Joshua 11:1-23
Thursday, 8 October 2020
“So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel…” - Joshua 11:23
Joshua did all that the Lord had instructed him concerning the conquest of the land the Lord had planned for His people to settle in. Then he portioned out the inheritance to each of the tribes of Israel in the Promised Land. Let us look into how the promise of inheritance is also relevant for the New Testament believer today.
Deut. 32: 9 says: “For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.” Here Moses was speaking of the nation of Israel. But it is equally applicable to every believer in Christ Jesus. It is written in John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name…” When we receive Christ Jesus into our lives, we become God’s children receiving the Spirit of adoption by which we call God: Abba Father and then we become “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ”(Romans 8:15-17). Oh what a privilege dear brothers and sisters! How grateful we need to be to our Heavenly Father!
Ephesians 1:11-14 gives us a deeper insight:
In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
What really then is the inheritance of the believer?
Redemption: Eph 1:14 [NRSV]: “this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.” We have been saved through Christ and made God’s people… the Holy Spirit in us is the guarantee of our full redemption when we are with the Lord.
Eternal Life: We have inherited eternal life through Christ— “Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life” (Titus 3:7) – this is “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven”(1 Peter 1:4) for every saved person.
Reward: Col.3:24 [NLT] says, “Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.” Hence we admonished to do all our work as heartily unto the Lord and not unto men (Col. 3:23). God calls us to be faithful stewards—if we use the right type of materials in building our lives, our work will stand the test on the Day of Judgment and we will receive the right reward from the Lord (1Cor.3:12-15).
To those who don’t have a right standing with God through Christ Jesus [Rom.3:22 NLT: We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.] do not have an inheritance to look forward to. For it says in 1Cor.6:9: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?” Therefore it’s a call for all today—Receive Christ and through Him your inheritance!
Think on: “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance.” (Psalm 16:6)
Listen: ‘Christ is enough’