2019.03.06 Hopewell @Home ▫ Joshua 18-19

Read Joshua 18-19

Questions for Littles: Who are gathered at Shiloh in Joshua 18:1? What do they set up there? What has been done to the land? What does Joshua 18:2 say still needs to happen? With what question does Joshua challenge them in Joshua 18:3? What command does he give them in Joshua 18:4? Which tribes are already the southern and northern “bookends” of Israel (Joshua 18:5)? Once the land is divided into seven parts, how will it be decided which tribe gets which part (Joshua 18:6)? Before Whom is the lot cast? Who is the first to be mentioned that they will not get one of these seven regions in Joshua 18:7? Why not—what do they get instead? Who else do not get one of these seven regions? Why not? Who gave their inheritance to them? What command is given a third time in Joshua 18:8? To whom, specifically, is it given this time? What process does Joshua 18:9 summarize? What happened after this process in Joshua 18:10? Whose lot came up first (Joshua 18:11)? Second (Joshua 19:1)? Third (Joshua 19:10)? Fourth (Joshua 19:17)? Fifth (Joshua 19:24)? Sixth (Joshua 19:32)? Seventh (Joshua 19:40)? Who else receives an inheritance in Joshua 19:49? How was this inheritance selected (Joshua 19:50)? Where and in front of whom were these inheritances divided (Joshua 19:51)?

In this week’s Old Testament reading, although not all of the Canaanites have been driven out, the war is over. The land is subdued. The problem is that there are seven tribes that have not yet received their inheritance.

Surprisingly, Joshua tells them that it is their fault. His triple-repeated command to survey the land and identify the borders of seven regions carries with it the implication that this is something that they should have done by now. The first repetition is the strongest, “How long will you neglect…?”

In other words, since God has promised it to them, faith would have acted upon that promise, and their inaction is actually indicative of some measure of unbelief.

Of course, although faith acts, its hope is not in its action but in the Lord upon the basis of whose Word the action is taken, and before Whom the action is taken, and unto Whom the actors look for the blessing of the action.

That’s the point of the casting of lots—not that it is random… in fact, exactly the opposite! All of this is done before the Lord. In this particular case, it is done at the tabernacle. That place of intersection between God and man. That place that John 1 tells us was ultimately fulfilled when the Word became flesh and tabernacle among us!

What has Jesus earned for you to receive? What has Jesus earned to be done to you first in order to receive it? What are Jesus’s means by which He does this for you? From where do you receive your instruction for doing these things? Before Whom do you do these things? Unto whom do you look for their blessing? What does all of that look like?

Suggested songs: ARP119B “How Can a Young Man Cleanse His Way?” or TPH433 “Amazing Grace”