Joshua – Lesson 34

Inheritance and Possession by Faith

The first section of the book of Joshua emphasized the entrance into the Promised Land. (chapters 1-5) The second section dealt with the conquest of the Canaanites by the Israelites. (chapters 6-10) The third division of the book is concerned with Israel possessing the conquered territories. The spiritual application to us is our need to possess our possessions. (chapters 11-18)

Joshua’s success as a leader of Israel is expressed in:

· Joshua 11:15, As the LORD commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.

Joshua was truly obedient and this was the reason he was so blessed by God.

Then in:

· Joshua 11:23, So Joshua took the entire land, just as the LORD had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions.

Then the land had rest from war.

The extent of the conquest is shown in:

· Joshua 11:16-18, So Joshua took this entire land: the hill country, all the Negev, the whole region of Goshen, the western foothills, the Arabah and the mountains of Israel with their foothills, 17 from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and struck them down, putting them to death.

So after approximately five years of conflict the land had rest from war.

We are reminded in Hebrews 1:3 that when Jesus had done His work on the cross and ascended to heaven, He sat down at the right hand of God. And it is from there, His place of rest, that he continues His work on our behalf through the Holy Spirit.

We are provided a rest in Jesus. This is not a physical rest, but a rest of the soul; a peace that relieves us of the trials and troubles of the mind and heart. This rest means that we have ceased trying to do what only God can do. We depend on His strength and not our own.

The Difference Between Inheritance and Possession

Now I want you to notice what we find in two verses. Joshua 11:23 and 13:1.

· Joshua, 1:23,Joshua took the entire land, just as the LORD had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war.

· Joshua, 13:1, When Joshua was old and well advanced in years, the LORD said to him, "You are very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.

(We have skipped the 12th chapter because it is simply a listing of kings of Canaan.)

There appears to be a contradiction between these two verses. In the first of the two verses we are told that Israel had been given the land as an inheritance. In the second mentioned verse we are told that there is much work yet to be done to possess the land.

But, when we understand what is meant by inheritance and possess, there will be no contradiction.

God had given all the land to Israel as an inheritance but they were required to go and possess it. If they were to possess their inheritance, they must go and oust the Canaanites; in other words to dispossess the Canaanites. Joshua and his armies had conquered many of the Canaanite kings but there were still pockets of land where there were still Canaanites living. And remember, God had decreed that all of the people and animals must be destroyed.

So it is with us. We have been promised an inheritance but we must appropriate that inheritance. We must possess it as individuals.

There is a difference between an inheritance and a possession. An inheritance is something that God provides for us. A possession is something that we take which God has offered to us. Our spiritual inheritance is everything that God has given us in Jesus.

Three Important Words

There are three important words that relate to the Christian experience. The first is surrender. This means that we must be in total submission to Jesus. He is first of all our Savior. We are to urrender to His control.

The second word is consecration. This means that we are to be set apart. Everything we have and are is to be set apart for Him. Regardless of what our talents or abilities are, all are to be use for Him and His kingdom.

The third word is appropriation. All that Jesus is and has is ours if we will, by faith, take it. We have been purchased by Him and therefore we are His. Therefore, we must come to a point where our belief in Him is such that we can confidently depend on Him to make good on His promises. At this point we appropriate His promises for ourselves and we do it by faith in the Promiser.

There was no question about the outcome of the conquest of Canaan. The problem lay with Israel and their slowness to possess what was already theirs.

We have the same problem with regard to our inheritance. We need to be reminded again and again that the enemy has already been defeated by Jesus.

The enemy of the Israelites was the Canaanite. The enemy for us is sin. The victory over sin has already been won, but there are battles to be fought by the believer to possess the ability to live according to the new nature and less and less according to the old nature. Our leader in these battles is the Holy Spirit.

Possession vs. Coexistence

· Joshua 16:9-10, This was the inheritance of the tribe of the Ephraimites, clan by clan. 9 It also included all the towns and their villages that were set aside for the Ephraimites within the inheritance of the Manassites. 10 They did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer; to this day the Canaanites live among the people of Ephraim but are required to do forced labor.

This was coexistence. The Israelites lived side by side with the people of Canaan. They had conquered them and enslaved them but they had not destroyed them as they had been commanded to do. They allowed their enemy to live among them.

When we continue to allow the old nature to control us then we are following the pattern set by the Israelites by allowing the enemy to remain in us.

In chapter 17 we see the children of Joseph wanting more land. Here is Joshua’s response:

· Joshua 17: 14-18, The people of Joseph said to Joshua, "Why have you given us only one allotment and one portion for an inheritance? We are a numerous people and the LORD has blessed us abundantly." 15 "If you are so numerous," Joshua answered, "and if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go up into the forest and clear land for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaites." 16 The people of Joseph replied, "The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the plain have iron chariots, both those in Beth Shan and its settlements and those in the Valley of Jezreel." 17 But Joshua said to the house of Joseph-to Ephraim and Manasseh-"You are numerous and very powerful. You will have not only one allotment 18 but the forested hill country as well. Clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours; though the Canaanites have iron chariots and though they are strong, you can drive them out."

The Israelites did go ahead and conquer that area but there is no record that they drove out the inhabitants.

Seven Tribes That Failed

Joshua 18 starts out on a sad note.

· Joshua 18:1-3, The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The country was brought under their control, 2 but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had not yet received their inheritance.3 So Joshua said to the Israelites: "How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?

The land had been conquered and the battles were over, yet they had not driven the Canaanites out.

We skip ahead to chapter 21 where we see the following recorded:

· Joshua 21:43-45, So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. 44 The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. 45 Not one of all the LORD's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

The Israelites now had a land to live in but the enemy was still there. And they are there to this very day.