12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 13 "Remember the command that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: 'The LORD your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land.' 14 Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, fully armed, must cross over ahead of your brothers. You are to help your brothers 15 until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise."
16 Then they answered Joshua, "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
It must have have been a relief for Joshua to know that all these people would be obeying him as they had done under the leadership of Moses. It's interesting to see how these people really carry out all these steps in order to finally enter the promised land. It shows that they had faith in the Lord, whose spirit was now on Joshua. I wonder how insensitive and dull we are toward the movement and leadership of Christ in our lives. We lack the faith in Christ because we easily give up not believing in our invisible Lord who is TRULY with us.
I agree! It must been a huge relief for the people to follow Joshua.
These people definitely have the faith and hope in the Lord. They've been wondering for 40years and still they know that God will keep his promise.
The start of this book speaks to me of being strong, having courage, and having patience.
I will patiently wait for the Lord as I pray and hope in him.
There are a lot of explicitly action oriented commands here -- "taken possession," "occupy," "put to death," etc. This contrasts with the more implicit commands we see in the New Testament. I wonder which approach makes life easier vs. harder for us?
Post a Comment