The Challenge of the Land

Read Joshua 13:1-7. Even though the land of Canaan was a gift from God, what were some of the challenges that came with possessing it?

Given the fact that for centuries the Israelites had been living as slaves, their military skills were inadequate to conquer the land. Not even their slave masters, the Egyptians, with their skilled and well-equipped armies, were able to occupy it permanently. The Egyptians never conquered Canaan completely because of the impregnability of the walled cities. Now a nation of former slaves is told to conquer a land that their former masters were unable to subdue. If they are ever to possess the land, it will be through God’s grace alone, not through their own effort.

Joshua 13 through 21 deals with the division of the land to the various tribes of Israel. This allotment tells Israel not only what has been apportioned to them but also what still must be occupied within that territory. The Israelites can securely live in the land that God has given to them as an inheritance. They are the rightful and legitimate tenants of the land under God’s ownership. Yet God’s initiative must be matched by human response. The first half of the book shows how God gave the land by dispossessing the Canaanites; the second half reports on how Israel took the land by settling it.

This complexity of the conquest illustrates the dynamics of our salvation. Similar to Israel, we cannot do anything to earn our salvation (Eph. 2:8-9). It is a gift, just as the land was God’s gift to the Israelites based on their covenantal relationship with Him. It certainly wasn’t based on their merits (see Deut. 9:5).

However, for the Israelites to enjoy God’s gift, they had to assume all the responsibilities that came with living in the land, just as we have to go through the process of our sanctification in loving obedience to the requirements of being citizens of God’s kingdom. Though not the same thing, the parallel between their being given the land by grace and our being given salvation by grace are close enough. We have been given a wonderful gift, but it is something that we can forfeit if we are not careful.

How do Christians today encounter similar challenges to those related to occupying the Promised Land? See 02:12 &version=KJV&src=tools" target="_self">Phil. 2:12 , 12:28 &version=KJV&src=tools" target="_self">Heb. 12:28 .