JOSHUA 15-19 - POSSESS YOUR INHERITANCE
Joshua 15-19
As you read of the allotment of land to the tribes of Israel it may seem like a boring list of names. However, to the people who are named in the allotment, it certainly would have excited them. It would be like reading a family trust, seeing your name, and finding out your inheritance.
Most students of the Bible don’t take the time to look into the background of each person listed. Similarly, most people are not interested in reading other people’s trusts. And yet God knew each person named, and he knew what each one would receive of the land that he had promised. These names matter to God. Bible genealogies, building instructions, and allotments might seem uninteresting to most, but to a God who cares about the specifics for his people, they are important.
Long lists of names in your Bible should make you feel grateful that you have a God who knows and cares for you individually.
God gave the promised land to the tribes of Israel because he made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God made sure to came through perfectly on his promise. Moses led the people out of Egypt and through the wilderness, and now Joshua led the people to seize the land of Canaan. While battles were being won, as God was giving victory, the land was divided up.
Each tribe received their share of land, and yet not all of the tribes received their land properly. Many didn’t follow through in the details of the covenant. Many tribes failed to drive out the inhabitants of their land. They were given the land as a possession, but it wasn’t all that it could be. Some tribes were even given land, and yet neglected to actually live in it.
So is the case with some Christians. You can read Ephesians 1 - a sort of trust for the Christian. And yet, how many Christians actually live into the fullness of that inheritance? How many Christians neglect to take hold of and live into what they have been given to possess? God made a new and better covenant based on better promises with believers in Christ. May we learn from those in the Old Covenant how vital it is to fully possess and enjoy our inheritance. Let’s not fail to drive out sin or fail to live in the fullness of blessing that we have in Christ.