Joshua 23

Dear RTB’ers,

Three times Joshua warns the Israelite leaders that they could lose the Promised Land: until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you (v. 13); until He has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you (v. 15); and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that He has given to you. (v. 16) Prophetic words from Joshua… The Northern Kingdom went into exile in 722 BC and the Southern Kingdom in 586 BC. And even today Israel is still battling for their land, with opposition from the Palestinians within their borders, from all their neighboring nations, and from the entire Arab world.

The contrast, again three times: And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the LORD your God who has fought for you. (v. 3); The LORD your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. (v. 5) For the LORD has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day. (v. 9)

Our choice – Joshua 23:3,5,9 or Joshua 23:13,15,16. The key: Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, but you shall cling to the LORD your God just as you have done to this day. (vv. 6-8) For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you. (vv. 12-13) So, what’ll it be: verses 3, 5, 9 or verses 13, 15, 16?

Blessings!

Joshua 22

Dear RTB’ers,

Two sets of sentences stood out for me today: And when Joshua sent them away to their homes and blessed them, he said to them, “Go back to your tents with much wealth and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.” (vv. 7b-8) The Israelites had accumulated much wealth through the destruction of the peoples they defeated. And Joshua thought to send a great deal of that wealth with the Trans-Jordan tribes as they returned to their homes. Again, the fairness that I’ve talked about the last two days…

War averted!! Then the people of Israel sent … Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, … And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them… (vv. 13-15) It was a simple matter of sending a delegation instead of an army! I wonder how often I need to go talk to someone instead of “warring” with them in my head!

Blessings!

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See also: March 10 (2023) / Joshua 20-22

Joshua 20-21

Dear RTB’ers,

My computer is still in the shop, so another crippled post today. Again, the geography  is interesting, so please look back at the maps that I sent two days ago. 

It’s a straightforward read today – setting apart cities of refuge in chapter 20 and cities for the Levites in chapter 21. First, the cities of refuge. You should be able to locate theses six cities on most any map of the division of the Promised Land to the twelve tribes. They start west of the Jordan in the north, then in the middle, then in the south before crossing over to the trans-Jordan tribes and reversing the listing, from the south to the middle to the north. I pointed yesterday to the fairness associated with the division of the land to the remaining seven tribes. We see fairness again today. A man who has claimed to kill someone unintentionally is allowed to flee to one of these six cities and the elders in the city must give him refuge until the death of either the avenger or the High Priest. The Lord had earlier spoken against revenge: It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip… (Deuteronomy 32:35a) The apostle Paul repeats the Lord’s words: Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:19) So having these cities of refuge forestalls revenge killing.

As for the cities for the Levites… Aaron had three sons – Kohath, Gershon and Merari. Earlier in Exodus and Leviticus these three sons were assigned duties relative to the Tent of Meeting (the Tabernacle) in the wilderness. Kohath, the oldest, was assigned the “most holy” chores, while the other two sons essentially had supporting roles. So when it comes to assigning lands to the Levites, Kohath comes first and his lands are all “nearby” (centrally located). They were allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin and ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan and half of Manasseh. On your map you’ll see how centrally located these 23 cities are. Next the Gershonites were allotted thirteen towns from the clans of the northern tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan (in the Trans-Jordan) and the Merarites received twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. So these Levite “brothers” are now fully split apart, serving the Lord in these towns in these various tribes throughout the Promised Land and the Trans-Jordan. I find myself a bit sorry for the Gershonites and the Merarites, having been transported much greater distances from the center of Israeli activity.

Blessings!

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See also: February 20 (2023) / Numbers 34-36

Joshua 18-19

Dear RTB’ers,

Continuing the division of the Promised Land to the twelve tribes, today with seven more allotments in chapters 18 and 19. I’ve always appreciated the inherent fairness for these last seven tribes. Pick three men from each tribe, search out the land, define seven territories, then assign those territories by casting lots. I might prefer land along the coast or the hills and mountains and I might get my preference, but if not I’ll get other territory deemed equally attractive and I’ll live with it. A really fair process…!

My computer is in the shop, so a very shortened post today. The geography is hard to follow anyhow! Just look back at the maps that I sent yesterday.

Blessings!

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See also: March 9 (2023) / Joshua 18-19

Joshua 15:13-17:18

Dear RTB’ers,

Continuing the division of the Promised Land to the twelve tribes. Yesterday in Joshua 15:1-12 we saw the first allotment of the land going to Caleb and the tribe of Judah. Today the Joshua 15:13-63 finishes that allotment of land by naming more than 100 cities assigned to Judah. In later years Judah will become prominent as the “Southern Kingdom”, contrasted with Israel as the “Northern Kingdom”. Hence we have much more detail on Judah’s allotment than we do on any of the other eleven tribes.

Joshua 16 then has Ephraim’s allotment, while Joshua 17 has the second half of the tribe of Manasseh. You will recall that Ephraim and Manasseh were Joseph’s two sons – hence their primacy in the division of the land. In addition, Joshua was from the tribe of Ephraim, also laying a second claim to primacy in receiving their allotment.

So after today’s reading we will have allotments for five tribes – Reuben, Gad, and one-half of Manasseh east of the Jordan; Judah in the south; and Ephraim and the other half of Manasseh in the center of the Promised Land. It would be helpful for you to locate a map from the Internet (if you do not have a Study Bible with maps). Here is a very simple one, with colors that nicely define the borders and a few important cities mentioned:

Two items are worth noting on this map. The first is the absolute size of Judah and Manasseh, much larger than any of the other tribal allotments. Part of their large size, however, includes hills, mountains and forested land, all of which are difficult lands for humans to carve out a living. Second, we can see that “east” and “west” Manasseh are now joined. That division is by editorial choice. Many other maps of the division of the twelve tribes have “east” Manasseh further north. Here is a second map (from Bible Odyssey) showing that division:

These maps will continue to serve us well as we read through seven more allotments in Joshua 18-19.

Blessings!

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See also: March 8 (2023) / Joshua 15-17

Joshua 13:1-15:12

Dear RTB’ers,

Today (and on through chapter 19), the division of the Promised Land to the twelve tribes. First, as to twelve tribes… We read today that the Lord had set the Levites apart from the other eleven tribes: To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance. The offerings by fire to the LORD God of Israel are their inheritance, as He said to him. … the LORD God of Israel is their inheritance, just as He said to them. (vv. 13:14, 33b) However, both of Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh are included as full tribes in the inheritance, so including both of Joseph’s sons makes up a twelfth tribe.

Second, I don’t recall that the land east of the Jordan River was ever part of the Promised Land. However, Moses gave two and one-half tribes (Reuben, Gad and one-half Manasseh) their allotments in that trans-Jordan land, so it became part of Israel. The second half of chapter 13 (Joshua 13:15-33) details the partitioning of that land to these tribes.

Although we did not read the account of the twelve men spying out the Promised Land back in Numbers 13, two of those twelve men are still alive in today’s reading – Joshua and Caleb. Now Caleb reminds Joshua of the promise to him as to where he will receive his allotment: And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ (v. 14:9) So Caleb is granted his inheritance in Hebron before any of the other allotments are made. But with Caleb as part of the tribe of Judah, the first allotment to the other nine and one-half tribes goes to Judah (Joshua 15:1-12). Judah’s prominence was also established in Jacob’s blessing of him in Genesis 49:8-12, setting him as ruler over his brothers (esp. Gen. 49:8, 10a).

More portioning of the Promised Land in the next two days…

Blessings!

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See also: March 7 (2023) / Joshua 12-14

Joshua 11-12

Dear RTB’ers,

My apologies for late and short posts this past week. We had our Maryland daughter and her kids here all week, plus the rest of our kids and grandkids at the end of the week. In some measure, I was fortunate to be able to post at all! A big thank-you to Carol for watching the young-uns and giving me the morning space for notes to you all.

My post yesterday was short – intentionally so. I wanted to point out the complete destruction of the peoples in the Promised Land that the Lord had asked of Moses and Joshua and the Israelites. The author of Joshua continues that outcome today: And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the people of Israel took for their plunder. But every person they struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed …, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses. (Joshua 11:14-15) Joshua is doing what the Lord had commanded, simply following instructions, no matter how hideous to our minds.

A bit of the geography of the Conquest. Phase One is Jericho, Ai (and Bethel?), and Gibeon, Joshua 6-9. Phase Two is the southern campaign, most of which became the territory of Judah (and Simeon), yesterday’s chapter, Joshua 10. Phase Three, then, is the northern campaign, today’s reading, Joshua 11. Surprisingly (to me), that coalition of armies doing battle with Israel today had gathered in the far north of the Promised Land, at the waters of Merom (Joshua 11:5, 7), northwest of the Sea of Galilee. You may recall from our reading of Luke’s Gospel that Samaria separated Galilee from Ephraim and Judah. So this coalition gathering in the far north showed the north-south extent of the Conquest of the Promised Land.

Finally, there is also a Phase Zero (if you will), Moses’ defeat of the two kings east of the Jordan – Sihon, the king of the Amorites (Joshua 12:2-3) and Og, the king of Bashan (Joshua 12:4-5). Two and one-half tribes (Reuben, Gad, and a half-tribe of Manasseh) settled there before Moses died. However, their warriors battled with Joshua and the Israelites in conquering the Promised Land.

Blessings!

Joshua 10

Dear RTB’ers,

He devoted to destruction every person in it; … none remaining. (v. 28; see also Joshua 10:30,33,36,39,40, ESV, translated as …no survivors… in the NASB). Complete destruction – buildings and people; save the animals for sacrifices and the gold and silver for worship materials. Inconceivable for our earthly minds. But God is God, we are not.

Blessings!

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See also: March 6 (2023) / Joshua 9-11

Joshua 9

Dear RTB’ers,

The Gibeonites. One key verse today; I’m sure it jumped off the page for all of you: So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD. (v. 14) No doubt multiple thousands of sermons have been preached on this chapter and the Israelites’ mistake of not first seeking the Lord. And it’s a good caution. Yesterday I posted about making plans and seeing successes. What I did not say (I left it up to all of you) was that all of our plan-seeking needs to be submitted to the Lord. He alone, our Creator and Redeemer, knows what’s best for us, in what direction we should go.

So Joshua and the leaders did not seek the Lord. That doesn’t mean that they were cursed because of that failure. Many chapters down the road we will see that Israel pays the price for not seeking God. However, in the present instance, the Lord smiles on them with a good outcome: But Joshua made them that day cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to this day, in the place that He should choose. (v. 27) We will see in II Chronicles 1 that the place that He should choose (for the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting prior to the building of the Temple in Jerusalem) was, in fact, Gibeon.

Blessings!

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See also: March 6 (2023) / Joshua 9-11

Joshua 8

Dear RTB’ers,

The battle for Ai – actually, not much of a battle!! After Ai’s defeat of Israel in yesterday’s reading, the people of Ai had gotten a bit overconfident – not knowing that their gods could not do serious battle with Israel’s God.

Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will give it into your hand. (v. 7) There are times when we make our plans, when we undertake our preparations, when we are confident of the result, and the outcome is as we had anticipated. Think back to a school exam or graduation or to a successful interview. You’ve made your plans, you’ve worked hard, and you’ve succeeded. Now, looking back, where was the Lord in all that? In the planning – where did you get the initial idea? In the preparation – how did you come by the necessary resources to adequately prepare? In the actual exam or interview – might God have acted on your mind on the exam or in the heart of the interviewer or in everything that led to your graduation? With or without your seeking Him, He was there! You “rose up” and you “seized the city”, but it was God who “gave it into your hand”. Again, as I’ve so often suggested, look back on your life and see God at work, whether you had invited Him or not! He was there!

Blessings!