Joshua 13-15

1. Land Still to Be Taken
In this passage, the Lord tells Joshua that the Israelites have not fully obeyed His commands; in particular, they have not conquered the land of the Philistines to the south, and they have not conquered the land of the Sidonians to the north. Now the Lord does promise Joshua that He will drive the Sidonians from their land.

I can understand why the Israelites failed to fully obey the Lord's command for them to completely destroy the inhabitants of the Promised Land. If I were an Israelite at that time, my stomach would have churned at the prospect of having to slay pregnant women, infants, and the elderly. Why the Lord determined that the inhabitants of the Promised Land were beyond redemption is an issue that Christians continue to wrestle with.

2. Division of the Land East of the Jordan
In this passage, the land east of the Jordan is divided among the half-tribe of Manasseh, the tribe of Reuben and the tribe of Gad. Manasseh received a fairly large portion of land that included the former kingdom of Og in Bashan. As for the land that formerly belonged to Sihon king of Heshbon, it was divided between Reuben and Gad. It is noted that Levi did not receive an inheritance.

I wonder if the decision by these tribes to separate themselves from the rest of the Israelites caused friction within Israel. Did the members of these tribes feel a strong bond with the other tribes, or did enmity occasionally bubble to the surface?

3. Division of the Land West of the Jordan
In this passage, it is noted that the Levites were allowed to live in towns; they were also given pasturelands for their flocks and herds. Also, the inheritance of the other nine-and-a-half tribes was determined by casting lots.

4. Hebron Given to Caleb
In this passage, it is noted that Caleb, son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, asked Joshua for the land that the Lord had promised him for his faithfulness 45 years before the writing of this book. Joshua then gave Caleb Hebron as his inheritance.

I definitely enjoyed reading the account of Caleb's acquisition of Hebron - for the obvious reasons. Even though he was 85, he was still raring to drive the Anakites from Hebron and fully claim his inheritance. It is amazing that he still possessed a fighting spirit in his old age - and that he trusted the Lord to carry out the promise that He made 45 years ago.

5. Allotment for Judah
This passage meticulously describes the inheritance of the tribe of Judah. It contains a complete list of the towns that they received - which happened to be in the Negev, the western foothills, the hill country and the desert. It is also noted that Judah could not dislodge the Jebusites from Jerusalem, and so they co-existed at that time. In addition, it is noted that Caleb gave his daughter Acsah in marriage to Othniel son of Kenaz, his brother - since Othniel had captured Kiriath Sepher.

The account of Caleb in this passage was rather humbling, as it appears - based on the note in the sidebar in my NIV Study Bible - that the land that he gave to Acsah and Othniel lacked a source of water. I suppose that we are all forgetful and overlook key details every now and then...

Deuteronomy 30-31

1. Prosperity After Turning to the Lord
Moses knows that the Israelites will turn away from the Lord and be thoroughly cursed, including being forced into exile. Moses then assures them that if they wholeheartedly return to the Lord and follow His ways, He will bless them abundantly regardless of their past sins. Moreover, He will then thoroughly curse their enemies.

2. The Offer of Life or Death
Now Moses tells the Israelites that he has just shown them how to honor the Lord and follow His ways. They did not need to ascend into heaven or cross the sea to determine how to obey God and receive His blessings; he had just told them how to live in that regard. To impress upon them the importance of obeying the Lord, he states that they are essentially choosing between life and death by either obeying or disobeying Him, respectively. Heaven and earth are called as witnesses against the Israelites to ratify their treaty with God and establish Moses' assertion that Israel now had an important decision to make in terms of following Him.

3. Joshua to Succeed Moses
Next Moses tells the Israelites that Joshua would lead them into the Promised Land. He exhorts them to be strong and courageous, as they would be attacking - and defeating - the heathen nations in their path with the Lord's help.

4. The Reading of the Law
Moses then instructs the priests, the sons of Levi and the elders of Israel to read the entire law of the Lord to the assembly of Israel during the (septennial) Feast of Tabernacles. This would ensure that Israel would be continually reminded of its perpetual obligation to live up to its covenant with the Lord.

5. Israel's Rebellion Predicted
Now the Lord tells Moses and Joshua that He knows that the Israelites will fail to live up to their covenant with Him. He would then bring all of His promised curses on them and cause them to remember Him. He tells Moses to teach the Israelites a particular song that would remind them - especially when they had been punished - of His ability and willingness to punish those who forsake Him. The Lord exhorts Joshua to be strong and courageous in leading His people into the Promised Land, since He will be with him. Moses then relays the Lord's prediction of Israel's apostasy to the Levites, telling them that the Book of the Law, heaven and earth would serve as witnesses against them in this regard - especially after the Lord begins to curse them for their disobedience.

6. The Song of Moses
Moses prepares to teach the Israelites the Lord's song of judgment.

Deuteronomy 26-27

The Israelites are about to enter the Promised Land!!

Through Moses, God instructs the Israelites "once you have entered the promised land and settle in it, take the first fruits of your crop and give it as an offering to God." This money shall then be used for the Levites (priests), the fatherless, and the widow "so that they may eat and be satisfied."

God truly cares about taking care of the priests (in our case, pastors, ministers, etc), the fatherless and the widow (poor, hungry, etc).

God then tells them to keep his commandments. In fact, he tells them to write the commandments on a stone. He asks them to build an alter without using iron tools! In fact, he asks them to build it out of fieldstones! Man, that's a lot more work!

Almost ominously, Moses then tells them that the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin will stand on Mount Ebal to bless the people while Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali will pronounce curses. (!)

Then the Levites will pronounce what kinds of curses will befall a member if he commits a series of sins (such as sleeping with your father's wife, setting up idols, leading the blind astray, killing your neighbor, moving a boundary stone, dishonoring parents, immoral sexual relations). He ends with

He ends with the following general statement:

“Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.”
Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”