My Study Bible makes this point about the division of the land.....
There were several good reasons for establishing these well-set boundaries instead of turning the Promised Land into a single undivided nation.
1) The boundaries gave each tribe ownership of an area, promoting loyalty and unity that would strengthen each tribe.
2) The boundaries delineated areas of responsibility and privilege, which would help each tribe develop and mature.
3) The boundaries reduced conflicts that might have broken out if everyone had wanted to live in the choicest areas.
4) The boundaries fulfilled the promised inheritances for each tribe, some of which were promised as early as the days of Jacob.
God is a God of order. He always has a reason for doing things the way He does, even though we may not always understand it. As Nathan mentioned earlier this week, we need to be content were God has placed us, and work within the boundaries of our lives that He has set for us. He has placed us where we are for a reason and we need to flourish where we have been planted, instead of looking for greener pastures elsewhere.
This verse at the end of our OT passage stood out to me...
45 Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
God is faithful, and He will always keep His promises to us. But in His time, not ours. Some of God's promises took years to be fulfilled. The birth of Jesus took centuries! We must not become impatient, waiting for God to act and expecting it to be on our time table. That never ends well (Abraham/Sarah and Hagar is a great example!). We must trust God for what only He can do, and we must be faithful to do what we know He wants us to do.
That being said, we are also not to give up. In fact, as our NT passage says, we are to continue to bring our requests before God as we live for Him daily, believing that He will answer. We need to persist in prayer, thereby continuing to grow in character, faith, and hope. We know from the Bible's teaching that He loves us, we know He hears us, we know He is working for our ultimate good and His glory - will we live as though all those things are true?
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Joshua 22-24; Luke 18:24-43
2 comments:
A verse that stood out for me was Luke 18:22 and 23
"When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich."
Are we willing to give anything and everything up when called upon to follow Jesus? This has always been a tough question for me to handle. I know what the right thing to do is, and pray that I follow through correctly when called upon.
One of the things that struck me is that this land of milk and honey was occupied. People had been enjoying this promised land as their own and probably believed that they would live there forever. Are we living in a land of milk and honey in our own lives unaware that it can all be taken away in an instant?
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