Joshua 13

The Explanation

Joshua was old. His hair was white, his hands were wrinkled, and his sword felt heavier than it used to. He had marched around Jericho. He had stood in rivers and on mountains. And now he was tired.

Then God spoke to him. You might expect God to say: "Well done, Joshua. Go and rest."

But God said something else. "You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to be possessed."

Very much land. Still! Joshua could probably see it from where he stood. Out toward the sea lived the Philistines, in five strong cities with five strong lords. Up north stood Mount Hermon, so high that snow lay on its top. And in between: hills, valleys, towns with walls, and people who did not want Israel there at all.

An old man. A whole lot of land left. Would you have felt brave?

But listen to what God promised next: "I will drive them out from before the children of Israel." Not Joshua. God. Joshua only had one job left: take the map and hand out the land, piece by piece, to the twelve families of Israel. Like a father dividing bread at the table, so nobody is left with empty hands.

So that is what Joshua began to do. Three of the families had already received their land, long ago, from Moses. Reuben got the plains near the valley of the Arnon. Gad got Gilead and towns by the river Jordan. Half of Manasseh got Bashan, with sixty villages in it. You can almost hear the names being read aloud: Heshbon, Dibon, Succoth, Edrei.

And the Bible is honest about one sad thing. It says the Israelites "didn't drive out the Geshurites, nor the Maacathites." They stopped halfway. Some jobs got left undone.

But there was one family that got no land at all. Not one field, not one hill. The tribe of Levi, the family that served in God's tent. Did God forget them? No. God said something amazing about them: "Yahweh, the God of Israel, is their inheritance."

What Does This Mean?

An inheritance is what you get from your family, something that is really and truly yours. Everybody else got dirt and stones and olive trees. The Levites got God himself.

That sounds like less. It is actually more. Land can be taken away by an enemy. A house can fall down. But God does not get taken away, ever.

And notice who does the hard work here. Joshua is old and weak, and God says: "I will drive them out." God's promises do not depend on how strong you are. They depend on how strong He is.

The Common Thread

God had promised this land to Abraham, hundreds of years before Joshua was born. Now the map was being drawn. God keeps his word, even when it takes generations.

And much later, someone came who was not old and tired, but young and strong: Jesus. He finished the work completely. He did not leave one bit of it half done. He said on the cross, "It is finished." And when you belong to Jesus, you get the very same inheritance the Levites got. Not a field. God himself, forever.

For You

Joshua could have said: "I am too old, let someone else do it." Instead he picked up the map.

Is there something you keep leaving half done? Your room, your reading, saying sorry to your sister? Finish one of those things today, all the way to the end. Ask God to help you, because He is the one who does the heavy part.

And if you ever feel small or weak: say quietly, "God, you are my inheritance." That is enough.

Talk About It

Why do you think the Levites were happy with God as their inheritance instead of land?

What is something you started and never finished? What would help you finish it?

Praying Together

Lord God, thank you that you keep your promises, even when it takes a long time. I am small, but you are strong. Help me finish what I start. And thank you that you want to be mine, forever. Amen.