Joshua 19 - 21 (28th Mar) - Jason

“The Lord is giving you rest and has granted you this land”
- Joshua 1: 13

Joshua 19

The land was divided amongst the Israelites tribe by tribe.

Joshua 20

The Lord spoke to Joshua to set up ‘safehouses’ for people fleeing the avenger of blood because of accidental or unintentional killing. Such a person is to stay in protective custody of the town elders until he is able to stand trial.

Joshua 21

The Levites receive free housing and pasture for their herds sponsored by the other tribes as instructed by the Lord through Moses. The service of the Lord was the Levite’s inheritance, as they were well provided for regardless of physical inheritance.

v42 “Each of these towns had pasturelands surrounding it.”
v44: “The Lord gave them rest on each side, just as He had sworn to their forefathers.”
V45: “Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”

I was pondering about the identity of God in John 1:1 (“in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God.”) and realized that God’s identity was seen in His word. And that if He promises something, He’ll make sure He’ll get it done.

We’ll know that He is Lord when we see His word come true in our lives not only when God answers our prayers, but as the Israelites came to know, the character of God was beyond a promise. It was beyond the physical land, as time and time again God delivered nation after nation to them. It was that living relationship where God spoke to his people through Joshua. In short, God’s promise must be lived out.

Today as we go about our daily lives, I’m sure God has a promise for our lives, but it takes a step out in faith to be bold and courageous like Joshua and the Israelites did to see those promises fulfilled. Where rest in Joshua 1: 13 means having a spiritual direction in life and not having to worry about the end point. To borrow Pastor Khong’s words also borrowed from Einstein “we live in a world of perfected means, but confused endings”.

Today, let us rest on God’s purpose for our lives.