Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 7 Lesson 68
In this lesson, we see how Joshua finishes the work of conquest given to him by God, assigns the tribes of Israel their land allotments, and exhorts the people to continue to follow Yahweh and be blessed. How much of the land remained to be conquered after Joshua’s death? Had God really kept all his promises to Israel? And what lessons can we learn about trusting and obeying God in the tasks we face?
Our main texts for this lesson are Joshua 11:1-23 and 23:1-16.
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but now we can actually begin since it is 9:30 on the East Coast officially let me say good morning and welcome to Sunday school we are pressing on during this very very interesting time a difficult time a challenging time a time of testing from the Lord but it is a actually a good time a good time for his people because God is always good to his people even through the difficulties and praise the Lord that we have this ability to continue a kind of fellowship and to continue the Ministry of the word via the technology that we have if you haven’t said good morning in the chat yet please do so just so I know that you’re here and that you’re listening I really appreciate that and let’s get let’s get into our study we are continuing in the book of Joshua and actually finishing in the book of Joshua today a lesson is entitled Israel receives a land as we’ve been moving through the Book of Joshua we’ve been seeing God fulfilling his promises to Abraham to give Abraham’s seed a land and not just any land the land of Canaan the one specifically prepared by God for his people and this was be accomplished by means of conquest this land would be received by means of conquest more specifically God was bringing about victory for Israel and defeat and judgment for the wicked peoples of the land and last time we saw just how important it was for the people of Israel to remain faithful to God if they wanted to keep experiencing victory and blessing we saw what happened with akin when he took something underneath the ban and then when Israel dealt with that curse among the people how Israel was then brought back to just staggering victory by God now today we’re actually looking at the completion of the conquest Oh somewhat some ones that maybe having a little difficulty seeing me hopefully all of your connections are good and hopefully you’re all you’re all seeing my audio and video just fine seems to be fine on my end so if you’re having an issues hopefully hopefully there are some things you can do when you’re in but as I said today we’re we’re looking at the completion of the conquer and the assigning of the tribes to their various land allotments and Joshua’s final exhortation to the people so a lot of sections to cover here basically looking at the second half of Joshua and as we go along some questions that we want to consider are did Joshua really bring the conquest to an end did God in fact bring to pass the promises that he had given to Abraham when it came to the land and how should God’s faithfulness to Israel and Israel’s faithfulness to God and the blessing they experienced for it how should that inform and teach us how we should live today because these words they were not meant for simply Israel way back when but they are also meant for us this is God’s holy inspired Word well let’s consider those questions and we want to answer them today let’s pray as we get into our text pray with me family father we thank you that you are in firm control and that you are always good lord you are unchanging and that’s so wonderful because if you had changed well then something would be deficient in your character you would be improving or you’d be getting worse that’s impossible for you because you were the perfect God and who have acted perfectly in biblical history and you’ve given us this perfect word and you are even acting perfectly today even with the coronavirus and all the other things going on lord I pray that you’d help me to explain this word well and accurately and helpfully and help the people to take it to heart listen be encouraged be sobered being convicted Holy Spirit please work among those who listen now in Jesus name Amen well go ahead and take your Bibles and open to Joshua chapter 11 Joshua chapter 11 is where we’re starting today we left off last time with Joshua 10 and that momentous and miraculous day and Joshua’s campaign starting his campaign in the south remember the five kings gathered against the people of Gibeon who had made a treaty with Israel Israel came to their aid after that victory in the latter part of chapter 10 which we didn’t go over last time but just it’s important background Joshua takes Israel on a campaign in southern Canaan besieging various important cities capturing them and destroying the people there he subdues the area destroys and drives out the inhabitants and that leads us right into our new passage today Joshua 11 verses 1 to 23 so follow along with me as I read that entire chapter we’re gonna do some analysis this passage Joshua 11 verses 1 to 23 here’s what God’s Word says and it came about when jabbin king of hot sort heard of it that he sent to jobab king of maidan into the king of shimron to the king of akshatha and to the king of the north in the hill country and in the arabic south of chinna Rothen in the lowland and on the heights of d’Or in the West it’s the Canaanite on the east and on the west and the amorite and the hittite and the perizzite in the Jebusite in the hill country and he fight at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpah they came out they and all their armies with them has many people as the sand that is on the seashore with very many horses and chariots so all these Kings having agreed to meet came and encamped together at the waters of Mirim to fight against Israel then the Lord that is Yahweh the Covenant name there said to Joshua do not be afraid because of them for tomorrow at this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire so Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them suddenly by the waters of Mirim and attacked them he always em into the hand of Israel so that they defeated them and pursued them as far as great Sidon and mr. faught mane and the valley of Misbah to the east and they struck them until no survivor was left to them Joshua did to them as Yahweh had told him he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire then Joshua turned back at that time and captured hot sore and struck its king with the sword for hot sir formerly was the head of all these kingdoms they struck every person who was in it with the edge of the sword utterly destroying them just as Moses the Oh skipped ahead there there was no one left who breathed and he burned Hut’s were with fire Joshua captured all the cities of these kings and all their kings and he struck them with the edge of the sword and utterly destroyed them just as Moses the servant of Yahweh had commanded whoever Israel did not burn any cities that stood on their mounds except hot sore alone which Joshua burned all the spoil of these cities in the cattle the sons of Israel took as their plunder but they struck every man with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them they left no one who breathed just as Yahweh had commanded Moses his servant so Moses commanded Joshua and so Joshua did he left nothing undone of all that Yahweh had commanded Moses thus Joshua took all that land the hill country and all the Negev all that land of goshen the lowland they are above the hill country of Israel and it’s lowland from Mount a lock that rises towards there even as far as Bale God in the valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon and he captured all their kings and struck them down and put them to death Joshua waged war a long time with all these kings there was not a city which made peace with the sons but the sons of Israel except the Hittites living in Gibeon they took them all in battle for it was of Yahweh to harden their hearts to meet Israel in battle order that he might uh Turley destroy them but they might receive no mercy but that he might destroy them just as Yahweh had commanded Moses then Joshua came at that time and caught off the Anakim from the hill country from Hebron from deburr from a map and from all the hill country of Judah and from all the hill country of Israel Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities there were no Anakim left in the land of the sons of Israel only in Gaza in Gath and in Ashdod some remained so Joshua took the whole land according to all that Yahweh had spoken to Moses and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes thus the land had rest from war thank you for going to that passage with me let’s use our inductive Bible study method start our study of this passage to adjust basic observations on what we read notice that we have first of all a new leader opposing Israel in chapter 10 it was Adani Zedeck who was king of Canaanite jerusalem who gathered a coalition of kings in southern canaan to attack Gibeon and attack israel but now in verses 1 to 5 we see that king jamming of hot sore is leading a northern coalition of kings against Israel and against Israel’s God and a hot sore is worth getting a little bit of background about hot sore haze or you can pronounce it whatever whatever way hotter was another important fortified city this time in northern Canaan north of the Sea of Galilee you can see it on the map here on the screen north of the Sea of Galilee on the edge of the well watered Hula Valley it’s at right on top of a major trade route the International coastal highway with the via Maurice not only controlled the surrounding Valley but it also prevented access to Canaan B in the Northeast so kind of like Jericho it’s a gateway into Canaan now hot saw is probably one of the largest if not the largest city in ancient Palestine as many as forty thousand people lived inside the walls and it wasn’t count the people who would have gone into the city during times of war or at times of danger so we can understand why verse 10 says of hot sore that it was formerly the head of all these kingdoms all the kingdoms that are joining with hot so to oppose is your hot sore is the largest and the greatest but notice why Javon puts together this coalition in verse one of our chapter it says that he heard something what was it that he heard we heard about Israel’s devastating campaign in southern Canaan he’s looking at his fellow kings and his fellow kingdoms in the north and saying we better band together we’ve got to work together if we’re gonna overcome these Israelites these Israelite invaders we need to defeat them and so they work hard to put together an opposing army and notice what we hear about this army in verse four it says that there were as many people as the sand that is on the seashore how much sand is on the seashore that’s an uncountable number so this is a huge horde of people that is gathering against Israel and notice it also says that they had with them very many horses and chariots now this is the first time we see chariots in the conquest narrative the last time we saw chariots it was with pharaoh with what took place at the Red Sea or the reed sea and remember what people thought about chariots at this time they were deadly war machines they struck terror into the hearts of those who faced him they could demoralize entire armies and Israel’s now facing chariots along with this large number of opposing soldiers and horses it says horses were also considered very dangerous horses and horsemen due to their speed their power and maneuverability so Israel is facing an extremely dangerous enemy they are large in number and they are well-armed according to verses one to five yet God had already told Israel what to do in this kind of situation he don’t need to turn there but Deuteronomy chapter 20 verse 1 says when you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you which is exactly what his rule is facing do not be afraid of them for Yahweh your God who brought you up from the land of Egypt is with you we see the same kind of assurance given right after the description of the army in verse 6 yahwah specifically assures joshua yahweh will bring victory even against this vast and well-equipped horde away even commands joshua to hamstring the horses and burn the chariots after the battle now what does it mean to hamstring a horse it’s a little bit of a difference of opinion here it depends on the muscle group involved something that hamstringing is to cut the hamstring group of muscles in a horse’s legs and if you do that to a horse with that muscle group inoperable well the horse can’t walk and basically that horse is going to die it’s possible that God was commanding this destroy the horses I think it’s more likely though that God means something else because the Hebrew word translated hamstring it doesn’t refer to the specific muscle or tendon that would be cut probably these animals are going to be going to be maimed for lack of a better word in such a way that they will continue to live but they’ll be unable to be used in war apparently there was a way that one can do that many ways job God commands Joshua deal with the horses and deal with the chariots so they cannot be used in war anymore notice how visual comes upon their enemies in verses 7 to 8 says they come upon them suddenly and what happens they defeat them and they pursue them until no survivors left them they pursue them to various cities all over northern Canaan you can see that on the map and then in verse 9 we see Joshua obeys God’s commands regarding the horses and chariots and then notice the aftermath of the battle in verses 10 to 15 it says Israel captures all of the cities of the kings that face them they take the plunder and they put to death all the people as God commanded through Moses and remember that was part of God’s command as part of their as part of God’s judgment on the wicked people of the land as part of God’s safeguarding Israel from learning the idolatrous and wicked practices of the people of the land he says you must put them to death don’t leave them alive or else they will become a snare to you this was a unique judgment being pursued by God against the people of the land via Israel but Israel destroys the people of these cities captures their plunder and notice something unique that Israel does with hot sore it says that they burn the city with fire now let’s see if you can answer the following question in the chat if you’ve been paying attention over the last few lessons which to other cities in the conquest according to the book of Joshua are also burned with fire like hot sore Steve you can answer that question if you can’t that’s okay so actually the very first city they conquered Jericho was burned with fire also I the city that had once defeated Israel in battle that that Kingdom I was also burned and then finally hot sore so in total according to the book of Joshua three cities in the conquest were burned to the ground and their sin verses 16 to 20 we get a summary of the conquest of all the different regions in Canaan that had been conquered up to this point and in verse 18 were told specifically that Joshua wages war a long time with the kings of these areas now this is an important statement because otherwise we might get the wrong impression that you can move pretty quickly through the chapters of Joshua and you might get the impression that everything took place in maybe a year but actually it took longer than that we we get an important time detail regarding the conquest in Joshua 14 Joshua 14 verses 6 to 12 I won’t read through that passage with you but Caleb makes a certain comment and he says that he was 40 years old when he spied out the land but he was 85 when he undertook to reconquer Hebron from Anakin at the end of Joshua’s campaigns now if we do a little math here Israel wandered 38 years in the wilderness he spent two years getting to and staying at Sinai and then there were 38 years in the wilderness after Israel spied out the land so we can figure out from these details just how long the conquest was if Caleb was 85 minus 40 years from what his age at when he spied out the land and then minus the 38 years of window wilderness wandering and how many years do you have left over about seven years so this conquest of Canaan probably took about seven years beginning likely around 1406 BC and coming to an event and coming to an end around 1398 BC so this did take a while now notice in verse 20 of Joshua chapter 11 the explanation as to why no one aside from the Gibeonites sought to make peace with the people of Israel it was actually because of Yahweh Yahweh hardened the heart to the canaanites so that they might be destroyed in battle against Israel this was part of the judgment of God for the people’s sins I’ll notice verses 21 to 22 we get a little report about Joshua’s effort against the Anakin now who were the Anakin or the sons of anak as an alternate description we actually can go back to numbers 13 verse 33 to find out who they are remember when the spies were first going through Canaan they said oh we spotted the Nephilim there and they were referring to the sons of anak and this is their description based on encountering the an Hakeem they said we became like grasshoppers in our own sight and so we were in their sight so who are the Anakin well they’re apparently a clan a group of very large people even Giants so they would be very feared you wouldn’t want to face a giant in battle but look what we see here at the end of our chapter Joshua goes after the an Akeem and essentially annihilates their presence in the hill country or the central region of Judah and Israel and driving most of the Anakim to the coast that’s where those cities are that I mentioned notice one of the places that the Anakim settle is in the city of Gath and if you know a little bit more about the Old Testament do we see a significantly tall person later in scripture who comes from Gath who perhaps was a descendant of man Hakeem and of course thinking of Goliath from Gath we hear that he’s from Gath in 1st Samuel 17 for finally notice in verse 23 we read Joshua took the whole land according to all that Yahweh had spoken to Moses so there it is a declaration that the whole land has been taken the conquest is complete and that’s the final statement and chapter 11 makes good stent good sense thus the land had a rest from war so here it is finally Israel has its land God’s promises fulfilled time to rest and relax and enjoy right but notice something take your Bibles and turn to Joshua chapter 13 Joshua 13 verses one two six I’m not gonna go over Joshua twelve Joshua twelve is a rehearsal of the different Kings that Israel defeated and destroyed via their conquest but look with Joshua thirteen verses one to success it says now Joshua was old in advanced in years when Yahweh said to him you are old in advance in years and very much of the land remains to be possessed hmm this is the land that remains all the regions of the Philistines and all those of the guess your rights from this shy which is east of Egypt even as far as the border of Ekron to the north it just counted as Canaanite the five Lords of the Philistines the Gaza at the Ash tonight the ashkelon tonight the get tied to eccrine I and the a fight to the south all the land at the Canaanite and they are that belongs at the sidonians as far as afec to the board of the Amorite in the land of the Gebo light and all of lebanon toward the east from bale gad below Mount Hermon as far as labo Hamas all the inhabitants the hill country from Lebanon as far as Miller v Maine all the sidonians I will dry them out from before the sons of Israel only allotted to Israel foreign inheritance as I’ve commanded you now this is really interesting because you might be asking yourself wait a second is the conquest done or not in verse 1 of chapter 13 God says much of the land remains to be possessed in verses 2 to 6 they describe the regions where the enemies remain basically and I put up a map to show this basically it’s the regions of the coastal plains it’s the valleys you can see this on the right map here so here another Valley over here and it’s the northern section that in the northern section of Lebanon we can compare this to the description of the territory that got a lots to Israel according to numbers 34 verses 1 to 12 that’s the map here I have on the left now there are slightly different interpretations of the exact borders of that description but numbers 34 1 to 12 definitely includes a larger area that blue area here in the map then what Israel has conquered up to this point so there’s been a discrepancy between this declaration that Joshua has taken the whole land and God’s declaration that much territory still needs to be taken in conquest actually though this wouldn’t have been a surprise to Joshua God actually told the people of Israel before Israel entered the land that the conquest would not happen all at once actually Exodus 23 Exodus 23 verses 29 to 30 right after God proclaims to the people that he will drive out the people of the land of Canaan before Israel he says this God says I will not drive them out before you in a single year that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you I will drive them out before you little by little until you become fruitful and take possession of the land and this is also very significant notice the reason why God says that you will not drive out and destroy the people of Canaan all at once it’s because Israel will not be big enough and not be populous enough to settle in all the empty land actually something that we see in the book of Joshua and even in the beginning of Judges is that sometimes Israel has to go back and re conquer areas that they already conquer undeterred that they already conquered under Joshua because their enemies had moved back into the area this shows that Israel did not have enough people and enough resources to sufficiently settle in and fortify all of the cities that they conquered even under Joshua so you can see why it wouldn’t be wouldn’t be probable profitable for them to try and conquer all of the territory at once they just couldn’t they couldn’t live in at all they needed to settle grow as a people and then they would continue the conquest so we see these is to what may be seemed like contradictory declarations and the end of Joshua 11 were told the whole land is conquered and then in Joshua 13 were told no there’s more to go now what are we to do with these different details well that’s why we go next to the interpretation step we start with just basic observations of the details of the passage and then we take those details together once we’ve observed what we can and we ask questions of interpretation so I’m going to do that with you now so here’s the question in terms of the battles and sieges in which Israel has participated up to this point how does the battle with the northern Kings compare perhaps as you think about this you notice that on the one hand this is different than anything Israel has faced this is the most challenging battle yet a vast amount of enemy soldiers uncountable amount and they have advanced technology they have the horses and the chariots Israel has not faced an enemy quite like this before it was getting harder and harder and harder they faced a coalition of kings in the south but nothing like the northern Kings so this was different this was a new challenge and yet it was no different from what Israel had experienced before because the victory was just as easy through God God was the one who said I will give you the victory that’s exactly what it did here didn’t matter how many enemies Israel was facing didn’t matter whether they had chariots or horsemen God still swore that he would give the victory and he did so the people of Israel trusted God and they experienced the victory so in some ways this was the most difficult challenge in other ways it was just like what is you had experience already now here’s another question the gathering of this large number of kings and the armies and represented the the greatest test Israel has experienced in the conquest thus far but why was this large attacking horde of northern kings and their armies why is it actually a blessing for Israel in the end I don’t know if you thought about it but this really is a good thing for Israel now why do I say that on the one hand Israel gets to see God’s mighty power put on display if the battle were not so great if the challenge were not so daunting then they wouldn’t have gotten to rebel as much and just how faithful and powerful God is on behalf of his people this was a titanic army that was facing them and yet they got to see God bring the deliverance so that was the blessing but also just in practical terms this gathering of the northern coalition against Israel it was because Ezreal got to deal with their enemies all at once let’s face it Joshua is taking a number of years to conquer these various cities deal with these various kingdoms but because all of the northern Kings are the majority of the great ones gather against Israel Israel can deal with them all at once they decisively defeat the army in battle this army gathered against him and then they can go and besiege the various cities that these armies came from no longer are the armies holed up in the cities to be able to defend them so Israel has a somewhat easier time taking care of the cities in the north so what seemed like a great challenge it may be a great test it was actually for Israel’s blessing in the end made things easier for Israel now here’s a question I’d like you to answer in the chat if you can why did Yahweh command for Joshua and Israel to demilitarize the horses and destroy the chariots after the battle with the northern Kings what do you think she might think these advanced technologies these horses the chariots that’d be a great thing for Israel to to take on as their own resource but why did God say destroy them actually make them so that you can’t use them in war yeah mark posts horses were a symbol of man’s strength and Greg mentions trust this is about trust and Yahweh I bear rights you did not want them to trust in horses and chariots and Leila says they needed to rely on God’s power and you’re right this is this is all what it’s about we even see the same idea reflected in the Psalms right that we don’t put our trust in horses or chariots with the strength of men God’s people are called to put their trust in Yahweh himself and so God is really trying to protect Israel by saying I don’t want you to be swayed by these new war machines and technology that you might receive the victory comes through me it doesn’t come via these these specific technologies and implements so actually show your faith in me by just laying aside those technologies I will bring you the victory and so that’s why we see God’s sake just get rid of those chariots and this is this is right along the lines of a command given by God in the Torah when it comes to the kings of Israel later Kings Vidor not to multiply horses for themselves and along with that chariots why so they would not learn to trust in their own strength rather than trusting in Yahweh now God could have brought victory to Israel even if they had horses and chariots but he said I want you to I want you to be able to just see very clearly that I’m the one bringing the victory you don’t need these advanced machines and technologies and mark notes at Psalm 33 I think is maybe the this home that I was thinking of so good thank you for answering that question now here’s another question and again see if you can answer this in the chat why does Israel burn hot sore why does usual burn hot sore they don’t burn all the cities they burned a few of them at hot stores one of them so why hot sword give you a moment to answer three dimensions also a psalm 20 verse 7 in relation to the previous question thanks Judy now mark notes the huts were represented the the biggest enemy that Israel faced this would have been considered the greatest if not of the greatest if not the greatest city in Palestine and what did the people of Israel do they burn it to the ground it was the head of all the kingdoms of the passage noted and as as dawn brought back to our attention so by destroying it by burning it this was another testimony to the people peoples around Israel and to Israel itself that the Lord is mighty he is able to destroy any enemy even the greatest kingdom and I think about really all the cities that Israel burns it was all a kind of memorial an ongoing testimony Jericho the first city I the city that had defeated Israel and hot sore this greatest city of the north each one of them is left in ruins as an eternal testimony to God’s power to bring victory and God’s powerful judgment on those who resist him and those who continue in sin and I think as Liz mentioned this is partly true to prevent the enemy from returning into the area occupying those cities and representing a continual thorn in Israel’s side it’s interesting actually hot sort will have to be recall Kurd we see that we see that in the book of Judges so this is one of the cities because of a strategic location it will be refortified by some visuals enemies and I’ll have to be conquered again but Josh was destruction of the city Israel’s destruction of the city was a powerful testimony to the people of the land now Israel as I said did not do this with all the cities and why not why didn’t why not just make all this city as a memorial by burning them as a testimony to the people the land as a testimony to the Israelites there’s a very practical reason for that and it’s that israel needs a place to live I understand that in the conquest God is not just giving the people of Israel a land they are actually also receiving a land fully furnished they are an cities and farms and vineyards and houses and animals many other treasures God was doing this for the people of Israel as a gift and as a grace and he even reminds him the Torah think about what I’m giving you and don’t forget this grace that’s being shown to you because if you do and if you turn away from me and if you disobey the terms of my covenant well then you will experience what judgment I put on the people of the land the things that you make the houses that you build others will inhabit them the crops that you bring in others will eat them and ultimately I’ll remove you from the land and put other people here so though this was a great gift edge oh it was one that they were not to take for granted lest they experience the removal of these things that they had received by the way this fact that most of the cities the conquests were not destroyed or burned but actually taken intact by the people of Israel and actually accords with what we’ve found so far archaeologically and then there’s no evidence of a wide-scale campaign of destruction in the 1400s BC in Canaan except at a few sites like the ruins of Jericho and the ruins of hot sore now people who don’t know the Bible they think that this is proof that the Bible is not true you see oh we don’t see this big this devastating conquest all these burn layers in the in the lands of Canaan and the cities of Canaan at this time so the Bible must not be true actually if you pay attention to what the Bible actually says what we have found accords with what the Bible says there shouldn’t have been much of a disruption in the archaeological archaeological layers of the city except in a very few sites because God was in fact giving these cities intact to the people of Israel now let’s get to one of our bigger questions certainly the Bible is not contradicting itself when it says in Joshua 11 that the whole land was conquered and in Joshua 13 that much remained to be conquered the Bible is God’s perfect word and as Jesus says scripture cannot be broken so in what sense this Joshua 11 true that Joshua in Israel conquered the whole land and thus God’s promised to give the land to Israel was fulfilled and what sense is that true see if you can answer that in the chat what sense is chapter 11 true and not really in contradiction to Joshua 13 certainly there must be an answer to this question and what sense did Joshua and Israel conquer the whole land I think we can answer all right mark mark notes the promise was given and the people were in fear very notes they had dominion over it but not possession Jeremiah and perhaps that Shaji or Jeremiah God has given them the land that they live in that’s true I think essentially we cannot these answers I think are all right all correct the land was essentially conquered that had essentially received it because all the genuine military threats to Israel have been dealt with Israel has broken the back of the resistance in Canaan all that’s really left is mop up operations to be pursued not by Israel as a whole but the individual tribes Canaan was essentially conquered Israel had essentially received the land thus God’s Word was fulfilled he said he would give them the land they have received it and even with the territory they’ve taken up to this point it is enough for all the people of Israel to live in Israel as I said before it would not be ready at that moment to take on new territory the land would need to have rest for a while which is why the end of Joshua 11 says but it does the land had rest from war but as usual would grow as the tribes continued to trust in God and to seek God’s will they would successfully dislodge the remaining inhabitants and obtain the rest of their inheritance so God’s ancient word to Abraham is indeed being fulfilled here at just as you said Abraham for instance in Genesis 12:7 God said Abraham to your descendants I will give this land and Genesis 15:18 God says to Abraham to your descendants I have given this land from the river of Egypt as far as the great river the river Euphrates referring the river of Egypt there not the Nile but probably the brook of Egypt the wadi lrish in the Sinai Peninsula and the river Euphrates there’s an armour the Euphrates River that kind of descends into Lebanon and that was really comprised the to the two ends of Israel’s assigned inheritance according to numbers 34 so Israel had essentially received God’s promise and it was only a matter of time and their own obedient that they would receive the full amount of land portions to them by God so consider the conquest narrative up to this point and particularly what we have in joshua 11 what did this account show us or emphasized to us about god many of the same things that we’ve seen in the previous lessons god is mighty to save on behalf of his people but also my to destroy those who appoint oppose him god is good to his own god is sovereign he’s in control of all the kings all the kingdoms and the land he is holy and wrathful against sin she did in the judgment being precipitated by the people of israel on the people the land and even on israel when they are not willing to follow god see that God is just he gives it gives the inhabits of the land what they deserve according to their sin but he’s also faithful and just on behalf of his people faithful to his word to Abraham and to the promises given through Moses and through Joshua to the people and we see that God is unchanging it’s not like he made a promise to Abraham and to Josh already set up sorry changed my mind or yeah I really wanted to do that for you but I’m just not able like I thought I was now God is unchanging and thus faithful and of course all these qualities qualities that we’re seeing on display in God they ought to be an encouragement to us even us in our own situation with the coronavirus and the tasks set before us because the same God but the people of Israel and Joshua if you are in Christ he is your God too he is our God usual was tested in battle against large armies we are tested by the spiritual warfare that we now undertake and the testing of sickness and stay-at-home directives and other uncomfortable circumstances misses a testing from God to us but the same God who is sovereign over that time and Israel’s conquest he is sovereign over us and justice he worked for their good he’s working for our good so we can learn from Israel’s experience with God God can be trusted to take care of his people and bring to pass to them what he promised he calls on his people to simply look to him in faith and obedience I will say more about this later in terms of application you can see there’s already great application and what we’ve examined thus far but let’s move on in the book of Joshua in Joshua 13 at 21 we begin a long section of the book where Joshua signs by lot that is by casting Lots not exactly dice but something like that casting Lots to portion to the nine and a half tribes who have not yet been settled their tribal inheritances now there’s very specific descriptions about the inheritance is given to each tribe we’re not going to look at those specifically I’m just going to summarize it via a map but again this is in Joshua 13 to 21 so you can look at that later you see here on the map three of the tribes already received their portion on the eastern side of the Jordan we have Reuben GAD and half tribe of Manasseh on the western side of the Jordan the first inheritance is inheritance is given unto the major tribes Judah in the south and then the sons of Joseph Ephraim and Manasseh in the north they essentially are given the heartland of Canaan the hill country and also some of the coastal area and we have a number of minor tribal inheritances assigned in between and around those allotments we’ve got Dan and Benjamin kind of squeezed in between Judah and the sons of Joseph and then we have also Simeon is in the middle of Judah’s inheritance right in the midst of it and then the four other tribes Asher Zebulun istikhara Naphtali in the north on the western side of Galilee notice one tribe is not mentioned here in the tribal allotment and that’s Levi they didn’t get any specific territory that’s because God was doing something special with him they were given cities to throughout the people of Israel and God was going to provide for the people of Levi via the offerings and contributions that the people of Israel make to Yahweh God was going for treat the Levites has his own special possession and they received the offerings of Israel and as they live throughout the land of Israel they were really to serve as teachers in Israel they were to be teachers of the covenant to the rest of the tribes and people could go to the Levi towns to to consult and to learn so we have all the tribes of Israel now given a portion decided by law according to God’s providence according to what he knows what would be best for each tribe the lot falls to them according to that purpose of God but do note from this map that you see before you that a fair amount of the assigned territory is not yet in Israelite hands there’s still people of the land living in many of these territories each tribe then would be responsible to conquer the assigned a territory as that tribe grew and as they trusted in God of course that’s and that’s actually what Joshua exhorts the people to do at the end of the book of Joshua so let’s actually head there take your Bible and move over to Joshua chapter 23 Joshua 22 we won’t go over that good it talks about him it’s a misunderstanding that takes place between the tribes on the east side of the Jordan and the tribes in the west side of the Jordan which they’re able to resolve without bloodshed but in Joshua 23 and 24 we get a description of certain final assemblies that Joshua convenes for all Israel and in these assemblies well actually let’s read it together flat I may comment on it look at Joshua 23 verses 1 to 16 these last portions we don’t have time to comment in full but I want us to notice a few things especially from Joshua 23 look at Joshua 23 as I read it it says now came about after many days when Yahweh had given rest Israel from all their enemies on every side and Joshua was old advanced in years the Joshua called for all Israel for their elders and their heads in the judges and their officers and said to them I am old advanced in years and you’ve seen all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations because of you for Yahweh your God is he who has been fighting for you see I’ve apportioned to you these nations which remain as an inheritance for your tribes with all the nations which I have cut off from the Jordan even to the Great Sea toward the setting of the Sun Yahweh your God he will thrust them out from before you and drive them from before you and you will possess their land just as Yahweh your God promised you be very firm then to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left so that you will not associate with these nations these which remain among you or mention the name of their gods or make anyone swear by them or serve them or bow down to them but you were to cling to Yahweh your God as you have done to this day for Yahweh has driven out great and strong nations from before you and as for you no man has stood before you to this day one of your men puts the flight a thousand for Yahweh your God is he who fights for you just as he promised you so take diligent heed to yourselves to love Yahweh your God for if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations these which remain among you and intermarry with them so that you associate with them and they with you know with certainty that Yahweh your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you but they will be a snare and a trap to you and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes until you perish from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you now behold today I’m going the way of all the earth and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which our God spoke concerning you has failed all have been fulfilled for you not one of them has failed you come about the justice all the good words which our God spoke to you have come upon you so Yahweh will bring upon you all the threats until he has destroyed you from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you when you transgress the covenant of Yahweh your God which you commanded you and go and serve other gods and bow down to them then the anger of Yahweh will against you and you will perish quickly from off the good land which he has given you notice just some powerful excitations from Joshua here to the people notice a few things with me he calls on the people to continue the conquest in obedience to God’s law as they grow as tribes they are to continue the conquest encourages the people by calling upon them to remember everything that God has done for them thus far and notice the warning he gives in verse 7 he says do not associate with the people of the land or serve their gods and you can see even a little progression in verse 7 don’t mention the name of their gods don’t swear by them and don’t serve them and bow down to them don’t even start by mentioning the name of their God and then in verse 12 Joshua wants people not to intermarry with the people of the land remember this has nothing to do with race this all has all to do with idolatry just as Moses said in the Torah he says do not intermarry with them because if they if you do they will lead you astray from Yahweh and there will be consequences from that Moses foretold the consequences and they’re repeated here in verse 13 it says if you intermarry if you associate with the people of the land and God will no longer give you victory in your battles and these intermarry peoples will become a snare to a painful snare and ultimately you will perish from this good land that you have obtained you’ll you will be destroyed from it you’ll be removed from it and notice the way Joshua underscores this in verses 14 to 16 it reminds the people that just that they’ve seen all good all God’s good covenant promises come to pass to them pass for them up to this point so in the same way they will see God’s covenant curses come upon them in the same faithful way if they forsake your way if they serve sin if they go after idols and if they really look to indulge themselves this is a powerful excitation and Joshua says similar things in the next chapter look at Joshua 24 now this one we won’t read most of it Joshua convenes a covenant renewal ceremony at Shechem Shechem is a city right in the middle of the tribal inheritances on the western side of the Jordan and in this meeting Joshua again rehearse is all the good that Yahweh has done for his people and he calls upon the people to choose once and for all which God are you gonna serve this is where we get that famous statement from Joshua as for me in my house we will serve the Lord how do the people respond to this call for decision from Joshua what they swear to serve Yahweh and to serve him only and Joshua sets up a stone pillar at Shechem as a witness a memorial to the Covenant renewal ceremony that they all undergo a witness even to what Israel has sworn we will serve Yahweh alone and does this do the people of Israel hold good to their promise notice verse 31 in chapter 24 tells us a little bit after what happened after the death of Joshua it says Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua and had known all the deeds of Yahweh which he had done for Israel this generation it took Joshua’s excitation seriously it remembered who Yahweh is and what works he had done and thus they followed Yahweh and they were blessed for it but what about the next generation it’s actually here that we see the purpose of the book of Joshua this book is written as a testimony and a call to the new generations of Israel after the generation of Joshua that they might walk in faithfulness before God that they might see his faithfulness on their behalf in the past to bring blessing and victory when the people proceeded by faith and to bring chastening and judgment when the people chose to serve sinan idols and God through Joshua was calling the next generation to affirm their covenant faithfulness to Yahweh and to obey his word and that meant specifically for them finishing the conquest keeping God’s covenant and not intermarrying with the people of the land they have this testimony from Joshua they have the book of the law given by Moses they have every encouragement and reason to follow Yahweh but what do the generation after Joshua do do they heed the message of this book did they heed the testimony of the past we find out in the book of Judges and the answer is a tragic one what we’re going to see as we proceed into that book is that Israel will betray its covenant commitment and it will forget all the good that God has done for them they will fail to continue the conquest they will intermarry with the ungodly people of the land and thus they will experience God’s faithful covenant chastening but we’ll get to that a little bit later nevertheless we can heed the message of the book of Joshua and we must even now in the 21st century even now in the midst of the coronavirus this book and even they account that we’ve looked at today the accounts would look at the day it is relevant for us so how should we apply it let me give you a few suggestions how should what we’ve studied in Joshua affect us today which it first of all caused us to behold once again the futility of opposing Yahweh the futility of pursuing sin even a giant army with chariots and horses could not stand before Yahweh in Israel it was easy for him to confound this army and bring Israel its victory so then in light of that well any of us today be able to successfully oppose Yahweh well any of us today be able to get away with our sin and consider yourselves personally are you at all in rebellion against God and against God’s Son Jesus Christ whom God has appointed to one day rule the world and utterly destroy all sinners all those who remain enemies of God do you refuse to love and serve Jesus Christ because instead you want to just serve yourself you want to go your own way a way that is according to the Bible futile self seeking and sinful heed the book of Joshua heed the words of Psalm chapter 2 which says why are the nations in an uproar why are they trying to oppose Yahweh they’re not going to succeed the word from Psalm 2 is kiss the Sun now lest he be angry repent now and be saved before the judgment comes and you perish in the way because if you do not knew this Joshua makes quite clear you will not escape the just judgment of God so we should on the one hand behold the futility of opposing Yahweh and pursuing sin but we should also the more positive sense we should learn to rely on the faithfulness of Yahweh Joshua said that not one of God’s promises related to Israel’s conquest failed to come to pass and that’s true and if that was true back then if God was being faithful to his word back then and his word that he has declared since then even to us today will also hold true because God does not change our God today is the same God who promised to do good to his people back then in the days of Joshua he provided perfectly for his people and he will do the same for us yes even amid the coronavirus I mean think of all the times that God proved himself faithful to Abraham Isaac Jacob the sons of Israel Moses Joshua and then think in your own life all the times that God has proven himself faithful to you and to your family if you are in Christ so then rely on your faithful God he can be trusted he will provide for you in the perfect way believe him rest in him don’t be like the proud and double minded men of James chapter one who can never decide whether he can really rely on God or not this doubting of God is really a dishonor to God it’s saying God you can’t be trusted God I you haven’t done enough for me it’s just pride and it’s refusal to believe the word that God is given yes God will bring you even if you are in Christ into difficult times of testing like the one that we are in but he does it for our good as James even says also in James chapter one we can consider it all joy not the trial itself is good in terms of the pain and suffering or discomfort that is with but because of the purpose that is being accomplished through it we are be being made more like Christ our faith is being put on display and shown to be genuine so you can trust God you must trust God and if you do you’ll experience the Lord’s peace and the Lord’s blessing Joshua tells us that we can rely on the faithfulness of Yahweh and then one other suggestion based on this book is that we also should look forward to our coming inheritance Israel received a blessed inheritance from God via Joshua’s conquests but that inheritance was temporary if you know Jesus Christ if you are found in him then you have an even greater inheritance coming along with all the saints not merely fellowship of God in heaven but the new heavens and the new earth ruling and reigning with the son himself in your resurrected body in your glorified body you know I’ve been thinking and maybe you’ve thought about this too doesn’t this situation with the coronavirus make you long more for the world to come no sickness no suffering no pain no uncertainty no fear no sin such a world is coming the Scriptures have made that so clear the Lord Jesus Christ is bringing a kingdom of life and righteousness to the earth but who’s gonna enter that Kingdom only those who are in Christ only those who have repented of their sins and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and as God and as king they will be granted entry into God’s kingdom so you have to ask yourselves have I done so am I in Christ have I repented of my sin and believed in Christ to be my only righteousness to make me acceptable to God by His perfect life and by His sacrificial death and his powerful resurrection along with that does the prospect of reward in Christ and dwelling with him in the future in his kingdom does that propel you on in faith obedience and servus remember too and this has been an excitation many of Gibbons so I’m not unique about this it’s easy in this crisis to become very self focused and self-indulgent hey I don’t want to get sick I don’t want to see people just sit at home do various things watch TV don’t care about anyone else anymore whether in the church or outside of the church but that’s not our calling as Christians if we’ve received the salvation that we have indeed reported to received then we must walk worthy of it we cannot simply choose to focus on self yes the way we’re going to serve others will change during this time but we have a calling to the film we have brethren to love and we have those outside of God’s sheepfold I need to be brought in especially during this difficult time we need to take seriously the coming of Christ and not settle for being Christian couch potatoes right now there’s important work to be done on behalf of the Lord the gospel must go forth the church must be built up even now think about how you can minister to other members of the church even now even amid stay-at-home hoarders this work needs to be done and who will God use to do it he will use you yes even you if you are in Christ every member of the body of Christ is important and has a role of building up the church to fulfill in light of our coming inheritance and inheritance though is even more blessed than the inheritance we see Joshua helped the Israelites receive let us do this let’s proceed onward in the work of Christ we will receive a reward and we will dwell with the Lord Himself that’s all for the lesson this week if you have questions or comments about what I shared with you today please post them in the chat I’ll interact with you and after after I pray or if you think of other questions or comments later in the week you can email me at Daffy cap OSHA at gmail.com I would love to interact with you answer your questions the best my ability as I alluded to before in Sunday school next time we open up the book of Judges and we see how tragically and unthinkably Israel turns from God to serve idols in spite of all that God has done for them but how does God respond it will be in holiness but it will also be in grace and this is a powerful message again even for our own day so I look forward to talking and studying the book of Judges with you but let me close our official study time with prayer and then like I said I’ll stay on a little bit afterwards to interact with you if you have questions or comments let’s break our great sovereign God and King Lord in light of this wonderful book that we’ve looked at together or do we know that we are to be changed we ought to be transformed we need to see on the one hand that you are mighty to save we are to believe you you will bring us through the trial through the fire through the flood and you will bring us safely into your heavenly kingdom for those of us who are in Christ but Lord the message of this book is also how foolish and how eternally destructive it is to oppose you to serve Self Serve sin serve the passing things of this world because the judgment will come and the sin will be found out but how blessed are of all of those who seek refuge in you because you are a rock that cannot be shaken and Lord we look forward to our coming inheritance but if you provided the inheritance faithfully for the people of Israel you will also provide our inheritance you have as you’ve testified Lord Jesus gone to prepare a place for us and you will receive us to that place and even bring that place to the earth and the new heaven of the new earth and we look forward we look forward to that God we’re thankful for our place in it we did not deserve even in the slightest bit no good work Noah ritual could ever produce that for us only your righteous life and death and resurrection well god I pray that you would be with us amid this coronavirus crisis and load this would be a time of special ministry even increased ministry the Lords of people the world who don’t have the hope and rock of you and Lord hostage to our brothers and sisters Lord we know that when we serve our brothers and sisters we serve you and you are pleased and what we look forward to the reward from that help us in our weakness help us through the trials and difficulties and we know that your grace is sufficient not only to forgive but your transformed Lord bless the people who have listened today even as they continue to listen to other live streaming sermons and other things pray Lord that they would indeed be transformed by your word in Jesus name Amen