Pastor Billington's Blog

Joshua 21

The Levites are scattered throughout the nation. Scattered or strategically placed? The placement of the Levites ensured that every tribe would have some who were specially acquainted with the Law and would be able to teach it. Monks were not allowed! Finally, they can rest. Sort of. Their own sinfulness and the people they left in the land will continue to be a problem.

Thought for the day: This passage should serve as an important reminder for both ministers and laity today. God requires us to be involved in the lives of others, as messy as that is, even while we are living for Him.

John 17:14-19 (WEB) “I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.”

Joshua 20

Manslaughter was recognized as distinct from murder, but it still had consequences. In order to escape retaliation for an accidental death (by the “avenger of blood”), six cities were established as cities of refuge. The guilty could escape there and ask for asylum until the matter could be judged. If the death was ultimately ruled accidental, the person could live in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest and then return home. But if the individual left the city before the death of the high priest, all bets were off!

Thought for the day: We are guilty of both intentional and unintentional sin. Where do we escape to? Jesus Christ!

Hebrews 6:18 (WEB) “We…have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us.”

Joshua 19

We see here the culmination of approximately seven years of war and 40 years of journeying. It’s been 400 years since the promise to Abraham, and the land has finally been defeated and allotted!

Thought for the day: The book of Joshua should remind us that we also look forward to a new home. A culmination of our journey. A permanent place. A promised land!

Hebrews 13:14 (WEB) “For we don’t have here an enduring city, but we seek that which is to come.”

John 14:1-2 (WEB) “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many homes. If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.”

Revelation 21:1-7 (WEB) “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more. I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, ‘Behold, God’s dwelling is with people; and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things have passed away.’ He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ He said, ‘Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.’ He said to me, ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.’ “

Joshua 18

Shiloh is the first place established in the promised land for centralized worship and is where the tabernacle resides. Seven tribes have yet to obtain their inheritance, so they cast lots for them and then send out representatives to do a survey of the land. Benjamin is the first of that group to have its boundaries recorded.

Thought for the day: Joshua seems a little annoyed here that they haven’t taken care of this already (18:3). Procrastination is actually mentioned elsewhere in the Bible, as is the need for diligence and action!

Ecclesiastes 11:4 (WEB) “He who observes the wind won’t sow; and he who regards the clouds won’t reap.”

Joshua 17

An allotment of land is given to Manasseh, and they also neglect to drive out the inhabitants of the land. Manasseh and Ephraim both complain about their allotments, and the response of the tribe of Ephraim foreshadows their ongoing discontent.

Joshua 17:14 (WEB) “The children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, ‘Why have you given me just one lot and one part for an inheritance, since we are a numerous people, because Yahweh has blessed us so far?’ ”

Judges 8:1 (WEB) “The men of Ephraim said to him, ‘Why have you treated us this way, that you didn’t call us when you went to fight with Midian?’ They rebuked him sharply.”

Judges 12:1 (WEB) “The men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said to Jephthah, ‘Why did you pass over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didn’t call us to go with you? We will burn your house around you with fire!’ “

Joshua doesn’t stand for it. He confronts them and challenges them to work for a better home!

Joshua 17:15 (WEB) “Joshua said to them, ‘If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest, and clear land for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.’ “

Thought for the day: Our culture continually encourages us to be like Ephraim. To be discontent. To complain. To take shortcuts. To not want to work for a reward. Scripture instead challenges us to be content, diligent, industrious, and conscientious. Even with a desire for something different, we should be joyful for what we have and okay if our circumstances don’t change. But if we desire change, we need to make sure that we are willing to do the work that is necessary to bring about that change!

1 Timothy 6:6 (WEB) “But godliness with contentment is great gain.”

Joshua 16

Chapters 16 and 17 detail the allotment of land to the tribes descended from Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Unfortunately, we again see that they didn’t drive all of the previous residents out.

Thought for the day: As we see God continually providing for His people, we’re reminded that God provides for us in Christ!

John 6:35 (WEB) “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will not be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’ “

Joshua 15

The boundaries of Judah’s territory are given first, probably because it held an important role in the future of Israel.

Genesis 49:8-12 “Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father’s sons will bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, as a lioness. Who will rouse him up? The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. The obedience of the peoples will be to him. Binding his foal to the vine, his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes will be red with wine, his teeth white with milk.”

We have an excursion in the passage that details how Caleb subdued the land that God gave him. It’s included here because it was in Judah’s territory. Othniel is probably mentioned because he later becomes a judge (Judges 3:9). The rest of the passage details the cities in Judah’s territory, with one final caveat. Their failure to deal with some of the people in the land is mentioned and has become an ongoing theme.

Thought for the day: God does what he promises!

Numbers 23:10 (WEB) “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good?”

Joshua 14

There are twelve tribes that inherit the land because the descendants of Joseph’s two sons (Ephraim and Manasseh) are each granted their own inheritance, and the descendants of Levi have the Lord as their inheritance. Caleb is finally granted his special inheritance because of his faithfulness.

Numbers 14:24 (WEB) “But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully, him I will bring into the land into which he went. His offspring shall possess it.”

Deuteronomy 1:35-26 (WEB) “Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land which I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it. I will give the land that he has trodden on to him and to his children, because he has wholly followed the LORD.”

Thought for the day: The key phrase here regarding Caleb is, “because he wholly followed the Lord.” We are all called to have the same devotion!

Mark 12:30 (WEB) “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.”