BIBLE STUDIES ARCHIVE.....

Joshua 18:3 – Taking Hold of the Land that Has Been Given

“How long will you put off (are you slack to go posses the land)) entering to take possession of the land which the LORD God of your fathers has given you?”

The text take from Joshua needs to be placed in context of the book of Joshua, leading up to the words of Israel’s military commander found in Josh. 18:3. So let’s begin by recapping what has taken place.

1. Moses has died and God has named Joshua as His leader of the people of Israel. God instructs Joshua that he will lead the Jewish people across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land.
The Promised Land was known as Canaan, known as a region or territory and not one specific place. God’s divine assignment of the land of Canaan to His chosen people started in Gen. 9:25, when Noah cursed Canaan, who was Ham’s son. “A servant of servants he shall be to his brothers.” Later, in Gen. 12:7, we find that Abraham was at Shechem, which was located within Canaan. God promised the land to Abraham for his descendants. This was God’s promise, it was unconditional, and God does not revoke His promise.

2. The Jordan crossing was powerful and the people of Israel proceeded to Jericho, where they began a series of military battles to inherit the land. Jericho means “fragrant place.” The people camp at Gilgal and erect the tabernacle there.

3. Israel experiences problems in the battle for Ai – as they are defeated. The reason for the defeat was man’s disobedience to God’s instruction. His instruction was to completely destroy the Canaanites and turn over all possessions from the battles to God. To the Victor goes the spoils, and God was the Victor. Yet a man named Achan secretly kept some possessions in the camp.

4. After the defeat at Ai, Joshua was puzzled and did what any good leader does – he prayed to the Lord his God. As a result of Joshua’s intercession, God responded by instructing Joshua what to do next. The possessions were found, Achan confessed, and Achan was killed.

5. Now Israel could return to Ai, which means “heap of ruins” and conquer it.

6. A people known as the Gibeonites devised a plan and approached Israel, whom they feared. It is noteworthy that the Gibeonites lived closest to Jerusalem. Their plan was one of deception, and it worked. They lied to God’s people about who they were and wanted to make a covenant for their own benefit and protection.

7. Joshua made a mistake by not inquiring of the Lord; rather he made the vow with the Gibeonites. He quickly learned they lived very close by, not far away. Israel had been duped! However, if they broke the covenant, they were breaking a vow they made with God. And so, Joshua spared the Gibeonites by making them servants to the Hebrew people.

8. The Canaanites and Philistines rose up against Israel and put fear into the people. God rebuked Israel and then He promised victory.

9. Joshua conquered the Canaanites. However, pockets of resistance were still in Canaan.

10. Joshua moved the camp and tabernacle to Shiloh, which means, “rest.”

11. Some of the land was assigned to the people. Yet, as we approach Joshua 18:3, we find that 7 tribes of Israel were still without land. Let’s now focus on Joshua 18:1-3: “Now the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh and set up the tabernacle of meeting there. And the land was subdued before them. But there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes that had not yet received their inheritance. Then Joshua said to the children of Israel, “How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers has given you?”

This is all about God establishing His set-apart people in a set apart place. Despite the promise by God and despite the achievement of victory, because resistance and opposition still existed, the people of Israel – these seven tribes – had done nothing to “go and possess the land. They preferred to be peace loving, nomadic people; avoiding conflict. It is subtle yet significant to note the land around Shiloh was “subdued.” This meant that work still needed to be done in the land to fully possess it. Another way of looking at it is that the land was enemy-occupied, but not enemy-controlled. God had control!

Joshua, a prophetic type of Christ – Yeshua, would not stand for the people’s reluctance, apathy, and cowardice. He asked them how long they would be slack: meaning, weak, feeble, despondent, and discouraged. These seven tribes were yet to GO and POSSESS the land, which God had already given to them! It was part of the promise and part of the inheritance of Israel. All they had to do was go get it! With an inheritance is a responsibility. When the inheritance includes land, it has to be claimed, conquered, settled, and governed.

So Joshua gave those tribes instructions:
1. Select three men from each tribe;
2. Survey the land that was each tribe’s; and,
3. Return back to Joshua with the results.

The tribes obeyed Joshua and the land was surveyed, described, and the allotted to each tribe. The tribes then had the task of going forth into those territories and driving out any remaining enemies, in order to settle the land and truly enter into rest.How does this passage relate to us?

1. We must believe that which God promises, God will do.
2. Just as Israel had an inheritance of natural land, we have an inheritance of spiritual land – it is the Kingdom.
3. Just as the tribes had to go and possess that which had been given, we too must GO and POSSESS it.
4. We must be obedient to follow God’s instructions and not be slack.
5. Going to church is not enough. We are called to a Kingdom work.
6. We may have spiritual rest, but we’re a natural mess! We are saved, but still in the world, with conquering work to be done. There are still pockets of enemy resistance in our Promised Land! Our Canaan! The Kingdom!
7. It is important to know that God gave Abraham’s seed Canaan – yet Canaan was filled with Canaanites! We are the spiritual seed of Abraham and so we’ve been given the Kingdom – yet it too is filled with modern-day Canaanites, Jebusites, and Gibeonites. We are called to drive them out. How? By going to the spiritual place God has called us and possessing that which is rightfully ours! The word possess in Hebrew is yarash and it means to seize or inherit.
8. Sometimes we have to survey the spiritual land – stake out and claim our healing, our provision, our peace, our joy. Like the seven complacent tribes, we can be hesitant to “keep standing and occupying.” Yet we are called to go and stand, withstand, so when it’s all done, we are still standing. Beloved, it is hard work. Yet we do not do the hardest work – God already did and continues to by supplying what we need for the journey.
9. This is all about taking hold of heaven here on earth. We have been given dominion in a Kingdom, controlled by a King! It is about going to that spiritual place and driving out the ITES – doubt, fear, deception, and temptation. You drive it out when you stand on that ground and proclaim, “I will not be moved.” You drive it out when you are obedient to go and you KNOW that the heavenly host goes with you.

“The kingdom of God suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.” This is in Matthew 11:12. Jesus, a Jew, knew exactly what He was saying. He knew the Kingdom was His movement – the actions of the church. He knew it was the place- the land, you might call it – within us, around us, and beyond us. It was the place where followers of Christ could exercise legal power and legal authority because of their covenant position – the position of the cross.

To truly understand Mt. 11:12, we do well to spend a few minutes in Micah 2:12-13. It reads: “I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob. I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together like sheep of the fold, like a flock in the midst of their pasture; they shall make a loud noise because of so many people. The one who breaks open will come up before them; they will break out, pass through the gate, and go out by it. Their king will pass before them, with the Lord at their head.” This is about:

1. Sheep kept up in a pen, crowded and noisy – wanting to come out;
2. A shepherd breaking an opening in the pen;
3. All the sheep come forcefully breaking out of the pen; and,
4. They go out by the gate, with the Lord leading them.

Jesus may well have been referring to this passage from Micah when He said, the kingdom of God suffers violence – which we can render as: the Kingdom of God is breaking forth, breaking open. Violent men take it by force, meaning – those who believe are breaking forth with it. If the Kingdom is a movement – action is occurring and we are like sheep that have been penned up all night long and just want to get out. A small opening, breach, or perets in Hebrew, is made. The next thing we know, we are all trying to get out – and the opening gets bigger and bigger with each sheep that breaks out! Jesus leads the way! Amen!

Are we like the sheep who want to come flying out of the pen, or are we like the seven tribes, who would have remained right where they were? Sheep that believe and obey God are sheep that receive from God.