Joshua 13
-Joshua was by now old and advanced in years. The LORD spoke
to him at this point in the text to remind him that there was still land to be
conquered that He had promised His people, namely “the regions of the
Philistines and all those of the Geshurites from the Shihor which is east of
Egypt, even as far as the border of Ekron to the north (it is counted as
Canaanite); the five lords of the Philistines: the Gazite, the Ashdodite, the
Ashkelonite, the Gittite, the Ekronite; and the Avvite to the south, all the
land of the Canaanite, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, as far as
Aphek, to the border of the Amorite; and the land of the Gebalite, and all of
Lebanon, toward the east, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon as far as Lebo-hamath.
All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon as far as Misrephoth-maim,
all the Sidonians.” God finished by telling His servant that He would indeed
drive them out from before the sons of Israel. He choose this time to give
tribal allotments for Israel’s inheritance according to His command (Joshua
13:1-6). The remainder of the chapter gives the specifics to the tribes that
Moses allotted on the eastern side of the Jordan, which included the half-tribe
of Manasseh, Gad, and Reuben. Their territories are delineated and a brief
recount of the history is given including the slaying of Balaam, the son of
Beor, the diviner, who blessed Israel according to the word of God but capitulated
to the king of Moab, Balak, in many ways. There is also a reiteration that the
Levites were not given a land inheritance, but the LORD, the God of Israel, was
their inheritance just as He had promised (Joshua 13:7-33).
-*Application* The promise was before the children of
Israel, but the problem was that Joshua was not raising up a man after God’s
own heart to pass the baton to as he advanced in age. This would plunge the
nation into chaos and 400 years or so of judges that God would have to raise up
as military and spiritual leaders. It became hard to complete the task of
assuming authority in the Promised Land because of a lack of strong leadership.
How does that compare with our modern day families, churches, communities,
cities, states, and country? If we do not invest in training up the next
generation in the nurture and admonition of the LORD, what will become of them
(Ephesians 6:4)? Soon and very soon, we too will be old and advanced in age.
Then it’s too late to really make that difference in the development of the
next generation. Take time to invest in the next generation while we have good
opportunity. It really is a noble duty.
Verses to Memorize:
Joshua 13:6, 32
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