Joshua 21-24

Putting together Joshua 20 and 21, we see that the six cities of refuge were among the forty-eight cities provided for the Levites. The Levites and the Simeonites did not receive their own separate inheritance of land, as did the other ten tribes of Israel. This was due to a curse. They were cursed because they had slaughtered the Shechemites whom we read about back in Genesis 34.

However, by God’s grace, the Simeonites were allowed to dwell in a portion of land belonging to Judah. And apparently, because of the Levites faithfulness in carrying out God’s judgment in Exodus 32, God reversed the curse upon them and turned it into a blessing.

The Levites were scattered throughout the Promised Land and had no inheritance of their own. However, the Lord used that scattering to make them a blessing to their fellow Israelites. Every city where the Levites lived became a center of worship and propagation of God’s law, the guidelines for living that had been entrusted to the Levites.

If the Lord turned something negative into a positive for the Levites, then perhaps the Lord can do the same for each one of us. In fact, this is the mark of the Christian life. The symbol at the very center of our faith, the cross, is a minus that has been turned into a plus.

Joshua 22 deals with the dismissal of the Reubenites, Gadites, and half of the tribe of Manasseh to claim their inheritance east of the Jordan. These two and a half tribes set up an altar near the Jordan, leading the rest of the Israelites to question whether these brothers of theirs are committing apostasy.

In this chapter, we learn some principles about how to preserve and restore unity among any group of people. In the first ten verses we learn that in order to preserve unity it is important to:

Praise people publicly (verses 1-3,6,8)
Remember God’s faithfulness (verses 4,7)
Pursue continued obedience (verse 5)
Think before you act (verse 10)

In the rest of the chapter we learn about how to restore unity when you are offended:

Investigate, don’t instigate war (verses 11-14)
Go directly to the person who has offended you (verse 15; see also Matthew 18:15)
Ask questions first, don’t assume the worst (verses 16-18)
State your concerns forthrightly (verses 16-18; see also Ephesians 4:15)
Make your appeal based upon spiritual solidarity (verses 17,18,20; see also 1 Corinthians 12:26)
Be willing to sacrifice to see the person restored (verse 19; see also Galatians 6:1)
Agree to adhere to the principles of God’s word (verses 21-22)
Be ready to accept an alternate explanation of the apparent offense (verses 23-28)

If we follow these guidelines, unity can usually be maintained and the Lord will be honored.

Joshua chapters 23 and 24 can be summed up in two words: Remember & Choose. In chapter 23, Joshua urges the Israelites to remember God’s faithfulness and God’s standards for living. He also reminds them of their ungodly heritage from which they have been saved.

In chapter 24, Joshua urges the Israelites to “choose this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. Joshua invited the Israelites to choose between gods and God. We need to remember how worthless the gods of this world are and choose to serve the one true Lord instead.

Joshua affirmed that he had chosen and that he would continue to choose to follow the Lord. This is a good reminder for us that we need to continually choose to serve the Lord on a daily basis.

Joshua chose for himself and for his family to serve the Lord. Your choice and mine to serve the Lord will affect our families.

Joshua told the people that they could not serve the Lord on their own power. The same is true of us, we need the power of God’s grace in order to serve the Lord.

There are times when we have to choose “either or” rather than “both and”. My father’s former boss, the gangster Mickey Cohen, on at least one occasion pretended to be a Christian to get money out of a well-meaning Christian friend named Bill Jones. When Jones confronted Mickey about not giving up his gangster life, Cohen purportedly responded:

Jones, you never told me that I had to give up my career. You never told me that I had to give up my friends. There are Christian movie stars, Christian athletes, Christian businessmen. So what’s the matter with being a Christian gangster? (Charles Colson, Loving God)

There are times when being a Christian and being something else just don’t mix. “Choose this day whom you will serve…”

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