Friday July 12
Every Believer Has an Inheritance
Joshua 17:3-6
3 But Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters. And these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
4 And they came near before Eleazar the priest, before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the rulers, 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.
5 Ten shares fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side of the Jordan,
6 because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons; and the rest of Manasseh's sons had the land of Gilead.
We are looking at six lessons we can learn from the Joshua 13-21 as we are claiming our inheritance that God has promised us in Christ. So far, we learned that we don’t want to be like the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh that chose their inheritance on the border on the east side of the Jordan River. We don’t want to become borderline believers. The second lesson is found in Joshua 14:6-14. Like Joshua and Caleb, we should be encouraged in our pilgrim journey because no matter how long we must wait our inheritance is still available!
We learned our third lesson from Caleb in Joshua 14:6-14. We are never too old to fulfill God will and purpose for our lives. Our fourth lesson is found in Joshua 15:13-19, we also learn from Caleb that we have a responsibility to provide and pass on our inheritance and our faith to the next generation. Today, in Joshua chapters 15-17, we will discover our fifth lesson which is: God wants to give all His people their inheritance.
In Joshua 14:6-13, we saw where Caleb, who was of the tribe of Judah, claimed his inheritance. Now in Joshua 15:1-12 and verses 21-63, the inheritance of the rest of the tribe of Judah is described. In verse 63, we can’t help but notice that at that time the Jews couldn't take Jerusalem from the Jebusites. They held it temporarily later on in Judges 1:8. It was not until we get to 2 Samuel 5:6-10 that we learn that David captured it permanently and made it the capital city of Israel.
In Joshua 16, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh received their inheritance. You might remember that they were the sons of Joseph, whom Jacob "adopted" and especially blessed in Genesis 48:15-22. Since the tribe of Levi wasn't given any territory, these two tribes made up the difference so that there were still twelve tribes in Israel. It is also interesting to note that even though the birth order was "Manasseh and Ephraim" (Josh. 16:4; 17:1), but Jacob reversed it in giving them their blessing. This teaches us that God rejects our first birth and gives us a second birth. He accepted Abel and rejected Cain; He rejected Ishmael and accepted Isaac, Abraham's second-born son; He rejected Esau and accepted Jacob. We must be born again spiritually into the family of God (John 1:12; John 3:3-8), to qualify for our inheritance.
In the nation of Israel, the sons inherited the property. But here in Joshua 17:3-6, but the daughters of Zelophehad saw to it that the daughters weren't discriminated against (Numbers 27:1-11). Like the daughter of Caleb, these women had the faith and courage to ask for their inheritance; and they even changed the law!
Yes, God wants to give all His people their inheritance. James 4:2 reminds us, "You do not have because you do not ask" In Jesus Christ, all believers are one and are heirs of God (Romans 8:14-17). In Galatians 3:26-29, Paul tells us, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Today, nothing from your first birth should hinder you from claiming all that you have in Jesus Christ! “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11)
God bless!
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