Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess. (Joshua 13:1, ESV)
I myself will drive them out from before the people of Israel. Only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you. Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.” (Joshua 13:6-7, ESV)
Here we got the account of Joshua when he is now an old man, and yet God’s task for the Israelites remained unfinished. Joshua with the Israelites has conquered most of the Canaan land but not all of them, and here, Joshua’s last task was to divide the land to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh. God asked Joshua to pass the task to the Israelites to claim their inheritance that God had promised them. Though the Israelites will be with no leader like Joshua, God told Joshua that God Himself will lead them, to drive the Canaanites out from the land. It is like God was saying “Joshua, you are old now, and look there are still lands that you haven’t conquered yet, but don’t worry I will drive them out myself before My people, Israel.” This mission will come to an end with a sure victory even though Joshua will no longer with them anymore because God was the one who will accomplish it (not Joshua) - It is God that has promised them the land (God has started it), and God who has worked so far to win their battles, and in the end God guarantees that His promised will be fulfilled.
Here we see that even though God promised that He Himself will drive the Canaanites out, but each tribe was responsible to posses their own land completely. It may seem contradictory, but it is not: God intends that each tribe to trust God fully for the portion of the land divided to them by the lot. God has promised them a land, and God wanted them to taste the fullest manifestation of what He intended for them to enjoy. This means that each tribe has to do their responsibility with trust in God, and they will achieve their inheritance. Trust requires obedience: we can’t trust God without obeying Him; to trust God meaning we surrender all to Him, and this includes: to walk on the path that God has commanded us to do, and to the Israelites, they have to keep pressing on the task that yet to be finished. We are blessed by personally taking responsibility and initiative in trusting God to do what He has called us to do.
Just like the Israelites, to keep running on the race that God has set for them, we are living on this world to keep running for the race God has set for us. Our race is not for ours, but for God, and just as God has said on verse 6 above that He alone will complete our race, we too can have confidence that God will complete the work that He has started on our life. This passage gives us hope for our spiritual growth, that Christ' sacrifice on the cross will not be wasted, because the Holy spirit continuously at work. But this passage also leaves us with the unfinished task that each of us are responsible to. What sort of task God has called you?
For us Christian, we have a common task that God has trusted us: that He has commanded us to trust Him fully because He owns all the power, and so we should not be afraid to disciple people for Christ’ sake. Jesus said in Matthew 24:14 that He wanted us to take the gospel to all the earth, and now, thousand years has passed by, and still this remained unfinished. The inheritance for us - Christian / believer is a salvation in Christ; and this is available for us, and for all the elect people that at the moment may still not know the name of Christ. God promised us, that He will be with us till the end of the age, He gave us assurance so that we may have confidence in Him, that together we may obey His command to spread the gospel, to disciple people to expand His kingdom on earth and His name be glorified.
In Christ,
Paul Hartono
I myself will drive them out from before the people of Israel. Only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you. Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.” (Joshua 13:6-7, ESV)
Here we got the account of Joshua when he is now an old man, and yet God’s task for the Israelites remained unfinished. Joshua with the Israelites has conquered most of the Canaan land but not all of them, and here, Joshua’s last task was to divide the land to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh. God asked Joshua to pass the task to the Israelites to claim their inheritance that God had promised them. Though the Israelites will be with no leader like Joshua, God told Joshua that God Himself will lead them, to drive the Canaanites out from the land. It is like God was saying “Joshua, you are old now, and look there are still lands that you haven’t conquered yet, but don’t worry I will drive them out myself before My people, Israel.” This mission will come to an end with a sure victory even though Joshua will no longer with them anymore because God was the one who will accomplish it (not Joshua) - It is God that has promised them the land (God has started it), and God who has worked so far to win their battles, and in the end God guarantees that His promised will be fulfilled.
Here we see that even though God promised that He Himself will drive the Canaanites out, but each tribe was responsible to posses their own land completely. It may seem contradictory, but it is not: God intends that each tribe to trust God fully for the portion of the land divided to them by the lot. God has promised them a land, and God wanted them to taste the fullest manifestation of what He intended for them to enjoy. This means that each tribe has to do their responsibility with trust in God, and they will achieve their inheritance. Trust requires obedience: we can’t trust God without obeying Him; to trust God meaning we surrender all to Him, and this includes: to walk on the path that God has commanded us to do, and to the Israelites, they have to keep pressing on the task that yet to be finished. We are blessed by personally taking responsibility and initiative in trusting God to do what He has called us to do.
Just like the Israelites, to keep running on the race that God has set for them, we are living on this world to keep running for the race God has set for us. Our race is not for ours, but for God, and just as God has said on verse 6 above that He alone will complete our race, we too can have confidence that God will complete the work that He has started on our life. This passage gives us hope for our spiritual growth, that Christ' sacrifice on the cross will not be wasted, because the Holy spirit continuously at work. But this passage also leaves us with the unfinished task that each of us are responsible to. What sort of task God has called you?
For us Christian, we have a common task that God has trusted us: that He has commanded us to trust Him fully because He owns all the power, and so we should not be afraid to disciple people for Christ’ sake. Jesus said in Matthew 24:14 that He wanted us to take the gospel to all the earth, and now, thousand years has passed by, and still this remained unfinished. The inheritance for us - Christian / believer is a salvation in Christ; and this is available for us, and for all the elect people that at the moment may still not know the name of Christ. God promised us, that He will be with us till the end of the age, He gave us assurance so that we may have confidence in Him, that together we may obey His command to spread the gospel, to disciple people to expand His kingdom on earth and His name be glorified.
In Christ,
Paul Hartono
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