Joshua 17

Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions this morning. We are going to continue on in our chapter or our book of Joshua We're gonna be in chapter 17 chapter 17 of Joshua and talk more about the sons of Joseph and they got a Bone to pick with Joshua and he's got a bone to pick with them. So let's go ahead and have some coffee We'll pray and we'll get into it Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word. We thank you for the blessing of getting to read your word, but we pray that your spirit now would not just let us read it, understand it in our minds, but God, we pray that you would please take that and apply it to our hearts. Father, we pray that we would be busy about your work. In Jesus's name, amen.
Here we go, Joshua chapter 17. There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph, namely from Machir, the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war. Therefore he was given Gilead and Bashan. Here, I'm going to open up the map for us on the screen here. Okay. So he was given Gilead and Bashan.
And there was a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh, according to their families, for the children of Abiezer, the children of Halech, the children of Asriel, the children of Shechem, the children of Hefer, and the children of Shemida. These were the male children of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, according to their families. But Zileophad, the son of Hephaer, the son of Gilead, the son of Mechir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons but only daughters. And these are the names of his daughters, Mahala, Noah, Hogla, Milcha, and Terza. And they came near before Eleazar the priest, before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the ruler, saying, The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers. Therefore, according to the commandment of the Lord, he gave them an inheritance among their father's brothers. Ten shares fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side of the Jordan, because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among the sons, and the rest of Manasseh's sons had the land of Gilead."
So, first we have Machir, right, this leading son of Ur, who gets the lion's share of stuff. And we also are mentioned that Zileophad's daughters, right, they're also given their land. So what Moses had commanded before is true, that the ladies aren't somehow disinherited. And so now we're going to keep on going.
And the territory of Manasseh from Asher to Mekmethoth that lie east of Shechem and the border went along the south to the inhabitants of If-in-Tapua. Manasseh had the land of Tapua, and Tapua on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim. And the border descended to the brook Cana, southward to the brook. These cities of Ephraim were among the cities of Manasseh. The border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook, and it ended at the sea. southward it was Ephraim's, northward it was Manasseh's, and the sea was its border.
Manasseh's territory was adjoining Asher on the north, and Issachar on the east, and in Issachar and in Asher, Manasseh had Bethshean and its towns, Iblim and its towns, the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, the inhabitants of Indor and its towns, the inhabitants of Tanakh and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, three hilly regions. Verse 12, this is where it becomes interesting. yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities. But the Canaanites were determined to dwell in the land. And it happened, when the children of Israel grew strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out."
Now, here's the complaint. Then the children of Joseph came to Joshua, saying, Why have you given us only one lot and one share to inherit, since we are a great people, as much as the Lord has blessed us until now? So Joshua answered them, If you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself. There in the land of the Perizzites and the giants among the mountains of Ephraim are two confined for you. But the children of Joseph said, The mountain country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land and in the valley have chariots of iron, both of those who are at Beth Shean and its towns, and those who are of the valley of Jezreel. And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, saying, You are a great people, and have great power. You shall not have only one lot, but the mountain country shall be yours. Although it is wooded, you shall cut it down, and its furthest extent shall be yours, for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots and are strong.
All right. I love that rousing speech by Joshua at the end. So what's going on? What is this about? Right? This is about this whole area over here, right? Manasseh and Ephraim are kind of lumped together and they come to Joshua and they say, Hey, we are two tribes. Why are we only in one inheritance? And he says, no, no, no, no, no. Hold on. Hold on. You guys have an inheritance. Notice though, verse 13, right?
That the Canaanites were determined to live there and they were having a hard time rooting them out. And so they want more land, and Yahshua doesn't give them what they want, but gives them the speech that they need. No, no, no. You'll have two inheritances. But the hill country and those areas where the Canaanites are determined to live, you shall drive them out.
Pardon me. Remember, remember that you're not supposed to be afraid of their chariots. You're not supposed to be afraid of their horsemen. You have the Lord God Almighty on your side, and so don't give up heart. They want the easy route. They want to say, well, these areas are too much, and we can't get in those hills. They have all these excuses, and Joshua essentially says, boys, man up.
Do the job get the work done You'll have the inheritance, but you got to take it. You got to take it by faith So that's what this is about, be what's the best verse. Well, in my Bible, I have verse 17 and 18 underlined, but I also have verse 12 and 13 underlined. Maybe you would underline something else in your Bible. That's fine. That's fine. What would you underline? Let me know down in the comments.
C, calling. What are we called to do? I think I make a lot of, I'm just going to speak of myself. I make a lot of excuses for why I think I can't do things when the reality is sometimes I need the Lord. And I'm thankful for friends who remind me about this, right, Brian, stop complaining, trust the Lord and get moving. It's often we're able to blame and excuse and complain. But the Lord has called us to go about and walk by faith. We run the race by faith with endurance.
Don't grow weary. Don't grow weary of doing good. There may be things that seem insurmountable to you, but the Lord has called you to do it. Do it with all your might. I know I got to be reminded of this regularly. My heart is given to shortcuts and easy things and to be slothful, but the Lord, the Lord is able to sustain us. We're able to get great things done when we do so by faith and with his blessing.
So I don't know maybe what you're struggling with right now. Maybe there's some project you've been working on. I don't know all this and I don't want this to be a moralism type thing, right? But sometimes we just, we just need to get the man up speech. But it's not just man up by yourself. It's not just pick yourself up by your bootstraps. Come on, get some gumption, boy. No, it's not just that. But see, they were afraid of the chariots and of the horsemen. They saw the task in front of them and it seemed insurmountable. How could they ever conquer this?
But we know that Jesus Christ has conquered. We know that he has ascended up into heaven itself. We know that our covenant king, the one who is promised in this book, the commander of the armies, the one who Joshua is named as a prefigure, an antitype, or a type for, we know that our Joshua called us to do good work, to go into all the nations, to make disciples, to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to teach them all which he has commanded us to do. Work might seem impossible by man's standards, but God is not a man and he can do it. So will you follow Him? Will you walk in His ways? Will you pursue what He's called you to do? I pray you will. I pray I will.
I pray we'll walk by faith and not by sight, knowing that our God is able to do things that are remarkable. May we have the faith of a mustard seed that might move mountains. Let's pray. Father, we thank You so much for the joy of our salvation which You have set before us in Jesus Christ. Father, we pray that we would have faith, that we would not think that things are impossible for You. Lord, we pray that You would please teach us to trust You more and more. We pray that You would help us to follow after You all the days of our lives. In Jesus' name, Amen. Well, may the Lord bless you. May you walk by faith. May you not grow weary. May the Lord lift you up on eagles' wings. May you go and do His bidding for His glory. And I'll see you next time. Bye.