Well, I invite you to turn tonight to Joshua chapter 13. Now, if you are visiting tonight, we are in really the heart of this study, and we're taking a giant leap from chapters 13 to 19 in one sermon. So just be ready. We'll be here till midnight. I want to warn you right now, it's going to be a long, long night. I don't, you don't really believe that. So this is going to be a it's not going to be a long sermon, but we're going to look at some of the themes that are highlighted in this. You'll notice here there are a lot of names in these sections that are given here of and think of, again, how important this would have been for Israel as the land allotments came to the tribes. And that is all here for you. And I think this gives us an encouragement as we're reading through the scriptures. I hope I'm probably not setting the best of examples here. You should read through all of this. It's important to read through all of this. But you also want to notice as you're reading through it, the things that stand out. There may be 50 names and they mean absolutely nothing to you. But then the Lord throws something in there that is intended to stand out. And there's a purpose in that, something very important. So I encourage all of you, when you're reading Leviticus or you're reading something like this, look for those things and think about the meaning of those things. and tonight we're going to be considering a few different passages together so if you have your bibles open we'll begin in chapter 13 then we'll turn over to 14 and look at a few other verses beginning at 13.1 this is found on page 222 now joshua was old and advanced in years and the lord said to him you are old and advanced in years and there remains yet very much land to possess this is the land that yet remains all the regions of the philistines and of those of the gesherites and from sihor which is east of egypt northward to the boundary of ekron it is counted as canaanite there are five rulers of the philistines those of gaza ashdod ashkelon gath and ekron and those of the avim in the south all the land of the canaanites and merah that belongs to the Sidonians to Aphek to the boundaries of the Amorites and the land of the Gebelites and all Lebanon toward the sunrise from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephath Maim even all the Sidonians I myself will drive them out from before the people of Israel notice there's there's one only a lot the land to israel for an inheritance as i have commanded you now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half tribe of manasseh now turn over to um chapter 14 verse 6 then the people of judah came to joshua at gilgal and caleb the son of jephunneh the kenizzite said to him you know what the lord said to moses the man of god in kadesh barnea concerning you and me i was 40 years old when moses the servant of the lord sent me from kadesh barnea to spy out the land and i brought him word again as it was in my heart but my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt yet i wholly followed the lord my god and moses swore on that day saying surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever because you have wholly followed the lord my god and now behold the lord has kept me alive just as he said these 45 years since that the time that the lord spoke this word to moses while israel walked in the wilderness and now behold i am this day 85 years old i am still as strong today as i was in the day that moses sent me my strength now is as my strength was then for war and for going and coming so now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there with great fortified cities it may be that the Lord will be with me and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said then Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day because he wholly followed the Lord the God of Israel now the name of Hebron was formerly formerly was Kiriath Arba Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim and the land had rest from war and now turn over to 18 verse 7 the Levites have no portion among you for the priesthood of the lord is their heritage and now turn over to 20 i'm sorry 19 verse 49 when they had finished distributing the several territories of the 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 timnath sarah in the hill country of ephraim and he built the city and settled in it these are the inheritances that eliza the priest and joshua the son of none and the heads of the father's 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 and there will end the reading of god's word well there are obviously a lot of ways we could go with this tonight and a lot of different directions there's a lot of things here to think about and to emphasize where do we even begin with a section like this um land allotments i mean this is what you wanted to come to tonight for sunday evening worship to hear about right land allotments in israel why does this matter why is this important and this is extremely important for a few different reasons you might take one of the first reasons that this is important it has to do with the way that many have interpreted the whole bible when it comes to this subject this has been a big subject of interpretation for for people in our times especially dispensationalists and many premillennialists what is believed by them is that god still has to fulfill many of the promises with regard to the land made to national israel well here's what joshua is saying to us god fulfilled it god fulfilled the land promises to national israel that's really important that's very important in fact in uh chapter 21 he's going to say that all that the lord promised regarding the land he fulfilled and he gave to you so so to hold out a a temple an earthly temple and an earthly land for israel national israel undermines everything that joshua is saying here especially in that last little verse so they finished dividing the land so they got the land and that's a very important point that we don't want to miss tonight but i think in the heart of this and what makes this a little bit complex is that we don't want to miss in this the larger picture for us there's a important picture that is given to us here in types and in shadows that the lord will be faithful to give us the land the land that was promised to abraham now you should know by now something that hebrews said that's very important all of this captures for us an earthly sign or an earthly picture of the heavenly reality to come i hope i've made that case so far and that's the tension in this in this section for us that ultimately this is not the land that Abraham was looking for. That's what Hebrews said so plainly, didn't it? Remember what Hebrews says, just so you hear it afresh. If they had been thinking of that land, that's what we just read. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, then they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country. Think about that. A heavenly one. What that means is, then, that what we have captured for us is a picture of heavenly things. That just as the tabernacle in Hebrews was constructed according to the pattern on the mountain, That tabernacle was to teach them about heavenly realities. The earthly land taught us about the giving of the heavenly land. And that's why I think it's helpful tonight to keep that in mind and to keep the big picture that is in front of us because the New Testament works with this theme all over the place. You know how many times it keeps saying inheritance to you in the New Testament, New Covenant. It all has to do with this. So what we're going to look at then tonight is the receiving of this earthly inheritance. We'll consider a bit of the heavenly one and then a few surprising, as I'm trying to help you to read the scriptures, encouragements along the way in this section that were meant to teach us things that were important to the Lord in the receiving of these promises. Caleb and the Levites, particularly who I have in mind. So here's where we want to begin with tonight is what I read in Psalm 16 as we began this service. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Surely I have a good inheritance. You are my chosen portion in my lot. Notice in the heart of that psalm was a statement that the land distributing, the land distributions and the giving of the lines of the land and where we are supposed to dwell eternally, that that beautiful truth is the Lord is the ultimate portion for us we'll come back to that but I want to hold that out up front because that's what was celebrated in psalm 16 and had I been on my my game this week I would have picked that for tonight but I wasn't so um notice here tonight in verses chapter 13 describes the the land given to Reuben and Gad and Manasseh that's where we ended the reading there and then in chapter 15 we have described the land given to judah and then in chapter 16 and 17 we have the land given to ephraim and manasseh and then chapters 18 and 19 the land to the final seven tribes that is the quickest sermon i could ever give right there that's all of it and it ends in chapter um in verse chapter 19 verse 51 so they made an end of dividing the country the land now maybe it's important to say here that this helps that there are a few other things that are emphasized in this to say there are problems here there are problems here um you'll notice over and over if you were to read this and and this is a good assignment can i give an assignment go through and read this next week and tell me what you what you saw in there that stood out to you that was rather surprising one of the things that kept standing out to me was the fact of the struggle of israel to drive out the rest of the people chapter 13 begins this new section of the book and joshua begins by saying now moses my servant is dead that's what that's what chapter joshua began with this section begins by saying the same thing now joshua to show the section break joshua is old and advanced in in age so chapter one began now moses my servant is dead chapter 13 begins now joshua is old and advanced in age signaling a clear break now as the land is distributed and god rehearses all this land now that still needs to be possessed what he's essentially saying is is that while the kings of Canaan had been defeated and their land was conquered there remained many occupants there that needed to be driven out that was a huge issue for the book of Judges it sets up the book of Judges if you will when the Lord was rehearsing all this land and a promise is made in verse 6 the Lord says something interesting I will drive them out from the children of Israel but attention remains here the lord will fulfill what he promised to give them the land but israel would fail to cleanse the land themselves old covenant shows their disobedience to this they break the covenant with regard to this the the mosaic covenant with regard to this and that's why again i think it's important to see the contrast of abraham and moses here i think that's important so problems are dispersed throughout these chapters take um joshua 15 verse 63 but the jebusites the inhabitants of jerusalem the people of judah could not drive out so the jebusites dwell with the people of judah jerusalem to this day or joshua 17 verse 12 um let the people the people of manasseh could not take possession of those cities but the canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land now when the people of israel grew strong they put the canaanites to forced labor but they did not utterly drive them out problem you see why this had to be temporary they're still enemies they're still enemies in the land and the land wasn't fully cleansed this way and that's what you get in judges chapter one with manasseh and ephraim and zebulun and ashtar and naphtali the angel of the lord came and said i told you not to make any covenant with them and tear down their altars but you've not obeyed my voice therefore i said to you i will not drive them out before you but they shall be thorns on your side and their god shall be a snare to you and they wept now what we have embedded in all this as wonderful as this all is is that israel will break this covenant and it's a reminder to us again this was not what abraham looked for this was not what abraham looked for the land had not been fully cleansed that's what abraham looked for that's why he was on a war path in chapter 14 he understood this principle of genesis but what this section does want to teach us is something that i think is helpful for us because you might sit here so what does this have to do with us in the new covenant and what it does help us with is anticipating what jesus will do when all the final enemies the last enemies the enemy even of death is finally put on under his feet when he comes again and the kingdom that has been prepared from the foundation of the world the heavenly land is given to you that's what we're looking for and that's what revelation 21 and 22 celebrates beloved the end of the bible this is really a theology of land we're looking at here um revelation says in the new heavens and the new earth so beautiful you can go back and read it there will be nothing that enters the land that ever defiles again you know how wonderful that's going to be no more death no more murder no more evil no more rebellion against god no more sin all of it gone that's what you should want that's what we should look for so you see how important this is while this tension remains to wait for the coming of christ as we study joshua the lord wants us to see a picture in it picture something beautiful the receiving of the heavenly inheritance well that's why this is so special it's an inheritance notice that's emphasized if you go through this how many times an inheritance is is emphasize what is an inheritance boys and girls it's a gift it's a possession it's something that's handed down to you it's not something that's earned i think that's what's wonderful about an inheritance isn't it when you receive an inheritance maybe some of you anticipate receiving some kind of inheritance as you know it can be wonderful blessing in life when inheritance are given to you it's meant to be a blessing to you from parents well it's not quite like that but kind of you understand when god made the promise to abraham he made it unconditionally i'm not speaking about conditioned conditions with regard to what jesus had to fulfill jesus had conditions for you it was unconditional you need to hear that God always intended to give you the land unconditionally to give you a gift to give you an inheritance don't fear little flock it's my father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom you could never merit it it's God's gift to you remember the first thing god said that abraham in genesis 15 come here no genesis 12 in his call come to me come abraham to a land that i'll show you it wasn't this one and how beautiful this is one author makes a really good point though any biblical theology of land begins not with abraham it begins in the garden of eden how good is our god well what did sin do sin barred you from the land when we were kicked out because of sin the angel put put up a flaming sword and said you can't are here anymore you had no access to glory you had no access to heaven you had no access to god you lost his presence we were kicked out all of us and this is the sad reality of the human race that all of us have been wandering about in this world trying to find a way back trying to find meaning to life trying to find a purpose trying to find a place trying to find identity trying to find find find that's what the our babble was all about we'll get back and all the sadness and confusion was a result of our alienation from god and that it was his good pleasure of his will to give you christ and to bring you back to the land to bring us back home to give us a good inheritance is what we should see in these chapters is god's faithfulness and the kind of god he is who desires to give us a homeland you know that's what everyone wants right now that's why everyone's fighting in america all about a homeland really we want a land we want peace within our borders we don't want war anymore we want prosperity we want happiness the whole story of the bible can be compressed into these in a very simple theme this way that the theme of creation lost and creation regained in christ who gives us a land gives us a homeland gives us a people gives us a place what imagery here notice all the people of god together i love the imagery of this when you think about it all the people of god dispersed throughout the kingdom together given a place in the land which is spacious you know um the new testament takes this and says this is what jesus has done for you where do i even begin maybe this helps you to sort of put it together tonight but when you think of this one word every time you hear it in the new testament in the new covenant you should think of joshua and think of what this is all teaching you it's that word inheritance we have obtained in christ an inheritance that the father has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Colossians 1, Ephesians 1, Hebrews 9. Christ is the mediator of the new covenant so that those who are called may receive the promise inheritance. 1 Peter 1. This is as good as it gets. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of god through faith for salvation ready to be revealed at the last time now i think that's intended to be a great great encouragement to us that we have the inheritance i remember years ago preaching on heavenly mindedness and somebody came up well how does that how does that really apply to me right now it applies in every way what are you living for abraham looked for the city that has foundations whose builder and maker is god that drove his life that drove his life that's what all this is capturing of what's coming for us and i think what the author does here at this point in the midst of all this what joshua does is sort of capture for us a few snapshots spotlights to encourage us to help us with the greater themes of what does it matter what what matters to the lord when it comes to our receiving of this of this great inheritance what matters to the lord and i think um one of the great figures here that stands out that you couldn't miss in the midst of all these names you get a little narrative section and it is caleb isn't it uh it's a chapter 14 is really devoted to caleb in honor of caleb why was caleb so important well he's a kind of it's a kind of hebrews 11 moment really he could have made it right into hebrews 11 you'll notice here in this section this is these these two figures are given two spotlights are given to encourage us in in our response to this should be our response to this notice here caleb comes to joshua and says verse 6 and following i was a spy and brought word back but my brothers made the heart of the people melt it's verse 8 now everyone listen to verse 9 of joshua 14 yet i wholly followed the lord my god and moses swore on that day saying surely the land on which your foot is trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever because you've wholly followed the lord your god and now behold the Lord has kept me alive just as he said these 40 years since that the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel walked in the wilderness and now behold I am this day 85 years old I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me my strength now is as as my strength was then for war and for going and coming so now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day. For which you heard on that day how the Anakim were there with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said. And when you read that, and what do you say about Caleb? What a man of faith. So contrary to the generation of Israel who didn't believe any of the promises. What a figure of faith. And Joshua blesses him. And Joshua gives Hebron to Caleb for an inheritance. And Caleb, you remember, was the only spy who did not what when he came back originally and was ready to go fight. All the other spies brought back a terrible report. Caleb said no. He was the only one that didn't fear. His faith stood alone. In a generation that perished for unbelief. So all these years, think about this. He was 40 then in robust strength. Now he's 85. And God had preserved him to the same strength to this moment. And notice what's emphasized. He followed the Lord with a whole heart. He's the Simeon of the Old Covenant. Simeon was part really of the Old Covenant. He's the Simeon of the story of Joshua. He was waiting for the promises. He believed, and he was rewarded with a great city. The point is, he was meant to teach us something about the faith that pleases God. And we shouldn't throw out this fact, he wholly followed the Lord. That should be an encouragement to us. Not to say, you can't do that. Well, I know nobody can do that. Holy. That's not how we should read this. It's an encouragement to us. Holy, follow the Lord your God. Trust Him. Believe Him. It's faith. This is what He desires from us. Faith that believes His Word. Faith that trusts His Word. Faith that knows that the inheritance is yours. And that lives in confidence that it's coming. And that on that day, when you stand before the Lord, that's your inheritance. You don't stand there saying, oh, I'm just not sure if I'm going to get in the kingdom. You've had confidence in this God. You've had confidence in His Word. You believe the promises. You've been justified by faith. Caleb, for decades he waited for the city that God would give him and God richly rewarded him. And I think that's meant to inspire us to the same faith. Following the Lord with a whole heart. Impatiently waiting in a generation that ridiculed God's promises. Faith, I say to our young adults, sometimes you'll feel alone in it. That's part of it. Faith that stands on the Lord's promises. Faith that believes. What's the second surprise here tonight? At least that I saw it. Well, looking at Israel's inheritors, look at this here for a minute. In chapter 14, 4 and in 18, 7, if you want to see the verse I read, it's an important verse. We read in 18, 7 that the Levites had no inheritance among them. To which if you stopped, you said, that sounds like a bad deal. No inheritance. Now listen, for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance. He cared for them specially. The Levites had the special privilege of serving the Lord in the ministry. You might stand back and say, why didn't they get some of the land? And the answer was, they were given something far better. They were given a much better inheritance. What is that? What is that? Everyone would have realized how blessed the Levite was. Why? Well, the Levites were intended to teach us about the better inheritance. Remember what God said to Abraham? Do not fear, Abram. Abram, I am your exceedingly great reward. I am your land. I am giving you Me. God was not just dishing out parcels of land so that everyone could live independently from Him. That's what we think heaven is. God was showcasing that the most special blessing of the land was His presence. His presence that He would dwell with them. And I think the encouragement here is that this is what we should seek you know when psalm 16 says this this is exactly what it's saying to us listen to this the lord is my chosen portion and my cup you hold my lot the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places indeed i have a beautiful inheritance who what is the inheritance it's the lord and i think this is what he was encouraging us to think about with the levites the blessing of that this is what the psalms are describing nevertheless i am continually with you you hold my right hand you guide me with your counsel and afterward you will receive me to glory whom have i in heaven but you and there's nothing on earth that i desire beside you my heart and my flesh may fail but god is the strength of my heart and my portion forever see this is what we learn from the levites when peter says we're all a priesthood and rightly understood a chosen priest of a holy generation. He is including for us the ultimate blessing that when Christ comes He is going to give us Him. We are going to dwell before the face of the Lord to enjoy the presence of God forever in our midst in the land. That's what we long for, beloved. We're living by faith, but we don't need faith in the new heavens and the new earth. We will have sight. We will have the Lord. You know, when you turn to Revelation 21 and 22, you have described at the very end the land. And you have described the kingdom of God, the city of God. And John says, I saw this great street in the middle of the city. And I saw a tree of life echoing back to the Adam in the original garden. But it wasn't just in the middle of the street. It was on either side of the river. It was this beautiful park of many trees. What makes the city wonderful was what John described. It's verse 22 of Revelation 21 and 22. You can look at two. But I saw no temple in it. For the city of the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it. For the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. There is Christ. And he says, I saw everyone worshiping him. I saw every one of God's people there. I saw them in the land. There was no night there. There was no more weariness there. There was no more darkness. The Lord God was in their midst. He gives them light. And they reign with Him forever and ever. What makes the city so wonderful is the fellowship that we enjoy in the Lord. The Lord is with us. And John describes that as the absolute blessedness of the land that is being given to us. You're going to behold your God face to face. You're going to see Him. You're going to enjoy Him. You're going to enjoy Him as you want to enjoy Him. You're going to worship Him as you want to worship Him. You're going to worship Him in truth. This is what awaits those who love Him. The land that is prepared for those who love Him. And that's the end picture here. The receiving of the land and what is to come. God will do this. He cannot lie. God has promised this to you. So take encouragement, you Levites. You're going to soon see your God. And you're going to receive what he's been preparing for you. When Jesus said in John 14, listen, I go away to prepare a place for you. I will come and I will take you to be with me that where I am, you may be also. this is exactly what he was talking about. Take encouragement from Caleb in unwavering faith and following the Lord wholly. Sure, we are looking forward to a day where we will wholly do it without sin. But that's what the commandment says. To love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Won't you love the day when you do that in glory? God will fulfill His promise. God will give you the land as He promised Abraham. So, in these days of great hardship and difficulty, look to the Lord. Trust Him. Live by faith in His promise. He will not fail to give you any of the promises that He made to you in this life. That's how good your God is. He is our portion and our delight. the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places let's pray heavenly father thank you for teaching us about eternal life thank you for teaching us about what is held out for us you make known to us the path of life in your presence there's fullness of joy at your right hand our pleasures forevermore keep our hearts focused as abraham was on the land that you have prepared the city that has foundations whose builder and maker is God. And thank you for Christ who will cleanse from evildoers the city of the Lord and give us this land of peace and blessing and happiness forever with the Lord who is our portion and our delight. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.