Ep 561 – Joshua 14:1-19

One of the greatest lessons found in the book of Joshua is the gift of the land to the people of Israel. The land was the result of a promise made by God hundreds of years earlier to their distant ancestor, Abraham. God gave them the land as a gift, undeserved and with the only caveat that they fight to possess the land and obey His commands concerning its use. It was theirs. And they weren't just inheriting undeveloped property that was going to require extensive renovations. They were being given entire cities and villages, farms and orchards, along with rich pasture land and beautiful forests full of timber. It was a land flowing with milk and honey, cultivated and fully capable of meeting all their needs. And in Joshua 15:1-19, as Joshua begins the dividing up of the land between the various tribes, we will see that the land was intended to hold great value to the people of Israel, but it was never meant to have replace God in their hearts. God was not giving them the land as something to worship, but as a place in which to worship and live in obedience to Him.