Gary Gleans

These chapters describe the borders of the land designated to the two tribes that came for Joseph: Ephraim and Manasseh.  We see clear details in the allotment that would allow one tribe to distinguish from another.  These borders were designed by God and were to be respected by Israel.  Every tribe had a portion of land according to its need and every tribe’s allotment had it own advantages as well as hardships associated with it.  We must recognize that God’s will for our life will have great blessings but that some of those blessings will come in the form of trials that are designed to make us stronger.  There are two details that stand out to me in this portion. THE DAUGHTERS WERE GIVEN AN INHERITANCE: There was one of the families in Manasseh that had only daughters and no sons to inherit the land.  This possibility was foreseen in the Law that Moses had left and the solution was for the daughters to be given the land that they would have received as sons.  This was to preserv

The details of the division for the tribe of Judah are the theme of this chapter.  It is amazing to see the clear description of the border that was to be included in this land.  These details may seem rather tedious for us to work through, but they were very important for the nation of Israel.  This was the formation of the different “states” in this new nation.  God cares about details and left a written record of how the tribes of Israel were to be divided.  He also cares about the details of our lives. JUDAH RECEIVES ITS INHERITANCE: We have the limits of the land clearly defined in this passage.  Every border was clearly defined and this is the tribe through which the Messiah would eventually come.  David and the kings of Israel would come through this tribe and the capital of the nation was included in these borders.  Judah was blessed of God, not because of anything that Judah had done.  Judah had sinned greatly with Tamar, but God’s grace is great and He is willing to forgi

Joshua is now starting the process of dividing the land on the west side of the Jordan River.  Moses had commanded him to do this division by lots and that is what he is about to do.  Joshua was very careful to do exactly as the Lord had commanded him to do and as he had directed him to do through Moses.  As leaders it is important for us to recognize that we are given a task to accomplish by God and we are to lead the people of God towards doing that work.  We do not have the right or the freedom to make up our own job description; that is the work of God.  Our job is to follow and obey Him.  The remainder of this chapter is dedicated to the beautiful story of Caleb. CALEB RECALLS HIS OWN OBEDIENCE: Before Joshua divides up the land Caleb comes to him and reminds him of the promise that Moses had made to him when he had come back with Joshua after spying out the land.  Caleb and Joshua had been the only ones to trust God and come back with a good report.  They had urged the people

Finishing well should be the goal of each and every one of us.  There are many who start well and even continue well for a period of time, but there are very few that sustain a consistent testimony right up through the end of their lives.  Joshua was such a man.  He was faithful to serve beside Moses as a young man.  He was one of only two faithful spies who trusted God to be able to deliver the Promised Land into the hands of Israel.  He remained faithful through the forty years of wandering in the wilderness.  Then he concluded his life as the godly leader who succeeded Moses.  He is now an old man and God is preparing him for the end of his life.  May God grant each of us the grace of being faithful old men and women.  God wants to communicate two basic messages at this important juncture. THERE IS STILL MUCH WORK TO BE DONE: God used Joshua to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land and they conquered many nations and much of the land that had been promised to them. 

It is always important to remember the victories that the Lord has granted.  Today’s chapter is simply a list of the kings who were defeated by Moses on the east side of the Jordan and the kings who were defeated by Joshua on the west side.  God had promised to be with these men and use them to fulfill His promises to the nation of Israel.  God was faithful to do just that.  We can always be confident that God will keep His promises and help us to be victorious through Christ. THE LANDS CONQUERED BY MOSES: Moses fought many battles from the time that the children of Israel left Egypt to the time of his departure.  This chapter only mentions the two kings and all their lands that were conquered on the east side of the Jordan and were given to the two tribes who chose to remain on that side of the river.  These were large lands and really the first tests of the people in war.  God used Moses in a great way to liberate the people and to prepare them to be the nation that they had beco

The nations of the north united to try to join forces and defeat Israel.  They realized that as individual nations they could not defeat this nation led and protected by God.  Together they thought they could mount an army so large that by sheer numbers they would be able to overwhelm the nation of Israel.  They were wrong.  God had given the land to Israel and no matter how big the army or difficult the task, He would give the victory.  God is faithful to do His will and to keep His promises.  When things look like they are impossible to us, that is when God is at His best. GOD HARDENED THE HEARTS OF THE NATIONS BEFORE ISRAEL: Besides the Gibeonites, none of the other nations sought to make a peace treaty with the nation of Israel.  Even though they saw that God was fighting on their behalf to the point of making the sun shine for a full day and hail drop from the sky.  Even so, in their minds they thought that they could amass a huge army that would be able to defeat Israel.  I

The conquest of the land of Canaan continues with Joshua leading the children of Israel into battle and the Lord delivering the people into their hands.  God is faithful to give victory and the people are faithful to obey God’s commands.  The battles are composed of both supernatural interventions with God fighting for the nation of Israel as well as conventional battles that have the children of Israel combating the enemies and overpowering them in the strength of the Lord.  I think it is important for us to realize that both of these aspects are a part of every endeavor that we undertake in the name of the Lord.  There are times where He steps in and works in obvious and miraculous ways to meet our needs.  However, there are many times where He uses our efforts and a dependence on Him to accomplish His will. GOD SENDS ISRAEL TO DEFEND THE GIBEONITES:  When the surrounding nations heard that Ai had fallen and then that the Gibeonites had made peace with Israel; they decided to u

The fame of Israel and the victories that the Lord gave them spread throughout the land and brought fear into the hearts of all of the people of the region.  The majority of the kings and leaders decided to form a coalition of various peoples and unite in order to try to defeat this common enemy.  Normally these nations would have been enemies looking to conquer one another, but now they have a common enemy that has struck their hearts with fear.  However, there is another group who has also been motivated by fear but they decide to take the path of deception in order to try to gain peace with and protection from Israel.  The plot worked but it did not have to.  This chapter reveals at least two truths about Joshua and the other leaders in Israel. JOSHUA RELIED ON HIS OWN WISDOM: The plan to deceive was simple; wear old clothes, pretend to be far away and get a promise of peace from Israel.  The Gibeonites came up with this plan because they feared for their lives and it was the

Obedience makes all the difference in the world.   After the sin of Achan had been taken care of, God comes to Joshua and tells him how He wants them to go out and take the city of Ai.   The command was to kill all of the people, but that the animals and the plunder of the city the people could keep for themselves.   I find it ironic and so typical that if Achan had only waited on the Lord he would have gotten far more than the one set of clothes, silver coins and a bar of gold that he hid from Jericho.   God’s provision for us is always far more abundant than that which we strive to obtain through the works of sin.   This chapter lays out the process and results of how God delivered Ai into the hands of Israel. THE WAR: The story of the war in Ai is one of the fascinating and classic stories of an ambush recorded in any literature.   It was a simple strategy.   A huge army went out at night and hid behind the city.   The next day Joshua and a much smaller group of warriors come

The victory in Jericho was followed by a defeat in Ai.  This small town that the spies were confident could be taken by two or three thousand men ended up killing 36 of the soldiers as they ran from the city.  Victories are very dangerous because they can create a sense of self confidence and self reliance that can ultimately spell our doom.  It appears that the report of the spies brought such a confidence in light of the victory in Jericho.  God was well aware of the sin in the camp and I believe that He would have warned Joshua to deal with the sin prior to going to battle in Ai, but it appears that Joshua did not bother to seek God prior to the battle.  Only after the defeat did Joshua fall on his face before God.  Defeats are often blessings in disguise because they almost always put us where we belong; on our faces before the Lord.  The key to a consistent life before the Lord is to constantly be on our faces during both the good times and the bad.  The story of Ai and Achan pr

The Lord had a very strange means of delivering the city of Jericho into the hands of Joshua and the rest of the nation.  No man would ever consider this as a military strategy, but God wanted to show the people that He would be faithful to fight for them and that they could simply trust and obey Him.  There are many times in life where we are tempted to depend on our own experience or our own wisdom to order our lives.  God wants us to trust Him and His Word no matter how difficult or strange it may seem.  God wants His children to stand out in this society and to live for His glory no matter how illogical His commands may seem in our particular circumstance.  This task that God gave to the children of Israel called for two key characteristics that God wants to see in each of our lives. TRUST: The strategy of walking around the wall once a day for six days in silence and then walk around the wall seven times on the seventh day makes no military sense whatsoever.  However, it was

The news of the Jordan River drying up and allowing the children of Israel cross into the land of Canaan brought great fear to all of the nations of that region.  They had obviously heard of the plight of the Egyptians and how God had opened the Red Sea for this nation in the previous generation and now these same people were back and God was obviously going before them.  Now that they are dwelling within the Promised Land there are some key changes that will occur as they get ready to go into battle. PERSONAL PURIFICATION: The first thing that Joshua does once they reach the land is to order that all of the men in Israel be circumcised.  This had been God’s order for the children of Israel from the time that He had called Abraham.  However, when the nation was wandering in the wilderness, they did not practice the circumcision due to their constant movement.  Now, before they could settle into the land God wanted them to all complete the ritual of circumcision.  There is nothing

God wants His children to remember all that He has done; not only for the current generation, but for all of the generations to come.   He knows that we have a tendency to forget and that we need reminders that will help us to, not only remember for ourselves, but also help us to tell our children of the work of the Lord.   God has done this type of thing before with the rainbow in the sky being a reminder of God’s promise not to flood the earth again.   He will continue to do this on other occasions in the future.   Today we as a church use bread and grape juice as reminders of the death of Christ on the cross.   Some things are too important to forget and God establishes reminders that will help His people remember what He has done so that we can serve the Lord faithfully. MEMORIALS SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED: Each tribe was to take one stone from the bottom of the Jordan River and carry it to the camp where they would spend the night.   Joshua then took these stones and piled them

The time has arrived to enter the Promised Land.  The years of wandering in the wilderness are over and it is finally time to move forward and begin the conquest of the land.  Moses has died, Joshua has been installed as the new leader and now the Lord is ready to take His children into the land that He had promised to Abraham so many years ago.  What an amazing feeling it must have been to come to this point in history and know that God was just about to fulfill His plan for the people.  As I read this passage this morning, I just could not help but think of heaven.  God has made a promise to everyone of us who have trusted Christ.  He has promised that one day He will bring an end to the sin and suffering of the world in which we now live and He will completely purify us so that we can live eternally in His presence.  We will be free from sin, free from pain and free to worship Him in a way that we can only imagine.  The journey seems like it is taking forever; but one day, maybe t

The children of Israel were about to go into the land and begin the conquest that the Lord had called them to.  This is a key time in the history of Israel forty years ago they had been here but refused to trust and obey God, now they are here again as a new nation who must decide if they will place their faith in the work of God.  Joshua sends two spies into the land, presumably to help in the planning of the battle, but God uses the spy’s trip to give encouraging news to the children of Israel as well as to save the life of Rahab and her family. RAHAB PROTECTS THE SPIES: Rahab is a prostitute who lived in the city of Jericho.  Her house is on the wall, and the spied come into her house in order to seek protection from the soldiers of the city that discover that they have come into the land as spies.  Rahab hides the two men and sends the soldiers on their way in the wrong direction. She may have been the last person in Jericho that we would have thought would cooperate, but God

Transitions are always difficult for us no matter what kind they are.  Transitions in leadership are especially hard.  The children of Israel find themselves in a position of transition in leadership at one of the most crucial times in all of their history.  They are just about to enter the Promised Land, but now they are going through a transition in leadership.  These times are not easy for the people; nor are they easy for the leaders involved.  However, the key to these transitions is to recognize that no matter what is transitioning in our human leadership and position; God is still in control and He never changes.  There are some very key factors that contribute to a smooth transition in this passage. GOD SPEAKS TO JOSHUA: Joshua must have felt like the job before him was an impossible one.  These people were not easy to lead, and he was following in the footsteps of an amazing leader.  God steps onto the scene, and tells Joshua some very important things.  First of all, Go

It is only fitting that we end this first leg of our journey through the Old Testament with the death of the author of the Pentateuch.  These first five books lay the foundation of the Scriptures and God’s plan of redemption.  We have seen the creation of the world and the entrance of sin into the World.  Then God began to unfold His plan of redemption through the calling of Abraham and the establishment of the nation.  He then sets out to demonstrate man’s desperate need of salvation through the revelation of the Law of God.  The multiple rules and regulations are impossible to keep apart from the transformation promised in the Gospel.  The promises of God have been revealed and have already begun to be fulfilled through the formation of the nation and now the beginning of the conquest of the land.  Eventually the promise will result in the coming of Christ to pay for our sins and then returning to transform our bodies and give us life everlasting. MOSES IS CALLED UP TO DIE: The

The parting words of Moses to his people are words of love and encouragement.  He has instructed them, warned them and now he simply wants to demonstrate his love to them.  This is a beautiful picture of God’s love being wonderfully illustrated through the life of His servant Moses.  God has taught us His will through His Word, He has disciplined us because of our sin; but above all, He has loved us through the person of Christ.  God is holy and just and will never treat sin lightly.  However, His great love has moved Him to pay the price for our sin through His own Son.  We must always seek to view God completely, not ignoring either His love and mercy or His justice and holiness.  Moses has been faithful to demonstrate the holiness of God and to warn the children of Israel of God’s coming judgments; but he closes His messaged to the children of Israel with tender words of encouragement.  GOD HAS CALLED: Moses begins this final word of encouragement by reminding the people that

We are always very good at making up excuses for our sins and failures.  We try to shift the blame for our sins onto others, society or even God Himself.  One of our favorite excuses is to simply plead ignorance and say: “I didn’t know.”  God called Moses to write a song that would stand as a testimony to the people of all that He had done for them as well as the warnings that He had given them.  They would never be able to claim that they did not know of God’s warnings to them because this song was a warning to that very fact.  This is not a particularly happy song, but it does remind the people of the importance of their relationship with God and warns them of the consequences of turning away from that relationship.  Music should continue to point to the greatness and faithfulness of God as well as warn us of the consequences of sin.  I will look forward to hearing this song in heaven, but for now we are only able to analyze the lyrics. GOD IS OUR CREATOR: The song starts out b