Reflections
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 10
J u d g e s
The events we covered last week span the years when Othniel and the left- handed Ehud were appointed as judges over Israel. It seems as though a pattern developed, wherein the Israelites got themselves into trouble, mostly by their neglect of the covenant they had made with God, by turning to the idolatrous and pagan ways of the various groups they were supposed to have driven off the land. Then in time, they would be so oppressed by their pagan enemies that they would again plead with God, and in His love, mercy and grace towards them, another judge would be appointed to rescue them and bring them back to right living again …. for a time !
The lesson for us who wish to learn it is obvious. Those who belong to God, the Israelites in this story, pay a dreadful price for their disobedience to the covenant willingly entered into with God. By ‘taking His hands off them’, which He clearly warned would be the result of their wanton disregard of those promises, they leave themselves open to the traps of sinfulness with which they were surrounded. That did not mean that they were abandoned by God, but they moved outside of His protection. The Apostolic Scriptures provide a warning for us if we are willing to listen. Look at Jude 21. This exhortation is paraphrased in the Living Bible as “stay always within the boundaries where God’s love can reach and protect you !” Moving outside those boundaries is fraught with hazardous consequence.
Our ‘reflection’ this week begins with the death of Ehud. The pattern continued and again the people “did evil in the sight of the LORD”. There was a short period when Shamgar was appointed judge, and he operated in the territory of the Philistines in the Western plains and mountains. He reportedly killed 600 of them single-handedly with an ox goad. It is possible that his appointment coincided with that of Ehud while he was dealing with issues with the Moabites in the Eastern parts of Israel. And then we are introduced to Deborah, probably an Ephraimite, (she lived, near Bethel) who was first a prophetess, and now God’s chosen as judge over Israel. The only female to hold such office. I am intrigued to wonder exactly HOW the Israelites from each of the tribes knew who was appointed judge over them, but it is evident that they did. We are told that “she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came unto her for judgement”. But that was not all. It seems that the LORD also spoke to Deborah in her anointing as a prophet, giving her knowledge of the affairs of the tribes.
At this time, the Israelites were being oppressed by the Canaanite king, Jabin. He lived in Hazor, a large city in the Galilee, conquered by Joshua many years earlier, and in the territory allotted to the tribe of Naphtali. So it was that Deborah sent for Barak, of the tribe of Naphtali, who dutifully appeared before her. It is further evident that the LORD had provided Deborah with the wisdom and understanding of a military commander so that she had the God given plan to deal with the cruel excesses of king Jabin and his army. Deborah instructed Barak to assemble an army of 10,000 from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor, at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley. (Some consider this to be the mountain of Yeshua’s ‘transfiguration’ (Matthew 17)). Mount Tabor is over 550 metres high, providing a very good vantage point over the valley below. Barak agreed to assemble the army as instructed on condition that Deborah herself would accompany them, which she did, at the same time warning Barak that by so doing he would not be credited with the ‘glory’ of the battle victory, which she knew God would provide, because Sisera would be die at the hands of a woman.
Sisera was the commander of king Jabin’s army. God caused Heber, a Kenite from the family of Hobab (described here as Moses’ father-in-law, but in Numbers 10 as his brother-in-law) to inform Sisera that the armies of Naphtali and Zebulun had amassed at Mount Tabor. This is an interesting matter in regard to the purposes of God, as will become evident later in the story when we are introduced to Heber’s wife, Jael. In military terms it was a contest that Sisera could not lose, Although numerically greatly outnumbered, 10,000 Israelites against Canaanites in 900 Iron Chariots (it was the modern equivalent of thousands of foot soldiers against a handful of heavily armoured tanks), But that ignores the fact that God was on Israel’s side. He still is! We learn, from the song of eventual triumph sung by Deborah and Barak that God intervened in that ‘unequal’ contest by sending a great rainstorm which caused the chariots to be stuck in the muddy ground. That neutralised the advantage of Sisera and promptly changed it to Israel who had the vastly superior numbers. Read the story as recorded in Judges 4.
Sisera escaped and fled right into the hands of Jael, Heber’s wife. The lesson we may take from this is a simple “If God be for you, who can be against you?” Read the song of triumph of Barak and Deborah in Judges 5. Up until this time, Deborah had been judge over Israel for twenty years. Our Scripture passage ends with the words “So the land had rest for forty (more) years”. IF only the lessons had been learned !
Shabbat
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 09
J u d g e s
Joshua was dead. But before he died he had called all tbe tribal elders and officials of Israel to an assembly at which he had carefully reminded them of their history, the exploits of their forefathers, and the faithful guidance and protection of YHWH ELOHIM. For the continuance of that protection, he exhorted them to be diligent (‘very courageous’ is what the translators used) in their observation of the covenant which their forefathers had made with God, and which they had also ratified under Joshua’s leadership.
The early chapters of Judges contains accounts of events which have also been dealt with in the Book of Joshua. Commentators have suggested that these are ‘flashbacks’ which describe the events which had already occurred. It also provides a rather different perspective in that the issues of conquest are also seen as incomplete and compromised. We know that many Canaanites lost their lives, but there were also many survivors, who continued to live amongst the newly arrived Israelite tribes after they had essentially claimed total victory.
There are some good reasons to expect that this “Book of Judges” be filled with accounts of success and harmony for the Israelites. Regrettably, as our ‘reflections’ progress we will see that it is not. Some commentators have observed that it could have been more appropriately called the “Book of Failures”. Lasting less than 400 years (timing discrepancies accounted for by overlapping periods for some judges), it begins with the tribe of Judah, seemingly chosen by God to set an example to the others, doing exactly what the LORD had commanded. With the aid of the Simeonites, who had a land allotment within the boundaries of the Judeans, they set out to occupy the land and to drive out the Canaanites, Perizzites, and Amorites who were then still dwelling in that land. The cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Debir, Zephath, Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron all fell into the hands of Judah. But the people who dwelt in the lowlands had chariots of iron, and proved to be a different proposition. Also, as noted earlier, there were many that survived. In the process, Caleb, whose inheritance was a city in the mountain region of Hebron, offered his daughter Achsah, in marriage, to the person who took possession of that place. In the event it was his nephew, Othniel, who won the prize! Othniel also later is acknowledged as the first of the Judges of Israel.
Jerusalem (Jebus at that time) was occupied by the Jebusites of course. It seems that they were especially difficult to dislodge. We are told that neither the Judeans (Joshua 15:63) nor the Benjamites (Judges 1:21) were able to drive them out. So even though the city of Jebus was part of the inheritance of Benjamin, Judah as the lead tribe (so to speak), and closely bordering the land given to Benjamin, also attempted to clear that city, but without success. And so it continued that each of the tribes, listed in turn, failed to do what they had been instructed by God to do. Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan certainly took possession of their allotted territory but did not ‘completely drive out the Canaanites’ but rather made accommodation with them, by “putting them under tribute” as “forced labourers”. Now all this was happening during Joshua’s lifetime, and the LORD called them to account in a place called Bochim (of uncertain location, but thought by some to be another name for Bethel). Bochim is literally ‘a place of weeping’. Because after God had chastised them they wept and made sacrifices to the LORD there. “So the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD which He had done for Israel”.
There is a timely lesson for any willing to learn it, in the narrative which follows. Reminiscent of the situation described in Exodus 1:8, we read “Another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel”. How could that possibly be? Well there is a quite simple explanation, and within it comes the lesson. In simplistic terms, it is by neglect of the instructions God had annunciated as a condition of their prosperity and protection in the land of His promise. But what did they ‘drift’ into? Idolatry. “They forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them up out of the land Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them”. It is relatively easy for us to ‘wag the finger’ at them today. We have the whole account of matters set out in print for us to read. BUT an honest appraisal of the events in our world today indicates that the same things are happening in our society, sadly, even within the community of believers. And God is doing the same today as He did then.
At that time He chose NOT to intervene. “These are the nations which the LORD left, that He might test Israel by them. … the Philistines, Canaanites, Sidoneans, Hivites , and Baalites … to know whether they would obey the commandments of the LORD, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses”.
Chapter 3 of our text provides a record of the testing of the LORD. He raised up “Judges” to point the way. Time and again the people failed the test. God has raised up prophets in our time to faithfully remind us of His word and expectations as to how He wants us to live. This record of the Book of Judges provides timely reminders for us today. It requires a personal response from each of us.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 08
J O S H U A
Before the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, Moses had consented to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and one half of the tribe of Manasseh, settling in Gilead, on land east of the Jordan. But Joshua, as he prepared to enter the land, knew that there would be battles to be won in order to drive out the Canaanite inhabitants. For that reason he required that those tribes which were to settle in the east, could not be excused from such engagement, and ordered that the men of “arms bearing” age, cross the Jordan with the main congregation of people to assist them conquer the land. Which they did. Our reading today starts at the point where the nine and one half tribes were in their allotted territory, and settlement was underway. So Joshua gathered the people at Shiloh and spoke to them (the tribes that had left families to assist in conquering the land). “You have not left your brethren (the tribes in the promised land) these many days, up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God. And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brethren (job done), as He promised them; now therefore return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan”. Then he cautioned them to be sure to keep the commandments of the LORD and to “serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul”.
As they journeyed to their home in Gilead, they came to the Jordan River. There they constructed a “great, impressive altar”, similar to the altar which was in the tabernacle at Shiloh. When the Israelites learned of this, they thought that it was an act of rebellion against God, setting up an alternative to the worship centre in Shiloh, and decided to ‘sort it out’ with them. It was the first sign of dissent among the “brethren” tribes. But it was not an act of rebellion, but an act of ‘remembrance and witness’ to all who would see it in the future, that even though the tribes would be divided by the River Jordan, the ‘altar of witness’ which they had erected would serve as a reminder of the solidarity between the tribes on each side of the River. “For it is a witness between us that the LORD is God”. So the dispute was settled and harmony was restored between all the tribes of Israel.
Then came the time, about 30 years after Joshua had led the children of Israel across the Jordan River, when he was 110 years of age, that the Israelites had to live a life of ‘normality’ in their own land. The structural framework of the nation had been put in place. The tabernacle was functioning in Shiloh. The Levites were living in 48 cities which were dispersed throughout the territory, and the 6 cities of refuge were established. So Joshua called together the elders, the leaders, and the judges and officials of the tribes, to a meeting so that he could give them a final address as a group. “I am old, advanced in age. You have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the LORD your God is He who has fought for you”. He said. Then he re-stated the promise of God to continue to support and favour them in the sight of their enemies. But Joshua knew very well the frailties of the people, so he took opportunity to reinforce the source and foundation of the protection that they would need to survive in their new land. He continued “Therefore be very courageous (not the courage needed to win a battle with an enemy, but) to keep and do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or the left”.
The Hebrew word used for “courageous” in that exhortation to these people is “chazaq”. It means to “hold fast, to be obstinate in, strengthen”. And the preposition “very” in Hebrew is “m’od”, which means “vehemently, wholly”. So the exhortation of Joshua, might provide a lesson for those of us today who wish to know the favour of the LORD as we go about our daily tasks. Could it be that the very source of their strength and protection, and the courage needed to pursue it, is the same for those who today seek the protection and ‘success’ in life that Joshua prescribed for these people? After all, we have been reminded in these ‘reflections’ many times of the word of the LORD in Malachi 3:6, “I am the LORD, I do not change”. Selah.
So we come to the end of the beginning of the Israelites sojourn in the land God promised to them. The first thirty years included the time of entering, subduing, conquering, dividing, and settling. And in God’s purposes, just as Moses time had come to an end with the land in sight, so now, Joshua’s task had been completed with the land in Israel’s possession. “Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and their officers; and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel:’ …..””. Joshua then recalled for them the history of their forefathers from the calling of Abram to their present position in the land. Then he put things ‘right on the line’. Read it for yourselves in Joshua 24. “So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day … wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God … and he took a large stone and set it up (for all to see as a memorial) under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD”.
Then Joshua died and was buried within the border of the land that he had inherited from the LORD. “Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known the works of the LORD which He had done for Israel”. Off to a good start in the land. Next week we begin to ‘reflect’ on the days which follow.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 07
J O S H U A
The land had been allotted to each tribe so that settlement of the land could be completed in an orderly and timely manner. The instruction of the LORD was that the Canaanites be driven off the land, and certainly that there should be no compromise in accommodating the pagan rites, rituals, and practises which were part and parcel of their lifestyle. The ‘new order’ was to be strictly Torah based living. And it had been made abundantly clear that observance of Torah was vital to their ‘success’, through God’s continuing aid and protection, in settlement. The extent to which this command was observed, or not, will become clear as we progress through these ‘reflections’.
BUT, God had not finished with the instructions of preparations for life in the new land yet! “Speak to the children of Israel saying ‘ Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge’”. In that statement, God clearly illustrated His intent that life in the promised land for the people He called “His special treasure”, was to be very different from “the ways of the world”. When Moses was still alive (Numbers 35:6-34), God had given him instructions about these cities. The map here shows the location of them. SIX in all. They were spaced around the community in such a manner that no-one had more than about 30 miles to travel from anywhere in the land to arrive in the one closest to them. God wanted them to live together in the land in an orderly and safe manner, but recognised that there were occasions when someone might accidentally cause the death of another. In those days, and in some societies, even today, custom has it that the family of the deceased seeks to extract a ‘blood price’, in the form of ‘revenge’ killing, of the person who caused that death. It is worthy of note that the Hebrew expression is “ga’al haddam”, which properly translates as “blood redeemer”. That has more a connotation of ‘making right’. But it makes no allowance for accidental death (Deuteronomy 19:4-7), so in the promised land, if that person could get into one of these cities of refuge, his/her life would be safe from such ‘revenge’. Upon arrival at one of these cities the person seeking refuge would declare the circumstance to the elders of the city of refuge, and would be given lodging and safety for a period of time. Either until that person was given the opportunity to stand in impartial trial before the congregation in judgment of the case, or until the death of the one occupying the position of High Priest in that day. Why? The best explanation I was able to discover was because of the High Priestly, God ordained, authority in his sacrificial, atonement, duties on Yom Kippur each year. An authority which is deemed to remain for the next twelve months, or until his death before that time expired. It is also symbolic of the sacrificial death, and the redemptive features, of our Saviour Yeshua’s death.
(As the high priest, by reason of the anointing with the holy oil, became qualified to act as the representative of the nation, and in that capacity acted as their mediator for the great day of atonement, so the death of the high priest assumed a symbolic or representative character, and became a type of that great High Priest who, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God, and who by His death made a propitiation for the sins of the world. Thus, as by the death of the Jewish high priest a typical atonement was made for the sin of the Israelite manslayer, and he was restored thereupon to "the land of his possession" amongst his brethren, so by the death of our High Priest they who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before them, are restored to the inheritance which had been forfeited by sin, and made joint heirs with Christ of those mansions which He has gone before to prepare for those who love Him.)
Our ‘reflection’ this week, also covers one more Godly provision in the land settlement. It concerns the Levites who were not apportioned a territorial land allotment. Shiloh was the gathering place of the people because the tabernacle was there, and that was the place where the Levites had duties to perform. Eleazar, Aaron’s son, was High Priest at that time, so the heads of the families of the Levites came before him and Joshua at Shiloh. They proclaimed “The LORD commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their common lands for our livestock” And so it was. “So the children of Israel gave to the Levites from their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their common lands:” The rest of our reading contains the detail of the cities which were given, by lot, to the families of the three sons of Levi, Gershon, Kehath, and Merari. A total of 48 cities with their surrounding common lands. The cities of refuge, discussed earlier in this ‘reflection’ were included in this total of 48 cities.
The main lesson to come from this distribution of land is the fairness and care which God took to avoid any possibility of dispute among His chosen ones. Caleb and Joshua were given special privilege, to which no-one had objection. The Levites were given places to live distributed widely through the land to be accessible to everyone as their priestly need arose. The unintentional sins of causing death by accident were treated with sensible precautionary refuge. And each tribe was involved in the land survey so that when Joshua cast lots in the distribution, there was no dispute. “So the LORD gave to Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it”.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
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Source:
IMAGE 1 - Grace and Truth Ministries - cgtruth.org
IMAGE 2 - https://messianic-revolution.com/
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 06
J O S H U A
The land of God’s promise to Abraham had been relatively quickly subdued. The important Cannanite kings, their cities and villages had been conquered by Joshua, and many thousands of the Cannaites had lost their lives … but not ALL of them. We are at a point, some seven years after that initial flurry of success, where seven of the tribes had not had their land allotment specified. So, whilst generally allotted, much of it still not settled by them. As you read the Scripture passage this week, the map will provide a glimpse of the territory in the south. Land which was eventually allotted to Ephraim, Dan, Benjamin, Judah and Simeon. Then, to the north of this were Issachar, Zebulun, Naphtali, Asher, and half the tribe of Manasseh. Further, to the East on the other side of the Jordan River, the other half tribe of Manasseh, Gad, and Reuben had a land allotment when Moses was still alive. The tribe of Levi, the priestly tribe, with specific ministry duties were allotted cities within the land, their sustenance provided by the LORD, from the sacrificial and gift offerings brought by the people.
Now, within the specific land allotment, it was left for the elders of each tribe to designate the precise parcel of land assigned to each “family” within that tribe. And each of those “families” was headed by a son of one of the elders. The daughters were assumed to be cared for as they got married and shared their husband’s home and land. However, Zelophehad, one of Manasseh’s descendants, had died on the wilderness journey without having sons of his own, but he had five daughters. They had foreseen that they would be disinherited in the promised land as a result (Numbers 27:1-11) and took the matter to Moses. He interceded before the LORD and thus the laws of inheritance were changed to accomodate the situation. That had significant implications on the land apportionment which resulted in the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh being allotted additional land in the mountainous regions of what became known as Samaria (the northern kingdom) when Israel was divided after the death of King Solomon centuries later.
Much is made of the Brook Kanah (Kanaan), which forms the boundary between Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph. (Certainly by the people of Yaqir, a settlement a few miles from Ariel, which sits right on that very border, at Brook Kanaan today) They were charged by Joshua to take possession of the mountainous country as well as the fertile land they were allotted, in order accommodate their “families’. Joshua reminded them of God’s promises, and challenged them with the words “IF you are a great people etc etc, go and take the land and clear it for your families to settle” But, the Bible tells us that, instead of driving the Canaanites off the land, they chose instead to enslave them with “forced labour”. One may only speculate today what are the ramifications which follow that decision.
During this “settlement” period, Joshua had set up the tabernacle, which they had carried with them throughout their wilderness journey. Shiloh (about 30 km north of Jerusalem), being very roughly central to the land being settled, was chosen as its location. It seems a little confusing, but seven of the tribes still had not had their land inheritance spelled out in detail. So, when the whole congregation was meeting at Shiloh, Joshua commissioned the Israelites to choose three men from each tribe and charged them to “Go, walk through the land, survey it, and come back to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh”. Thus it was that the remaining ‘unsettled’ land was surveyed in detail. There was no partiality, hence no dispute, and was THEN apportioned, by lot, among those seven tribes.
The territorial boundaries, having been surveyed carefully, one presumes to include a liveable area of land, then became the duty of each nominee tribe to settle and divide among that tribe’s families. In order of allocation, the seven lots fell to Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan. The details of the boundaries are recorded in Chapter 18 of our text. However, that is not the end of the story, as we will discover when we come to the Book of the Judges. Dan in particular, seemingly had great difficulty in dislodging the Canaanites from their coastal land, where Tel Aviv lies today, and were confined to the mountainous regions of their land allocation in the east of their allotment. One assumes, for this reason, that the Danites, moved further north, even above the land where Naphtali was allotted, and settled there.
Finally, the Israelites decided that Joshua, their esteemed leader, deserved an inheritance of his own. And just as Joshua had assigned the city of Hebron to his friend and colleague Caleb, so the Israelites gave Joshua “according to the word of the LORD” the city of Timnath Serah, “which he had asked for” in the mountains of Ephraim. Not too far from Shiloh.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
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Source:
https://www.preceptaustin.org/biblical_maps
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 05
J O S H U A
Last week, we noted that the ‘subduing’ of the land had only taken about one year from the time of the crossing of the Jordan River. But a further five years or so would pass before the Israelites properly “settled’ in the land. Joshua is reminded by God, that he was now ‘advanced in years” (so nicely put) and there was still much to be accomplished before the congregation of Israel could properly “possess” the land.. Notwithstanding the enormity of the victorious land and city gains we ‘reflected’ on last week, ’possession’ of the land meant living in the land in a lifestyle of some normality. Furthermore, there were still some areas of land, specifically that occupied by the Philistines on the coast, and by a group called Gebalites in the North, as well as the Geshurites who occupied land also in the North but East of the Jordan River, which had not already been taken by Moses, which he had promised to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh (Deuteronomy 29:8). We note that the land area described in this passage of Scripture vastly exceeds that which we know as Israel today. However, we also take note, that (we might assume for compassionate reasons) “Nevertheless the children of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites, or the Maacathites, but the Geshurites and the Maacathites dwell among the Israelites until this day”. And we (I confess to speculation here) are left to wonder whether or not this (disobedience) is a major reason for the ongoing land disputes which are part and parcel of everyday life for Israel, even today.
We also note that specific mention is made of Baalam, who was ‘killed by the sword’. He was the prophet, described here as a soothsayer, paid by Balak the Moabite king, to place a curse on the children of Israel during their wilderness journey (Numbers 22). I am reminded here (Genesis 12:3) of the promise God made to Abram in regard to a persons ‘attitude’ towards Israel. We are left with the supposition that those who lost their lives in the various battles as Joshua swept through the land, was the judgment which God, for reasons we may not understand, visited upon those people.
The remainder of our reading today deals with the actual apportionment of land, with specific geographical boundaries, among the tribes of Israel. The apportionment was not by equal land area, but “according to their families”. That speaks of an apportionment according to need, because the tribes were of varying numerical size. It would be incumbent on each family to engage in farming their land apportionment to sustain that family. It is also important to remember that the Israel many of us might visit today in tour groups, is vastly different (after about 1,800 years of drought which did not end until approx. 130 years ago) in its fertility, than it was in the days of Joshua. At that time, the consensus of the 12 spies sent to check out the land was “It truly flows with milk and honey , and this is (a sample of) its fruit” (Numbers 13:27).
The nine and a half tribes who were to be accommodated in this land apportionment did not include the Levites. They had been chosen by God for “special duties” (Exodus 32:29) as priests at the time of the ‘golden calf’ incident. Also, there is NO tribe of Joseph. His place in the tribal history of Jacob is taken by Joseph’s TWO sons, born to him in Egypt, Ephraim and Manasseh. Now Moses had already apportioned land (in present day Jordan and Syria) which he had acquired in encounters with the Ammonites and Moabites, to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh (half tribe). Many Bibles conveniently publish maps at the end of the book, one of which is usually entitled “The Twelve Tribes”. If you have such, look it up and take note of the variation in land size each tribe occupied. (The tribe of Dan later re-located themselves to the Northern border above Naphtali. Dan was numerically the second largest tribe, but was apportioned one of the the smallest, albeit very fertile, land mass! More about Dan as we proceed through our ‘reflections’).
Our Bible tells us that Joshua was instructed by Moses, at the LORD’s command, to apportion the land “by lot”. (If we were doing that today we would probably put all the names in a hat and draw them out one at a time). But during this process, Caleb, a Judean, who, like Joshua, had been faithful in his report and recommendation after the spying mission 45 years earlier, reminded Joshua that God had promised him that, for his faithfulness, (Numbers 14:24) he would have an inheritance in the land. So Caleb made a request for a specific place. As a result the Judeans inherited the high country where Jerusalem now stands, and specifically for Caleb, the area of Hebron, a few miles just south of there. However, in the process of “settlement”, the Judeans were not able to drive the Jebusites out of the city of Jerusalem. This would have an impact on events some hundreds of years later, because David, as king, was obliged to purchase the “threshing floor” of Araunah for fifty shekels of silver. That has significance even today, because there are THREE places mentioned in our Bibles where the Israelites PURCHASED land, as opposed to just taking it over in the settlement. The tomb in which the bones of Joseph were placed (Joshua 24:32), and the burial plot in Hebron, (Genesis 23:15-18) bought by Abraham are the other two.
So it was that the Israelites began to possess the land of God’s promise to them.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
Image Reference:
Source:
www.bible.ca/maps - Steve Rudd - (2019)
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 04
J O S H U A
It is worthy of note that the events we have ‘reflected’ upon so far, and those which we ‘reflect’ on now, all occurred within the first year after the Israelites entered the land. There could not have been anyone living in that land who was not aware of the Israelites rapid conquering progress. When the kings of the people (Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite) learned about the capture of Jericho and Ai, they were scared out of their minds. So they concocted a plan to combine their armies to fight together against the Israelites. However, the Gibeonites, centred a little to the north of Jerusalem,“worked craftily” my Bible says! They pretended, “because of the name of the LORD your God” to have come from a very far country to make a peace treaty with the Israelites. They dressed in old clothes and carried mouldy food and worn out wineskins as a sign of the length of their journey. Naively, the Israelites accepted the story and made a treaty which guaranteed that the imposters and their clan would not suffer the same treatment as the inhabitants of Jericho and Ai. Three days later the truth was revealed. The imposters were not from a ‘very far country’, but a short couple of days journey away. Chapter 9 of our text has the full story. The result was that Joshua placed upon them the curse of lifelong servitude, doing menial but worthwhile tasks of cutting wood and drawing water. (A glance at the inset map will show the amount of territory the Israelites had covered in just a few days, with much more to quickly follow, even though the main congregation of the Israelite tribes remained camped at Gilgal near Jericho).
Gibeon, a city much larger than Ai, was a short distance north of Jerusalem. And with Gibeon now having a treaty with the Israelites, the Amorite king of Jerusalem, Adoni-Zedek, with the cooperation of other Amorite kings of Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon, decided to attack Gibeon. Chapter 10 of our text fills in the details. The Gibeonites turned to Joshua for help. It is quite a remarkable story. The result was a resounding victory for Joshua, and a devastating defeat for the Amorite kings. The consequence, of course, was that huge tracts of land and more cities came under Joshua’s control. The promise of God, “to be with Joshua” was amply demonstrated by two miraculous events. First, the Bible tells us that more Amorites died that day in a hailstorm, than were killed by Joshua’s army. But it is the second phenomenon which had not happened before or since (NASA scientists were reported to have discovered a ‘missing day’ in history while charting spacecraft trajectory paths in 1999), and is a matter of endless dispute. The day of that battle, when Joshua chased the invading armies as they were put to flight, was long and arduous. As light began to fade, with a prospect of the fleeing armies escaping in the darkness, Joshua spoke to the LORD, requesting that the light not fade. “So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day”. The five kings were found hiding in a cave, and were summarily dealt with later. In short order, the surrounding cities of Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, the mountain country and the lowlands to the South from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza, all fell into the hands of Joshua. The scale of that victory is incredible. And it all came about, at God’s hands, because Joshua had made a ‘treaty of peace’ with the Gibeonites because of their blatant deception! I wonder if the writer to the Hebrews might have considered this event when he wrote “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”. (Hebrews 10:31) Furthermore, I also take note that the way in which the land was won, and the hostile nations defeated, was due, largely, by those nations waging war in attack against the children of Israel, not the other way around! Does that speak to you, as it does to me, of a future event, prophesied in Joel 3:2. “I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land.”
So it was that most of the southern part of the Canaanite land was under Joshua’s control. The main encampment of the children of Israel remained on the plains at Gilgal. Then Jabin, who was king of Hazor, a large Canaanite city about 10 Km north of the sea of Galilee, persuaded a number of kings of the north of the nation (Joshua 11:1-5) to join with him in a mighty battle against Joshua’s armies. The battle ground was north of the sea of Galilee, near Hazor. “But the LORD said to Joshua,’ Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel”.
Then, perhaps the best lesson any of us could learn from this whole event. “As the LORD commanded Moses His servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses. Thus Joshua took all this land: the mountain country, all the South, all the land of Goshen, the lowland, and the Jordan plain - the mountains of Israel and its lowlands”. Mission accomplished. All within one year of crossing the Jordan River to enter the land. And in addition to that, there was the land that Moses had taken on the East side of the River. Areas we know today as the Golan and West Jordan (what was Bashan). The remainder of our text specifies the thirty one kings whose land had been taken. It now remained for stewardship of that land to be properly, and fairly, allocated among the tribes who had been part of Joshua’s victorious army.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
Image Reference:
Source:
https://emp.byui.edu/SATTERFIELDB/Ancient%20Israel/Gibeon.htm
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 03
J O S H U A
“So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites, who were by the sea (Mediterranean), heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until we had crossed over, that their heart melted; and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel”. Exactly what Rahab had told the spies.
They had arrived in the land, but the LORD was not ready for them to begin the occupation of the land yet. We note that the Israelites had left Egypt on the night of the tenth plague with which God demonstrated His great power to the Egyptian Pharaoh 40 years earlier. At that time, all the Israelite males bore in their body the (Genesis 17:9-14) Abrahamic covenant sign of circumcision. But during their wilderness journey, that practise had not been kept, so males under 40 years of age, who had been born during their journey were not “kosher”….. Yet! That matter was corrected before the land occupation commenced. Furthermore, in God’s perfect timing, it just ‘happened’ to be just before the “mo’ed” (appointed time) of Passover. Isn’t it interesting how God arranged the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea (on dry land). just after the very first Passover, and now the people had miraculously crossed the Jordan (on dry land), just before it was time to celebrate the first Passover in their new land. Albeit not before all the males bore in their body that Abrahamic covenant sign of circumcision.
But there’s more! We tend to forget that right up to that very time, God was still providing “manna” each day, and a double portion on a Sabbath. The very next day after the Passover was the “mo’ed” of Unleavened bread. On that day, and for the next seven days, they ate unleavened bread which they made from grain which they collected from the plains of Jordan in which they now camped. From that day forward, God’s provision of the daily “manna” ceased. Then the challenge of occupying the land began. It really became a survival issue for the people as God’s provision of daily food had ceased.
Before them was the city of Jericho. What was Joshua to do? Their squabbles on the journey over the previous 40 years had for the most part been among themselves. Yes! They had prevailed over various marauding people as they drew near the promised land. Amorites, Amalekites, Midianites, Balaamites and the like as the LORD led them under Moses command. But Jericho was a walled fortified city. A decidedly different proposition. Then Joshua saw him. A man with a drawn sword. “The Commander of the army of the LORD!” no less. His presence was immensely reassuring to Joshua. The actual fall and conquer of Jericho is one of the most well known stories in our Bible. No-one who ever attended a Sunday school could fail to recite the main elements of the story. Read it again, with awe, in Chapter 6 of our text. It ends with Joshua pronouncing a curse on anyone who rebuilds the city in the future. Evidently, in time it was reoccupied, because King David caused his men to reside there while their beards regrew after their humiliation at the hands of the Ammonite king, Hanun (2 Samuel 10:5). And later still, in Elijah’s days, the Israelite king Ahab allowed Hiel to rebuild Jericho, losing his oldest and youngest sons in the process (1 Kings 16:34).
During the conquest of Jericho, God had declared that the vessels of gold, silver, bronze, and iron were to be consecrated to the LORD’s treasury. Everything else was “accursed”, and was to be destroyed. Well, Achan of the tribe of Judah, thought no-one would know if he helped himself to a few bits and pieces which he found attractive. Am I the only one who can see a very human lesson here? There are numerous examples which could be cited here from society today (cheating on pensions, expenses, GST payments and many more) which constitute God’s list of “accursed things”. What Achan thought was ‘in secret’ (as it may well have been to those around him) was ‘in plain sight’ to God, Who sees what man hides in his heart.
The city of AI, where Abram had built an altar centuries earlier (Genesis 12:8), was the next place to be taken. Joshua again sent spies to survey the scene and to determine a strategy to conquer it. The spies reported AI to be an easy target and not to expend too many resources in the attack. However, God wanted to show Joshua that He was angry at the wanton disobedience of Achan at Jericho. The conversation Joshua had with the LORD, recorded in Chapter 7 of our text is worth reading aloud. It speaks of the manner in which the LORD expects those who make covenant with Him to order their lives, in secret and in public. (Yeshua, in His “sermon on the Mount” address, makes reference to this, albeit speaking about private prayer in particular, in Matthew 6:6).
But having the matter dealt with so publicly, try to imagine the effect on the rest of the Israelites as they continued in their task of securing the land? And so it was that the LORD gave instructions to Joshua to take ALL the men who bore arms into battle against a revitalised king of AI. After the conquest, Joshua built another memorial altar to the LORD. Then before the nearby mountains of Ebal and Gerazim, Joshua assembled the whole congregation of the Israelites and read to them EVERY word of the Torah which God had given to Moses as the “instruction for living righteously”, together and before others. It hasn’t changed, even to this day!
Shabbat Shalom
RS
Image Reference:
Source:
http://godswarplan.com/battle-of-ai-joshua-8-achan-sin-stealing-the-plun...
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 02
J O S H U A
“After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD”. Do you wonder what the people might be thinking at this point in their journey? All those under 40 years of age, and many of the others, had never known another leader. In fact there hadn’t been a national leader before Moses. Now he was dead. They didn’t even know what happened to his body. Across the valley they could see the land of God’s promise. What sort of leader would Joshua be? Would he be trusted, respected, obeyed, as Moses was? And what about Joshua himself? As assistant to Moses, he had known him very well. He knew the source of Moses’ strength and courage. He must have wondered how he would manage in Moses’ absence. Then “it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua, the son on Nun, Moses assistant, saying ….”. Please read it yourself in the first 9 verses of chapter 1 of our text. They are mighty words of great encouragement for the man chosen by God to lead the people into the land He had promised to Abram centuries earlier. They are words often appropriated by believers today for themselves. “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you I will not leave you nor forsake you”.
There appears to be no condition on those words spoken to Joshua. Moses had walked, faithfully and fearfully, before the Lord for the last 40 years. It was not that he had a trouble free life. Far from it. He had many trials to overcome. So what was it that kept him going? Just like the disciples of Yeshua centuries later, who had a personal encounter with the risen Messiah, so Moses had, not one, but many personal encounters with YHWH Elohim. Unambiguous, specific, and thoroughly clear words of direction and counsel. Moses KNEW his God through personal encounter with Him. Joshua would come to KNOW his God in the trials and experiences of his life which still lay before him. Just as we can KNOW our God as we journey through our life on this earth. That’s the God who says to those who truly KNOW Him “I will never leave you nor forsake you”.
Joshua then had his first conversation with the LORD as leader of the nation. “Arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them”. But there is more. “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do all the Torah which Moses my servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go”. Ah! So there IS a condition to success. “This Book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success”. Note that God is absolutely upfront with Joshua, and by extension with the people who had made covenant with Him. My reading of this account, which believers appropriate to themselves, taken in the context of God’s statement ‘not to leave you nor forsake you’, is rock solid truth. BUT, just like the Israelites in our text, what about the situation where the people themselves choose the ‘leaving and forsaking’ path ? Selah!
Joshua proved himself to be a good leader. In the face of trusting God to “give them the land He had promised”, he knew from experience that it would not be taken without a fight. Showing his leadership qualities, he sent two spies to survey the opposition. It seems incongruous that the spies lodged in the house of Rahab, a harlot. Yet others see unsuspicious motivation. Its location, its frequentation by motley types of people, its ‘good cover’ as a hideout. Very few would see the motive of God. Rahab was a seemingly unlikely woman of faith. She knew the history of the Israelites from their escape from Egypt to their present location just a few miles away waiting to cross the Jordan. (possibly gleaned in conversations with travellers who might also have ‘lodged’ with her over the years) “I know that the LORD has given you the land “ she said. “For the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath”. By such faith, Rahab, gained a place in the genealogy of Messiah Yeshua (Matthew 1:5). Faith which God counted as righteousness, as he had with Abram centuries earlier.
Eventually, the spies returned to report their findings to Joshua. Quoting words Rahab had told them, “the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you”, as she tried to extract a guarantee of safety for her family from those spies. And in the goodness of God, she and her family’s lives were spared the judgement at the destruction of Jericho (Joshua 6:25). When Joshua received the report of the spies, the battle plan was finalised. The people moved from the hills to the plains adjacent to the river, and waited there three days. In plain sight of the Canaanites, no doubt increasing the levels of fear in them, Joshua explained the plan to the people. Read it with awe in chapters 3 and 4 of our text.
God exalted Joshua in the eyes of the whole congregation of Israelites as they too saw a miraculous event take place before them. God Himself, represented in the Ark of the Covenant, stood in the midst of the river which was ‘in flood’ at that time, as the waters temporarily dried up, so that the priests bearing the ark stood on dry ground. The people, almost 1 kilometre away, to the north, as instructed, followed. What a spectacle. Then at God’s command, one person from each tribe took a large stone from the riverbed and built a monument, at ancient Gilgal east of Jericho, as a memorial for future generations. And so it was that the Israelites arrived in the land of God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 01
Life in the promised land
Introduction
God made a land promise to Abram (Genesis 15:15-21). That land was, at that time, mostly occupied by Canaanites. The specific boundaries of the land (Numbers 34:1-12) were detailed more precisely later. The land promise was also confirmed to the direct descendants of Abram. His son Isaac, and one of Isaac’s sons, Jacob, to be a perpetual beneficial inheritance to his descendants. It is land occupation which God promised, not land ownership. The land is not theirs to sell. Land ownership is His alone. Generational occupation of the land is by a specific conditional covenant.
One will search the Scriptures in vain to discover why God made such special promises to this particular people group, except that for His own purposes, He did. But, the promise of blessing is made available to ALL, subject specifically to the relationship ‘non family’ members have with those descendants of Abram (Genesis 12:3). The wise among us will note the conditions! God’s appreciation of Abram’s trust (Genesis 15:6), was counted to him as righteousness. All the Scriptures after Genesis 11 show that God has used this people, and His relationship with them (as He continues to so do) as the example of His expectation of the relationship He desires with mankind which He created. That relationship is built uniquely on faith, trust, obedience, correction, and direction. It is a relationship in which an individual may either willingly participate, under God’s conditions, or not. God has plainly, and lovingly, laid out the ‘blessings’, or the contingent ‘curses’, which accrue according to the choice made. There is nothing hidden.
It is also noteworthy that God arranged a pathway to nationhood for His chosen ones by most unusual means. Tragedy, great blessing and protection, demonstrations of mighty power, and finally discomfort through a rigorous period of many years of slavery and hardship. All this time, by shared experience, building a strong and unassimilated (to the community in which they lived) tribal people with committed allegiances to each other. They were “Stateless”, having no creed or constitution by absorption or citizenship. So God had brought His chosen people to a situation where they were ready to accept the opportunity of escape, under the leadership of Moses, into the ‘unknown’ future.
Then came the task of teaching the people the constitutional and social behaviours which were necessary for the new nation they were to be, so as to function harmoniously in their new land. It is a most fascinating story, which we have covered in other studies. But this shows how God had spent centuries bringing this protected and conditioned people to the time when He knew they would be receptive to learning. What they did not know, of course, was that the ‘teaching’ would take another 40 years of being out of touch with the influence of other nations. Furthermore, only the relatively young would survive that period of intense teaching. Apart from their leaders, Joshua and Caleb, they were to enter their new land as a nation with everyone under 60 years of age. A majority of them of an age to “bear arms” in conflict.
On their journey, under the inspired leadership of Moses and Aaron, God revealed to them His Torah (teaching in righteous living). They learned by practical experience, the joys and blessings of obedience to the teaching, and the devastating penalty which followed disobedience. This must be viewed in the light of the fact that when Moses explained this Torah to them, they all readily proclaimed their willing acceptance of the conditions. “All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient” they said (Exodus 24:7). That was the moment when they confirmed the covenant they made with God, the covenant which we know as the “Mosaic Covenant”. It has never been rescinded, but it has been broken many times by the people. And that is why, one future day, God has promised to make a “New Covenant” with the House of Israel and the House of Judah (Jeremiah 31:31).
The account of the Israelite occupation of the land of God’s promise, is recorded for us in the Books of Joshua, Judges, the four books of the Kings, Ezra and Nehemiah. These Books are the subject of our study in this series, and cover a time frame of approximately 900 years. In Christian theology, the whole period from the exodus out of Egypt up until the entry into the land of promise is analogous to “the salvation process” wrought by faith in Yeshua. Egypt represents the ‘old life’, and the Promised land represents the ‘new life’. If that is a true analogy, (which is a very long standing one), we will seek to understand the relationship (if there is one) of the relevance of the Israelite experience in the land, to the expectation God places on behavioural practice, for continued land occupation. Simply put, does God consider obedience to His commands a natural sequel to salvation.
In the evolution of ‘church based’ christianity, from the time of the Council of Nicaea in 324 C.E., the overwhelming view is that salvation is ‘by faith alone, through Christ alone’. An undoubted truism. By definition, the Israelites who entered the land of promise were a ‘saved people’. So the question is “Does the lifestyle of a redeemed people matter to God?” Does redemption equate to change in lifestyle?
Next week we begin our study of the time from entry to the land to the time when God finally expelled them from it!
Shabbat Shalom
RS