Finding a Homeland

Joshua 1:1-4; 23:1-11

GOLDEN TEXT: “Thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.”—Deuteronomy 8:10

A CHANGE of leadership usually presents problems, even in normal times, and when Joshua became the successor of Moses, as leader of Israel, conditions were far from normal. Despite their much complaining against Moses, the Israelites had a respect for him which was not easily transferred to another. He had delivered them from Egyptian bondage, and in the Lord’s providence had led them throughout their forty years of wanderings in the wilderness. They had been difficult years, fraught with many dangers, but the nation had been preserved.

Now Moses was dead, and the time had arrived for the Israelites to cross over Jordan into the Promised Land. Here was a new crisis in the affairs of the nation—a new test of faith. But neither the people nor Joshua, their new leader, had anything to fear, because God had promised to go with them. He was to be their real Leader. He had promised them the land, and if the people would put their trust in him, they could possess what he had promised.

In giving Joshua his commission, God said to him, “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.” (Joshua 1:3) And concerning Joshua’s own part in the undertaking, God promised, “There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.”—Joshua 1:5,6

The measure of success enjoyed by Joshua was dependent upon his faithfulness in following the instructions of the Lord, and also upon the obedience of the people. We are furnished with a good example of this in the great victory over Jericho, and the bitter defeat suffered shortly thereafter in the abortive attempt to capture the much smaller city of Ai. (Joshua 6 and 7) The conquest of every part of Canaan turned out to be a “Jericho” or an “Ai” experience according to the measure of faith and obedience on the part of Joshua and the people.

The conquest of the Promised Land and its division among the tribes was considered to be officially completed before the death of Joshua, although there still remained what in military circles today are called “islands of resistance.” The Canaanites were not all driven out. Some remained and lived among the Israelites, and it was essential that a special warning be sounded against becoming too friendly with these, and especially against worshiping the gods of these heathen.

God was the real Leader of Israel, and this more than made up for any shortcomings on the part of either Moses or Joshua. Through Moses God had given the Israelites a code of laws. God was the Author of these laws, hence they did not need to be changed when Joshua took Moses’ place. The unchangeableness of these divine laws is again manifested when Joshua, near the close of his life, exhorted the people to be faithful to them. He said, “Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left. … But cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day.”—Joshua 23:6-8

Joshua did not admonish the people to obey his law, for he had not been their lawgiver. Moses had served in this capacity, but even Moses was not the author of the Law. It was God’s Law, and the safety and well-being of the Israelites depended upon their faithful obedience to it.

Today the time has again come for the Israelites to enter and possess the Land of Promise, but just as in the days of old, before they will be permitted to dwell peaceably and permanently in the land, they will have to acknowledge the Lord their God and obey his laws. This time God’s laws will become the basis of a “new covenant” which he will make “with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.”—Jer. 31:31

But we cannot suppose the law of the New Covenant will itself be different in principle than when it formed the basis of the original Law covenant. Its fundamental meaning will still be that all of God’s intelligent creatures who desire his favor must love him with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength; and their neighbors as themselves. Those who obey this law will finally enter into whatsoever inheritance God has promised them. The Israelites will have their land; and mankind in general will be bidden to inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world.—Matt. 25:34

QUESTIONS:

What lesson may we learn from the experiences of the Israelites in connection with Jericho and Ai?

Who was the real Leader of Israel?

Will Israel ever again possess the Promised Land?

| Home Page | Table of Contents |