East of Jordan

Joshua 13:8-14

8 The other half of Manasseh, the Reubenites and the Gadites had received the inheritance that Moses had given them east of the Jordan, as he, the servant of the Lord, had assigned it to them.
9 It extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the middle of the gorge, and included the whole plateau of Medeba as far as Dibon, 10 and all the towns of Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, out to the border of the Ammonites. 11 It also included Gilead, the territory of the people of Geshur and Maakah, all of Mount Hermon and all Bashan as far as Salekah— 12 that is, the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan, who had reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei. (He was the last of the Rephaites.) Moses had defeated them and taken over their land. 13 But the Israelites did not drive out the people of Geshur and Maakah, so they continue to live among the Israelites to this day.
14 But to the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance, since the food offerings presented to the Lord, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as he promised them.

Territory

Have your parents promised something but you did not receive it? Children are adventurous. They venture on making a scene on special occasions to press parents to give in. Parents confused by attention seeker child would promise anything not because they would fulfill their promise but to stop their children from bothering them.
Could it be that such experience of children from repetitive unfulfilled promises of their parents that trust in God’s promises is really hard to realize? It could be a factor that would corrupt the human mind to rebel. It says in 2 Corinthians 1:20, 20For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.

The Lord has many promises in the Bible but can we really claim them as we wish? It is not because we believe in Christ that we can just choose any of His promise and claim it. We can only receive promises that the Lord decides to give us personally.
How is that? When we believe in Christ, His Spirit lives in us, and He will tell us exactly the promise He wants us to hold onto as individual or as a church. When the Lord speaks, and we hear His voice personally, our faith grows stronger, then, we trust that He would surely give what He promised us. Most of the Lord’s promises, if not all, are not without condition. God’s would set conditions on how to receive His promises.
When the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh asked Moses to give them the land east of the Jordan as their inheritance, he promised to give it to them as long as they would join their brothers in taking over the land west of the Jordan. After they rested from war, Joshua allowed the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh to go back to their inheritance east of the Jordan River, as Moses promised.

1. Land

8 The other half of Manasseh, the Reubenites and the Gadites had received the inheritance that Moses had given them east of the Jordan, as he, the servant of the Lord, had assigned it to them. 9 It extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the middle of the gorge, and included the whole plateau of Medeba as far as Dibon, 10 and all the towns of Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, out to the border of the Ammonites. 11 It also included Gilead, the territory of the people of Geshur and Maakah, all of Mount Hermon and all Bashan as far as Salekah— 12 that is, the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan, who had reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei. (He was the last of the Rephaites.) Moses had defeated them and taken over their land.

The territory of the Israelites east of the Jordan was specifically described where it started and ended. The description of its boundary included names and situations.
Why were the names of kings, the boundary of their kingdoms, and the names of people group they defeated including names of rivers and mountains had to be inserted in the narratives? Why not just say east of the Jordan? Why would God bother future readers to read so much description? What is it for us since we don’t have any claim?

United Nations

In the past years, representatives from different nations assembled and challenged Israel’s claim to parts of the Old City of Jerusalem among other sites sacred to Jews.
Did the Lord anticipate that such confusion in the UN would develop? Christians or not, we can be persuaded to side with humanistic and popular opinions. Did God make it sure that the Scriptures has records of Israel’s territory east of the Jordan River?

13 But the Israelites did not drive out the people of Geshur and Maakah, so they continue to live among the Israelites to this day.

Originally, God wanted all the Canaanites to be eliminated but there were few survivors who were allowed to live among them after the conquest of Canaan. Did God let those survivors live to testify on how He helped Israel to defeat greater nations than them? Or was it to have more convincing exhibit of argument in favour of Israel’s rights?
Moses says in Deuteronomy 7:22-24, 22 The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you. 23 But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed. 24 He will give their kings into your hand, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand up against you; you will destroy them.

What can we learn from the Lord instruction to the Israelites? How can we apply them in today’s problem? What problem does Canada or the church face these days?

Asylum Seekers

Lately, more and more Asylum seekers walked through a cold wilderness between North Dakota and Manitoba. They cross the border and entered Canada from the US. They are scared of possible persecution by US government.
Was it because Christians in Canada hesitate to join international missions that God brings mission contacts into our city? Does moving from one nation to another have similarity to church hopping? How should we react to it? How should we pray for it?

As concerned Canadian citizens, we pray that the government would examine the law on border crossing. Well, how about the problem of church-hoppers? As concerned church members, we should examine biblical measures to address church hopping issues.
Did God allow church-hopping for us to re-evaluate our outreach focus? Why would God allow some church-hoppers to remain in our midst? What should we do?
Pray for our church leaders to discern God’s direction for our outreach program.
Pray that God grants wisdom to our government in response to asylum seekers.
Are we called to minister to asylum seekers? Should we donate money or food?

2. Food

14 But to the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance, since the food offerings presented to the Lord, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as he promised them.
After designating the boundary of tribal inheritance east of the Jordan, it was inserted in the narratives that the tribe of Levi had no assigned land as inheritance. The Levites were assured of food from the food offerings to the Lord. Does it suggest that their inheritance would depend on the faithfulness of the Israelites?

Pastor’s Salary

Someone shared his concern about pastor’s salary when some church-hoppers left the church. Practically, pastors are also concerned about the sustenance of their family. Some pastors are selective of churches they would apply into. Financial situation is a demanding factor that many believers would silently defy and ignore the call of the Lord to join the fulltime ministry. Should God’s servants be worried about finances?
It says in 1 Corinthians 9:13-14, 13 Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? 14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

It’s puzzling to know that Paul preached such prescription while he did not want to receive anything from the Corinthians who were rich but received support from the Philippians who were not rich by worldly standard. It’s a personal choice of Paul not to receive salary from the Corinthians but teaches them of the church obligation.
The Old Testament and New Testament teach that the Lord would supply the needs of those who would serve Him. Preaching the gospel of Christ is not limited behind the pulpit. We will share the gospel as the Lord empowers us.
Just as God provided the needs of the Levites who served Him, we are mandated as witnesses to Christ, and He will also provide our needs individually and as a church to keep on serving Him. It says in 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

When we believe in Christ, He sent His Spirit into our hearts as the guarantee that He sets us apart. He anointed us as His own. We’ve got no more rights to dictate what we want. If Christ’s Spirit lives in us, He dictates His will for us, He provides all necessary needs, material or spiritual, for us to stand firm in Him and not easily dissuaded to quit.
Still some cannot understand why God allows preachers to mislead others.
It says in Deuteronomy 13:1-3, 1If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Popular methodologies and humanistic views are modern idols. Church-hoppers seek churches that would please their selves. Genuine believers seek to please the Lord.
Our concern as believers sealed by the Holy Spirit is to please the Lord who owns us. Christ’s Spirit fills us with faithfulness to stand firm and to be consistent serving Him.

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