Faith is The Opposite of Fear
November 2, 2019
Commentary
Although women did not traditionally inherit property in the Israelite society, Moses put justice ahead of tradition and gave the women the land they deserved (Num. 27:1-11). Now, it is interesting to see how Joshua is carrying out this law (vv. 4-5). It is easy to refuse to honor a reasonable request because “things have not been done this way before.” But like Moses and Joshua it is best to look carefully at the purpose of the law before deciding.
Notice two contrasting attitudes toward the distribution of the promised land. Caleb took what God gave him and moved ahead to fulfill God’s plan for him (14:12). He was confident that God would help him drive out the wicked inhabitants and that he would soon fully occupy the land given to him (15:14-15). In contrast, the two tribes of Joseph were given rich land and lots of it, but they were afraid to drive out the inhabitants and take full possession of it. Instead, they begged for more land. Caleb’s request was motivated by faith, whereas that of the Josephites stemmed from fear. The purpose, however, of this episode may well be to alert the Israelites to the fact that the tribes had to act in courageous faith if they were to possess the Promised Land.
Application
The Lord has spiritual land for me to occupy if I am faithful and not fearful. The more knowledge I have the more responsible I become as His steward.
Joshua 17:1– 18 (NET)
1 The tribe of Manasseh, Joseph’s firstborn son, was also allotted land. The descendants of Makir, Manasseh’s firstborn and the father of Gilead, received land, for they were warriors. They were assigned Gilead and Bashan. 2 The rest of Manasseh’s descendants were also assigned land by their clans, including the descendants of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph by their clans.
3 Now Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Makir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 They went before Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders and said, “The Lord told Moses to assign us land among our relatives.” So Joshua assigned them land among their uncles, as the Lord had commanded. 5 Manasseh was allotted ten shares of land, in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan east of the Jordan, 6 for the daughters of Manasseh were assigned land among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh.
7 The border of Manasseh went from Asher to Micmethath, which is near Shechem. It then went south toward those who live by En Tappuah. 8 (The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah, located on the border of Manasseh, belonged to the tribe of Ephraim.) 9 The border then descended southward to the Valley of Kanah. Ephraim was assigned cities there among the cities of Manasseh, but the border of Manasseh was north of the valley and ended at the sea. 10 Ephraim’s territory was to the south, and Manasseh’s to the north. The sea was Manasseh’s western border and their territory touched Asher on the north and Issachar on the east. 11 Within Issachar’s and Asher’s territories Manasseh was assigned Beth Shean, Ibleam, the residents of Dor, the residents of Endor, the residents of Taanach, the residents of Megiddo, the three of Napheth, and the towns surrounding all these cities. 12 But the men of Manasseh were unable to conquer these cities; the Canaanites managed to remain in those areas. 13 Whenever the Israelites were strong militarily, they forced the Canaanites to do hard labor, but they never totally conquered them.
14 The descendants of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you assigned us only one tribal allotment? After all, we have many people, for until now the Lord has enabled us to increase in number.” 15 Joshua replied to them, “Since you have so many people, go up into the forest and clear out a place to live in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaites, if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you.” 16 The descendants of Joseph said, “The whole hill country is inadequate for us, and the Canaanites living down in the valley in Beth Shean and its surrounding towns and in the Valley of Jezreel have chariots with iron-rimmed wheels.” 17 Joshua said to the family of Joseph—to both Ephraim and Manasseh: “You have many people and great military strength. You will not have just one tribal allotment. 18 The whole hill country will be yours; though it is a forest, you can clear it, and it will be entirely yours. You can conquer the Canaanites, though they have chariots with iron-rimmed wheels and are strong.”
Illustration: Destroying the enemy is important
At the time of this writing our daily news casts are being dominated by what is happening in Iraq. Almost daily our soldiers and innocent Iraqi people are being killed with suicide bombs, land mines, rocket propelled grenades, and various types of weapons. Approximately six months ago we declared war on Iraq and within a few days our troops marched on Bagdad and the other major cities of the country. Although Saddam Hussein (their dictator for many years) was not found and no one signed a peace treaty, our President declared the war over. Since then our troops have remained in the country to try to establish law and order and help develop a new democratic type government. However, on a daily basis our soldiers are being killed by what is thought to still be former leaders and soldiers of Saddam Hussein and perhaps aided by terrorist from the Al-Qa’ida network. The reason this is happening is because the enemy has not been completely destroyed and it appears this will continue indefinitely unless we can come up with a way to search and destroy the enemy completely. (Lou Nicholes, Joshua, Conquest of the Promised Land, 2004).