DWELLING IN GOD’S FAITHFULNESS – Joshua 12:1-24

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on November 20, 2013 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group; November 20, 2013

Joshua 10:1-43

Theme: When we stop to take inventory of our blessings, we can see the record of God’s faithfulness.

(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

Chapter 12 of Joshua is important—and for a couple of reasons. For one thing, it is the chapter that brings to a close the first half of this amazing book. That first half focused on the conquest of the land that God was giving the people of Israel. Chapters 1-5 spoke of the preparations of the people for their conquests; Chapters 6-8 told of the conquests of Central Canaan, Chapters 9-10 spoke of the conquests of the Southland; and Chapter 11 highlighted the conquest of the Northland. Chapter 12 summarizes all that God had empowered His people to conquer of the land that He was giving them—preparing us for the second half of the book, which highlights the distribution of the land that they had conquered.

And if that’s all we see of Chapter 12, then all we would see would be nothing more than a mere review of events that have already been covered. But why would the Holy Spirit lead Joshua to review all of this in this one chapter? The reason He did so was to impress upon us that all of this was God’s doing faithfulness to His promises to Israel. He was the one who made the promises to His people that this would be their land; and when they trusted Him, He proved faithful in every way. How good it is to stop at this point in the story, then, and review His faithfulness to His people! And how good it is for us—now and then—to stop and review God’s faithfulness to His promises in our lives.

There’s a wonderful hymn that we often sing—”Praise to The Lord, The Almighty”. And in that hymn there is this wonderful line: “Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth, shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth! Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been granted in what He ordaineth?” It’s a great question—”Hast thou not seen . . . ?” This chapter is easy to pass by; but it helps us to see that, when we stop and take inventory of our blessings, we can see a clear testimony—in all of it—of God’s faithfulness.

I. THE REVIEW OF CONQUESTS.

A. The Conquests in The East under Moses (vv. 1-6). The review of the works of God begins with the story of the conquests of the two kings on the East side of the Jordan.—”toward the rising of the sun”.

1. The first king—as is described to us in verses 2-3—is Sihon king of the Amorites. If you look on the map at the back of your Bible, you’ll find this portion of the land as that which was just east of the Dead Sea; bordered on the south by the Arnon River and on the north by the Jabbok River. This was the land of the Ammorites. South of it was the land of Moab—which Israel was forbidden from conquering (see Deuteronomy 2:9). The story of the conquest of King Sihon and his land is told to us in detail in Numbers 21:21-31.

2. The second king—as described to us in verses 4-5—is Og king of Bashan. You’ll find his territory on your Bible map to be that which is north of the Jabbok River all the way to the Yarmuk River—just east of the Sea of Chinnereth (that is, the Sea of Galilee). Note that the Scriptures tell us that this king “was of the remnant of the giants who dwelt at Ashtaroth and ad Edrei” (v. 4). They were a dreaded people—’pre-historic’, as one commentator called them. In Deuteronomy 3:11, when Moses reviewed the history of the conquest of these people, he said, “For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the giants [i.e., the rephaim]. Indeed his bedstead was an iron bedstead” This bedstead was said to be nine cubits in length and four cubits in width—or about 13.5′ x 6′. It was a ‘king-size’ bed in every way! And this editorial note was added; “Is it [that is, his bedstead] not in Rabbah of the people of Ammon?”—that is to say, it was on display as a museum piece; because Og was no longer able to sleep in it! He was a dead giant. The details of his defeat are told to us in Numbers 21:33-35.

3. In verse 6, we’re told, “These Moses the servant of the LORD and the children of Israel had conquered; and Moses the servant of the LORD had given it as a possession to the Reubanites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.” As is told to us in Numbers 32, these two-and-a-half tribes chose to settle in this portion east of the Jordan. (Their story comes up again in an important way in Chapter 22.) But note how God’s word gives honor to Moses! Twice in this verse, he is called “the servant of the LORD”. He was not permitted to cross the Jordan and lead the people into the land; but he did lead the people into possession of the land east of the Jordan. God kept His promises—even when Moses was not there.

B. The Conquests in The West under Joshua (vv. 7-24). The rest of this chapter focuses on the conquests of the people under Joshua in the territory west of the Jordan.

1. We’re told in verses 7-8, “And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel conquered on this side of the Jordan, on the west, from Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon as far as Mount Halak and the ascent to Seir, which Joshua gave to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their divisions, in the mountain country, in the lowlands, in the Jordan plain, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the South . . .” The second half of Chapter 12, then, highlights the specific conquests of that abundant portion of the land that would be distributed to the people in the chapters that follow.

2. In verse 8, we’re told the broad names of the people-groups that were conquered: “the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites”. But in the verses that follow, we’re given an inventory of the conquests in detail—thirty-one kings in all! The stories of these conquests are told to us in Chapters 6-11. When the list would have been reviewed by the people, they would have had to have been greatly amazed at God’s faithfulness! Everything that He said He would give them had been wonderfully given to them! And it was clearly all His doing!

II. THE TESTIMONY OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS.

A. Why this review? We could say that it was a summary of God’s works for His people in a short list. But would they have needed to be told of it all? Perhaps it wasn’t just for them. Perhaps it was for the generations that followed—and even for us today. It was a lesson in how—when they had learned to trust God and allow Him to be their Leader and mighty Defender; when they did as He commanded and went forth in His power to do as He told them to do—He fought their battles for them. In the end, it was a testimony—not of their faithfulness—but of God’s faithfulness!

B. A wonderful psalm to read in connection with this chapter is Psalm 37; which begins:

Do not fret because of evildoers,

Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.

For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,

And wither as the green herb.

Trust in the Lord, and do good;

Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

Delight yourself also in the Lord,

And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord,

Trust also in Him,

And He shall bring it to pass.

He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,

And your justice as the noonday (Psalm 37:1-6).