June 26, 2023

Do we follow through with what God has commanded?

Joshua 13

Caitlin Sweany
Monday's Devo

June 26, 2023

Monday's Devo

June 26, 2023

Big Idea

God's definition of success is faithfulness.

Key Verse | Joshua 13:1, 13

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." . . . Yet the people of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites, but Geshur and Maacath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day.

Joshua 13

Land Still to Be Conquered

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. This is the land that yet remains: all the regions of the Philistines, and all those of the Geshurites (from the Shihor, which is east of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron, it is counted as Canaanite; there are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron), and those of the Avvim, in the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, to Aphek, to the boundary of the Amorites, and the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo-hamath, all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, even all the Sidonians. 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.”

The Inheritance East of the Jordan

With the other half of the tribe of Manasseh 1 13:8 Hebrew With it the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses the servant of the LORD gave them: from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland of Medeba as far as Dibon; 10 and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the boundary of the Ammonites; 11 and Gilead, and the region of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah; 12 all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (he alone was left of the remnant of the Rephaim); these Moses had struck and driven out. 13 Yet the people of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites, but Geshur and Maacath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day.

14 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.

15 And Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of the people of Reuben according to their clans. 16 So their territory was from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland by Medeba; 17 with Heshbon, and all its cities that are in the tableland; Dibon, and Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baal-meon, 18 and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, 19 and Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth-shahar on the hill of the valley, 20 and Beth-peor, and the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth, 21 that is, all the cities of the tableland, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses defeated with the leaders of Midian, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land. 22 Balaam also, the son of Beor, the one who practiced divination, was killed with the sword by the people of Israel among the rest of their slain. 23 And the border of the people of Reuben was the Jordan as a boundary. This was the inheritance of the people of Reuben, according to their clans with their cities and villages.

24 Moses gave an inheritance also to the tribe of Gad, to the people of Gad, according to their clans. 25 Their territory was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites, to Aroer, which is east of Rabbah, 26 and from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the territory of Debir, 2 13:26 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew Lidebir 27 and in the valley Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, having the Jordan as a boundary, to the lower end of the Sea of Chinnereth, eastward beyond the Jordan. 28 This is the inheritance of the people of Gad according to their clans, with their cities and villages.

29 And Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh. It was allotted to the half-tribe of the people of Manasseh according to their clans. 30 Their region extended from Mahanaim, through all Bashan, the whole kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities, 31 and half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. These were allotted to the people of Machir the son of Manasseh for the half of the people of Machir according to their clans.

32 These are the inheritances that Moses distributed in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan east of Jericho. 33 But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance; the LORD God of Israel is their inheritance, just as he said to them.

Footnotes

[1] 13:8 Hebrew With it
[2] 13:26 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew Lidebir

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Dive Deeper | Joshua 13

Do you ever let your circumstances keep you from following the Lord's commands? I know I do.

We are called to live for the Lord, to go and make disciples, but at times it can feel like our circumstances won't allow for that. In Joshua 13, the Lord shows us that our circumstances don't define us.

In our key verse, the Lord states that Joshua is very old, but regardless of his age, God still says there is more land to conquer. God implored Joshua to look past his old age and circumstances and obey. While Joshua may not have felt equipped as an old man, the Lord made it clear to him that his age did not define his purpose in God's kingdom.

This shows the way that our role as Christians is an ongoing one. We'll never be "done" with our work as believers, and the Lord's words to Joshua in this passage convey that limitations such as old age do not alter our need to follow the Lord's commands. That feels like an incredibly overwhelming idea, but I take solace in knowing that it does not come from my own strength, but instead from the Lord.

In Philippians 1:6 we see that, though our work as believers may not ever be "completed" on earth, one day it will be. Paul states, "[H]e who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ," which serves as a great encouragement to me, knowing that one day our earthly battles will be complete and result in eternal joy. This verse only emphasizes the importance of obeying God and living out His calling for us, unlike the Israelites who struggled to do so.

It's easy to get caught up in the difficulties of our own lives, sickness, loss, financial difficulties, and lose sight of what God has commanded. But in Joshua 13 the Lord encourages Joshua to persevere in the way that we all should, taking the focus off of our limitations and instead looking to what God has called us to do.

This month's memory verse

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

– 1 Corinthians 15:58

Discussion Questions

1. What circumstances are you allowing to get in the way of what God has commanded? How can you avoid making excuses when it comes to your situations?

2. Where in your life do you see that there is "yet very much land to possess"? How can you move away from stagnancy and toward obedience?

3. What is the Lord commanding you personally and how can you best obey Him?

As we gear up to release even more features for Join The Journey in 2025, our staff team, unfortunately, no longer has the margin to continue to support the comment functionality. We have big things in store for Join The Journey 2025. Stay tuned!

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Hugh Stephenson

Good morning, Caitlin. Super devo. Great points that are well said. Coming into the church via the “Late Arrivals Lobby” I can trick myself into believing that I can “make up for lost time”. Over the last several years the Lord has showed me that rather than make up for lost time I should operate on His time. Which is perfect. Q1. What gets in the way? In a word, busyness. If you asked what’s more important to me; His commands or my task list/in-box. I’d give you the “Sunday School answer”, (h/t Bobby Crotty). If you probed deeper, you’d see a struggle from a guy who struggles to say NO to good things so he can say YES to GOD things. Q2. “Much land to possess” is in trusting Him 100% with no remorse with my prodigals’ salvation. Also, turning to Him versus turning to food for comfort and solace. Q3. It seems that His command to me is to trust Him and pray through how to say NO and to create margin so that I can faithfully live out His missions for me until Jesus comes and gets me or he calls me home.
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Hugh Stephenson

Patience and Promises It seems that Genesis 15:16 has now been fulfilled. Those unrepentant Amorites are now no more, (https://www.gotquestions.org/Amorites.html). I’m taught that people in the OT were saved because they believed in the promises of God, (Genesis 15:6). God’s Promises and God’s Patience are two of the key elements of my life of faith. There is a powerful interplay between Genesis 15:6 and Genesis 15:16. God promises land, seed, and blessing. Yet He is clear that it will come on His timetable. Sitting here in Joshua we see that the goodness and kindness of God was to give the Amorites centuries to repent. It did not take Rahab centuries. She clearly stated that the news of the Israelites and Yahweh were widespread. Yet the Amorties were still unrepentant. How many people from my old life are like the Amorties; living on borrowed time? Most of them. God clearly speaks and shows me that it’s a bad idea to “wait”. The best that happens is that he partially removes His hand of blessing. It goes downhill from there. Sadly, it is only with a few friends from my old that life that the conversions get any traction. The best I get is a head nod. The worst and saddest is a clear statement that I should change the subject. “The Israelites came to look on the presence of the Canaanite remnant in the land as normal. Christians look on carnal, half-hearted Christian living, as the best they can expect of themselves and others." This last quotation is a key conviction for me.
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Hugh Stephenson

Even so, here I sit on the other end. Joshua 13:1 could apply to me as well as Joshua. The Lord has promised me an inheritance…but I am old, (65). This is why leadership is so important. As we will see, there is no real successor to Joshua and the problems they have had so far are small - but representative of what Satan is tempting them to do in a much worse way. I’m likely to have to continue to train others to continue the mission and the fight, (Ephesians 6:10-20). God makes it easy as He states in Joshua 13:6. Sadly, God reveals what happened, (Joshua 13:13). Why is this not enough for me? Pure fatigue or lack of setting the right priorities? “God has given us in Christ all things which pertain unto life and godliness; let us claim the whole of our inheritance by a living faith, so that we may enter on the enjoyment of all that is possible for us on this side of heaven." "The word inheritance is found over fifty times in these nine chapters [13—21] and is a very important word. The Jews inherited their land. They didn't win their land as spoils of battle or purchase their land as in a business transaction. The Lord, who was the sole owner, leased the land to them. ... Imagine having God for your landlord!"
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Michael Sisson

Re: Jos 13:17 Jos 13:17 (NASB) Heshbon, and all its cities which are on the plain: >>>Dibon<<< and Bamoth-baal and Beth-baal-meon, Dibon (see also Jos 13:9) was the ancient capital of Moab (here it is apportioned to the tribe of Reuben). In April, 1870, in the ruins of Dibon an important archaeological discovery was made. It became know as the Moabite Stone. It is a remarkable testament to the reliability of the biblical account. For a deeper dive into the backstory of the Moabite Stone’s discovery and the evidence it has yielded, see the following Expedition Bible video: https://youtu.be/b05ULhPu9Sk
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Michael Scaman

Sometimes you need to come to grips with the fact you aren't around forever "...Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the LORD said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, ..." Moses wrote Psalm 90 with opens book 4 of Psalms , book 4 poetically like the book of numbers saying 'teach us to number our days'. The land not conquered but was divided up. Despite 5 philistine cities (giants and all) and Canaanites in the land, They had the Baal, and Dagon entrenched still and would remain till the reign of David . Sadly in the generation after David his son married wives who brought their gods with them and the kingdom again divided. 2 1/2 tribes stayed west of the Jordan by choice and got land there.
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Sue Bohlin

Thanks so much, Caitlin. Tough chapter to write a devo on! Once again we read that the Levites were not given land because the Lord was their inheritance. He would take care of them. This reminds me that many years ago, Chicago's Mayor Daley (quite the force to be reckoned with for us Chicagoans) said that he never carried any money on him. (And this was LONG before we walked around with plastic in our pockets instead of cash.) There was no need for money, he said, when he had power and influence. He could walk into any restaurant and order whatever he wanted--who was going to charge The Great Mayor Daley? No wonder he didn't need cash! It's like his larger-than-life persona was his inheritance. How much more were the Levites blessed by having the Lord God Almighty as their inheritance??
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Amy Lowther

1. There”s nothing at this time. Seeing life like God and using His values in daily life helps me see situations for what they are and thus, excuse making decreases. 2, We are each gifts of .God. We are allowed to value ourselves and to be valued by others. We are allowed to possess ourselves and be the best we were made to be by God. Reading the Bible, attending church services on Sunday, and sharing faith with others are ways to help you be less stagnant and more likely to move towards obedience. 3. The Lord commands me to be the best person I was made to be. I can best obey Him by reading the Bible and applying what I learn in the Bible in daily life.