Joshua 15

Conquest & Compromise

Today’s passage has us reading about the land allotments for Judah, Ephriam, and Manasseh. While passage like this with an inventory of town names that mean little to those among us who have never been to Israel or studied ancient geography. But! There is a very interesting pattern that emerges in today’s chunk.

Judah received their allotment of land, but could not drive the Jebusites out of Jerusalem. And this despite the fact that the King of Jerusalem had already been captured and killed along with, presumably, many of his fighting men. Ephriam and Manasseh were also unable to remove the Canaanites from their allotments of land. Curiously, however, they were eventually able to subjugate the people as slaves.

Did the Israelites forget the command God gave them?

But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17 but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded,

Deuteronomy 20:16-17

Did the Israelites forget what they were able to do in Egypt despite being slaves? Did they forget what happened to Achar? Compromise might be a good way to mediate a dispute, but it is a terrible way to serve God! Watch over the coming months how things go with the Judges, and then the Kings, and then the Captivity. It’s so sad to watch the fall of the chosen people of God.

As a Christian, compromise is a concession to defeat. To compromise is to the wave the white flag at Satan and drop the drawbridge. It’s either conquer with Christ or be conquered by death. To compromise is to choose the latter.

Choose wisely.

Joshua 15:20-17:18 | 086-365

The Long, Long Awaited Promise

When Moses sent in his 12 spies, only two of them came back with a good report. Caleb and Joshua. Joshua took the mantle of leadership from Moses while Caleb was passed over for that role. But when the time came to send in spies again, Caleb was called on once more. And once more he believed the Lord.

40 years passed between these two incidences. 40 years.

After the first show of faith, Caleb was promised (Num 13:24) to inherit the land that his fellow spies didn’t believe God could give them, and then he had to wait. And wait. And wait.

This is how it can feel sometimes, isn’t it? we feel like God is leading us somewhere, we get a glimpse of our own “Promised Land” and then we are asked to wait. Doors close in front of us. I, myself, feel like this happened to me for about 4 years while God was preparing to bring me back into ministry. But while the wait for God’s faithfulness to come through often feels… long, He knows better than we do why the fulfilment of that promise will come when it does.

Israel had to wait through 400 years of prophetic silence for John the Baptist to show up on the scene and herald their long-awaited messiah. Abraham was shown told about the Promised Land — again — 400 years before his descendants would actually possess it WELL after his death.

What I am saying is that while the waiting is indeed the hardest part, it is worth it. When the fulfillment finally comes it is incredible to look back at the path you’ve come down and how thoroughly it has prepared you for what lies ahead.

Be blessed today, friends.

Joshua 12:7-15:12 | 085/365