Joshua 13:1-19:51 | "Old and Advanced in Years"
[Joshua] Moving In! • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 33:38
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· 3,598 viewsSunday, October 18, 2020. Joshua 13:1-19:51 | "Old and Advanced in Years." A time will come when we all must invest in the future by way of an inheritance. The best inheritance any of us may leave on Earth is to pass on Jesus to future generations! In this message, we learn to obey God completely even when obedience will not bring to completion the totality of the work God has begun or is carrying forward in us.
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I. Reading of Scripture
I. Reading of Scripture
1 Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess.
This is God’s Word, Amen!
Pray
II. Introduction
II. Introduction
A. Introduction to Theme
A. Introduction to Theme
Two chapters earlier, in Chapter 11:15, God’s Word says of Joshua that he “left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.”
Chapter 11 gave us a statement of completion — Joshua obeyed completely God’s instructions and in doing so, “left nothing undone.”
But Chapter 13 sets a different tone.
Chapter 13 tells us that EVEN THOUGH Joshua left nothing undone of what the LORD commanded, there still REMAINS very much land to be possessed.
And by a process of both REALIZATION and REVELATION, we learn that Joshua will not be the man to possess the remaining land.
Why? Because Joshua is old and advanced in years.
And Joshua in his old age teaches us that —
We may obey God completely, and still not bring to COMPLETION the totality of the work that God either began or has carried forward in us.
Time is short!
We may finish the task at hand and at the same time face an unfinished task!
Listen to what Acts 13:36 says of David:
36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption,
Listen to what Jesus prayed in John 17:4:
4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
In both of these texts, of David and of Jesus, there is a completion of a task — David served God’s purpose in his own generation; Jesus accomplishing the work that was given to do — there is a completion but there is also a continuance.
God’s purposes didn’t end when David died.
The world didn’t end when Jesus prayed that his work was accomplished.
Can we say at the end of our lives, “I left nothing undone?” YES!
Can we also say, at the end of our lives, “There is still more to do?” YES!
Joshua shows us how this can be so! And if we pay attention, we have something to learn not only about Joshua, but about God — !
We can learn how God works His purposes for us in time, while simultaneously through us accomplishing His timeless purposes!
B. Introduction to Text
B. Introduction to Text
The book of Joshua may be divided simply into four main sections:
Claim the land, Conquer the Land, Divide the Land, and Serve in the Land.
By Chapter 13, Joshua and Israel have Claimed the land.
God has led them over the Jordan River into the land promised to them.
Joshua and Israel have Conquered the Land.
God fought for Israel, and gave them victory over their enemies. Large walls and large armies fell before them.
Joshua Chapter 13 begins the third section — “Divide the Land.”
And God’s Word gives two reasons for this shift from Conquering to Dividing.
First, God gave Israel in battle the kings of the North and South.
Most recently with the defeat of Jabin, king of Hazor in Chapter 11, and the burning of that city — that large and strategically connected city, and the defeat of the amassed army “in number like the sand that is on the seashore” (11:4), and the defeat of thirty-one kings, Israel’s opposition was effectively neutralized. The large enemy cities and kings were gone.
But a second reason is given at the beginning of Joshua 13 —
III. Exposition
III. Exposition
A. Joshua is Old | Joshua 13:1
A. Joshua is Old | Joshua 13:1
Joshua 13:1(a) ESV
“Now Joshua was old and advanced in years.”
This is more than a passing comment in Scripture.
Somewhere along the way we shift from looking forward to birthdays, and making them big celebrations to dreading their arrival and trying to make the day pass by unnoticed.
Joshua’s age was not unnoticed. The Scripture gives us a “realization moment.”
A moment we all experience, when we look into the mirror and notice a gray hair. Or loss of hair. Or when we look into the mirror and simply don’t recognize the person staring back at us...”How did you get so…old?”
I’ve read your Facebook comments. I know you have experienced these things! We all age, we all will age!
But for Joshua, this was more than a REALIZATION. It was also a REVELATION.
Joshua 13:1(a2) ESV
“Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the LORD said to him, “You are old and advanced in years.”
It is okay to laugh when you read that! God loves humor!
To think what it means when God says “you are old!”
And when the LORD speaks, we are to also remember the other words the LORD has spoken — be strong and courageous! That applies to battles but also to old age!
This phrase “old and advanced in years” is repeated, because it is upon this realization and revelation that the book of Joshua now turns and shifts to a new phase of God’s plan for His people in the land.
God does not waste words. And God reveals not only a reality, but also a purpose for that reality!
And in this we learn that God has a purpose for every reality, and God has a purpose EVEN FOR JOSHUA’S OLD AGE!
Joshua 13:1(b) ESV
“and the LORD said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess.”
You can feel the tension in that verse! It highlights how much work is left to be done, and how little time there is to do the work!
Some of us hear this and understand this tension.
Some of you may be thinking right now: “Why am I sitting here, listening to someone talk, when I could be out working and doing what I need to do! I don’t have time for this!”
On the surface, this appears discouraging.
Joshua does not have very much time left. But there remains “very much” land left to be possessed.
There is not enough time for Joshua to do all that WILL BE DONE!
But notice that God knows this.
Here is a Gospel Proclamation for someone listening: “There is not enough time for you to do everything there is to do — and God knows this.”
The Church of Jesus Christ has been making disciples of Jesus by going, baptizing and teaching now for nearly 2000 years, and the whole world has still not heard the Gospel of Jesus yet!
We’ve heard the Gospel accounts. Jesus did great works, but said that his disciples would do greater works than these because Jesus was going to the Father (John 14:12). Jesus passed on the work.
We’ve heard the book of Acts, about God’s amazing miracles as the Gospel went forth, and disciples multiplied, and a great many people came to the faith. And yet, here we are today, and the whole world has still not heard the good news that Jesus saves.
There was not enough time for the early Church to do all the work there is to do — and this is why God gave the world YOU!
YOU carry on the unfinished task in this generation, and there comes a time when your work must shift, so that you might prepare the next generation to carry on the unfinished task in their generation. So that you may pass on the faith to generations to come.
God has been, and is in this text preparing Joshua to do such a work.
God is once again the initiator, and the actor here. The One who claimed the land for them, and conquered the land for them, now divides the land for them.
God is not bound by TIME!
And because God is not bound by time, God’s promises are not bound by time! God’s promises are as good as done the moment God speaks them, and God uses us to fulfill His promises, but God does not NEED us to fulfill His promises. Because God’s promises are not based upon us. God’s promises are based upon God, and God’s unending love, and unceasing faithfulness!
This is why, after naming all that remains to be possessed, the lands and locations, God says:
B. Joshua is to Divide the Land | Joshua 13:6b-7
B. Joshua is to Divide the Land | Joshua 13:6b-7
6 all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, even all the Sidonians. I myself will drive them out from before the people of Israel. Only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you. 7 Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.”
God allows tasks to be left unfinished so that we may rely upon God and trust Him in all generations!
Notice that what Joshua is to do, is based first upon what God will do.
The LORD says “I myself will drive them out…Only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance…Divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.”
The other half tribe of Manasseh and the Reubenites and the Gadites already received their inheritance beyond the Jordan by Moses.
But now Joshua was to divide the remaining land as an inheritance among the remaining tribes.
This word “inheritance” is a recurring theme.
The word “INHERITANCE” says in one word what this passage is about.
An inheritance says that time is short.
God is eternal, but our earthly form is not!
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
There is no need to leave an inheritance if you never grow old. But we all will grow old and advance in years and we all will die.
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
This cutting short of humanity’s time on earth is a direct consequence of humanity’s sin against God going back to the first man, Adam.
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
An inheritance says that someone else will carry on the work.
This idea of inheritance represents something that carries forward. Something that is passed on. Something that has an enduring nature to it.
22 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.
But while the Bible does have something to teach about humans leaving an inheritance, one generation to another, there is something flawed with human inheritance.
18 I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, 19 and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.
You may work hard in life, you may become materially successful, amassing treasure on earth and leave all of that treasure you worked hard for to someone after you and they may make even more out of it, or they may squander it!
There is something flawed with human inheritance, so we learn that the word inheritance is something that better belongs to God.
True inheritance is something that belongs only to God.
And in Joshua, the inheritance for the tribes is the land that God promised to them. It was God’s promises — a lasting inheritance! An unfading inheritance!
Joshua 14:2 says:
2 Their inheritance was by lot, just as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses for the nine and one-half tribes.
Meaning, the land was divided and distributed by lot before the LORD (Josh 19:51).
This casting of lots (like we might envision rolling the dice), was a process that Israel believed God to be sovereign over.
In other words, the people did not know who would end up with what land, but they found assurance that God was overseeing and directing the process!
So the land was divided. The inheritance was apportioned.
I am not speaking to you as your financial advisor, or as your estate planner, but as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ I want to teach you from this text that is is important that you have a will.
It is important that as God shifts the work of your life, from claiming, to conquering to dividing, that you embrace the work God gives you in that season of dividing and you intentionally prepare to leave an inheritance of some kind — that invests by your wealth or character or obedience in the faith of the future.
This work of dividing will free you to do the final work of life unhindered —which is serving!
But not all inheritances are of a material nature. Not all inheritances involve money or land.
In fact, In all the dividing, there was one tribe that is mentioned repeatedly that does not receive any such inheritance.
C. The Inheritance of Levi | Joshua 13:14, 33; 18:7
C. The Inheritance of Levi | Joshua 13:14, 33; 18:7
First mentioned in Joshua 13:14 of Moses —
14 To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance. The offerings by fire to the Lord God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to him.
Mentioned again in Joshua 13:33 of Moses —
33 But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance; the Lord God of Israel is their inheritance, just as he said to them.
And Joshua says in Joshua 18:7 —
7 The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their heritage. And Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”
The tribe of Levi received no portion, no inheritance of the land, for the LORD God of Israel is their inheritance.
We sang the words of the hymn: Be Thou My Vision
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light
[…]
Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art
The tribe of Levi reminds us that there is a special inheritance greater than all riches and material gain. There is an inheritance that is God Himself!
IV. Conclusion
IV. Conclusion
A. Gospel Proclamation
A. Gospel Proclamation
There is a reward for living in obedience to God! There is a reward for living by faith! It is a reward deposited in an inheritance to be realized fully in the future.
It is an inheritance that Peter writes about when he proclaims:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Joshua points us to Jesus — who is our inheritance!
And for all who confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead, we have the Spirit of God bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God! (Rom 8:16).
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
The first man, Adam by his one sin, brought death for all.
But Jesus, through his one death for all, gives eternal life as an eternal inheritance for we who are in Him!
This eternal inheritance is not grounded in any work that we might perform. It is grounded in Jesus Himself and God’s eternal promises for all in Him!
The greatest inheritance any of us may leave on this earth is to pass on Jesus, the eternal inheritance, to future generations!
Why claim? Why conquer? Why divide?
For Joshua it was the process God was working through His people so that they might serve God in the land, and enjoy Him forever in a special covenantal relationship and life of worship.
The same is true for us. God desires that we might know Him, enjoy fellowship with Him, be at Peace with Him, and worship Him now and forever! And this is what Jesus gives us! He is our inheritance now and always!
B. Application
B. Application
There comes a time when we all must turn our attention to how we will invest in the future by way of an earthly inheritance.
We must ask God to show us how to make that earthly inheritance matter for His eternal glory!
God will reveal to each of us what he would have us to do — it is up to us to respond in faithful obedience to Him.
God will accomplish his purposes for us, in us. But God will not accomplish ALL of his purposes in us alone, Because God did that and does that in Jesus Christ alone.
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Benediction
Benediction
32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.