Joshua 18-19

Dr. Mann discusses the distribution of land in Joshua 18 and 19, emphasizing the absence of gerrymandering. The importance of history in understanding God's character is highlighted, pointing out that history reveals who God is and how he works with people. The relationship of God to time is explored, stating that God is before and over history, governing it providentially. The analogy of a cross-stitch is used to illustrate how our perspective is limited by time but God sees the complete picture. All right, so good to see all of you this morning. Just because I am going to be bless you, because I am going to be so boring today. I'm going to have to shut down just a few minutes early now. It's not because I'm boring, right? I am, you know, my goal is to be bored because we don't get to do that very often. So, you know, we were we took a week off and a couple of you asked, you know, what was that like? And it was I pursued boredom. That was my goal. I wanted to be bored, but I will need to let us go just a few minutes early today because our oldest daughter is getting baptized in the service this morning. And so, granddaughter, granddaughter, I'm sorry. That is not good. I was reverting back to, you know, being thirty five, I guess. Anyways, yes. And so I'm going to get to baptize her in the service. And so they've got to mic me up and all that kind of good stuff. So I'll let us go about seven or eight minutes early if that's all right. And if I run out of anything good to say, I'll just keep going until seven or eight minutes left to say a lot of stuff that's not good. And you're still keeping the main thing, the main thing. Yes, sir. Keeping the main thing, the main thing. So you bet. Well, let's look at Joshua. We're going to look at Joshua chapter 18 and 19. We're looking not at gerrymandering, but at the distribution of the land. So there is no gerrymandering going on in Joshua 18 and 19, but there is the redistricting or redistribution of the land. All right. And so I'm going to read just to kind of get it started here. I'm going to read. I'm not going to read the whole thing, but just kind of set the context. Let's look at Joshua chapter 18 and and then I'll read just a few verses from that. I'll let you leave you to read the remaining part of it. But verse one, the entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh. Now, Shiloh is going to be very important. OK, we'll talk about that here in a little bit. They assembled at Shiloh and they set up a tent of meeting there elsewhere called the Tabernacle. The land had been subdued before them, but seven tribes among the Israelites were left who had not divided up their inheritance. And so Joshua asked the Israelites, how long will you delay going to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors gave you? Appoint for yourselves three men from each tribe and I will send them out there to go and survey the land. Write a description of it for the purpose of their inheritance and return it to me. And then they are divided into seven portions. Judah is to remain in his territory in the south and Joseph's family in their territory in the north. And when you have written a description of the seven portions of the land and brought it to me, I will cast lots. Dr. Terry shared with us about casting lots here a few weeks ago. But the Levites among you do not get a portion because their inheritance is the priesthood of the Lord. And so you see the Levitical priesthood there. Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh have taken their inheritance beyond the Jordan to the east, which Moses, the Lord's servant, gave them. As the men prepared to go, Joshua commanded them to write down a description of the land. Notice the repetition of that language, write down a description of the inheritance of the land. We'll talk more about that in just a moment. Verse eight, as the men prepared to go, Joshua commanded them, write down a description of the land, saying, go and survey the land, write a description of it and return it to me. And I will then cast lots for you here in Shiloh in the presence of the Lord. And so the men left. They went through the land. They described it by towns in a document of seven sections. They returned to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh in the presence of the Lord, where he distributed the land, the Israelites, according to their division. And then they began to divide the land. Right. We have Benjamin, all of the cities of Benjamin moving into chapter 19. We have Simeon. We have Zebulun. We have Asher. We have Naphtali. We have all of the various tribes. And you do the same thing that I do when I get to the description of the land. Fast forward. We read through the book of Genesis and we see begot, begot, begot, begot. And we fast forward. We run. Yeah, a lot of begotting is going on. And we fast forward right past all of that because it's repetitious and there's a whole lot of Hebrew words in there that we can't pronounce. And so we understand. So why would we labor over these particular areas? We pick up the speed in our Bible reading plan because it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Now, we don't like to say this out loud, but maybe just maybe you've asked the same question that I asked. God, why is this in the Bible? I mean, what relevance does this have to me? What does it teach me? We're going to talk about a few things today and hopefully we can make some connections about why would God place all of this in the Bible? I mean, it's good history. But what is the relationship of God to history? You know, when I would do Bible drill as a kid, right? Sword drills, what we call it, because you had your sword. Well, I would do sword drill as a kid and you'd stand up there in a line with all of your friends and they would call out John 3, 16. And the first one to get it would step forward and they would put their finger on John 3, 16 and they would read John 3, 16 and Romans 8, 28. And Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 4 through 6 and Psalm 23. We did all of these in sword drill because these were the verses that we wanted and needed to know. I don't remember Joshua chapter 19 ever being called. I don't remember Joshua chapter 19 being one of those theological verses that you would have to find when you would move into later middle school and younger high school. And they'd call out the doctrine of God and you would find a text of scripture on the doctrine of God. I don't remember Joshua chapter 19 ever appearing. But what do we learn from history? What do we learn from biography? One of the biographies that I've been trying to make my way through, I'm not able to read quite as much as what I like to read right now. But one of the biographies that I'm currently reading is on Winston Churchill by Andrew, excuse me, Andrew Roberts. One of the most well-known biographies of Winston Churchill in the world. You know how they teach you about who Winston Churchill is? They tell you his history. They talk to you about what he was like when he was a child. They talk to you what it was like to sit with him in a meeting. Because it is through the teaching of history that you come to know the character of a man. The reason the Bible leaves all of this that we pass right over is because it is not merely teaching us what God has done, but it is teaching us who God is. Now, we can list all of the bullet points. God is powerful. Bullet point. God is loving. Bullet point. God is kind. God is just. And we can have all of these bullet points that teaches us about who God is. But we get a whole new understanding of who God is when we read what God has done. I can tell you bullet points about my wife. But I can tell you so much more about my wife. Not by telling you stories. I can tell you how much sugar she likes in her coffee. I can tell you how much milk she likes in her coffee. Too much of both. But that's the way she likes it. I like my coffee like I like my attitude. Dark and bitter. She likes her coffee like her attitude. Sweet and bright. See, I only tell the ornery things when she's not here. I've learned a thing or two. I'm like the insurance guy. I've seen a thing or two. Caused a thing or two. Felt the repercussions of a thing or two. God leaves the history in the Bible because God is not so much interested in teaching us about Joshua or about Moses or about Noah. God is interested in teaching us about himself. And the purpose of the Bible is not merely so that we will know Moses and Joshua and Noah and David. The purpose of the Bible is so that we will know God. And God shows us himself and how he works with us as he shows us how he worked with Joshua. I want to share with you four things about that we need to understand about the relationship of God to history, to history, to time. Now, this will blow our minds when we think about it. We've talked about this a little bit. But I think it's so important for us as we seek to understand who God is, to consider how God relates to history. The first thing that we know is that God is before history. Think about what that means. Time is itself a creation of God. Before God created, there was no time. You and I, I've already indicated, I've got to let us go a few minutes early today because we are time-bound people. We wear watches. We look at our phones. We set alarms. We set timers. God is not bound by time. God caused time. He is before history. Not only is God before history, but God is over history. He is providential. Everything that is occurring within time is God standing outside of time, governing it. Now, that changes our perspective. My mom used to cross-stitch a lot. You know what cross-stitching is, right? You take the little fabric, cheesecloth, whatever it is. I didn't, so I don't know. But you take the fabric, you put it around the little wooden ring, you stretch it out, you tighten down the clamp, and you begin to cross-stitch little X's. And you do, and she would spend, for some unknown reason to me, hours doing this in front of the TV at night. And when you would flip over the bottom side of that cross-stitch, it was a mess. I could do the bottom side. I have enough artistic ability to be able to do the bottom side of a cross-stitch pattern. But it's only when you flip it over that the picture begins to make sense. You and I, our perspective of reality is bound by time. And it doesn't always make sense to us. God, why are evil people able to continue to flourish in what they do? Why do the wicked prosper and the righteous often seem to suffer? You see, you and I see the bottom of the cross-stitch pattern. It doesn't make sense. God is on the other side. He sees the picture. He knows what it's going to look like. He is not only before time, but he is over, he is above time. God is also in history. He's not only above history, he is in history. That's why our doctrine that God is triune is so important. Because it is by God being Father, Son, and Spirit that God is able to occupy eternity and time simultaneously. God occupied time in Jesus Christ, incarnate, in the flesh. God occupies time today by his Holy Spirit who lives in our heart. God lives in history with us so that he can identify with us. You know what that means? The things that I'm wrestling with today, God is not separated from me, cheering me on. Give me a J. Give me an O. Give me an H. Give me an N. What does it spell? John, you can do it. God's not merely cheering me on. God is with me, experiencing it with me. He is in time. He is before time. He is above time, history. He is in history. And he is after history. When the world clock ticks off the last second, so that everything ceases in time, God remains. And because Jesus is the Alpha, the beginning, and the Omega, the ending, those of us who have faith in Christ will enter into eternity with him. Isn't that great? He is before time, he is above time, he is in time, and he is after time. And what he is showing us in all of these little themes here that we fast forward over is God is showing us that what might seem like the minutia of time, God was active. And we see that as we read through Joshua 18 and Joshua chapter 19. We see how all of these things occurred in the presence of the Lord. There is not one thing that is hidden from the sight of God. It's an amazing truth for you and I to be able to know. Do you remember when JFK Jr. died? What was that, 20 years ago, 25 years ago? I don't know. I live in time, but it's all getting to be a mess to me. It gets worse. I was watching Larry King live tonight at JFK Jr. And the world kind of stopped after his plane had gone down. And I was watching Larry King live and Larry King was interviewed. Have I told you all this before? Good. At least I don't remember that I told you and you don't remember that I told you. So we've got maybe just a room full of bad memories and that's all right. I was watching Larry King live the night that that happened. You remember, I mean, it was it was world news. Everything kind of shut down. And Larry King was interviewing the priest of the Kennedy family and Larry King. And if you remember, if you ever watched Larry King, you knew Larry King. He was he was a an agnostic. He didn't believe in God. He just didn't believe whether or not he didn't know whether or not God existed. And he tended to approach things from a way that, you know, he wasn't a Christian by any means. But he seemed to be somewhat genuine and honest in his questions. Appreciated that. And he asked the priest of the Kennedy family, why did God not stop Kennedy's plane from going down? And I'll never forget the answer that the priest gave. He said God could have stopped the plane from going down if God would have known that it was going to happen. Oh, boy. Now, what church? Now, there's some bad that believe that, too, to be fair. This isn't a knock on Catholicism. There's some good old badness for what it's worth. They call them open theists. Means God doesn't know the future. He's just doing the best that he can. Yeah, don't don't don't be one of those. I tell my theology classes at seminary at the beginning of the semester and the ending of the semester. My goal is for you not to walk out a heretic. Don't be a heretic, right? God knows the future. Amen. And what we read in Genesis, or rather in Joshua chapters 18 and 19, is God sovereignly, providentially governing history to bring it to its desired end. And so rather than looking through all of the the history stuff here, you can read all that yourself. And if you can't say the Hebrew words, just do like the rest of us do. Say it really fast and everybody will say, wow, you're such an intelligent person. Just act like you know what you're doing. All right. And everybody will be so proud that you're a Hebrew scholar. But I want to give you seven truths that come directly out of what we read here. OK, and I'll hopefully be able to make the connection how I got there. This is not seven truths that I made up, but I think these are seven truths that we see right here in these chapters. And this is the first truth. God desires his people to share with others the blessings that he has given to them. Let me make that more personal. God desires for you to bless other people from the blessings that he has given to you. Let me show you Genesis or Genesis. John, I'm going to teach the right book in a moment. Joshua chapter 19. Look at verse one, we're casting lots. The second lot came out for Simeon for the tribe of his descendants by their clans, but their inheritance was within the inheritance given to Judah's descendants. And so the land that was given to Simeon was situated within the land that was given to Judah. Their inheritance included, remember, say it fast, Beersheba, Moladah, Hatzar, Shual, Bala, Emzom, Eltalad, Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, Beth Markaboth, Hatzar Suzah, Beth Laboth, and Sherahun, 13 cities with their settlements, Ein, Raman, Ether, and Ashen, four cities with their settlements and all the settlements surrounding these as far as Baloth-Beer, Ramah in the south. This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon's descendants by their clans. The inheritance of Simeon's descendants was within the territory of Judah's descendants because the share for Judah's descendants was too large. And so Simeon's descendants received an inheritance within Judah's portion. And so what we see here is that the land that Simeon inherited was located within the land of Judah. It's said here that Judah's land in verse 9 was too large. And you'll notice the repetition. OK, the inheritance of Simeon's descendants was within the territory because the share of Judah's descendants was too large. So Simeon's descendants received an inheritance within Judah's portion. In other words, the Bible, by repetition, is showing us this is important. Don't miss it. Our question is, why is this important? Jump back to Genesis chapter 34. And I meant Genesis that time. Yeah, really, Genesis. So in Genesis chapter 34, verses 25 through 31, we read this. On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and killed every male. They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah from Shechem's house and went away. And Jacob's sons came to the slaughter and plundered the city because their sister had been defiled. They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys and whatever was in the city in the field. And they captured all of their possessions, their descendants or their dependents and their wives. And they plundered everything in the houses. And then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, you have brought trouble on me, making me odious to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. We are few in number. If they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed. But they answered, should he treat our sister like a prostitute? Now, what we're emphasizing here is primarily Simeon. But notice that there is a compatriot here, Levi, who becomes Levitical priesthood. Fast forward to Genesis chapter 49. Jacob's last words in verse one, and then Jacob called his sons and said, gather around and I will tell you what will happen to you in the days to come. Come together and listen, sons of Jacob. Listen to your father Israel. And he begins to bless them. Reuben, you're the firstborn. My strength and the firstfruits of my virility, excelling in prominence, excelling in power, turbulent as water. You will not excel because you go into your father's bed and you defiled it. And he got into my bed. And Simeon and Levi are brothers. Notice they're brought together here again. Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their knives, their swords are vicious weapons. Going back to what we read in Genesis chapter 34. And so Jacob says, may I never enter their council. May I never join their assembly, for in their anger they kill men on a whim, a hamstring oxen. Their anger is cursed, for it is strong, and their fury, for it is cruel. I will disperse them throughout Jacob and scatter them throughout Israel. Two tribes that did not receive a land of their own, Simeon and Levi. The Levites would become the Levitical priesthood. We'll talk about them. Right now we're focused on Simeon. Simeon was unable to inhabit their own land because of what curse had been pronounced on them for their violence. You see, the Bible is showing us that Simeon's land is situated within Judah's because the land was too much for Judah. And yet Simeon was a small tribe. Whatever land was left over seemed to be appropriate for the size of Simeon. But more importantly, Simeon did not inherit their own land because they were a violent tribe. Simeon, along with Levi, they were said to have swords of violence. They had killed men in anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. Thus, both tribes' inheritance was contained within the inheritance of others. The Levites became the priests while the Simeonites were men of war. But finally, it seems that Simeon would assimilate into Judah and Judah would become, along with Simeon, the protectors. If we were to fast forward into Judges chapter 1, we would see the Judahites and the Simeonites now fighting side by side against the Canaanites. And so eventually the tribe of Simeon would be abandoned or they'd be absorbed, rather, into the tribe of Judah. And so God is showing us that although Judah and Simeon shared the land, we are to share our blessings with one another. The Simeonites were people that were a tribe that was cursed because of their violence. And yet, in spite of their sinfulness, God blessed them magnificently through the Judahites. You know, I've often rebelled against God. You probably haven't, but I have. And God has blessed me magnificently, given me more than what I've ever deserved. And He wants me to be a blessing to other people. You see, the reason God blesses us is because God wants us to bless others. We're all sinners. Words of Martin Luther, among his last words after Luther died, written on a small slip of paper that he had written the night before he died, on that small slip of paper was written the words, We are beggars. And we are. We beg for God to give us mercy because we need His mercy, don't we? We need His grace. And when He blesses us, He expects us to bless other people. Let me give you a second truth. Not only does God expect us to bless, but God is faithful. God is faithful to His people. You see, to understand what's being taught here, we need to understand the significance of land in the Old Testament. It's a wonderful Hebrew word that is emphasized. You know how in the Bible, when you're reading through our English translations, you'll see the word Lord capitalized, all four letters, L-O-R-D, they're all capitalized. When you see that, that is a key that the word that is used in the Hebrew is the word Yahweh. It's the covenant name of God. When Moses stands in Genesis, in Exodus, I really want to teach through Genesis, don't I? When Moses stands in Exodus, chapter three, and he's talking to God in the burning bush and God tells him to go back into Egypt and to lead out his people. Moses says, God, whom shall I tell him has sent me? And God says, you tell him I am. The word is Yahweh, and that word is signified in our English translations with all four letters of Lord being capitalized. And when we read all four letters being capitalized, God is reminding his people of the covenant that he has made with them. Now, similarly, there is a special word that is used for land. It's significant. It's special. The word in the Hebrew is Eretz, E-R-E-T-Z is the way we would write it with our letters, Eretz, and it's a word that when the Jews would read it, they would pause and they would remember the blessing of God. You know, the first place that that word Eretz appears in the Bible, Genesis, chapter one, verse one. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Eretz, and in much of the creation account in Genesis, chapter one, is God bringing that land, that Eretz, into a place of beauty. And so he separated the waters and he caused the dry land to appear, the Eretz to appear. And in Genesis, chapter three, when Adam and Eve had rebelled against God, they were removed from the Eretz, the land of blessing. And from Genesis, chapter three, all the way up to Joshua, chapters 18 and 19, God has been promising a restoration to the land of Eretz. And Genesis 18 and 19 is the historical account of God distributing the Eretz back to his people. Abraham called to leave his land and go to a Eretz that God had prepared him for, or had prepared for him. And they waited and they waited and they waited 400 years of slavery to the Egyptians and they waited and they waited 80 years of wandering in the wilderness and they waited. And in Joshua, chapter 18, the wait was over, that Eretz was given to God's people because he is faithful. We wait, we get impatient. Now, you probably don't. And we ask for God to bless. God, would you just take care of this situation? And we wait and we wait. And maybe you're still waiting. Joshua 18 and 19 reminds us, God is faithful. We wait. Those who wait on the Lord will mount up on wings like he, they will run and they will not grow weary. They will walk and they will not faint because God renews us as we wait, doesn't he? Yeah. So keep waiting. God is faithful. Genesis 18 and 19 tells us that. Remember that, yeah, time, time, we're such time bound people. Remember that, I say remember, I think I told you this. If I didn't, don't tell me. I'm happy in my ignorance. It seems as if Moses in the Pentateuch, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, it seems as if he is really seeking to answer three questions that the Hebrews are asking as they walk, as they're wandering toward God's promise. Who are we? Who are we? They've been living in slavery for 400 years. Where did we come from? Lineage was very important. Why do you think that we read so many begots? Because to the Hebrews, lineage was extremely important. Maybe it is to some of you today. You trace your family tree. The Hebrews wanted to trace their family tree. And after 400 years of slavery, their entire history had been lost. And so they're asking the question, who are we? Second question they're asking, who is our God? There are 400 years of slavery. The Egyptians are worshipping the sun, the moon, the stars, the cows, the frogs, the termites. They're worshipping everything that moves. Who's our God? Moses says, I'll show you your God. He is the God of the covenant. They're called your forefather, Abraham, and we are his descendants. That's who we are. And that's who our God is. And where is our home? They've been living in the land of their masters, the Egyptians. They possess nothing. They owned nothing. Until now, God is faithful. I got to move on. Truth number three. Truth number three. God is present. God is present among his people. You'll notice that throughout Joshua 18 and 19, we see the repetition that they are in Shiloh. But what's so special about Shiloh? Well, it was the first location, permanent somewhat, location of the Tent of Meeting, the tabernacle, the Shiloh. You see, the capital city before it was Jerusalem for the Israelites was Shiloh. And so this land was distributed as Shiloh. And when it says that they were in Shiloh, it would follow that with the presence of the Lord was with them. And so God was demonstrating through the utilization of the location of Shiloh, which was about 20 miles north of Jerusalem, that God was present with his people. And he had been demonstrating that ever since they had left. After they leave Egypt, God is with them with a pillar of fire at night and a cloud by day. And he leads Moses to the construction of the tabernacle and the construction of the Ark of the Covenant to remind his people that God was journeying with them. And now at Shiloh, the presence of the Lord is there. Three hundred and fifty years it was at Shiloh before it made its way to Jerusalem. You see, no matter where the people of God found themselves, God was among them. And that's still the case today. Second Corinthians, chapter six, verse 16, says, We are the temple of the living God, not a tent of meeting any longer, not a temple constructed of stone any longer, but a temple of flesh. And blood and bones and arteries and veins and corpuscles. We are the temple of the living God, according to Second Corinthians 6, 16. He says, I will be their God and they will be my people. He is with us. God demands that we persevere in obedience, that we persevere in obedience. We we must obey him. They had to obey. It had not been easy for the Israelites. Four hundred years of slavery, 80 years of wandering, multiple enemies that they had to fight. And now they are receiving the land that God had promised them. You see, we often go through the wilderness before we receive the inheritance. The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for hundred years or 80 years, 400 years of slavery. Noah had to build the ark before he received the promise. David had to flee from Saul in the wilderness before he assumed the throne. John the Baptist had to lose his head before he could see the promise. And Jesus underwent the crucifixion before he received the resurrection. We go through seasons of suffering before we receive the blessing. God expects his people to be responsible, to finish the task. Dan in Joshua 19, 47, failed to take control of the territory rather than fighting for the promise. They eventually abandoned their land and migrated north of Canaan to Leshem. The story of Dan is tragic. They were eventually lost because they began to worship idols. Let me give you the seventh one. I'll let you read the rest of that yourself. Let me give you the seventh and final truth. And it is this. God gives us a greater hope than anything we can see. You see, Joshua chapter 18 and 19 and all of the Old Testament is pointing to something that we can only know by faith. The evidence of things not seen, the substance of things hoped for. In Hebrews chapter four, we are told that Joshua is a silhouette, a shadow of the land, the rest that God has prepared for us. There is a land that is fairer than day and by faith we can see it afar. For the Father waits over the way to prepare us a dwelling place there in the sweet by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore. In the sweet by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore. Why does Joshua 18 and 19 matter? Fast forward right over it because it points us to Hebrews chapter four. There is a greater land and a greater rest. So stay faithful. The promise will come. All right. I promised I'd be there to baptize my granddaughter. The promise has got to come. I love you all. You're a blessing to us. Thank you. All right. I got to slip out. Thank you all so much.