THROUGH THE BIBLE - Joshua 1..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Well, brothers, sisters and friends, good afternoon. I greet you all in the name of our Lord and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Good to see you all here. I trust and pray that our time together will be time blessed by him, time of rejoicing, time to sit and hear the preaching of his word, a time that we become more intimately known or knowing of our good Saviour Jesus Christ. Pray that you'll bless us as we open up his word. Even now, if you have your Bibles, let's open them up to the book of Joshua. Joshua is the sixth book of the Old Testament, and we're in chapter 19.

We've been working our way through the book as a congregation, and we're in Joshua chapter 19. As always, I will be reading the full chapter together, and then I'll give a brief explanation. Joshua chapter 19, I'll be reading from the ESV translation. The second lot came out for Simeon. for the tribe of the people of Simeon, according to their clans, and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the people of Judah.

They had for their inheritance, Beersheba, Sheba, Molada, Hazar Shoal, Balal, Ezim, El Kalad, Bethul, Horma, Ziklag, Beth, Beth Markoboth, Hazar Soza, Beth Laboth, and Shurehen. Thirteen cities with their villages. Ain, Rimon, Etheb, and Ashan, four cities with their villages, together with all the villages around these cities, as far as Balathbir, Ramah of the Negev. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Simeon according to their clans. The inheritance of the people of Simeon formed part of the territory of the people of Judah, because the portion of the people of Judah was too large for them.

The people of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst. their inheritance. The third lot came up for the people of Zerulun according to their claims and the territories of their inheritance reached as far as Sarit. Then the boundary goes up westward and on to the Maril and touches Dabesheth. Then the brook that is east of Joknim from Sa'di goes in the other direction, eastward towards the sunrise to the boundary of Shislof-Tabor.

From there it goes to Daburath, then up to Japhia. From there it passes along to the east towards the sunrise of Geth-Hefer to Eth-Kesin, and going to the Rimon it bends towards Niyah. Then, on the north boundary, it turns about to Hanothon, and it ends at the valley of Iph-Tahel, and Kata, and Nahalel, and Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem. Twelve cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the people of Zebulun, according to their clans, these cities with their villages.

The fourth lot came out for Issachar. But the people of Issachar, according to their clans, their territory included Jezreel, Shezuloth, Shunim. Haf Rahim, Shiyon, Hanaharat, Rabif, Kishyon, Ebez, Remeth, En Genim, En Hada, Beth Pazez. The boundary also touches Tabur, Shahamuma, and Beth Shemesh. And this boundary ends at the Jordan, 16 cities with their villages.

This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Issachar. According to their clans, their cities with their villages. The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans. Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshath, Alamelech, Amad and Mishal. On the west it touches Karnal and Shikhor Lidnath.

Then it turns eastward, it goes to Beth Dagon and touches Zebulun and the valley of the If-Tahel, northward and Beth Emek and Niel. Then it continues to the north, to Kabul, Ebron, Rehob, Hamon, Qana, as far as Sidon the Great. Then the boundary turns to Ramati, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre. Then the boundary turns to Hoshain, it ends at the sea, Mahalab, Ahzib, Mahan, sorry, Yuma, Afek, and Rehob, 22 cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the tribe, of the people of Asher, according to their clans, these cities with their villages.

The sixth lot came out for the people of Naftali. The people of Naftali, according to their clans, and their boundaries ran from Helef, from the oak in Zananim. and Agimi-Nekeb, and Janil, and as far as the Lakum, and it ended at the Jordan. Then the boundary turns westward to Asnoth-Tabor, and goes from there to Hakok, touching Sibulim at the south, and Asher on the west, and Judah on the east, at the Jordan. The fortified cities are Zidim, Zir, Hamath, Rakath, Shinareth, Adama, Rama, Hazur, Kadesh, Edri, En Hazur, Yiron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath, and Beth Shemesh.

19 cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Nathalie according to their clans, the cities with their villages. The seventh lot came out of the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans, and the territory of its inheritance included the Zora, Eshto'ol, Irshemesh, shalabim, ajilon, iflah, elon, timna, ekron, elteke, gibethon, balath, jehud, beneberek, gathrimon, and mi-jakon, and rakum, with the territories over against Jobar. When the territory of the people of Dan was lost to them, the people of Dan went up and fought against Leshim, and they captured him, striking him with the sword, They took possession of it and settled in it, calling Lashim Dan after the name of Dan, their ancestor. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Dan according to their clans, these cities with their villages.

When they had finished distributing the several territories of land as inheritances, the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua, the son of Nun. By command of the Lord, they gave him the city that he asked, Tinath-serah, in the hill country of Ephraim. And he rebuilt the city and settled in it. These are the inheritance that Eliezer, the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel, distributed by lot at Shiloh, before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

Amen. This is the word of the Lord. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord remains forever. If I was among the people of Israel back in the day, I think they would probably have three words in mind when they're thinking about the contents of Joshua chapter 19, and that would be home at last. Home At last, how long have the people of Israel been waiting for this moment?

This moment when every one of the tribes of the people of Israel finally receive their inheritance, finally receive that which was promised to Father Abraham some 400 years earlier. How much has taken place in that four centuries among these people? You and I know, because we've journeyed with these people. It hasn't taken us 400 years, but in the last four years as a congregation, we've gone chapter by chapter, verse by verse, word by word throughout the Old Testament until we've come here to Joshua chapter 19. So in a way, we have experienced with them, we have witnessed with the people of Israel what they have been through.

And in a sense, from Genesis chapter 12, when the Lord speaks to Abraham, in a sense, from that point on throughout Scripture, not only to here, but all the way through Scripture, the Old Testament and the New, it is a story of the offsprings of Abraham, or probably correctly said, the story of the offspring of Abraham. It culminates in the seed of Abraham, and you know, I believe what I'm getting to. We've seen the ups and the downs. We've seen the experience. We've followed with these people from humble beginnings, when the Lord spoke to Abram, and then changed his name to Abraham, and then Isaac, and then Jacob, and his 12 sons, and then as they went into Egypt, and the captivity in Egypt, the bondage they experienced for so many years, and then the rescuing from Egypt, and the 40 years in the wilderness.

the death, the destruction, the curses that came upon them, finally crossing over the Jordan, and into the conquest, going into battles against the pagan nations, the nations that occupied the land of Canaan, the very land that God said, I am going to give to you, that He promised to Abraham over 400 years earlier. And now, and now they're here. The time has come. And beloved, this is a testimony to the faithfulness of God. The ups and downs in their experiences, and you and I would know, if it came down to their own performance, the performance of the people of Israel, if it came down to their own merits and how well they were obedient, you and I would be the first to say that they would not have received the land, right?

They're murmuring and they're mumbling and they're grumbling and they're breaking of faith. How many times have we read those words? No, no, no, no. This is not a product of their own merits. This is a product of the faithfulness of God.

Because God had given a promise to Abraham. He's a God who fulfils and keeps all his promises. Thus far, up until chapter 18, because chapter 18 and chapter 19 are a collective, they're a unity. Up until chapter 18, we've already seen the distribution of land to five of the tribes. You remember on the Transjordanian tribes, the tribes on the eastern side of the Jordan River?

You remember Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh? That was under the leadership of Moses. And since then we've seen, under the leadership of Joshua, on this side of the Jordan, the western side of the Jordan, we've already seen that the tribes of Judah received their inheritance. that is in the south, and then the sons of Joseph, that is Ephraim, and the half-tribe of Manasseh receive their inheritance. We've seen that thus far up until chapter 18, and then from chapter 18 on, there are seven tribes left who are waiting to receive their inheritance.

Actually, they're not exactly waiting. Joshua sort of pushes them in that direction and tells them, how long are you waiting? So what we see here is in chapter 8, we saw, as our brother took us through last week, we saw that Joshua then instructs three men from every tribe to go and become scouts, if you will, and survey the land. and in surveying the land to divide it up into seven different regions, come back to Joshua with those regions, so that the people will be allowed, that is, the seven tribes will be allowed one region per tribe, so that the result will be, finally, the sons of Jacob will receive their inheritance. No more wandering.

No more wandering as strangers, no more being nomads in the wilderness. There's a sense of permanency, you can feel it here. There's a sense of, we can finally sink our roots, finally. Finally, we can rest. In fact, if you took note of how this section begins, that is the first verse of chapter 18, you would see that there is a strong sense of permanence.

That is to say, up until now they've been nomads, from one place to the other, from one place to the other, not feeling comfortable, not calling any place home. But then you come across verse 1, chapter 18, that reads, Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel ascended at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them. Our brother explained last week the significance of Shiloh, so I'm not going to go back over that ground, but it'll suffice to say here what we see in that verse 1 is the land lay subdued before the people of Israel. The land was occupied with the Canaanites, the nations.

Now the land remained. The only thing that was in between the people of Israel and receiving the land were the occupants. But now the land lays subdued before me. It's ready for the taking. It's ready to be called home, finally.

And also we see in that first verse that the tent of meeting is now set up at Shiloh. And beloved, I'll submit to you, this is the very first time, in their whole wanderings, that the tent of meeting, that is the tabernacle of the Lord, is set up permanently not to be moved again for a very, very long time. You see, the people of Israel always had that sense. We go from one place to another, but we just don't know how long. And in the back of their mind, the words of Numbers chapter nine were ringing always.

This is what they read. At the command of the Lord, the people of Israel set out. And at the command of the Lord, the people, I'm sorry, the command of the Lord, they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle, many days the people of Israel kept the charge to the Lord and did not set out.

Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord, they remained in the camp. And then according to the command of the Lord, they set out. And other times the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out. And if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted, they set out.

Whether it was two days or a month or a longer time, But the cloud continued over the tabernacle. Abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out. But when it lifted, they set out. And at the command of the Lord, they camped, and at the command of the Lord, they set out. All that to say, Israel don't get too comfortable.

All throughout their wanderings, The fact that I was setting up the camp, and setting down the camp, and setting up the camp, and setting down the camp, and going from one place to the other, to another, two days one place, one month another, a little bit longer than another, it didn't matter. The fact of the matter is, Israel is not to get comfortable because you're not quite where the Lord God wants to take you. You're still, you're still sojourners, you're still wanderers, you're still nomads. But now, Now, the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, is set up permanently in that place called Silo. And in fact, it'll remain there for over three centuries, well over three centuries.

Israel, you're finally home. Yahweh is permanently to walk among you as your God, and you're gonna be His people, as He promised in Leviticus chapter 26, if you obey. You've finally gone to receive the land, the inheritance that He had promised Father Abraham, and you've been longing for all these years. Israel, it's time. It's time to get comfortable.

This is permanent. But don't mess it up. Don't mess it up, Israel. That's the thing with the Old Covenant. It could be messed up.

But giving up the land was unconditional. God made a promise to Abraham. And he said, your descendants will receive a land. He took him to the mountain. He showed them the land.

He said, they'll receive it. They'll go through bondage for a while, but they're going to receive it. God keeps his promise. Here's the thing, to keep that land, to continue to be blessed, by the immediate presence of God, the manifest presence of God, and to retain that land and to enjoy the blessings that He bestows upon them, that would depend upon the faithfulness of the people. Remember the big ifs in the old covenant.

If, if, if. Retaining the blessing in the old covenant was contingent upon obedience. You see, the land wasn't given to the people of Israel simply that they will be a people with the land. God wasn't so much interested to say, look, I'm going to plug you out here. I'm going to make someone, I'm going to make a nation out of Abraham.

I'm going to give you a land so you can enjoy one another, play your sports and hobbies. That was not the intention of the Lord. But rather, by giving them a land, that will be a people, secure a nation with the land so that there will be a light to the nations. that would glorify the only true God, the God of the universe, and that would be the envy of all the nations, that would look upon these people and say, how wise is their God? How great is their God?

How powerful is their God? How gracious is their God? How loving is their God? We need to know their God. We need to know this God.

It was said there would be a people carrying the name of the only true God. That inheritance was to glorify Him. That inheritance was to be used for matters of righteousness, not unrighteousness. In fact, in a couple of chapters time, When Joshua sends the fighting men that are from the Transjordanian tribes, you know, the tribes over the Jordan, the only reason they were still with the people of Israel, the whole congregation, was because they were required to fight with their brothers until they occupied the land, the inheritance, for the other nine and a half tribes. And once they accomplished that, then they were going to be sent back to their families, back to their inheritance, to enjoy the land, to enjoy their families.

to go back and enjoy the blessing of God over the Jordan. And Joshua, in a couple of chapters time, will actually send them back. In fact, it's in a couple of chapters time, chapter 22, but this could have all happened in the one day, according to my reading. Listen to what he says when he sends them back. He sends them back with a warning.

He says, and now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers as he promised them. Therefore, turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you on the other side of the Jordan. Only, only, be very careful. Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to count with me the verbs. Be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you.

To love the Lord your God and to walk in all of His ways and to keep His commandments and to cling to Him and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. You're going to go back to the inheritance, to the land that God has promised and He's giving you. But don't think for a moment you're going to go back and do your own thing. The disposition of your lives and everything you do in that inheritance ought to have God, the only true God, Yahweh, front and center. His word, His law, His love ought to be in your heart and your heart should be disposed to loving Him.

His law is before your eyes. His righteousness is how you ought to live, cling to Him, serve Him. The reason why I believe Joshua is saying that is this, because it's not that the land or the inheritance is the true blessing of the covenant that He made with Abraham, but it is God Himself who is the treasure of the covenant. God is the treasure of the covenant. Don't go back there and think it's the land.

Don't go back there and start to plant and enjoy and build. That's good and all, but don't take your eyes off God himself, because God is the treasure, not the parcel of land. The parcel of land. All the blessings, the protection, the safety, the security, the comfort, and indeed the rest, all hinge upon God Himself. If God dwells among you, if His presence is among you, if He's with you, if He's near to you, you'll enjoy all the blessings from His hands.

But if you reject Him, you will reject also all the blessings that come from Him. Don't pursue the blessings. Pursue the God of the covenant. Love Him, honour Him, obey Him. Not a word about the land.

Everything Joshua warned these men is God would. Know your treasure. So how did they go, beloved? For these people here in Joshua chapter 19, it's still future tense. They're still looking forward.

They're all excited and giddy that they're getting this land, and why would they not be? But for you and I, we're 21st century Christians and the Lord has been pleased to give us his word. We read the book. So my question to you is, how did they go? Remember this covenant, this contingent upon obedience.

How did they go? You know, as we read through chapter 19, As I said, it starts in chapter 18, really the last portion, Benjamin's alignment. But as you walk through, you can't but help to notice some of the names of the cities. If those names didn't ring a bell in your mind, and I apologize, maybe I didn't pronounce them as well as I should have, that would be on me. But there are some names of cities in here that might have just rung bells in your mind, and that will answer the question on I'm asking, how did they go?

Because I'm pretty sure when you read through and those cities came to mind, it's probably they came to mind not because of the good things that were done, but more the bad, more the unrighteousness that took place in the land that the Lord had blessed them with. Let me give you a few examples. Back in the latter portion of chapter 18, actually in verse 28, we come across a name, name of a town or a city called Gibeah. It's in the allotment of Benjamin. Gibeah.

Now, if that name hasn't rung the bell, it's okay. We're in Joshua. The next book is Judges. When we get to Judges, you'll hear that name, Gibeah. And in fact, the atrocity that the men of Benjamin what they commit in that place called Gibeah, the evil wickedness.

It's almost difficult to even speak from this pulpit, the sort of things that took place. In fact, the tribe of Benjamin almost faced extinction as a result of the level of depravity and the judgment that came upon them. That's Gibeah. Let me give you another one. Verse 18 of chapter 19, you heard the place called Jezreel.

Jezreel, you've heard that name before in Isaaca. Now that name doesn't ring a bell, that's okay, but I hope Naboth does. Naboth's vineyard, I'm hoping. Remember the story? Nebof was a Jezreelite.

I shouldn't have gone there. He's from the place Jezreel. His vineyard was in Jezreel. And you might remember Jezebel, King Ahab's wife, the conspiracy that she did, or she planned for murder. She accomplished that.

And it's in Jezreel that the land cries out because innocent blood was spilled in that place. At the highest level, we're talking in royalty, That's what took place in Israel. And the inheritance that God had given them to obey Him, to love Him, to cling to Him, to honour Him, to walk in His ways. Let me give you one more for good measure. There's many there.

Carmel in verse 26. That might not ring a bell in your mind. It's under the inheritance given to Asher. It's okay if Carmel doesn't ring a bell, but I hope Mount Carmel does. place where Elijah went toe-to-toe with the prophets of Baal.

You remember that. Israel was so steeped. Israel was so steeped in pagan idolatrous worship and even the king Ahab at that point in time was so steeped in idolatrous worship. They were told to look the guy, to love him, to walk in his ways. The very first commandment is and the other guides before them.

And here they are, worshipping and erecting altars and statues to Baal and Ashtoreth and you name it. Syncretism was taking place in the land that the Lord had given them. That is, they get the guides of the pagans, they bring them in and they start to worship them as well as the God Yahweh, the only true God. So I ask again, how did they go in keeping the covenant? They messed up.

They messed up. Sure. And it's right that right now, as we read through Joshua, we see that they have received the inheritance that they've been waiting for so many, so many centuries. And sure, as we read on, we will hear the word rest come up a few times as well, that they'll really enjoy a few years of rest here and a few years of rest there. But it wasn't perpetual rest.

It wasn't eternal rest. It wasn't long-lasting rest for the soul. Because that type of rest is rooted in an intimate love relationship with God and God alone. That rest comes only, only, beloved, if we're in right standing with God. If He dwells among us and with us, and we with Him.

It only comes if the heart is being circumcised. It only comes, according to the Old Covenant, if the people were perfectly obedient to His covenant. And let me tell you something, the Old Covenant was unable to achieve it. The Old Covenant was unable to change the hearts. The Old Covenant couldn't do that.

The law of God is good, and all that God does is good, but the Old Covenant couldn't do that. He couldn't change the heart. It couldn't render to God what God is worthy of. Wholehearted love for God, with all heart and soul and mind. He couldn't do that.

People need a better covenant. If this is not going to recur over and over again, a better covenant has to be established. Because the Old Covenant couldn't bring forth the rest for the soul, that eternal, everlasting rest. Or if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

What you saw in the old covenant and what you see as we move on, that people enjoyed 40 years of rest and 30 years of rest and all these portions of rest, that's not the rest that God intended for his people. There's a true rest to come. Joshua led the people of Israel to what was a temporal rest. He was tied up in a shadow of the true Joshua. The true salvation of God, the one who leads true Israel, not to a temporal rest, but a perpetual, eternal, everlasting rest.

I said earlier, the rest only comes when God is your God and you are His people. You see, the rest of the people of Israel, even the temporal rest, was predicated upon the favor of God. That when God dwelt among them, He was their God, He was their protection, He was their security, He was their rest. Do you remember that time when God departed? Do you remember that time at Hai when God said, I'm not going with you into battle?

What happened then? Remember that time in Numbers chapter 13 or 14, I don't recall, when God said, go into the land. The spies came back with a bad report. And then there's only two spies that came back with a good report. Joshua and Caleb.

And the people said, we're not going. And then they wanted to stone Joshua. They're not going. We're not going. And God said, then you will all die in the wilderness.

And then the next day, they mourned all night. And the next day, they said, we'll go. We'll go. God says, he's not going with you. Don't be silly.

Don't go on your own. You go on your own. You'll be defeated. Have it on your own. And what happened?

Horrible defeat. The protection of the people of God, the comfort, the security, the joy, the rest comes from God Himself. Without Him, there is nothing. Without Him, there's nothing, beloved. Too often, even now, too often, In modern day Christianity, the pursuit is after the thing, it's after the benefits.

No, don't pursue the benefits. Pursue the God in whom all the benefits are found. Pursue the Saviour in whom all the spiritual blessings in the heavenlies are found, including assurance of your salvation, if that's where you suffer. Whatever benefit there is that your soul longs for, assuming it's a spiritual God-given benefit, you're not gonna find it by pursuing it. You'll only find it by pursuing God himself.

Only, only by pursuing God. So how is it, how is it as New Testament Christians that we hear about the Old Testament and the presence of God, the manifest presence of God in the tabernacle was the blessedness of the people of Israel? As I said, on many occasions, the true blessing of the Old Covenant was that He will be their God, Yahweh will be their God, and that will be His people. The true blessing was that God is among us, God is leading us, God is guiding us, God is taking us to where we need to be. God is with us when it's the blessing of the New Covenant.

And the Word became flesh and he tabernacled among us. The true presence of God is no longer a shiloh. It's no longer in Jerusalem, it's not in the tabernacle, it's no longer in the temple, it is in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. And he says as much. Because he calls out and he says, come, come.

Come unto me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you what? Rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly of heart, and you'll find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. The treasure is God.

God is known only through Jesus Christ. And it's only through Christ. It's only if you apprehend him by faith that you've come to know the rest. Because Jesus paid it all. That covenant that was a dismal failure of the people of Israel.

You and I, if we were taken back, we would have failed just as badly. What does it take for the only true God, the Holy God, one who lives in unapproachable life, what does it take for Him to dwell among His people? We learned that lesson as we went through the book of Leviticus, you remember that. The only people that can remain in the camp of God, the only people that can remain in the same place as the tabernacle of God, or even further, where the ark of the covenant is, where the pure and the holy, the complete and the whole. You remember that.

You believe it, you're out. You're sinful, you're out. You don't stay. Because nothing that is unworthy can stay in the presence of God. He is displeased with sin.

and unrighteousness. But Christ is the only one who fulfilled all the demands of the covenant and all the ones the Father had given Him. And with Christ's life and only in Christ's life is the smile of the Father continual for all eternity. He is the pleasure of the Father. And only those who by faith are united in Jesus Christ become also the pleasure of the Father because of the merits of Jesus Christ.

God is made known through his Son. His presence dwells with his people through his Son. And the rest that I hope you long for and I long for is found only in his Son. Have you found the rest?