Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Joshua 1:9-18 {God said} Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. 10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 11 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it. 12 And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying, 13 Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, The Lord your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land. 14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valor, and help them; 15 Until the Lord have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the Lord your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the Lord’s servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sun rising. 16 And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. 17 According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the Lord thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses. 18 Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.

Beware Lest We Fail To Glorify God

As Israel stood on the border to the Promised Land this second generation was faced with an impossible challenge. They had new leadership. The first generation of Israel had all died in the wilderness for disobeying God. Moses himself had died and been buried in the land of Moab. We don’t know exactly where Moses was buried, for the Scripture says that God …

Deuteronomy 34:6 … buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day.

I find this interesting because Joseph (of the coat of many colors)…

Genesis 50:25-26 … took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. 26 So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

When Moses left Egypt “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.” (Exodus 13:19). Joseph’s bones went with Israel to the Promised Land. When the first generation of Israel disobeyed God and were left to wander in the wilderness until they died (forty years), Joseph’s bones went on a forty year ride with them. These bones would not be buried until Israel – a unified people – occupied the Promised Land. At the end of the book of Joshua we read:

Joshua 24:32 … And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

Moses was buried by God and his bones have never been discovered. Joseph’s died and was buried in Egypt, but his bones were carried out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. They found their final resting place in Shechem (also called Sichem) a place where Abram traveled through right after God called him to salvation. The bones of Moses and the bones of Joseph are highly symbolic of faith and failure.

Moses failed God by striking a rock rather than speaking to it.
Moses could not enter the Promised Land.
Though Moses did everything else right.
But when it mattered Moses failed to glorify God.
God loved and buried Moses – but not in Canaan.
Joseph glorified God in his life.
Tried and betrayed by his family, Joseph glorified God.
Tried and betrayed by Potiphar’s wife, Joseph glorified God.
Forgotten by the Chief Cup-bearer, Joseph glorified God.
Joseph’s bones made it to the Promised Land. He glorified God.
Beloved, Glorify God!
It is a terrible thing to not Glorify God!

Those who wait upon the Lord – who are faithful to glorify Him – will ultimately be blessed. Those who do not will bear their own burden. We are to look to our own lives, and remember the words of the Apostle:

Romans 14:8-11 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. 10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at bought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

The Unity Of God’s People Glorifies The Lord

Joshua 1:10-12 … Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 11 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it. 12 And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying

As Israel got ready to enter the Promised Land Joshua relayed God’s Word to the leaders of the people. The leaders were to be unified in glorifying God. Everyone communicated with one another. There were no whisper campaigns, no subterfuge. God had given orders, and they were to obey those orders. Joshua said “within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan”. THREE DAYS is a significant number in Scripture. Our Lord Jesus died on Calvary, and laid in the grave three days and three nights (Matthew 12:40).

Then Joshua specifically addressed three tribes: the Reubenites, the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh. These tribes made up roughly 25% of Israel. When these tribes encamped on this side of the Jordan they looked at the land they were on. We read in ..

Numbers 32:1-5: Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; 2 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying … 4 Even the country which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle: 5 Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan.

They were well satisfied where they were. They did not want to cross over the Jordan. They were not trying to be troublemakers, but they would just rather have this land rather than the Promised Land. This was something that could threaten the unity of God’s people. Jesus told us as His people:

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Christ is not honored when His people are in disharmony. The Apostle tells God’s Church:

1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

God is not blessed by, nor will He bless, disharmony and infighting. He will not honor those with “I problems”. Moses is forbidden the Promised Land because of an “I problem”. The first generation of Israel is dead because of an “I problem”.
We must live for God!

Moses tells the Reubenites and the Gadites:

Numbers 32:6-15 Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? 7 And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath given them? 8 Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them. 10 And the LORD’s anger was kindled the same time, and he sware, saying, 11 Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: 12 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the Lord. 13 And the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord, was consumed. 14 And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers’ stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel. 15 For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people.

Moses did not speak sugar coated words to the Reubenites and the Gadites. He spoke the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) which is what we all are to do. God is honored by a divided people. God calls His people to harmony, to unity of purpose. The Apostle said …

Ephesians 4:1-6 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2 With all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

God’s people are called to be ONE and OBEDIENT. God wants us to move forward under His direction. To be one Church, one Israel. Not one with the world, but one with God and with one another. We are never to compromise with the world nor with worldliness. “Friendship with worldliness is to make God your enemy” (James 4:4 my paraphrase).

Israel was to have one purpose, to bring glory to God.
The Church has one purpose, to bring glory to God.

We WILL Work Together To Glorify God

The Reubenites and the Gadites proposed a solution to the problem before them. Please note they did not stomp their feet and have a fit. They suggested a godly and peaceful solution. They suggested to Moses:

Numbers 32:16-19 … We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones: 17 But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward.

Moses agreed with their suggestion. As they prepare their hearts to go into the Promised Land Joshua reminded them of what their elders promised Moses.

Joshua 1:13-15 Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, The Lord your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land. 14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valor, and help them; 15 Until the Lord have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the Lord your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the Lord’s servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sun rising.

They were all to work together, loving and supporting one another for the glory of God. Joshua warned the people – as did Moses – against betraying the unity of the Body. Let us follow the same example. Let us live together and in one accord for the glory of Christ!

May God touch your hearts with His vision and His Word!