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Joshua 18:1 Now the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of meeting there. And the land was subdued before them. -Here in this first verse we have an FYI of sorts in the sense that the tabernacle in Shiloh would remain at this central location for about 300 years. -It would be under the reign of none other than King David that the tabernacle would be removed from Shiloh and moved to Jerusalem instead. -To me, this speaks to how it is that the Lord may have us in one place for an elongated period of time, before moving us on to our Jerusalem.

(2) But there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance. (3) Then Joshua said to the children of Israel: "How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers has given you? -These two verses are difficult for me to wrap my mind around, and not for the reasons you may think, in that they’re not hard to interpret or teach. -What is hard about these two verses is that for the life of me, I can’t understand why these seven tribes would neglect to go and possess the land. -After all the children of Israel had been through, chief of which was their parent’s dying having been forbidden to enter in and possess the land.

-Whenever I come up against such baffling passages like this one God’s Word I like to inquire of the Lord as to what I call the why behind the what. -In other words, why would these seven tribes do what they do here, or perhaps better said why they not do what they should’ve been eager to do. -What follows are a few reasons I believe would explain, not excuse, why they end up on the receiving end of this rebuke from their leader Joshua.

-The first reason is that they neglected that which God had called them and even commanded them to do and apparently they did it for a long time. -We do err greatly when, like these seven tribes, we neglect the commands of God, the call of God in our lives. When we do, it’s to our own peril. -I can’t help but wonder why it is that they would continue in this neglect for so long. The only thing I can come up with is they were procrastinators.

-This would explain our second reason, which is they were just lazy! I see both laziness and procrastination as roommates in a messed up house. -Nothing would ever get done because laziness is too lazy to do it, and procrastination is to quick to continue putting off doing it, so it’s never done. -Question, I ask it of myself as well, is there something that I’ve been unwilling to do because I’m too lazy and continue to procrastinate about it?

-Actually, this may sort of dovetail into our third reason, which is that they didn’t value the things of God let alone the call or the commands of God. -Let me explain, this is supposed to be their inheritance, and it would stand to reason that if this inheritance had value in their eyes, they’d be on it. -If I’m thinking this through correctly, the only thing that would make sense would be that they simply did not see the inheritance as having value.

-The fourth reason that I came up with is they just wanted everything handed to them as evidenced by what seems to be an entitlement mentality. -This mentality says; “I don’t want to have to do anything in order to have this, I just want to have this.” This is akin to saying that I am owed this. -It probably goes without saying but this is wrong in every possible way. Be that as it may, if the truth be known, we are all prone to this mindset.

(4) Pick out from among you three men for each tribe, and I will send them; they shall rise and go through the land, survey it according to their inheritance, and come back to me. (5) And they shall divide it into seven parts. Judah shall remain in their territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain in their territory on the north. (6) You shall therefore survey the land in seven parts and bring the survey here to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD our God. (7) But the Levites have no part among you, for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance. And Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them." (8) Then the men arose to go away; and Joshua charged those who went to survey the land, saying, "Go, walk through the land, survey it, and come back to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh." (9) So the men went, passed through the land, and wrote the survey in a book in seven parts by cities; and they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh. (10) Then Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD, and there Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions. -I find it interesting how that Joshua has them pick out from among each of the seven tribes three men to go through the land, and survey the land. -The reason it’s so interesting is that I don’t ever remember reading where any of the children of Israel went to school to learn how to be surveyors. -You’ll forgive me for sounding like I’m trying to be cute, but where did they learn to do this? Surveying takes professional training in order to do it.

-It’s been suggested that these surveyors learned this while they were in Egypt as young adults who were twenty years of age or older at that time. -If that’s the case, and I suspect that it is, then theirs quite a powerful lesson that’s woven into the fabric of this passage, which contains this detail. -Here’s what I’m thinking, it would seem that God was preparing them in Egypt, for that which He was preparing for them in the Promised Land.

-You probably already know where I’m going with this so I’ll get right to the point. First, we need to understand that Egypt is a type of the world. -Not only is Egypt a type of the world, the Promised Land is a type of the Christian life. Now, with that understanding we can see how this applies. -Often times God prepares us in our Egypt, while we’re in, and or, of the world, in order to use that for what He prepares for us in our Christian life.

-Now, from verses 11-28, which brings the chapter to an end, we have the boundaries and the cities that were allotted to the tribe of Benjamin. -However, for what should be deemed as obvious reasons, we won’t take the time to read it, lest I spit on everyone in pronouncing all the names. -We’ll do the same, at least in part with chapter nineteen, as it’s much the same in how we have the boundaries that are allotted to the other tribes.

Joshua 19:1 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families. And their inheritance was within the inheritance of the children of Judah. -Here in verse one we have what will yet future become a fulfillment of the prophecy found in Genesis chapter 49 concerning the tribe of Simeon. -The tribe of Simeon will virtually fade from the scene in Israel’s history as a result of what he had done back in Shechem recorded in Genesis 30. -I’ll spare you the graphic detail so suffice it to say, it was because they took matters into their own hands and in revenge meted out a cruel justice.

-I say that to share this, while our past sins are certainly forgiven and even forgotten, there can still be far reaching consequences in the future. -I think of those incarcerated for crimes they committed. While they may come to a saving knowledge of Christ, they still suffer the consequences. -If you were to ask me what I thought one of the most deceptive lies of the Devil was, it would have to be that there are no consequences for sin.

-The entirety of chapter 19 consists of the boundaries and cities allotted to the other tribes so again, we won’t take the time to read through all of it. -So, here’s how the chapter is divided; verses 1-9 was Simeon, 10-16 Zebulun, 17-23 Issachar, 24-31 Asher, 32-39 Naphtali, and 40-48 was Dan. -Before we read the last verses in the chapter, 49-51, there’s something I think I’d be grossly remiss to not point out concerning the tribe of Dan.

-The tribe of Dan would not take the southern region because it would have been very difficult for them to possess the land, so they went North. -This would prove to be a devastating and catastrophic mistake, as it would lead to their idolatry, which brought the judgment of God upon them. -The lesson here becomes quite clear, whenever we opt for that which is easy and convenient, we’re sitting ducks to the enemy leading us astray.

(49) When they had made an end of dividing the land as an inheritance according to their borders, the children of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun. (50) According to the word of the LORD they gave him the city which he asked for, Timnath Serah in the mountains of Ephraim; and he built the city and dwelt in it. (51) These were the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel divided as an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. So they made an end of dividing the country. -If there was ever a time that the best was saved for last, this is it. Here’s why, verses 49-51 record for us the inheritance that was given to Joshua. -The reason I see this as saving the best for last is that Joshua is the best for being the last. In other words, Joshua is the last to receive his share. -I would suggest to you that Joshua was the last one to receive his inheritance because he was a humble man, which he learned from Moses.

-I can’t think of a better way to bring tonight’s study in for a landing. Consider this, Joshua learned humility because Moses modeled humility. -I’m of the belief that it’s not so much what’s taught, as it is what’s caught, which is why we tend to act like those who we spend the most time with. -Oh, and by the way, unfortunately it works both ways. If I’m always around someone who is constantly angry, I myself will become angry as well.

Proverbs 22:24-25 NIV Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, (25) or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared.