Jos-Lesson 16

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JOSHUA 16, 17, and 18
Lesson #16
OBSTACLES TO INHERITANCE

• Memory verse: Col 1:12

• At the end of chapter 15, we began to see that the Israelites did not conquer and possess all the land that God gave them on the West side of the Jordan River.
• In the same way today, we see many believers in Jesus Christ that do not use the power that God gave us through Christ to take possession of the promises God gave us. As a result they do not possess their possessions.
• We have already seen that Israel needed to fight the battle of faith to conquer the enemy before they could take possession of the land and live in it.
• We have seen that taking possession of promises means to “live in those promises”.
• Read Joh 15:1-10
• Jesus said in verse 4 that the believer must “abide” in Christ as Christ “abides” in him.
• To abide means = to live permanently in.
• As we see in Joshua it means to take possession of a place and to live there permanently.
• Jesus said that a believer who lives in Christ and permits Christ to live in and through him will produce fruit. (Joh 15:5)
• The result of abiding in Christ is the production of fruit.
• As we see in Joshua, the Israelites were supposed to dwell in those villages, build houses, and plant gardens that would bear fruit.
• JOSHUA 16

• Read Joshua 16:1- 4, 10
• The tribes of Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh took their inheritance (4)
• These tribes conquered through battle the land that God gave them.
• However there is an exception mentioned. The tribe of Ephraim did not kill all the Canaanites in their land.
• The tribe of Ephraim permitted villages of Canaanites to live among them.
• The Canaanites were made to pay money in exchange for safety.
• The Israelites did not possess those cities because they did not live in them.
• The Israelites permitted the enemy to steal what was theirs.
• The lust for money was greater than their desire for obedience to God.
• Due to the fact that the tribe of Ephraim did not take possession of all the villages in their land, and really did not possess those villages, they were living beneath the level of God’s perfect will for them.
• Sometimes people say they are Christians, but they do not live the Christian life.
• In other words, they have not taken possession of Christ and His promises.
• Through these experiences of the Israelites, we can see that there are obstacles to obtaining the inheritance that God gave us through Jesus Christ.
• =1= The first obstacle is a lack of faith. We have learned that everything in the Christian life is obtained by faith in God. The two and a half tribes that remained on the East side of the Jordan River did not have faith to trust God for the best land.
• =2= The second obstacle is a lack of obedience. We have learned that obedience is required to win the battle against the enemy. The lost battle at Ai is the example. (Joshua 7)
• =3=The third obstacle is an arrangement made with the enemy. We first saw this obstacle when the Israelites made an arrangement outside of the will of God with the Gibeonites. (Joshua 9)
• The Israelites permitted the Gibeonites to live among them without killing them.
• Now we see that the tribe of Ephraim did the same thing. They permitted the Canaanites to continue living in their land in exchange for money.
• =4= The fourth obstacle is negligence. We first saw this obstacle when at first the Israelites left the enemy kings hidden in a cave. (Joshua 10)
• =5= The fifth obstacle is a failure to fight the battle. (Joshua 11)
• You cannot win the war through Christ without fighting the little battles of life. One battle added to another battle means that there is a war out there.
• One victory added to another victory means total victory in spiritual warfare.
• =6= The sixth obstacle is ignorance. You cannot claim something if you do not know that it belongs to you.
• It is for this reason that here in the book of Joshua we see great detail explaining each geographical boundary for each tribal piece of land.
• God did not want them to be ignorant. God does not want us to be ignorant. Therefore, He gave us His word that marks out His boundaries for the Christian life.
• Every obstacle is overcome through trusting God’s guidance and help through the Holy Spirit.

• JOSHUA 17

• Read Joshua 17:1, 3-6 The Inheritance of Daughters
• One very obvious apparent obstacle to inheritance was if you were a girl. The Law made no provision for girls to inherit property.
• Read Num 27:1-11
• Read Num 36:6-11
• The problem:
• Zelophehad in the tribe of Manasseh had no sons to inherit the land.
• Land was inherited through sons. The firstborn received a double portion and the other sons received a single portion.
• No land was given to daughters because daughters marry and become part of their husband’s family and land.
• No land was to be transferred from one tribe to another. In other words, the original tribal land was to remain intact within the tribe.
• The 5 daughters of Zelophehad had requested of Moses that they should be able to inherit land in the Promised Land. Now they come to Joshua to receive what Moses had promised them.
• Malhah, the oldest daughter’s name means = tenderness or mildness.
• Noah, the next oldest daughter’s name means = rest or comfort.
• Hoglah, the next daughter’s name means = partridge.
• Milcah, the next daughter’s name means = counsel.
• Tirzah, the youngest daugter’s name means = delight.
• The solution:
• Land was given to these five daughters but they must marry within the tribe of Manasseh.
• In this way, the land would not transfer to another tribe.
• What do we learn about faith from the daughters of Zelophehad? (17:3, 4, 6)
• These girls had a vision for the future. They requested the land from Moses years before the Israelites entered the Promised Land.
• These girls had faith to believe that God would give them what they requested. If they did not ask, they would not receive. (Mat 21:22 Joh 16:24 Jam 4:3)
• They obtained the promise from Moses and trusted God that Joshua would keep that promise.
• The broader significance:
• There is a greater significance to the daughters of Zelophehad than an example of faith.
• If it had not been for this provision of inheritance by daughters in place of sons, Jesus Christ would not inherit the throne of David.
• The New Testament gives us two genealogies for Jesus Christ.
• The genealogy in Mat 1 for Joseph is that of Jesus’ adoptive father. Through this genealogy Jesus should inherit the royal throne of David from the tribe of Judah. However, Joseph was not Jesus’ birth father. Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit.
• The genealogy in Luk 3 is for Mary, Jesus’ natural mother. Through this genealogy Jesus inherits the power and righteousness of a ruler in the line of David, but avoids a curse placed on the genealogy of Joseph. (The curse was on Jeconiah or Coniah (Mat 1:11 according to a prophecy in Jer 22:24-30)
• To avoid the curse, the inheritance proceeds through Mary because of the inheritance provision for the daughters of Zelophehad. Instead of the inheritance of the throne of David proceeding through Joseph, Jesus inherits the throne of David through Mary.
• Read Joshua 17:14-18
• What is wrong with the request from the tribe of Joseph? (17:14-18)
• The tribe of Joseph wanted more land than what was given them. They complained that they had too many people and not enough land.
• Joshua tells them that they would have more land if they made the effort to climb the mountains and cut the trees. (15-16)
• They would have more land if they defeated the Canaanites in the valley.
• They did not do these two things because they were afraid of the giants that lived in the mountains and they were afraid of the iron chariots in the valleys.
• Fear prevented them from claiming the fullness of their Promised Land.
• A lazy attitude prevented them from going to battle against the giants in the mountains.
• A lack of faith prevented them from going to battle against the iron chariots in the valley.
• The tribe of Joseph consisted of Ephraim and Manasseh. They had more total land than the other tribes.

• JOSHUA 18

• Read Joshua 18:1-10
• What was the problem? (2-6)
• The Israelites had gained many victories over large pieces of territory. For the majority of people life became comfortable. They moved the camp from Gilgal to Shiloh and set up the tabernacle there (10 miles north of Bethel).
• Seven of the tribes had not gone to possess their territory. They were happy to stay in the camp.
• =7= The seventh obstacle of complacency had set in.
• Joshua reprimanded the seven tribes and called for spies to determine the exact nature of the unconquered territory.
• By this they could determine a plan to go forward with God.
• By this they could encourage each other’s faith to move in unity toward victory.
• What was necessary to gain the victory?
• Read 2Pet 1:3-11
• Faith
• This is the key element by which all things are obtained from God.
• The Israelites must believe by faith in the promise God gave them.
• Virtue
• The Biblical word virtue means = strength, bravery, moral goodness, excellence, power that affects change.
• As God adds this characteristic of virtue to your life, you develop strength, goodness, excellence and power that bring the will of God into reality.
• Knowledge
• (epignosis or super knowledge)
• This is the knowledge of God that the Holy Spirit gives the believer. He confirms the Word of God in your heart and your experience with God. This causes spiritual growth to occur.
• Temperance
• The word temperance means = moderation and under control.
• As we learn to be under the control of the Holy Spirit, spiritual growth occurs and the power of God is manifested in our lives.
• Patience
• Patience is endurance through long trials.
• It is based on courage (virtue), the knowledge of God, and the experience of being under the control of the Holy Spirit.
• Godliness
• Godliness is the deep desire in the heart of a believer to be like God.
• Godliness is achieved with patience.
• Kindness
• This is love for our brothers and sisters in the faith.
• Through love believers can work together to achieve a goal.
• Charity
• Agape love.
• This is love in action.

• Application:
• What does the tribe of Joseph tell us about our failures?
• Excuses plagued the tribe of Joseph that made them fail to obey God.
• =8= This is the eighth obstacle in our lesson and one of man’s greatest obstacles is excuses.
• The believer in Jesus Christ must overcome all these obstacles to live a victorious Christian life.
• However, the greatest obstacle is man himself and the many excuses he makes that bring his own failure.
• As a Bible teacher since the year 1964, I have heard all the excuses ever conceived as to why Christians can’t and won’t study the Bible.
• No time.
• Don’t like history.
• Not good at studying.
• Just taking a break.
• It’s boring.
• I always fail anyway.
• I read it once.
• Etc. etc. etc.
• Read the command in 2Tim 2:15.
• Read Judges 1:30-34
• The Israelites failed to conquer the enemy and possess the land.
• We read the failures in the book of Joshua and we see ourselves in many cases. We are supposed to learn from their mistakes so that we do not repeat them.
• How are you doing?

HOMEWORK
JOSHUA 19, 20, and 21
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application for Joshua 16 and 17
• What specific obstacle do you recognize as your major stumbling block that prevents you from living the life of a victorious Christian?
• What will you do about it?
• Preparation for Joshua 19, 20, and 21
• Read Joshua 19:49-51
• What do we learn from Joshua’s life?
• Read Joshua 20 and Num 35:6-34
• Who was welcome in the six cities of refuge?
• What were the conditions?
• How long could one stay there?
• What significance to us today are the 6 cities of refuge? See Heb 10:19-23
• Read lightly through Joshua 21.

Memory Verse: Psa 91:2