Promises

Passage: Joshua 21:43-45

So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. Not one of all the LORD's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

Eight full chapters of the Book of Joshua are devoted to telling how the Land of Canaan gets divided amongst the tribes of Israel. If you’ve been reading through this book, you may have wondered, as I did, why the author of Joshua felt the need to go into so much detail. Does it really matter that Judah received the area bordered by the Salt Sea, the Scorpion Pass, Hezron, and the Wadi of Egypt? Should I really care that the territory of Benjamin included the towns of Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, and Beth Arabah? I can’t help glazing over when I read passages like these. And I can’t help wondering why they’re included in the Word of God.

Let’s return to one of our guiding assumptions: That every passage of Scripture is included for a reason. And then let’s jump ahead to Joshua 21.

It turns out that the author of Joshua is including all the detail of chapters 15-22 not because he thinks it’s interesting (although he very well might), but because he’s making a case. The author is presenting a case in defense of his God.

We don’t know when Joshua was recorded in the form we’ve received. But we know that following their settlement of the Promised Land, the life of the Israelites was punctuated by seasons of unfaithfulness – long periods in which they were estranged from God. It would have been easy, during these periods, for God’s people to conclude that God is somehow unfaithful. That God is somehow profligate when it comes to his promises. The Scriptures have served the purpose of testifying to God’s faithfulness – especially during these periods of estrangement. When their own experience suggests that God is no longer with them, God’s people can look back on the Scriptures and be reminded of God’s promises, and God’s relentless fulfillment thereof.

This is why it’s essential that the author include so much detail about the way God distributes the Promised Land to the tribes of Israel. The author doesn’t speak in generalities. He says, “Here! Look at the evidence. God promised to give an inheritance to each of the tribes. Here is the inheritance Judah got; here is the inheritance Ephraim and Manasseh got; here is the inheritance Benjamin got…” The author goes out of his way to make his case. The point of the Joshua chapters 15-22 is given in the passage above: Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel ever failed; every one was fulfilled. Here’s the proof.