's third son and followed him in the priesthood. It was God's plan that the spiritual leader be first and Joshua would come to him to learn the will of the Lord.
• Aaron's two oldest sons had died because of their rebellion. Eleazar was the next oldest son and is now the head priest.
• Leviticus 10:1-2: Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over them. In this way, they disobeyed the LORD by burning before him the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded. So fire blazed forth from the LORD’s presence and burned them up, and they died there before the LORD.
• Leviticus 16:1: The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, who died after they entered the LORD’s presence and burned the wrong kind of fire before him.

(2) These nine and a half tribes received their grants of land by means of sacred *lots, in accordance with the **LORD’s command through Moses.

• *lots:
• Proverbs 16:33: We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall.
• According to the theory of rabbis, stones with tribe names on them were in one urn and with locations in another. The word means "pebble." The result would probably have indicated only general areas leaving borders to be worked out later.
• **LORD’s command through Moses:
• Numbers 26:52-56: Then the LORD said to Moses, “Divide the land among the tribes, and distribute the grants of land in proportion to the tribes’ populations, as indicated by the number of names on the list. Give the larger tribes more land and the smaller tribes less land, each group receiving a grant in proportion to the size of its population. But you must assign the land by lot, and give land to each ancestral tribe according to the number of names on the list. Each grant of land must be assigned by lot among the larger and smaller tribal groups.”
• Numbers 33:54: You must distribute the land among the clans by sacred lot and in proportion to their size. A larger portion of land will be allotted to each of the larger clans, and a smaller portion will be allotted to each of the smaller clans. The decision of the sacred lot is final. In this way, the portions of land will be divided among your ancestral tribes.
• It is a strong evidence for the truth of this narrative that we read of no conflicts between the various tribes respecting the division of
  territory. In no one case was there any complaint of unfairness, or any attempt to disturb the territorial arrangement made at the time of the
  original settlement in the Promised Land.

(3) Moses had already given a grant of land to the two and a half tribes on the east side of the Jordan River, but he had given the Levites no such allotment.

• 
• Numbers 32:33: So Moses assigned land to the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph. He gave them the territory of King Sihon of the Amorites and the land of King Og of Bashan—the whole land with its cities and surrounding lands.
• Joshua 22:9: So the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the rest of Israel at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. They started the journey back to their own land of Gilead, the territory that belonged to them according to the LORD’s command through Moses.
• The Levites inherited some cities to live in, and their living was of the offerings in the tabernacle.

(4) The descendants of Joseph had become two separate tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim. And the Levites were given no land at all, only towns to live in with surrounding pasturelands for their livestock and all their possessions.

(5) So the land was distributed in strict accordance with the LORD’s commands to Moses.

(6) A delegation from the tribe of Judah, led by *Caleb son of Jephunneh the **Kenizzite, came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb said to Joshua, “Remember what the LORD said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea.

• *Caleb:
  
  • Numbers 14:24,30: But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land. ... You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
  • Deuteronomy 1:34-36: “When the LORD heard your complaining, he became very angry. So he solemnly swore, ‘Not one of you from this wicked generation will live to see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the LORD completely. I will give to him and his descendants some of the very land he explored during his scouting mission.’
  • The name “Caleb” literally means “dog”, which is a sometimes a term used derogatorily to refer to Gentiles. Furthermore, the fact that he’s referred to as a “Kenezite” might indicate he had a Gentile father and a Jewish mother. But, God placed him into the tribe of Judah. That means that he became a member of aristocracy, because from Judah came the kings, the great spiritual, political and military leaders of the nation.
• **Kenizzite:
• A search of Caleb's ancestry in 1 Chronicles 4, does not list his line of descent as being from Judah, since Jephunneh's father is not listed there. It would seem that Jephunneh wished to be included in the nation of Israel, and was included without his ancestral lineage in the tribe of Judah. This provision, for a Gentile to be included in Israel was clearly spelt out in the regulations for Passover (Exodus 12: 48-49). In this Exodus passage it is written: “If there are foreigners living among you who want to celebrate the LORD’s Passover, let all their males be circumcised. Only then may they celebrate the Passover with you like any native-born Israelite. But no uncircumcised male may ever eat the Passover meal. This instruction applies to everyone, whether a native-born Israelite or a foreigner living among you.”. When a Gentile joins the Family of Israel, his ancestry is Israel.
• Kenaz was a grandson of Esau (Genesis 36).

(7) I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the LORD, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave an honest report,

(8) but my brothers who went with me frightened the people from entering the Promised Land. For my part, *I wholeheartedly followed the LORD my God.

• *I wholeheartedly followed the LORD my God: Six times, the Bible says that Caleb "wholeheartedly followed the Lord": (Numbers 14:24; 34:12; Deuteronomy 1:356; Joshua 14:8,9,14). That is the secret to Caleb's long life and success!

(9) So that day Moses solemnly promised me, ‘The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your grant of land and that of your descendants forever, because you wholeheartedly followed the LORD my God.’

• What Caleb said here, was, in effect, "We cannot divide the land until this prior question of my right to Hebron is determined." This was nothing but the simple truth. If the lots had been cast, and Hebron had fallen to one of the tribes other than Judah, it would have cost Caleb his rightful reward, as promised by God through Moses.

(10) “Now, as you can see, the LORD has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old.

• Only Joshua, among those who had wandered in the wilderness, was his age peer.
• This and Moses' mention of his being forty years old (Joshua 14:7) when Moses sent out the spies, and of his being now eighty-five years old are among the most important chronological facts given in Joshua. Israel wandered in the wilderness only about 38 years, because the first two years of the traditional forty years were utilized in the giving of the Law, the construction of the tabernacle etc. The sending out of the spies evidently occurred after about two years had elapsed following the Exodus (Numbers 10:11). Thus, thirty-eight years later when Israel entered Canaan, Caleb would have been seventy-eight years of age. Since he gives his age here as eighty-five, that would allow seven years for the Conquest of Canaan up to this point.

(11) I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then.

(12) So give me the hill country that the *LORD promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of **Anak living there in , walled towns. But if the LORD is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the LORD said.”

• **Anak:
  
  • Apparently, the Anakim had reoccupied the hill country: Joshua 11:21: During this period Joshua destroyed all the descendants of Anak, who lived in the hill country of Hebron, Debir, Anab, and the entire hill country of Judah and Israel. He killed them all and completely destroyed their towns. None of the descendants of Anak were left in all the land of Israel, though some still remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.
  • Caleb had trusted God to take care of the giants when he was sent to survey the land many years before and he knew God would be with him now.
  • The Anakim had in the course of Joshua's campaigns in the south been expelled from "this mountain," i. e. the mountain country round Hebron, but they had only withdrawn to the neighboring cities of Philistia. Thence, they had, as must be inferred from the text here, returned and reoccupied Hebron, probably when Joshua and the main force of the Israelites had marched northward to deal with Jabin and his confederates. Caleb finally drove out this formidable race and occupied Hebron and its dependent towns and district permanently.
  • The people of Moab called them the Emims, meaning terrors or horrible ones.
  • Deuteronomy 2:18-21 refers to the fact that Ammonites called them "Zamzummim", which is related to a Hebrew which literally translates into "Buzzers", or "the people whose speech sounds like buzzing."
  • The sons of Anak, the Anakim, are said in Numbers 13 to have been occupying Hebron, and likely the Central Highlands north of Jerusalem. Caleb drove the sons of Anak from their land, and forced them to migrate west, where they merged and assimilated with the Philistines. In Deuteronomy 2 the land of Ammon is said to belong to the Rephaim , a people as great as the Anakim, and also connected to the Nephilim. Og, the giant king of Bashan, was the last of the Rephaim, and king of the Amorites. Deuteronomy 3:11 gives the dimensions of Og's bed as over 14 feet long, and over 6 feet wide! 1 Samuel 17:40 depicts the battle between David and Goliath, the giant Philistine from Gath. 1 Chronicles 20:6-7 speaks of another Philistine giant, "a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot - twenty-four in all."
• *LORD promised me:
  
  • Deuteronomy 1:36: except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the LORD completely. I will give to him and his descendants some of the very land he explored during his scouting mission.’
  • Numbers 14:24: But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land.

(13) So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave *Hebron to him as his portion of land.

• 
• *Hebron had been the burial place of Abraham and Jacob (Genesis 23:19; 25:9; 50:13). Hebron is some 20 miles South of Jerusalem, situated in an open valley, 3,040 ft. above sea-level. Caleb later willingly yielded his city to the Levites and lived in the suburbs (Joshua 21:12).
• Abram came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, "which are in Hebron" Genesis (13:18); from here he went to the rescue of Lot and brought him back after the defeat of Chedorlaomer (14:13); here his name was changed to Abraham (17:5); to this place came the three angels with the promise of a son (18:1); Sarah died here (23:2), and for her sepulcher Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah (23:17); here Isaac and Jacob spent much of their lives (35:27; 37:14); from here Jacob sent Joseph to seek his brethren (37:14), and hence, Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt (46:1). In the cave of Machpelah all the patriarchs and their wives, except Rachel, were buried (49:30; 50:13). The spies visited Hebron and near there cut the cluster of grapes (Numbers 13). Hoham, king of Hebron, was one of the five kings defeated by Joshua at Beth-horon and slain at Makkedah (Joshua 10). Caleb drove out from Hebron the "three sons of Anak" (Joshua 14:12; Joshua 15:14); it became one of the cities of Judah (Joshua 15:54), but was set apart for the Kohathite Levites (Joshua 21), and became a city of refuge (Joshua 20:7). One of Samson's exploits was the carrying of the gate of Gaza "to the top of the hill across from Hebron" (Judges 16:3).
• But, Joshua, the other faithful spy, was the last to receive his inheritance. Joshua 19:49-50: After all the land was divided among the tribes, the Israelites gave a piece of land to Joshua as his allocation. For the LORD had said he could have any town he wanted. He chose Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. He rebuilt the town and lived there.

(14) Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite because he wholeheartedly followed the LORD, the God of Israel.

(15) (Previously Hebron had been called *Kiriath-arba. It had been named after Arba, a great hero of the descendants of Anak.) And the land had rest from war.

• Kiriath-arba means “a city of four”. This city is also known as the site of the oaks of Mamre (Genesis 13:18; 35:27).
• Joshua 15:13-17: The LORD commanded Joshua to assign some of Judah’s territory to Caleb son of Jephunneh. So Caleb was given the town of Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), which had been named after Anak’s ancestor. Caleb drove out the three groups of Anakites—the descendants of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the sons of Anak. Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the one who attacks and captures Kiriath-sepher.” Othniel, the son of Caleb’s brother Kenaz, was the one who conquered it, so Acsah became Othniel’s wife.

---

APPLICATION and LESSONS to LEARN:

1. Be encouraged in YOUR pilgrim journey! You have already received your inheritance in Christ and can claim "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 1:3). Since you have a glorious inheritance before YOU (1 Peter 1:3-6), keep looking up! The best is yet to come!
2. Caleb had his hopes and his sights all during those 38 years of wandering in the wilderness set upon his inheritance in the land of Canaan. He was living for another land and a grand inheritance, and thus his hopes and dreams were not centered upon what he might be able to gain or own in this world. We Christians too need to view our lives in this world as being that of a stranger and an alien, for our true home and hope is reserved in heaven for us as we await the return of Jesus for us.
3. We should imitate Caleb’s boldness in asking for what God promised him. We may find it hard to believe, but God appreciates this kind of boldness.
4. This is how God wants us to be in our spiritual life as we advance in years: growing older, but never weaker in Jesus.
5. Caleb followed the Lord. If God gave him an instruction he obeyed. If he was asked to do something he complied. We never read of an act of defiance. He never ran before the Lord. He did not try to lead in any way. He was just prepared to follow the Lord. This is true discipleship.
6. The most important thing in all our lives is to fulfill our calling and destiny, which God has planned for us. Only then will we find fulfillment and contentment in our hearts when we are doing His will and we will then have a positive influence on others in helping them to identify and enter into their inheritance and calling in life. Many people never come into their inheritance because of uncertainty and lack of confidence as to what belong to them. But notice in verse 1 of Joshua 14, how there was a first identification of their inheritance before distribution. Ephesians 1:18 mentions the facts that in Jesus we have obtained an inheritance and in Ephesians 1:11 it refers to the riches of the glory of His inheritance revealing that we can know what our inheritance is.
7. We as Christians have a tremendous eternal hope of being in heaven with the difficulties in life over with. But we're also convinced that we have already received our inheritance in Jesus Christ. As the apostle Paul says in Ephesians 1:3, we can claim every spiritual blessing. Caleb is a great example of the living hope the apostle Peter described in 1 Peter 1:3. This living hope for the future helps us to not just survive but thrive here and now, even when things are really tough, confusing, and discouraging.
8. We far too often forget that our time here on earth is very short and what we have and what we see all around us is very temporary. Our bodies will only function for so long in this life before falling to the decay which is the curse of this earth. Caleb will have a major stake in that life, which will be eternal. One of the reasons we are so confused is that our focus is not on the eternal, but on what we have, what we are, and how other people behave or what they have. Caleb focused on God and on what God chose for him to do with his life. As a result, Caleb received special consideration both here on earth and in eternity. You are not going to get out of this world alive; you are not taking your body nor are you taking your possessions with you. You will take with you God’s Word which has been imprinted on your soul. Our life and our choices and our focus have eternal repercussions. Caleb received great earthly blessings and he was delivered after seven years of war. But his focus was not on his personal safety, nor was his focus on the land that he desired. Caleb’s focus was on God and God’s plan for his life.
9. Joshua 14 sets forth two major points, which continue to have value for the people of God:
   
   1. Life in all its dimensions is to be lived according to the plans set forth by God, not by the greedy, selfish plans designed by man.
   2. Blessing comes ultimately to the man who totally follows God.
10. Although his body was in the wilderness, so to speak, his heart and mind and soul were in Canaan. Caleb is a perfect illustration of Paul’s teaching in Colossians 3:1-4: Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
11. Unbelief looks at the giants; faith looks to God. Faith is often the suspension of man’s “common sense” in favor of wholly resting on God’s Word alone.
12. Christian fathers want their sons to follow in our footsteps. Not necessarily in career, but in faith and relationship with the Lord.
13. As New Testament believers…
    
    We are to overcome the world. (1 John 5:5)
    
    We are to overcome false doctrines. (1 John 4:1-4)
    
    We are to overcome the wicked one. (1 John 2:13-14)

NOTES:

• Unless otherwise noted, the scripture version used is the New Living Translation.
• Sources and References are on line at: http://joshua-biblestudy.blogspot.com/2011/07/joshua-references-and-sources.html

Joshua 13

Joshua 13 - Unfinished Business!

• 
  Above image is from http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/jira/ruth.htm

• 
• 

We're now starting part 2 of the Book of Joshua, the half which relates the division of the land of Canaan among the children of Israel. Its character is entirely different from part 1, as is its subject matter. In the previous twelve chapters, we have the invasion and conquering of the Land of Promise by Joshua and the sons of Israel. Joshua 13 begins the chapters in which the land of Canaan is divided up among the tribes of Israel. This particular chapter will deal primarily with the east side of the Jordan River - the portion of land given over to Gad, Reuben and to half the tribe of Manasseh.

In this chapter, we see a change in the life of Joshua. For about forty years, Joshua was the servant of Moses. Then one day, God told Moses to pronounce Joshua as his successor. Almost immediately, Joshua became a 5-star general commanding the troops of the Israelites, planning strategy, advancing his men, etc. As abruptly as it began, this life of Joshua’s will end. From hereon, he will no longer be General Joshua. He will be the leader of his country for a rather indefinite period of time, during which he will supervise the division of the Land Promise. And he will become writer Joshua and record what his life on the battlefield was like and also record the distribution of the land.

(1) When Joshua was an *old man, the **Lord said to him, “You are growing old, and much land remains to be ***conquered.

• *old man:
• Joshua was now between 85 and 100 years old. Caleb was 85 in chapter 14 and Joshua was probably older than Caleb. Joshua lived to be 110 (24:19) and the events described in the last half of this book could well have taken over ten years. Believers are never allowed to retire from His service.
• Never assume that God can no longer use you when you grow old and gray-haired. There is no "retirement plan" for the believer as long as we live in this lifetime.
• **Lord said to him: So, HOW did the Lord tell Joshua?
• ***conquered:
• There are consequences to failing to do what God has called them (or us) to do. Many generations of Israelites had to suffer simply because the Israelites failed to follow through with the command to finish conquering the land and wiping out the inhabitants.
• Even when we come to the book of the Judges, we find that the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites and the children of Manasseh did not drive out those in Bethshean and so the Canaanites dwelt in the land and so on (Judges 1).
• Judges 3 lists the nations not yet conquered and the result:
  
  • Judges 3:5-7: So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and they intermarried with them. Israelite sons married their daughters, and Israelite daughters were given in marriage to their sons. And the Israelites served their gods. The Israelites did evil in the LORD’s sight. They forgot about the LORD their God, and they served the images of Baal and the Asherah poles.

(2) This is the territory that remains: all the regions of the *Philistines and the **Geshurites,

• Verses 2-5 are saying in effect to the Israelites that their job as soldiers was not yet complete. God wanted the Israelites to divide up into tribes and then the individual tribes were to conquer these remaining groups and remaining locations.
• *Philistines:
  
  • The Philistines were not native Canaanite people - they were Cretans and "sea people". They had displaced the Canaanites in the southwest portion of the Promised Land. Because the land they occupied was part of what God had promised Israel, the Israelites were responsible to drive them out too, but they were not successful. The Philistines increased in power and influence over the Israelites, eventually becoming the major enemy of Israel during King Saul's reign more than three centuries later. In Joshua's time, however, they were a smaller, secondary target of the Israelites.
  • Their first settlement after being forced out of Crete seems to have been Gaza, whose original name was "Minoah", a clear reference to the fallen Minoic kingdom. They also invaded Egypt and were defeated by Pharaoh Ramose III in the 12th century BC. Their most important city-states were Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron, and their territory was close to the Mediterranean coast, a little longer and broader than the present-day "Gaza Strip" - a narrow tract stretching about sixty miles along the Mediterranean coast.
  • Those dwelling in Canaan were defeated by King David and reduced to insignificance; the best warriors among them were chosen as David's bodyguard.
  • The remaining Philistines still dwelling in Gaza were subdued by Sargon II of Assyria and after that time, they disappeared definitively from history. They are no longer mentioned since the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon.
  • Jeremiah 47:4: “The time has come for the Philistines to be destroyed, along with their allies from Tyre and Sidon. Yes, the LORD is destroying the remnant of the Philistines, those colonists from the island of Crete.
  • 
• **Geshurites: David later married a princess from Geshur, and his son Absalom was born of her (2 Samuel 3:3). Absalom returned to Geshur and used it as a place to plot against his father David (2 Samuel 13:37-38, 14:23, and 14:32).

(3) and the larger territory of the Canaanites, extending from the stream of *Shihor on the border of Egypt, northward to the boundary of **Ekron. It includes the territory of the five Philistine rulers of Gaza, ***Ashdod, ****Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. The land of the Avvites

• *Shihor means 'dark' and is a river or canal on the east border of Egypt and a branch of the Nile. It is commonly known as the brook of Egypt (Numbers 34:5).
• **Ekron means 'emigration' or 'torn up by the roots' and is the most northerly of the 5 principal cities of the Philistines. Excavations in 1996 in the temple complex at Tel Miqne (Ekron) recovered a dedicatory inscription of the seventh-century king of Ekron, Achish.
• ***Ashdod means castle or fortress and it lived up to its name, holding out for 29 years against a siege by Egypt (under Egyptian king Psammetichus), the longest recorded siege in their history. In one of Israel's most serious military defeats, during the time of Eli and Samuel, the Ark Of The Covenant was captured by the Philistines and taken to Ashdod, something that the Philistines soon regretted.
• ****Ashkelon was the birthplace of Herod the Great, who was a Moabite, not a Jew. The Bible tells an episode about Ashkelon in the story about Samson (Judges 13-16). Ashkelon is mentioned in Judges 14, where Samson kills 30 men in revenge for the Philistines having given his (Philistine) wife to another man.

(4) in the south also remains to be conquered. In the north, the following area has not yet been conquered: all the land of the Canaanites, including Mearah (which belongs to the *Sidonians), stretching northward to **Aphek on the border of the Amorites;

• *Sidonians were inhabitants of the city if Sidon, on the Mediterranean coast between Tyre and Beirut in modern Lebanon.
  
  • 1 Kings 5:6: “Therefore, please command that cedars from Lebanon be cut for me. Let my men work alongside yours, and I will pay your men whatever wages you ask. As you know, there is no one among us who can cut timber like you Sidonians!”
• **Aphek, about 9 miles northeast of Tel Aviv, was the site of the Syrian temple of Astarte, dedicated to her as mourning for Tammuz, the ruins of which are still visible.
  
  • 1 Samuel 29:1: The entire Philistine army now mobilized at Aphek, and the Israelites camped at the spring in Jezreel.

(5) the land of the *Gebalites and all of the **Lebanon mountain area
to the east, from ***Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo-hamath;

• *Gebalites -Their capital was Gebal or Bylbos (Greek), on the Mediterranean, north of Beirut, Lebanon. Gebalites participated in Solomon's work force (I Kings 5:18) and they were considered experts in the caulking of ships (Ezekiel 27:9).
• **Lebanon: Much of the material for the temple came from the land of Lebanon, the king of Tyre (Hiram) being a friend of David (I Kings 5:1).
  
  • 1 Kings 5:10: So Hiram supplied as much cedar and cypress timber as Solomon desired.
• ***Baal-gad: It is obvious from the listing of these towns that fertility worship was the main religion of the Canaanites. The term “Baal” is a Hebrew word which means “master,” “owner,” “lord” or “husband.”  The female goddess is called Ashtaroth (see verse 12). Baal-gad was at the foot of Mount Hermon.

(6) and all the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, including all the land of the Sidonians. “I myself will drive these people out of the land ahead of the Israelites. So be sure to give this land to Israel as a special possession, just as I have commanded you.

• This was not an unconditional promise. This chapter shows that ALL of Canaan was indeed promised by God to Israel, contingent only upon their obedience and cooperation, neither of which they gave. That Israel failed to carry out God's intention in this matter did not change God's purpose.
• Each tribe was responsible to possess their own land completely.
• If the Israelites have trusted in God for their victories up to this point, then they need to trust in the fact that God will lead them to victory over the remaining inhabitants. So why did the Israelites fail to conquer these people? The short answer is the Israelites failed to trust God at this point and, therefore, failed to follow through with attacking the people God wanted them to attack.
• As far as dividing up the land, there was a past tense (to us) fulfillment and a future "end time" fulfillment of this plan. The "past tense" fulfillment is what we are reading about here in the book of Joshua. One day God will again divide the land by tribe as promised to them. (See Ezekiel Chapter 48). The reward for the Christians is bigger in the sense that we inherit "all things".

(7) Include all this territory as Israel’s possession when you divide this land among the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”

(8) Half the tribe of Manasseh and the tribes of Reuben and Gad had already received their *grants of land on the east side of the Jordan, for Moses, the servant of the Lord, had previously assigned this land to them.

• *grants = inheritance (from the Lord). When we study chapter 22 in a few weeks, we're going to learn that while that choice may have been good for their cattle, it was terrible for their children. These tribes became a buffer zone between the Jews in Canaan and the pagan nations like Moab and Ammon. Their location made them extremely vulnerable both to military attack and to ungodly influence in their lives. Both of those liabilities eventually brought their downfall.

(9) Their territory extended from *Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Gorge (including the town in the middle of the gorge) to the plain beyond Medeba, as far as Dibon.

(10) It also included all the towns of King *Sihon of the Amorites, who had reigned in Heshbon, and extended as far as the borders of Ammon.

• *Sihon ruled over a large territory. Given the fact that this battle was some time ago against one king, Sihon receives a lot of space in the Bible. He is mentioned in Numbers 21:21-30; Deuteronomy 1:4, 2:24-37, 3:6; Joshua 12:2. Whatever you do, you do not want to stand in God’s way. Sihon was given a more than fair warning that the Israelites would be moving through and that they would leave him, his land and his people unharmed. Sihon did not buy into this and sought to destroy the Israelites, even though he, like that entire portion of the land, had heard about the Israelites triumphal exit from Egypt.

(11) It included *Gilead, the territory of the kingdoms of **Geshur and Maacah, all of ***Mount Hermon, all of Bashan as far as Salecah,

• *Gilead was part of the kingdom of Og, half of which was given to Reuben, and the other half to Gad
• **Geshur and Maacah: Two small "kingdoms" north and east of the Sea of Galilee. This is not the same Geshur in verse 2 which is far to the south on the Philistine coast.
• ***Mount Hermon: More than twenty ancient temples have been found on the mountain or in its vicinity. At 9,200 feet above sea level, Mount Hermon is the highest mountain in Israel, Lebanon and Syria. Runoff from the snow-covered mountain’s western and southern bases feeds several streams and rivers. These merge to become the Jordan River. The high places of Mount Hermon were apparently used by the Canaanites for their pagan religious rituals. They referred to the mountain as Mount Baal-hermon (Judges 3:3). Mount Hermon was a possible site of the Transfiguration, where Jesus took three of His disciples, Peter, James and John, up on a high mountain for prayer. It is on the border between Lebanon and Syria. The summit of Mount Hermon is under the control of Syria, however, the southern and western slopes are under the control of Israel, and is part of the Golan Heights. These slopes were annexed by Israel in 1980 with the conclusion and victory of the Six Day War in 1967.

(12) and all the territory of King Og of Bashan, who had reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei. King Og was the last of the Rephaites, for Moses had attacked them and driven them out.

• Deuteronomy 3:11: (King Og of Bashan was the last survivor of the giant Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide. It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)
  
  • "bed" could refer to his sarcophagus.
• 
  
  
• 

(13) But the Israelites *failed to drive out the people of Geshur and Maacah, so they continue to live among the Israelites to this day.

• *failed:
• This is the failure of the Israelites, not a failure of God. They had grown weary of fighting and decided to rest on their laurels. But, the presence of these Canaanites was a thorn in the side of the Israelites down through the centuries.
• The day this book is written, that Canaanite opposition is still there, bedeviling them, tempting them, assaulting them. We're going to hear this litany again and again, in every tribal territory, of the people's failure to possess their possession. This book does celebrate the great victories, the promises and triumphs that God accomplishes, but it doesn't hide the fact that sometimes the fulfillment of the promises is limited by Israel's failure to obey.

(14) Moses did not assign any allotment of land to the tribe of Levi. Instead, as the Lord had promised them, their allotment came from the offerings burned on the altar to the Lord, the God of Israel.

(15) Moses had assigned the following area to the clans of the tribe of Reuben.

• The Reubenites became much intermixed afterward with the Moabites, who, in fact, later acquired much of their land, and several, if not all of the cities mentioned in this passage. Reuben was the very first tribe to go into captivity.

(16) Their territory extended from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Gorge (including the town in the middle of the gorge) to the plain beyond Medeba.

(17) It included Heshbon and the other towns on the plain—Dibon, *Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon,

• Note the predominance of the name of the Moabitish god, Baal in these place-names. These high places were probably so-called from the altars that were erected on hills Baal worship. His worship was an excuse for lewdness, lustfulness, and persistent, morbid and excessive sexual excitement.
• *Bamoth-baal means the high places of Baal. This is where King Balak brought Balaam to curse Israel (Numbers 22:41).

(18) *Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,

• *Jahaz: The Moabite Stone (the Mesha Stele) quotes Mesha as saying that the king of Israel lived in Jahaz while at war with him, but he was driven out, and Mesha took the city and added it to Moabite territory. Isaiah 15:4 and Jeremiah 48:21 refer to it as a city of Moab. This stone also refers to the house of David and to Yahweh, contradicting the critics of the Bible!

(19) Kiriathaim, Sibmah, *Zereth-shahar on the hill above the valley,

• *Zereth-shahar = "light of the dawn" because it catches the rays of the rising sun.

(20) *Beth-peor, the **slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth.

• *Beth-peor is the place where Israel received Moses' farewell address (Deuteronomy 3:29); here Balaam uttered one of his prophesies (Numbers 23:28).
• **slopes of Pisgah: This is a reference to Mt. Nebo, from where God showed Moses the Promised Land before his death.

(21) The land of Reuben also included all the towns of the plain and the entire kingdom of Sihon. Sihon was the Amorite king who had reigned in Heshbon and was killed by Moses along with the leaders of *Midian—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—princes living in the region who were allied with Sihon.

• *Midian: The Midianites were cousins to the Israelites. Abram was the father of both Isaac and Midian, through different mothers (Genesis 25:1-5).

(22) The Israelites had also killed *Balaam son of Beor, who used magic to tell
the future.

• *Balaam: Numbers 22:4-25; 31:8; Deuteronomy 23:4. Numbers 31 also gives us this information but not as much as Joshua 13 for Balaam is described as a soothsayer or one who used divination. The elders of Moab and Midian had approached Balaam with the rewards of divination in their hand according to Numbers 22:7. God told him not to go for God hates divination (Deuteronomy 18:10), but he went and paid the ultimate price for going against the mind of God.
  
  • 2 Peter 2:15-16: They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong. But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice.
  • Revelation 2:12,14: “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum ... “But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin.

(23) The Jordan River marked the western boundary for the tribe of Reuben. The towns and their
surrounding villages in this area were given as a homeland to the clans of the tribe of Reuben.

(24) Moses had assigned the following area to the clans of the tribe of Gad.

(25) Their territory included Jazer, all the towns of Gilead, and half of the land of Ammon, as
as the town of Aroer just west of *Rabbah.

• *Rabbah is the only city of Ammon ever mentioned in the Bible and it is the present-day Amman, capital of Jordan.

(26) It extended from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from *Mahanaim to Lo-debar.

• *Mahanaim: When Jacob left his father-in-law and when the angels met him in Genesis 32, he named that place Mahanaim. It was a Levitical city (1 Chronicles 6:80) as well as a city of refuge (Joshua 21:38). It was here the Ishbosheth (Saul's son and successor) would be proclaimed king (2 Samuel 2:8-9) and here where David would flee from Absalom (2 Samuel 17:24, 27, 1 Kings 2:8).

(27) In the valley were Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, Zaphon, and the rest of the kingdom of King Sihon of Heshbon. The western boundary ran along the Jordan River, extended as far north as the tip of the *Sea of Galilee, and then turned eastward.

• *Sea of Galilee: This body of water has several different names in the Bible: (1) the Sea of Genesseret (Chinnereth); (2) the Sea of Tiberias; and (3) the Sea of Galilee.

(28) The towns and their surrounding villages in this area were given as a homeland to the clans of the tribe of Gad.

(29) Moses had assigned the following area to the clans of the half-tribe of Manasseh.

(30) Their territory extended from Mahanaim, including all of Bashan, all the former kingdom of King Og, and the sixty towns of Jair in Bashan.

(31) It also included half of Gilead and King Og’s royal cities of Ashtaroth and Edrei. All this was given to the clans of the descendants of Makir, who was Manasseh’s son.

(32) These are the *allotments Moses had made while he was on the plains of Moab, across the Jordan River, east of Jericho.

• *allotments = inheritances. The word translated allotment in the NLT or inheritance in the King James is used more than fifty times in the second half of the book of Joshua. It's a very important word. The Jews inherited their land. They didn't win it as a prize of warfare, or purchase it in a business transaction. The Lord himself was the sole owner of the land, and in a sense he leased it to them. Listen to God's instructions from Leviticus 25:23: "The land must never be sold on a permanent basis, for the land belongs to me. You are only foreigners and tenant farmers working for me." Imagine God being your landlord! The rent that God required was very simple-he wanted loving, submissive obedience. And as long as the Jewish people honored the Lord with their obedience, he would bless them. He would make the land productive and keep the nation at peace with their neighbors.
• Also note that the average Israelite that is alive today has no idea which tribe they are from. The family records of the Israelites were lost when the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. To God, the tribal significance is still important. Ezekiel describes a future day when the land of Israel will again be divided by tribe, but in that day, the boundaries will be different. God knows the tribal background of every Jewish person alive today. That knowledge of tribal background will be revealed to saved Jewish people in the "end times".

(33) But Moses gave no allotment of land to the *tribe of Levi, for the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised that he himself would be their allotment.

• *tribe of Levi:
  
  • Numbers 35:2-4: “Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites from their property certain towns to live in, along with the surrounding pasturelands. These towns will be for the Levites to live in, and the surrounding lands will provide pasture for their cattle, flocks, and other livestock. The pastureland assigned to the Levites around these towns will extend 1,500 feet from the town walls in every direction.
  • 48 cities were assigned to the Levites, including 13 for priests (21:14,19).
  • Later in the book of Joshua, there are two chapters that focus just on the Levites (Chapters 20 and 21) and we'll discuss that tribe and their significance when we get there.
  • Levites numbered 23,000 males one month and older at the time of the conquest. Among them, descendants of Aaron were declared to be priests, and the eldest son of the continuing family was designated high priest.
  • For the Levites, the Lord himself and the privilege of serving him in priestly worship were inheritance enough. They were given four cities in each tribe, forty-eight in all, in which to live and serve the Lord. They were given certain portions of the meat that was brought for sacrifices. There were tithes and offerings that helped support the priestly work of the Levites.

---

APPLICATION and LESSONS to LEARN:

1. Why did Joshua spend 1/2 of the book on the distribution of the land to the twelve tribes? Why is it so important?
2. What are our unconquered lands - have we stopped the fight somewhere along the line? Do we have sin in our lives that we've failed to remove?
3. Don't be like the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh - don't be outside of God's promised land. The symbolic idea behind these two and one half tribes not settling in the Promised Land is that some Christians are willing to "settle for less". They see where they are in life at some point and say in effect, "Where I am right now is good enough for me". That is pretty much what these two and one half tribes said. They said the land east of the Jordan River is good enough for us and we don't have to actually go into the land of Israel. God gave them what they wanted. God always works on our level and where we are at, at the present moment. God wants us to grow further toward Him, but if we are comfortable at our present level, God does not force us to go on to the next step.
4. The way we understand and live out God’s will is only half of the battle. The other half is how we pass this vision on to others.
5. The tragedy with so many Christians is they start off in the Spirit in a very powerful way. They make great initial spiritual strides in their lives. But then they will hit a spiritual plateau where a complacency will settle over them, and they're no longer eager for conquest. They're no longer really striving towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God. So that oftentimes when you talk to them, their conversation is always of some past spiritual victory and blessing that they experienced in their life. But there's nothing fresh and up to date. Most of the spiritual victories are relegated to some historic period in their own walk and experience, and they're always remembering the glory days of the past. God wants you to have an up-to-the-moment experience of His grace and power and love in your life, and His victory. Beware of spiritual plateaus. Whenever you can start living comfortably with your flesh, you are in danger spiritually. Our flesh is a constant enemy to our walk in the Spirit.
6. The most dangerous times are after certain victories. And it is precisely here that the Israelites failed.
7. The conflict with which we are confronted here in the view of "a task well done" as contrasted "with much yet left to do," is a fact of all life, especially in the spiritual sector. This experience of the secular Israel is a type of the Christian Church, or a type of the human heart. "The work of subduing God's enemies is gradual. One successful engagement does not conclude the war. The enemy renews his assaults, and when force fails, he tries fraud. When direct temptations are of no avail, he resorts to enticements. The victory belongs only to him who has learned to keep guard over himself, and to direct his ways to the counsels of God." - Unger's Commentary on the Old Testament, Joshua.
8. Joshua was being warned that he'd not finished the task God had assigned him, yet his days were numbered. We're to be careful that we don't leave undone those tasks that God has assigned to us. It's too tempting to put off unpleasant or difficult jobs day after day until it's too late. Until our death, God intends us to be busy at "our Father's work."
9. Isaiah 46:4: I will be your God throughout your lifetime — until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.
10. Psalm 92:12-15: But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted to the LORD’s own house. They flourish in the courts of our God. Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green. They will declare, “The LORD is just! He is my rock! There is no evil in him!”
11. J. Vernon McGee: "From all outward appearances Israel seemed to be doing very well. They went into the land and drove a wedge right into the center of it. They conquered the south and went on to conquer the north, but the Lord reminded him that there remained much land to be possessed. After doing a tremendous job, my friend, that will be true of you and me. It was been true of every servant of God; he will never accomplish all that he wished. In Philippians 3:12 Paul says, “Not as though I 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.” God told Joshua that the land upon which the children of Israel walked would be theirs. They did not, however, walk on all of it. Neither will we ever be able to possess all of our spiritual possessions. I have met a few saints who think they have. They think there is nothing more for them to learn or do. They are satisfied with the life they are leading and have no desire to press on to “the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14)."
    
    1. What is it that he has not yet taken hold of? What is the prize, the goal that he's aiming for? If you look at the whole paragraph, you see that it's knowing Jesus Christ, gaining intimacy with him, being found secure in him, being conformed to his image. The ultimate goal, in a word, is Christlikeness. The Christian life is not about accomplishment ultimately, it's about relationship.
12. The desire of the two and a half tribes to stay east of the Jordan rather than living with the rest of the tribes in God's land is a warning for us not to become borderline believers. Perhaps you get close to the inheritance in Jesus Christ, and experience some spiritual victory in your life, but you're still determined to go back to the comfort east of the Jordan. For you, the quality of material life is more important than life eternal. You just want a little bit of God.
13. So what is the significance of all of this? Let's start with the statement by God saying He will drive out the inhabitants. The point for us is that God wants us to have victory in our lives over all the sin issues and problem issues we face. God promises us as He promised them that IF we are willing to confront those issues, He is there to lead us to victory.
14. Although the Levites would have some cities and fields, their inheritance is God. This is how we should be living life and perceiving our inheritance. We are just pilgrims passing through. We are travelers on our way to eternity. Hebrews 11 describes great people of faith like Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham - they desire a better country , that is a heavenly one. If there is any tribe that Christians are spiritually connected to, it is the tribe of Levi. We also are called priests (1 Peter 2:5) and have a special inheritance in God (Ephesians 1:11; Colossians 1:12 and 1 Peter 1:4).

NOTES:

• Unless otherwise noted, the scripture version used is the New Living Translation.
• Sources and References are on line at: http://joshua-biblestudy.blogspot.com/2011/07/joshua-references-and-sources.html

Joshua 12

The previous chapter ends with the statement, "The land finally had rest from war". It was after Joshua had made war seven years with and eliminated all those "kings" (11:18).

Deuteronomy 6:10-12 was fulfilled: “The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land, be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.,"

Now that the primary city-states have been defeated and their so-called "kings" have been killed and before it is divided up by tribe, the full extent of the conquest is enumerated here. Verses 1-6 describe the land east of the Jordan. This land consisted of the territories of the kings whom Moses had conquered (Number 21:21-35) which were to be given to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh (Numbers 32:38). These are not part of the Promised Land. Verses 7-24 list the "kings" defeated by Joshua on the west side of the Jordan.

Below are images of Joshua's campaigns and maps of the areas.

Above image from Sermon/Study Guide: Joshua
by Steve Hixon: www.hixonstudies.com/studyguides/joshua_sg00.asp

Above image is from www.messianic-torah-truth-seeker.org/Scriptures/Tenakh/Yehoshua/Yehoshua12.htm

(1) These are the kings east of the Jordan River who had been killed by the Israelites and whose land was taken. Their territory extended from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon and included all the land east of the Jordan Valley.

(2) King *Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, was defeated. His kingdom included Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon Gorge, and extended from the middle of the Arnon Gorge to the Jabbok River, which serves as a border for the Ammonites. This territory included the southern half of the territory of Gilead.

• *Sihon: Numbers 21:23-24: But King Sihon refused to let them cross his territory. Instead, he mobilized his entire army and attacked Israel in the wilderness, engaging them in battle at Jahaz. But the Israelites slaughtered them with their swords and occupied their land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River. They went only as far as the Ammonite border because the boundary of the Ammonites was fortified.
  
  
  
  Above image is from http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/jira/ruth.htm

(3) Sihon also controlled the Jordan Valley and regions to the east—from as far north as the Sea of Galilee to as far south as the Dead Sea, including the road to Beth-jeshimoth and southward to the slopes of Pisgah.

(4) King Og of Bashan, the last of the *Rephaites, lived at Ashtaroth and Edrei.

• *Rephaites: Another branch of the Nephilim.

(5) He ruled a territory stretching from Mount Hermon to Salecah in the north and to all of Bashan in the east, and westward to the borders of the kingdoms of Geshur and Maacah. This territory included the northern half of Gilead, as far as the boundary of King Sihon of
Heshbon.

(6) Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the Israelites had destroyed the people of King Sihon and King Og. And Moses gave their land as a
possession to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

(7) The following is a list of the kings that Joshua and the Israelite armies defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad
in the valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which leads up to Seir. (Joshua gave this land to the tribes of Israel as their possession,

(8) including the hill country, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley, the mountain slopes, the Judean wilderness, and the Negev. The people who lived in this region were the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.) These are the kings Israel defeated

(9) The king of Jericho; The king of Ai, near Bethel

(10) The king of Jerusalem; The king of Hebron

(11) The king of Jarmuth; The king of Lachish

(12) The king of Eglon; The king of Gezer

(13) The king of Debir; The king of Geder

(14) The king of Hormah; The king of Arad

(15) The king of Libnah; The king of Adullam

(16) The king of Makkedah; The king of Bethel

(17) The king of Tappuah; The king of Hepher

(18) The king of Aphek; The king of Lasharon

(19) The king of Madon; The king of Hazor

(20) The king of Shimron-meron; The king of Acshaph

(21) The king of Taanach; The king of Megiddo

(22) The king of Kedesh; The king of Jokneam in Carmel

(23) The king of Dor in the town of Naphoth-dor; The king of
Goyim in Gilgal

(24) The king of Tirzah. In all, thirty-one kings were defeated.

Many of the same names above appear in the Amarna letters, confirming the historicity the book of Joshua.

• 
• 
• 
• 
  
  Above image is from http://www.tinybeetle.us/dbrag/06joshua/main.htm
• It's now up to each tribe to possess their allotted territories and conquer any remaining Canaanites in their area. The key word up to now has been "conquer". From this point forward, the key word will be "occupy". But, we will find that they failed to fully occupy the land God gave them!
• Not all battles and not all kings are listed. The land was only 150 miles from north to south, and 50 miles from east to west.
• The Canaanites were more hopelessly divided than any of the surrounding nations. Their mountains contained nearly as many city-states as there were valleys. In the plains, each town represented a separate government and was built on a spot carefully selected for purposes of defense. These city-states were so crowded together that a horseman traveling leisurely could easily pass through two or three of them in one day.
• The chronological order of the Book of Joshua ends at verse 24. When we read a normal book, we expect it just to continue from the beginning to end in the chronological order. Not so, the Bible. It will take you and lead you through the story and then it will come back again and give you further details of the story. Many casual readers of the Bible, as a result, get very confused and give up.
• Why do we have such an exhaustive and seemingly tedious list? It only seems tedious to us because we do not live in the land. For those who really had their inheritance there, these were essential matters that touched every day life, answering the question: “What land belongs to Israel?”
• These descriptions are also important because they make it clear that these things happened in real time, and in real space. These are not fairy tales that begin with “once upon a time,” this is history that begins with specific places and people and rulers.
• It was also a way that Israel could forever remember the great things God had done for them. “Sometimes in the course of human experience it is good to sit down and reflect on what has been conquered by the grace of God.” (Redpath)
• This area that the Arab nations insist is theirs and that Israel is largely willing to concede is in fact the heart of the Promised Land and was the foundation of the Kingdom of God that Joshua had taken in battle.
• Joshua was to divide the land and give it to the people; Joshua was not to own it or personally control it as Israel’s leader. Such a procedure was generally unknown in history up to that time.
• How can a wandering horde of people with no country, a people with no fields for food and no foundries for making weapons, not even a center of civilization have the wherewithal to be an unstoppable conquering force over a substantial region of multiple kingdoms that were entrenched, well defended with sizable standing armies? Answer: it can’t happen except by the hand of the Almighty.

---

APPLICATION and LESSONS to LEARN:

1. When the goal is reached, we can look back at our victories. But, we can't rest on our past victories. May we be able to say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."
2. After we stop to give God thanks and reflect on the past, it's time to get back to work for Him.
3. When you have achieved a significant victory in life, it is important to take time to give God the credit. He has given us victories in the past and by giving thanks to Him, we keep our focus upon Him and remind ourselves that He will guide us in the future if are willing to do His will.
4. Three tribes chose to live on the FRINGE of the Promise land – saved out of Egypt but chose to never enter in and live in the land of Promise. They chose to settle for second best. Years later, they are the first to be invaded and taken captive by the Assyrians. Many Christians are the same way - although saved, they choose to live on the fringes of the world. They are saved but so much of their life is spent still on trying to finds ways to gratify and satisfy the flesh – "Me oriented" life. Many are afraid to really commit their lives to the Lord because they're afraid what He might ask of them - without realizing what He wants to give them. How sad!
5. It took seven years of fighting and the victories were won – one battle at a time! The same is true in the Christian life. There are no short cuts to spiritual growth. Our victories in Christ come one battle at a time.

---

NOTES:

• Unless otherwise noted, the scripture version used is the New Living Translation.
• Sources and References are on line at: http://joshua-biblestudy.blogspot.com/2011/07/joshua-references-and-sources.html