Ep. 55 - Joshua Dies

Last we left the Israelites, they had finally conquered the Promised Land. First, they’d defeated the Amorites in the South, then they swung north and defeated all the other “-ites” in the North. With God’s miraculous help, every army that could stand against the Israelites had been defeated. And after this was all done, God told Joshua to break up the army and to go ahead and divide the Promised Land among the tribes…which he did. (And by the way kidzos, just a reminder that you can find the map of which tribe got which land on papasbiblestories.com in the blog section…so don’t forget to check that out.) Now even though all the armies in Canaan had been defeated, that didn't mean that there were no people left in Canaan. In fact, there were still a ton of people living in Canaan…and more than a few of them could still hold a sword. But each of the tribes would have to take care of pushing out the the people on their land…without the help of the big Israelite army. It was a tall task...I mean some of the people left in Canaan had horses and iron chariots (which back in those days was kind of like having tanks). Would the tribes keep up the fight? Would they continue to trust in God just like Joshua and the big Israelite army had done? Well...let's find out.

Now, I don’t know if you kidzos remember, but in the last episode we talked a little bit about how the land was divided among the tribes…and that it was a whole thing with it’s own share of drama…and that we might talk a little bit about it in the next episode.  Well, here we are…in the next episode.  While the land was being divided between the tribes, two different spirits showed themselves among the tribes. The first spirit we can see through Caleb’s actions, and the second spirit we can see by the actions of the 2 half tribes - Ephraim and Manasseh.  So first, Caleb. You kidzos remember Caleb, right? Yeah, he was one of the 12 spies that had spied out Canaan 40 years ago along with Joshua…way back when the Israelites were still trying to get into the Promised Land.  Caleb and Joshua were the two spies that came back with a good report.  So yah, that guy.  Between Caleb and Joshua, they were the oldest people in all of Israel…the only ones left from the generation that had come out of Egypt all those years ago.

Now, back when God was announcing His punishment to the Israelites for believing the bad report of the other 10 spies, while God was telling them that all the Israelite adults would die and that none of them would inherit the Promised Land… God had made an exception for Caleb and Joshua. God had actually told Moses that because they’d given a good report of the land, that Caleb and Joshua would inherit part of the Promised Land.  Specifically, God had promised them that everywhere that they had gone…everywhere that the feet of Caleb and Joshua had touched while spying out Canaan would be theirs to inherit.  So now that it was time for the tribes to inherit the land, Caleb spoke up to remind everybody of God‘s promise to him. And Caleb said, “You know the word which the LORD said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea. … Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children's forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.” (Josh. 14:6,7) Now Caleb had obviously gone a lot of places while spying out Canaan.  So, where exactly was Caleb thinking to inherit?  Caleb continued, “Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified.” (14:12)

Now this “mountain” that Caleb was talking about was Hebron (which we’ve talked about a few times in past episodes).  Hebron was a special place for the Israelites.  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had lived there at various times in their lives…and it’s where the three patriarchs and their families were buried.  But also, there were a lot of fortified cities in Hebron…and they were filled with Anakim.  Yah…the giants…the same giants that had scared the 10 spies all those years ago when they’d said that they felt like grasshoppers.  Of all the places that Caleb could have chosen, he decided to chose one of the hardest.  Why was he doing this?  Well Caleb continued, “It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the LORD said.” (14:12) And this is the spirit that Caleb showed.  God had promised all the land to the Israelites…and specifically had told Caleb that he’d inherit all the places that he’d been 40 years ago.  Well, he’d been to Hebron, so even though it looked super hard, Caleb trusted God to follow through on His promises…and to give him the victory.  And indeed, God did give Caleb the victory.  And the Bible says that Caleb, “drove out the three sons of Anak from there: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.” (15:14) Caleb racked up some amazing victories against what seemed like an impossibly strong enemy, and in doing this set a wonderful example for the rest of his tribe (which was Judah by the way) and for the rest of the Israelites.  Caleb trusted in God to keep His promises…even if it seemed hard.

Now, not too long after Caleb made his claim, another claim was made… but it was of a much different spirit than that of Caleb. The half tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh came to Joshua and said, “Why have you given us only one lot and one share to inherit, since we are a great people, inasmuch as the LORD has blessed us until now?” (17:14) Now what these tribes are saying is a bit complicated.  Ephraim and Manasseh weren’t full tribes, they were actually half tribes.  Because way back in Egypt, Jacob had blessed the children of Joseph - Ephraim and Manasseh- instead of blessing Joseph directly. And because Ephraim and Manasseh were children of Joseph they became half tribes.  And I’m not going to get into the reason for this but suffice it to say that because of this these two half tribes added up to only one tribe, they only got only one part of the land that they had to divide between the two of them.  But even though they were only half tribes, as it turned out they had the most number of people in them… especially Ephraim (the tribe to which Joshua belonged). So what they are saying to Joshua is that it wasn’t fair that they only got one part of the land for their two half tribes because they had so many more people than the other tribes…and they wanted more land.

Now, on the surface, this would seem to make sense.  They were a big tribe…so they should get a big part of the land, right?  But if you look at a map of the area that these 2 half tribes had already gotten, they already had big part of the land!  A huge part of the land!  In fact, between the two half-tribes, they had more land than any of the other full tribes.  So the question was, what were they complaining about?  And so, Joshua said to them, “If you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the giants, since the mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you.” (17:15) Basically what Joshua is saying is, ‘Ok, if you really don’t have enough room, well…there’s a large mountainous and forested area right next to you…go clear it out and then you should have lots of room.’ But, interestingly, the two half-tribes weren’t very happy with this, and they replied to Joshua and said, “The mountain country is not enough for us; and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are of Beth Shean and its towns and those who are of the Valley of Jezreel.” (17:16)

Now the additional land that Joshua was talking about was a place with lots of mountains and trees right next to a plain called the Valley of Jezreel.  And this plain would probably also become part of the land they were getting once they’d cleared out the mountains.  But…the valley of Jezreel had a ton of Canaanites still living there.  And not just any Canaanites, but Canaanites with iron chariots…the tank of ancient times.  It wasn’t going to be easy to get them out.  And that was the spirit of these two half tribes.  They didn’t want anything difficult…they were looking for something easy.  As it turns out, the real reason that these two half-tribes were coming to Joshua was because they looked at the land that they’d already been given (not this new land…but all their other land) and thought, ‘Man its going to super hard to settle this land…why can’t we get some easy land?  Ya know, like land that already has all the people gone…and maybe some land that already has some cities on it…so that we can just move right on in.  No muss no fuss.’  So when Joshua offered them more hard land, they were like, ‘No no no, no more hard land…we’re looking for easy land.’ What a difference between the spirit of these two half tribes and the spirit of Caleb.

But of course, Joshua was having none of it.  And he said to the two half-tribes, “You are a great people and have great power; you shall not have only one lot,  (18)  but the mountain country shall be yours. Although it is wooded, you shall cut it down, and its farthest extent shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots and are strong.” (17:17-18) So in other words…listen, you guys are the biggest tribe, so you are going to take this new land whether you like it or not…and you are going to push out the Canaanites…even though its going to be hard.  And basically, each tribe had a similar choice to make.  Each tribe had been given land that had been partly conquered and partly not conquered.  God had promised that he would help the Israelites to slowly push out the people living in Canaan.  Well, now it was time for each tribe to do their own pushing.  Would the tribes follow through?  Would the tribes trust the same God who’d given them so many miraculous victories over the last 5 or 6 years to continue to do so for each tribe?  Would the tribes choose the spirit of Caleb…or the spirit of Ephraim and Manasseh?  Well, only time would tell.

After all the land was divided among tribes, like Caleb, Joshua was also given the chance to claim any place that he’d traveled through when he’d spied out Canaan.  And so, Joshua asked for a little city called Timnath Serah in the mountains of Ephraim.  This was a little city in the middle of nowhere that no one seems to want.  The name Timnath Serah means “the portion that remains”.  Joshua had waited until everyone else had taken what they wanted, and even though he was a great leader, and even though probably he could have taken whatever he wanted, instead he just took the leftovers.  Joshua built up this little city and, as far we can tell, he seems to have spent many of his retirement years there. 

As far we know, Joshua was quite happy with his little city and also seemed happy not being the leader of Israel anymore.  But as the years went by, and Joshua got older and older, the time eventually came where Joshua’s health started failing him…he knew he was going to die soon.  And while Joshua was no doubt happy with his lifetime of service to God and to Israel, there were a few things going on that were making Joshua nervous.  And he felt that if these things weren’t fixed and fixed soon, then all the work that Joshua had done over his lifetime might be for nothing.  So, Joshua took a page out of Moses’ book, and at the end of his life he called the people together to give them some advice.

Now actually, Joshua didn’t call all the people together like Moses had, but just the leaders.  And he didn’t call them just once, but twice.  And basically, Joshua had two main things he wanted to say to the Israelites before he died.  First, he couldn’t help but notice that the tribes sure were taking their sweet sweet time pushing out the remaining people in Canaan.  It had been about 20 years since the tribes had received their land, but there were still lots of Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perrizites, Hivites, and Jebusites living in places where the tribes were supposed to be living.  And second, Joshua saw that the children of the Israelites who’d been born in Canaan well after all the battles and miracles and everything else seemed way too comfortable their heathen neighbors…and importantly way too comfortable with their idolatry.  They didn’t seem to realize that this idolatry, and all the bad things that came along with it, was one of the big reasons that God had sent the Israelites into Canaan to begin with. 

So, in the first meeting, the old and weathered Joshua got in front of all the Israelite leaders and said, “I am old, advanced in age.  (3)  You have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the LORD your God is He who has fought for you.  (4)  See, I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the Great Sea westward.  (5)  And the LORD your God will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight. So you shall possess their land, as the LORD your God promised you.” (23:2-5) Joshua was encouraging them and basically saying, please…God has promised you that you will inherit the land…now get out there and inherit it!  And then Joshua continued, “Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the LORD your God.  (12)  Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations—these that remain among you—and make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you,  (13)  know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the LORD your God has given you.” (23:11-13) Joshua was warning the Israelites that if they got too familiar with these remaining people and didn’t push them out soon, well…they’d be stuck with them forever.  And these remaining people would go on to constantly cause the Israelites trouble…for generations and generations…not something that anyone wanted.

In the second meeting, Joshua again called all the leaders together like the first time…but this time apparently Joshua felt like he needed to make a bigger impression…so he called them to Shechem…the very place where Abraham had made the first covenant with God.  And standing in front of the ark (which apparently had been brought from Shiloh) and in front of all the leaders, Joshua delivered a message directly from God.  And in this message, God reminded the Israelites of the whole story of how they’d come to be in Canaan…from how God called Abraham out of Mesopotamia, to Isaac, to Jacob, to slavery in Egypt, to Moses, to the plagues, to wandering in the wilderness, to the invasion of Canaan and the fall of Jericho, and to all the amazing victories that God had given them.  And then Joshua went on to plead with the Israelites, saying, “Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD!  (15)  And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (24:14-15) Joshua wanted the Israelites to make a decision…either serve the gods of the people who they’d just conquered…or serve the God who’d given them the victory…the God who’d followed through on all His promises to the Israelites.  Having the decision put in front of them so strongly, the Israelite leaders responded to Joshua and said, “The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!” (24:24)

And with this firm decision made by the Israelites, the Bible says that Joshua, “made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.” (24:25) Joshua wrote everything down and put his writings in the side of the ark next to Moses’ writings.  Of course, Joshua’s writings we now know as the book of Joshua in the Bible.  Then Joshua set up a huge stone under an oak tree as a reminder of the decision that Israel had made that day.  And not too long after all the Israelite leaders had returned home, Joshua, the tireless leader of Israel, died.  Joshua had lived for 110 years and had seen Israel go from the pyramids of Egypt, to the Red Sea, to Mt. Sinai, to the wilderness, to Gilead, to the Jordan River, to Jericho, to finally settling in the north and south of Canaan and east of the Jordan River.  Joshua had served as Moses’ second in command for more than 40 years, fought in every battle since crossing the Red Sea, and led the Israelites himself during the invasion of Canaan.  Joshua was a bold and decisive leader.  When talking about Joshua, God said that he “wholly followed the Lord”. Everything that Joshua did was to help Israel to move ahead in God’s amazing promises for them.  And now that this amazing man was dead, would the Israelites continue to move ahead in God’s promises?  Would they continue to push forward and occupy all the land that God had promised them?  Would the Israelites continue to follow God or fall back into idolatry?  Well, we’ll find out all about it…later.