Joshua 20:1-9 – Cities of Refuge

Our text today begins with the words, “Then the Lord said to Joshua...appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses” (vs. 1).

• What stands out about these words is what they say about the varied concerns of God’s redemptive history.

(1) God’s redemptive history is multifaceted.

• OT Scripture reveals God’s concern for Israel, holiness, sin, and covenant – the obvious things.
• But it also reveals God’s concern for the owner of a brothel (Rahab), a pagan capital city (Nineveh), farming cycles (Exo. 23:11), and “the manslayer who strikes any person without intent” (vs. 3).

(2) Every facet of God’s redemptive history has and/or will come to fruition.

• In Numbers, God first expressed His will for the cities of refuge – Numbers 35:9ff.
• In our text, the cities of refuge come to fruition.

(3) Every facet of God’s redemptive history fulfills a purpose.

• And this is where I want to focus in today’s lesson.
• What is the point of the cities of refuge?

Background:

Joshua 20:2 says, “which I spoke to you through Moses”.

• God’s spoke to Moses about the cities of refuge in Exodus 21 and Numbers 35.

In Exodus, God revealed His will concerning a “place to which he [the manslayer] may flee”.

• Exodus 21:12–13 (ESV) — 12 “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. 13 But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee.
• Interestingly, this text contains a “God is Sovereign” view of accidental death.
• “God let him fall into his hand”
• "The theological assumption is that the death of the victim occurred by the intervention of Providence; thus, the manslayer was the unwitting agent" – Preston Mayes.

Exodus 21:14 goes on to make an important distinction between the murderer and the manslayer.

• Exodus 21:14 (ESV) — 14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
• The murderer is to be subject to death, in contrast to the manslayer that is to be given refuge.

In Numbers 35 He provides more details of the murderer/manslayer distinction.

• Numbers 35:21–24 (ESV) — 21b The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. 22 “But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait 23 or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, 24 then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules.

BTW – The “place” alluded to in Exodus 21:14 that will give refuge to the manslayer is God’s altar.

• In Numbers and Joshua the “place” that was formerly associated with God’s altar is associated with the cities of refuge.
• “The exact relationship between the altar and the asylum city is never specified” – Preston Mayes.
• However the practice of God’s altar as a specific place of refuge was not abandoned.
• “This is illustrated by two episodes in 1 Kings, where Adonijah and Joab sought temporary refuge by clinging to the altar (1 Kgs 1:50–53; 2:28)” – David Howard.

Having understood the origin of the events in Joshua 20 we can now answer our question –

• What is the point of the cities of refuge?

The answer will be found in three things:

• (1) They are an expression of God’s grace
• (2) They are a solution to bloodguilt
• (3) They are part of, and point to the Gospel

1) EXPRESSION OF GOD’S GRACE

Grace To the Manslayer:

“And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unknowingly, and did not hate him in the past” (vs. 5).

If the manslayer is not guilty of murder, why does he need God’s grace for protection?

• There are at least two reasons the “manslayer” needs God’s grace.

(1) “In the ancient world blood revenge was widely practiced. The moment a person was killed, his nearest relative took responsibility for vengeance” – BKC.

• If the “manslayer” was not afforded protection, the “avenger of blood” had a right to take his life.
• “The avenger of blood had a legal status in society to carry out society’s (i.e., God’s) judgments and was by no means one who was to exact private vengeance” – David Howard.
• Our text acknowledges this practice.
• “They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood” (vs. 3).
• “And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand” (vs. 5).

(2) Also, “it must…be recognized that whenever an innocent man is slain, the law considers the slayer guilty in [some] measure” – Preston Mayes.

• Why?
• The sanctity of human life.

“The reason lies in the ultimate respect that the Scriptures have for human life and for the land as the dwelling place of Yahweh Himself. Shedding an innocent man's blood, even unintentionally, involved bloodguilt, and no manslayer was considered clear of this guilt.” – Preston Mayes.

• This means the “manslayer” had blood on his hands – even if he didn’t commit murder.
• Our text “affirms the sanctity of human life, in that even an accidental death caused blood guilt that could be avenged if the killer did not go to a city of refuge” – David Howard.
• It “breathes the sanctity of human life—both the manslayer’s and the dead man’s” – Dale Davis.

BTW – The distinction between “manslayer” and murderer and the nature of the bloodguilt underlies an important principal.

• All sin is not equal and judgment is meted out accordingly.
• “This shows that the biblical legislation did make distinctions in degrees of guilt and that God’s law was sensitive to motives and intent of the heart, in providing more lenient treatment for what modern criminal codes call “manslaughter” (as opposed to premeditated murder)” – David Howard.

This principal will even be in effect at judgment –

• Revelation 20:12 (ESV) — 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.

Grace To the Sojourner:

“…and for the stranger sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there…” (vs. 9).

God’s grace extended beyond the Israelite to the sojourner.

• The sojourner was a foreigner living in Israel – like Rahab and her household.
• He was to enjoy “the same rights as the Jew” – Boice.
• This practiced testified to “the oneness of the human race” as later testified to by Paul.
• That this practice was in the OT “adds to the inclusive vision found in the Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua” – David Howard.

BTW – Importantly, “Israel should not oppress [the sojourner] because they themselves were oppressed and know his soul (Ex 22:21 [H 20]; Deut 10:19). They were to love him as themselves (Lev 19:34)” – TWOT.

• This is referring to Israel’s time in Egypt.

2) SOLUTION TO BLOODGUILT

“…a refuge from the avenger of blood” (vs. 3).

“…that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood…” (vs. 9).

An innocent human being had been killed.

• This created a problem – blood had polluted God’s land.
• “Both [murder and manslayer] incur bloodguilt and pollute the land, and both require atonement: murder by the execution of the murderer and manslaughter through the natural demise of the high priest” – Gordon Wenham.
• “Blood pollutes the land, whether that blood was shed via murder or manslaughter” – Dale Davis.

Preston Mayes puts the complexity of the problem as follows:

• “Any shedding of innocent blood would defile the land in which Yahweh dwelled. The failure to execute a murderer would defile the land, for no other punishment was fitting for this crime. The execution of a manslayer would also pollute the land in which Yahweh dwelled, unless he was put to death because he left his city of refuge”.

Bloodguilt brought even more problems –

• “If Israel failed to keep the land from being polluted, the implication of Numbers 35:34 is that Yahweh would no longer be with his people in the land and that Israel would no longer be successful in the land” – DOT:P.

Solution to Bloodguilt:

So how did the cities of refuge solve the bloodguilt problem?

• “And he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled” (vs. 6).

(1) Our text tells us that the “manslayer” is to make his case to the “congregation” at the city of refuge.

• So his case is adjudicated, this is one way the problem of bloodguilt is addressed.
• If they find him to be truthful he is to remain in the city of refuge.
• Because of his bloodguilt the “manslayer” was still punished, in some measure.
• “As Trent C. Butler says, the city is ‘at the same time refuge and prison’” – Dale Davis.

(2) The other way bloodguilt is addressed is given in the following stipulation –

• He can only leave with “the death of him who is high priest” (vs. 6).
• “The reasons behind this amnesty after the death of the high priest are not fully understood” – AYBD.

Bloodguilt Summary:

• “The cities of refuge were, therefore, a provision that enabled Israel to keep the land. Without such a place, the avenger of blood would hunt the person down and kill the accused without any determination of guilt or innocence. If the accused was innocent and killed by the avenger of blood, this would pollute the land and lead to the loss of the land. This system was thus part of the Lord’s gracious provision that enabled a sinful people to live with a holy God” – DOT:P.

BTW – “The idea of asylum is not unique to the Hebrew tradition. Several ancient peoples, in the ancient Near East and elsewhere, had the idea that fugitives could gain sanctuary by proceeding to or fleeing to certain designated places” – AYBD.

• But there was one distinction between Israel and its neighbors.
• The distinction lays in “a basic difference in the evaluation of life and property” – Preston Mayes.
• Israel’s neighbors allowed for economic or political solutions to the “manslayer” problem – Preston Mayes.
• “Other ancient systems of law allowed the family of the victim to receive financial compensation from the murderer” – Preston Mayes.

Israel had no such option.

• Numbers 35:32 (ESV) — 32 And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest.
• Life was priceless.

BTW 2 – The above expressions of God’s grace and how bloodguilt was handled seem to be in tension with the command to wipe out the Canaanites.

• The tension seems all the more given that they are sandwiched within the Conquest texts.
• How do we address this tension?

3) GOSPEL PURPOSE

“In spite of the obvious differences, many have noted that Christ is indeed a refuge for us, like the refuge cities of Israel, and that many characteristics of these cities have spiritual parallels” – James Boice.

• (1) “It was the duty of the Jews to clearly indicate the way to the cities of refuge” – Boice.
• Jesus is the way and the truth and the life.
• (2) “The doors of the cities of refuge were always unlocked” – Boice.
• For God so loved the world…
• (3) “The cities of refuge were not only for Jews but for people of all races” – Boice.
• “Come to me all…”
• (4) “If an ancient manslayer did not flee to one of the cities of refuge, there was no hope for him” – Boice.
• “remain under God’s wrath”

The idea of refuge was not limited to the cities of refuge.

• It pervades all of the OT.
• It finds its most powerful expression when it is found in God.
• Psalm 46:1–3 (ESV) — 1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
• Psalm 62:6–7 (ESV) — 6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
• Psalm 18:2 (ESV) — 2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

How do we find refuge in Christ?

• Answer – in our union with Christ.
• Romans 8:1 (ESV) — 1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

This is why the author of Hebrews says:

• Hebrews 6:18b (ESV) — 18b we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
• Christ is the “hope set before us”.

Joshua 14:6-15 – Caleb Is Not About Us

Joshua 12 gives an overview of the Canaanite kings defeated by both Moses and Joshua.

• In chapters 13-21, the land is distributed to the tribes of Israel by lot.
• Joshua 19:51 (ESV) — 51 These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel distributed by lot at Shiloh before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.
• “By lot” is meant to reveal the “active role of Yahweh” – EBD.
• Israel was the steward of the land; God was the owner – EBD.

The Levites were also allotted cities and pastureland per Moses’ instruction.

• Joshua 21:2 (ESV) — 2 And they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, “The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with their pasturelands for our livestock.”

Sprinkled within these chapters are a number of other narratives; we will unwrap one of them.

• Joshua 14:6-15 deals with Caleb’s special request.

1) CALEB AND HIS REQUEST

Who is Caleb?

He was the son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah.

• He was one of the spies Moses selected to spy out the promise land in Numbers 13.
• Numbers 13:2 (ESV) — 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.”

The spies report –

• Numbers 13:27–28 (ESV) — 27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak [the Nephilim giants] there.
• Numbers 13:31 (ESV) — 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.”

Caleb and Joshua’s report –

• Numbers 13:30 (ESV) — 30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”
• Numbers 14:6–9 (ESV) — 6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”

All of Israel rebelled against Caleb and Joshua and sought to stone them.

• God intervened to save them and condemned Israel to wandering for 40 years.
• Numbers 14:22–24 (ESV) — 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

God promised to give Caleb the land “into which he went”; the land he spied on.

• This brings us to Joshua 14:6-15.

His Request:

The tribe of Judah comes to Joshua and Caleb makes a request.

• “…You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me.” (vs. 6)

He continues…

• Joshua 14:10–13 (ESV) — 10 And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. 11 I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. 12 So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.” 13 Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.

Couple of interesting observations:

• It appears that the length of the Conquest to this point was about 5 years.
• The Anakim were still present – the “giants” that brought such fear to the Israelites.
• Caleb’s response to this – “I shall drive them out just as the Lord said”.

Why did Caleb spy out/want Hebron, the land of the Anakim?

• James Boice has some pretty good speculation.

Hebron had a significant connection to Abraham.

• “It was the only piece of Canaan that Abraham actually owned in his lifetime” – James Boice.
• Genesis 13:18 (ESV) — 18 So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.
• As we will see later, it also had a covenant significance.

Moreover, many significant people were buried at Hebron.

• Sarah was buried there.
• Abraham was buried there.
• Isaac was buried there.
• Rebekah was buried there.
• Jacob was buried there.
• Joseph was ultimately buried there.

Whatever was behind Caleb’s affinity for Hebron, Joshua granted his request (vs. 13).

• “Joshua blessed him”
• “he gave Hebron to Caleb”
• It was “for an inheritance”

The concept of blessing is “rich one in in biblical thought” – David Howard.

• The idea behind the blessing was the bestowing of:
• Long life
• Children
• Land
• And significantly, the blessing also involved “an inheritance” of Abraham’s very own land.
• We will hit on this again in a moment.

2) CALEB’S EXAMPLE

What does the author of Joshua mean to convey with this narrative about Caleb?

An example of Christian living?

• Before we investigate, we need to hear a warning.

I completely agree with Marten Woudstra when he warns:

• “The example element is present, but it is embedded in a story which conveys the history of the progress of God’s redemption. The events that happen in that historical context are nonrepeatable and unique. They cannot be simply lifted out of that context for purposes of a message today.”

In other words –

• The Bible is not about us; it is about God working out His plans of recreation, redemption and reconciliation in history.
• This fact obviously impacts us, but it is not about us.
• We aren’t at its center.

For example, “How to Be a Caleb” would be lifting this story out of context “for purposes of a message today”.

• This takes all the attention off of God and the text and puts it on us.
• The text simply becomes a means for some clever application and it loses its primacy.
• The underlying message becomes – Scripture only has “real” meaning when we “subjectify” it.

Context:

What is the context/background that makes Caleb’s story significant?

• Genesis 13:14–18 (ESV) — 14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” 18 So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

God covenanted with Abram in Genesis 12 (and 15).

• He repeated the covenant in Genesis 13:16.
• The covenant immediately found fulfillment when Abram “settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron”.
• In response, Abram “built an altar to the Lord”.

So Hebron had some powerful symbolic significance.

• It was a place of revelation from Yahweh.
• It was a place where Yahweh began the now and not yet fulfillment of His covenant to Abram.
• Just as Isaac was.
• It was a place where Abram built an altar and worshiped Yahweh.

What this means is that Caleb’s inheritance of Hebron is a kind of “hyper fulfillment” of God’s covenant promises to Abram.

• It is a specific instance of God’s continuing covenant faithfulness.
• It is a specific instance of God continuing to work out His redemptive history.
• It is part of the “scarlet thread” of the Abrahamic covenant of grace.
• And because of this, it points to the ultimate covenant fulfillment,  “the inheriting of salvation in Christ” – Marten Woudstra.

Covenant Participation:

But wait…there is more!

• Caleb’s story also shows how he was able to participate in God’s redemptive history.
• Caleb was both a man of faith in God (he was counted as righteous) and an obedient follower of Yahweh (he was a recipient of the blessings of obedience).
• How do we know?
• His words
• His actions
• How he was described.

Caleb’s Words and Actions:

We saw in our OT Gospel lesson that the faith of Abram by which he was counted as righteous had two dimensions to it.

• (1) Believing/Acting on what God has done.
• (2) Trusting in the surety of God’s future promises.

By Caleb’s word and actions we see these two dimensions of faith expressed.

• “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it” – (Num. 13:30)
• Acting on what God has done.
• “If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land” – (Num. 14:8-9).
• Trusting in God’s promises

Caleb, having experienced the covenant faithfulness of God in the Exodus, trusted that God would continue to do what He had promised.

• Caleb’s faith acted courageously “upon the promises of god” – Richard Hess.
• Israel cowered at the presence of the Canaanites…
• BUT – Caleb looked to God’s promises.
• Caleb’s eyes were on God’s word and promises to Abram, not on men’s doubts.

And this trust in God’s promises is clearly expressed in our Joshua 14:10+ text:

• “‘And now, look how Yahweh has kept me alive, as he promised, these forty-five years … and now look how I am today eighty-five years old, yet I remain as strong today as the day when Moses sent me off; my strength is the same now as then for war and for going out and coming in.’ This is the way of biblical faith—it remembers what Yahweh has done, and remembers in gratitude” – Dale Davis.

BTW – It must be pointed out that Caleb’s trust also rested squarely in God’s word.

• “what the Lord said to Moses” – (vs. 6)
• “the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said” – (vs. 10a)
• “the Lord spoke this word to Moses” – (vs. 10b)
• “give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day” – (vs. 12)

“True faith always functions that way; it pleads God’s promises; it anchors itself upon the word of God. There can be no other foundation for faith” – Dale Davis.

• This was the faith of Caleb.

Caleb Described:

Joshua 14:14 (ESV) — 14 Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord, the God of Israel.

• The NIV translates “wholly followed” as “wholeheartedly”.
• “…he has a different spirit and has followed me fully” – Numbers 14:24.
• “…he has wholly followed the Lord” – Deut. 1:36.

What does it mean to have “wholly followed the Lord”?

• It is another expression of Caleb’s two-dimensional faith.
• But it goes beyond that.

The phrase “wholly followed” carries with it some significant connotations.

• (1) To be a disciple
• (2) To be spiritually faithful instead of an adulterer or idolater

BTW – Most of the insights into this phrase come from LXX’s translation of “epakoloutheo”.

Caleb the Disciple:

• The LXX has verse 14 as “following” or “followed after” the Lord – Lexham Interlinear LXX.
• The BDAG translates the LXX Greek as, “to apply oneself to someth. with eager dedication, follow after, i.e. devote oneself”.
• The DBL also has “to devote oneself to”.
• The idea here is one of a consistent, faithful follower and all that that would entail.
• Denying self, obedience, etc.

Caleb the Faithful:

• The TDNT also suggests that there is an important contrast being made between one who goes after other gods with one who goes after Yahweh.
• The idea is that there are those who commit spiritual adultery and idolatry and then there is a faithful covenant member – Caleb.

This concept of spiritual adultery is a common theme in the OT.

• Numbers 25:1–3 (ESV) — 1 While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2 These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.
• Hosea 1:2 (ESV) — 2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.”
• Hosea 2:13 (ESV) — 13 And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the Lord.

But Caleb didn’t seek “her lovers” or forget the Lord.

• He remembered and acted upon God’s promises.
• Deuteronomy describes such a person.
• Deuteronomy 5:32–33 (ESV) — 32 You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

Caleb was able to participate in God’s redemptive history because –

• He believed and trusted in God’s work and promises.
• He stood upon the truth of God’s word.
• He was a devoted, obedient disciple of God.
• He was faithful, not a spiritual adulterer.

Caleb’s faith had the following qualities –

• “He did not minimize the problems—the giants and the fortified cities—but he magnified God” – BKC.
• Trust in God does not bury its head in the sand.
• Caleb still had to fight to secure Hebron – “I shall drive them out” (vs. 12).
• His faith withstood 40 years of wandering in the desert and watching his peers die because of their disobedience.
• God’s promises sustained him.
• Romans 8:6 (ESV) — 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Joshua 11:23 – Inheritance and Rest

Joshua 11:23 (ESV) — 23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.

This one verse sums up over forty years of God’s revelation and purpose in Israel’s history.

• Importantly, the claim is that all that occurred in Joshua 1-11 is attributed to God’s covenant faithfulness.
• Not the workings of a war-hungry, nation-grabbing Semitic tribe.
• To appreciate this, we need to step back a bit and get a broad Scriptural overview of this text and the events of Joshua 1-11.
• In other words, how did we get here?

Conquest Ordained:

(1) God made a covenant with Abram concerning the land of Canaan.

• Genesis 12:7 (ESV) — 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

(2) The fulfillment of this promise would not happen overnight and was to be synergistic (God and man).

• Exodus 23:30 (ESV) — 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land.
• Numbers 33:53–54 (ESV) — 53 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.
• Joshua 1:11 (ESV) — 11 “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’ ”

(3) The land would be given as a God-ordained inheritance.

• Exodus 32:13 (ESV) — 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”
• Numbers 33:54 (ESV) — 54 You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit.
• Joshua 13:7 (ESV) — 7 Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.” 

(4) The inheritance will bring rest to the people of Israel

• Deuteronomy 12:9–10 (ESV) — 9 for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you. 10 But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety,
• Joshua 1:13 (ESV) — 13 “Remember the word that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.’
• Joshua 11:23 (ESV) — 23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.
• Joshua 14:15 (ESV) — 15 Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba. (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim.) And the land had rest from war.
• Joshua 21:44 (ESV) — 44 And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands.
• Joshua 22:4 (ESV) — 4 And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan.
• Joshua 23:1 (ESV) — 1 A long time afterward, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years,

(5) This inheritance and rest were “contingent upon obedience to [Gods] law” – TWOT.

• Deuteronomy 28:63 (ESV) — 63 And as the Lord took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the Lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it [as a curse for disobedience].
• Deuteronomy 28:65–68 (ESV) — 65 [More curses for disobedience] And among these nations you shall find no respite, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot, but the Lord will give you there a trembling heart and failing eyes and a languishing soul. 66 Your life shall hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall be in dread and have no assurance of your life. 67 In the morning you shall say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and at evening you shall say, ‘If only it were morning!’ because of the dread that your heart shall feel, and the sights that your eyes shall see. 68 And the Lord will bring you back in ships to Egypt, a journey that I promised that you should never make again; and there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.”
• Joshua 1:7–8 (ESV) — 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

(6) The promise was delivered.

• Joshua 21:43–44 (ESV) — 43 Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. 44 And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands.

We have dealt with all but two of these – inheritance and rest.

Inheritance:

In our context, inheritance is meant to convey:

• (1) A gift to the elect – what God has “given to the godly” – TWOT.
• (2) The incumbent responsibilities of keeping the inheritance – TWOT.
• (3) The land itself.

Gift:

God made it clear it was His prerogative to choose Israel.

• They had nothing to do with it.
• Deuteronomy 7:7–8 (ESV) — 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
• Deuteronomy 10:14–15 (ESV) — 14 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. 15 Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.
• Psalm 33:12 (ESV) — 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
• The inheritance was not deserved by works, but kept by works.

Responsibilities:

God is the Creator and King, and the land belongs to Him.

• By bequeathing His land He “obligates His subjects to render personal services” – TWOT.
• Israel was the steward of God’s land.
• (1) They were to devote and dedicate the land to Him – such as the offering of firstfruits (Deut. 26:1-3).
• (2) They were to “not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance” – Deut. 21:23.

And as we have seen, shirking their responsibilities and living in disobedience would have serious repercussions.

• Jeremiah 17:4 (ESV) — 4 You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

Rest:

In our context, the meaning of rest can be determined from scriptures that speak of its presence and of its deprivation.

• Rest from enemies (Deut. 12:10)
• Living in safety (Deut. 12:10)
• Cessation of war (Josh. 11:23)
• Removal of enemy threat (Josh. 21:44)
• Rest from a “trembling heart and failing eyes and a languishing soul” (Deut. 28:65)
• Assurance of life (Deut. 28:66)
• Contentment (Deut. 28:67)
• Prosperity (Josh. 1:8)
• Rest for the land from war (Josh. 11:23)

These attributes of Joshua’s rest are physical and, as we saw, the rest is conditional.

• To remain in the rest required obedience to God’s commands.
• And over and over, Israel forsook its inheritance and lost its rest.

Is there a rest from God that is not conditional?

David apparently has an answer for us:

Psalm 95:7–11 (ESV) — 7b For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. 10 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” 11 Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”

How does this text speak of a new kind of rest?

The author of Hebrews took David to be referring to a number of important things.

• One of which being that “today” is being “in Christ”.
• Hebrews 3:13–14 (ESV) — 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

And because of our union with Christ, we have access to a new kind of rest.

• Hebrews 4:1–3 (ESV) — 1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’ ” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.
• As surely as disobedience resulted in not entering God’s rest in the promise land…
• So our being “in Christ” by faith guarantees that those “who have believed enter” His rest.

And speaking of Joshua, the writer of Hebrews continues:

• Hebrews 4:8–10 (ESV) — 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

First the bad news:

• There was a rest available that was not part of Joshua’s physical rest – David Howard.
• A rest that Joshua did not bring.
• The rest in Joshua “was a fragile, tenuous one” because of its conditional nature – David Howard.

Then the awesome news:

• Hebrews is saying that David’s “today” is “another day later on”.
• And this day is referring to rest in Christ.
• And this rest is not entered into by observance of the law (works).
• It is entered into by the state of being “in Christ”!
• This rest is unconditional!

Finally, the writer of Hebrews wants to provide us assurance about rest in Christ.

• Hebrews 4:11–12 (ESV) — 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
• God’s word will expose hypocrisy, deception and sin.
• To find the assurance of rest in Christ, remain in God’s word!