James McNaught

Joshua 22:1–9, “Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you: Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God. And now the LORD your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and get you unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side Jordan. But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went unto their tents. Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given possession in Bashan: but unto the other half thereof gave Joshua among their brethren on this side Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away also unto their tents, then he blessed them, And he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren. And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.”

The Lord called on Israel to act as His agents in punishing the Amorites for their sin in debasing the rich and fruitful land that He had given them. At first they refused to obey the Lord because they were afraid of giants. Forty years later, the Lord brought them to the borders of the Promised Land again but two and a half tribes decided that they wanted to stay on the eastern side of the River Jordan because they had herds and flocks and that was good land for their herds and flocks. However, the Lord told these people that they were obliged to take part in the invasion of the Promised Land because it had been promised to the entire nation of Israel. The members of these tribes left their families, their flocks and their herds on the eastern side of the River and took part in the invasion. After the invasion was finished, Joshua told them that they could go back to their own inheritance. This is probably the strongest evidence we have that the Lord was completely satisfied with Joshua and the fact that he fulfilled all the obligation the Lord gave him in his lifetime.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Failed not any good thing

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Joshua 21:43–45, “And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.”

The Lord is always completely faithful and always keeps His promises. There is an underlying understanding that the Lord has perfect integrity and will always give His people what they choose. If they choose to ignore Him then He will give them over to life without his generous and gracious oversight. However, the Lord will also be working through those circumstances to bring His people to their knees so that they submit to Him and He will bring them back into the security of His lovingkindness.

They gave out of the tribe

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Joshua 21:9–42, “And they gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which are here mentioned by name, Which the children of Aaron, being of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi, had: for theirs was the first lot. And they gave them the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with the suburbs thereof round about it. But the fields of the city, and the villages thereof, gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession. Thus they gave to the children of Aaron the priest Hebron with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Libnah with her suburbs, And Jattir with her suburbs, and Eshtemoa with her suburbs, And Holon with her suburbs, and Debir with her suburbs, And Ain with her suburbs, and Juttah with her suburbs, and Bethshemesh with her suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes. And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with her suburbs, Geba with her suburbs, Anathoth with her suburbs, and Almon with her suburbs; four cities. All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their suburbs. And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites which remained of the children of Kohath, even they had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim. For they gave them Shechem with her suburbs in mount Ephraim, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Gezer with her suburbs, And Kibzaim with her suburbs, and Bethhoron with her suburbs; four cities. And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with her suburbs, Gibbethon with her suburbs, Aijalon with her suburbs, Gathrimmon with her suburbs; four cities. And out of the half tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with her suburbs, and Gathrimmon with her suburbs; two cities. All the cities were ten with their suburbs for the families of the children of Kohath that remained. And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the other half tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Beeshterah with her suburbs; two cities. And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon with her suburbs, Dabareh with her suburbs, Jarmuth with her suburbs, Engannim with her suburbs; four cities. And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with her suburbs, Abdon with her suburbs, Helkath with her suburbs, and Rehob with her suburbs; four cities. And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Hammothdor with her suburbs, and Kartan with her suburbs; three cities. All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their suburbs. And unto the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with her suburbs, and Kartah with her suburbs, Dimnah with her suburbs, Nahalal with her suburbs; four cities. And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with her suburbs, and Jahazah with her suburbs, Kedemoth with her suburbs, and Mephaath with her suburbs; four cities. And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Mahanaim with her suburbs, Heshbon with her suburbs, Jazer with her suburbs; four cities in all. So all the cities for the children of Merari by their families, which were remaining of the families of the Levites, were by their lot twelve cities. All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their suburbs. These cities were every one with their suburbs round about them: thus were all these cities.”

This section gives us a good indication of the spiritual state of the nation under Joshua’s wise and godly leadership. Every tribe allocated territory to the priests and Levites. The entire nation was willing to pay the price of having a good and satisfying relationship with the Lord. Each tribe had Levites living in their territory se each tribe had the comfort of know that the Lord was close by. These areas were allocated in perpetuity so Israel could be permanently reminded of the fact that the Lord loved them with an everlasting love. (compare Jer 31:1–9, “At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things. For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God. For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.”

Give us cities

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Joshua 21:1–8, “Then came near the heads of the fathers of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel; And they spake unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The LORD commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for our cattle. And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their suburbs. And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, which were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities. And the rest of the children of Kohath had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities. And the children of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities. The children of Merari by their families had out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities. And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with their suburbs, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.”

The tribe of Levi had a special responsibility in Israel. The priests came from that tribe and they were to represent Israel to the Lord and the Lord to Israel. This is a very important task, not just for the people of those times but for the people who live today and worship the Lord. They were not able to dedicate themselves to taking up their own possession and, later, to establish and maintain the settled responsibilities of doing the same job. However, they were to be treated with respect and honour as they were doing the most important job in Israel. The rest of the Levites were called to assist the priests in their essential task so they were relieved of the day to day responsibilities of establishing the material aspects of the nation. In later times, the priests, and their tribe, used their exalted position to make themselves extremely rich. A good indication of the spiritual status of the nation was the position of the priests; if they were poor then the nation didn’t show proper respect for the Lord and gratitude for all the good things that He had done for them. If they were using their position to become extremely rich then the priest were not properly representing the Lord to the people; they were more interested in representing themselves to the people. No one was actually representing the people.

They appointed

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Joshua 20:7–9, “And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjatharba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.”

When the Lord God makes promises there is always substance to His answers. He had promised that there would be cities of refuge for a person who accidentally killed another person but, here, we discover that He did in fact keep that promise and the cities are named. When this record was first written any reader could actually go to those places and verify that they were really cities of refuge.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Refuge

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

http://www.booksthataregood.com/Reference_Books.php

Joshua 20:1–6, :The LORD also spake unto Joshua, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses: That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime. And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.”

Once all the land had been allocated the Lord then made sure the Joshua showed that life is precious in the Lord’s eyes. Sin leads to death but no man has the right to unlawfully take another person’s life. (Gen 9:4–6, “But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.”) If a man deliberately takes another person’s life then that person’s will be shown the shown the same respect as he showed to his victim’s life. On the other hand, people are, from time to time, accidentally killed and the man doing the killing has no malicious intent. Under those circumstances the man has shown proper respect for his victim’s life and doesn’t deserve to die. The cities of refuge were set apart, at this stage, to give these people protection. However, it would have been foolish to set aside the cities of refuge if they were not possessed by the tribes, otherwise the protection they offered would not be worthwhile because the people in those cities would not be bound by the Law of the Lord.

Joshua

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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