10/20/2009 7:22 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: First
assignment: Two and a half tribes
east of the Jordan
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Joshua 13:7-33
Message of the verses: I will not copy and paste the verses in this
SD because of the length of them.
As Dr.
Wiersbe moves into this chapter in his book he covers a great deal of the book
of Joshua, actually chapters thirteen through twenty-one in this one chapter of
“Be Strong.” The Promised Land is
divided up among the tribes of Israel
in from two different places, the first being at Gilgal and the second is at Shiloh, which is the second main division in this chapter
of “Be Strong.” Perhaps it was because
Shiloh was more in the middle of Israel that Joshua moved there to
finish the division of the land. It is
important to note that the Levites were not assigned any of the land like the
rest of the tribes, because they were to assist the priest and they were also
to give out the Word of God to the other tribes throughout the land of Israel.
This was a fulfillment of prophecy given by Jacob in the latter chapters
of Genesis. Simenon would eventually
become a part of Judah
and thus loose their identify as a tribe, which was also prophesied by
Jacob. I believe it was these two
brothers who had taken revenge on one of the Canaanite nations because of what
happened to their sister, for she was raped by a Canaanite and he then wanted
to marry her.
Dr. Wiersbe
points out concerning the division of the land that “there were four main
stages in the distribution of the land; and in each of those stages, you will
find spiritual lessons for God’s people today who want to enjoy their spiritual
inheritance in Christ.” Now the first
lesson is a lesson about the two and a half tribes that had already received
their inheritance, which was on the East side of the Jordan
River. Dr. Wiersbe writes
of this situation saying, “we’ll learn that while their choice may have been
good for their cattle, it created serious problems for their children.” It was because these tribes raised cattle and
the land on the East side of the Jordan was good for raising cattle that they
wanted that land which had already been conquered by Moses earlier.
I will now
quote the lesson to be learned from this section from “Be Strong”: “Lesson
#1. Don’t become a ‘borderline
believer.’ Enter into the inheritance
God appoints for you and rejoice in it.
‘He will choose our inheritance for us, the excellence of Jacob whom He
loves’ (Ps. 47:4, NKJV). The will of God
is the expression of the love of God and is always the best for us.”
One more
thing I want to mention from this section of Scripture and that is the mention
of Balaam in verses 22-23 of Joshua 13.
Balaam was a man who was paid to curse Israel, but God would not allow
it, and he had to bless Israel, but Balaam’s sin was to influence the people of
Moab to entice the children of Israel to come to one of their religious feasts
and the men of Israel came back with foreign wives and this caused a great deal
of trouble for Israel. Reuben was the
tribe from Israel
who received land from the Moabite people after Moses battled and won a victory
over them. Moab
is mentioned in Genes as Lot had incest wit both of his daughters and Moab
was the result of one of these relationships.
Moab
is also where Ruth comes from and is in the bloodline of Christ.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I need to be a whole hearted believer, not a
borderline believer, for I cannot live with one foot in the world and one foot
as a believer, for that will never work.
Whole hearted is what I need to be!
My Steps of Faith for
Today:
- Not be a borderline believer.
- Give myself to the Lord for worship and service today.
- Trust the Lord to guide my path today.
- Trust the Lord to continue to teach me contentment, and for me to learn contentment.
- Put on the spiritual armor today.
- Think on things above and pray that Roy Wills will do the same.
10/20/2009 8:12 AM
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