A Review
Sometimes we make promises, but are not able to keep them. But God has always kept His promises. And we notice many which came true in the time of Joshua.
God had said to Abraham: “Unto thy seed (a descendant, one born of his family) have I given this land (Canaan) (Gen. 15:1818In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: (Genesis 15:18)). Abraham owned no land there (except a burial ground). He lived in tents, moving to different parts of the wild lands.
God repeated this promise to, Abraham’s son, Isaac, and to his no Jacob, who also owned no land: “Unto thy seed, I will give all these countries.” They were told their “seed” should be a great multitude, and would spread to the north, south, east and west (Genesis 26:44And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; (Genesis 26:4); and 28:13,14).
Did these promises come true? Yes, that company, led by Joshua, which God brought into Canaan, were from the families of Jacob (also called Israel), so they were the “seed” of descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They were divided in tribes you remember, according to which son of Jacob they belonged. Each tribe received its share as had been told many years before. And the people all had homes, fields and gardens for their own (Joshua 24:1313And I have given you a land for which ye did not labor, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat. (Joshua 24:13)). Land promised especially to certain persons was given to them: to Caleb and Joshua; and to the five daughters whose father had died (Joshua 14:12-14; 19:49; 50; 17:3-4).
There were also other things told before which came true, as you will notice if you read over the Book of Joshua. But even these make us know how true were these words:
The tribes of Israel are spoken of many times in the stories of this people. Do you remember the names?
Reuben, Issachar, Gad
Simeon, Zebulun, Asher
Levi, Dan, Joseph
Judah, Naphtali, Benjamin Joseph’s family was divided into two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim.
ML 06/12/1938