We’re going to encounter an interesting situation in the next few chapters coming up.
Here’s the situation.
Right now, Joshua is in the process of assigning the land to the 12 tribes.
And recall, in yesterday’s post, how Caleb received his piece of real estate (Hebron and its surrounding territories) with much enthusiasm.
However, afterwards, Joshua wasn’t getting any more takers for the land he was offering.
Why is this?
Well, the answer is because the 12 tribes well understood there was both a positive and negative side to receiving their land inheritance.
Of course, the positive side was they would be receiving their land inheritance per God’s holy command.
However, the negative side was that although God had given them the land, they still had to go out and fight for it (the divine paradox I talked about yesterday).
The thought of having to drive out and kill the Canaanites who were still occupying their territory was causing big-time procrastination.
This brings me to another key point.
Understand that this 2nd generation of Israelites were nomads.
Living in pitched tents was all they had ever known since birth.
They possessed zero experience planting crops and tending to vineyards on a regular basis.
And they had never lived in an area even remotely resembling a city or town.
They were shepherds and herders who used up a piece of land for pasture and then moved on to the next piece of land.
They were used to the lifestyle of the Bedouin who were constantly on the move.
The thought of being tied down to one small area and respecting boundaries and borders was completely foreign to them.
They realized that if they decided to settle down in one area that meant they would also be responsible for having to defend that area from invaders.
See, it’s in the nature of nomads to gather up their flocks and always be moving away from conflict and trouble as opposed to towards it.
At a time when territorial warfare was so common, they were probably the most non-confrontational and laid-back people in the world.
They didn’t want to take on the responsibility of having to care for and defend villages and cities and tend to land and crops.
In fact, the last thing on their mind was conflict and war…
…which leads me to the takeaway of today’s post.
In just a few chapters from now, we’re going to see Joshua calling the Israelite tribes on the carpet for their negligence.
Basically, Joshua’s going to tell them…
“Why the heck are you blowing off occupying the land our God promised us?!?!”
And that’s the point and this is something a lot of people overlook.
The Lord has called all believers to a HOLY WAR to fight to establish His Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.
This is something a lot of the Christian churches with all of their maple syrupy love-infested sermons have a tendency to overlook.
The Bible is much more a war manual than a “love” manual if you really think about it and examine the contents objectively.
I’m not saying God’s love isn’t present in the Scriptures.
Of course it is but it’s only one of His divine attributes.
The God we worship also possesses many other attributes such as justice and righteous anger right along with all of the buttery attributes like mercy and grace the Christian church overemphasizes to an unhealthy degree.
We have to take all of God’s attributes in balance.
Just understand this.
The Lord has called us to be warriors for His Kingdom.
And never forget, when Messiah returns, he is coming back as a warrior, one of the most ferocious warriors the world will have ever seen.
See you all next time.
I realize that this teaching is where a lot of people miss the mark. Those who deny the need for fear of the Lord are deceiving themselves; claiming it only means reverence and respect. Fear means fear most of the time, and it is wise to remember this.