I. The Division of the Land is Sourced in a Love Story.
It all goes back to a love story, a man named . . .
January 29, 2006
Election In Israel
Have you ever talked with a young couple who are engaged. They look forward to the date of their wedding with great joy and anticipation. The day draws nearer and nearer, as you talk with them they tell you about all the preparations that are going on, their eyes are on their wedding day. In a similar way, we have been talking about the promises God made to Israel for a land, a promise that had been a long time in coming. First promised to Abraham in 2100 B.C., then to his son Isaac, then to his son Jacob whose name was changed to Israel, they all waited for the land. Jacob, or Israel, had twelve sons and this promise of land was passed on to them. One of them, Joseph, secured the survival of all his family as he rose to power in Egypt. Then over 430 years passed and a man named Moses receives the promise of entering the land in around 1450B.C. Then around 1390B.C. the promise is finally realized, Joshua brings conquest to the land of Caanan. We have been following this story of Joshua for several months now and here we are at the ?wedding day? so to speak. It was a time of entering into the rest that this land symbolized, of no longer being slaves and wanderers. As Christians we know that every wedding, as wonderful as it is, is but a picture of something much greater, a picture of the uniting of mankind to Christ Jesus for all eternity. Every wedding in that sense is absolutely heavenly! In this mornings sermon we're going to watch the process of how the land was actually given to the people and then we?ll stand back and look at how this ?wedding? is but a picture of something so much greater. For starting point in scripture let's read Joshua 14:1-5.
I. The Division of the Land is Sourced in a Love Story.
It all goes back to a love story, a man named Jacob in love with a woman named Rachel. Through a series of deceptions Jacob was forced to marry Rachel's sister Leah before he could finally marry the woman he really loved. The two women became intense rivals as Leah had four sons and Rachel was barren. In desperation Rachel had her hand maid be a surrogate mother for her and Leah responded with a surrogate handmaid of her choice. Four women became the mothers of twelve sons which are the stock of Israel today. Genesis 29, 30 gives us the details, but what emerges is that there is one son of Leah's that is strong and rises in power, his name is Judah. Rachel eventually carries a son herself, his name is Joseph. These two names become foremost in Israel 's leadership. Rachel died in child birth with her second son and his name became Benjamin. When you remember the story of Joseph in Egypt it begins to make sense of why Benjamin was not only the youngest but had a special place in Jacob's heart. Here's the twist, though Jacob had twelve sons, the division of the land did not include two of these sons. One of Leah's sons was named Levi, from his line came the Levitical priests and they were to have no specific land given to them. In addition Joseph had his land allotment given to his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. So two names were taken out of the land division, Levi and Joseph, and two names replaced them, Ephraim and Manasseh. Judah, the son of Leah and Joseph the son of Rachel are where the division of the land begins. Following these two all the rest are appointed their land, with the exception of the tribe of Levi who have certain cities and pastures given them but generally are dispersed throughout Israel. That's the source of the division of the land, but how did it happen?
II. The Division of the Land Was Primarily An Act of Election.
Long before the nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan and conquered Caanan, three tribes came and asked for their portion to be along the eastern side of the Jordan river and Moses considered their request and allotted this to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh (Numbers 32). As well, last week we heard how Caleb came and asked for his unique portion in Hebron. These now completed the rest were to be determined by need and by a process of divine election. Divine election, what was that, what did it look like? You?ll see the phrase ?by the lot of their inheritance? or 'the lot for the tribe of Judah ? occurring again and again as each remaining tribe has their land assigned. This lot was the practice of using a device called the Urim and Thummim, perhaps two stones that were used to indicate a ?Yes? or ?No? type answer. The people were still camped in Gilgal at this point, and Joshua and the heads of the tribes watched as Eleazer the High Priest took the two stones from his vest, shook them and cast them into his lap. Perhaps he asked, 'should this parcel of land go to Judah ?? The stones indicated the answer. The people completely trusted that God would speak and direct through the Urim and Thummim. Just as God had used to speak directly to Moses, now in this way He spoke to all Israel. Urim translates into the term ?Lights? and Thummim into ?Perfections?, they were the means by which God used the High Priest to guide Israel. In each case the people trust God to choose or elect where they were to be in the land. Sovereignly, divinely, God placed each where He chose. In Gilgal, Judah and Joseph, or Ephraim and Manasseh by extension in Joseph, are appointed their land and their tribes leave Gilgal and go up. Turn now to Joshua chapter 18, look at what it says there, the whole congregation now leaves Gilgal as a base camp and moves to Shiloh. It's intriguing to note that way back in Genesis 49:10 as Jacob is blessing his twelve sons just before he dies he says 'the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the rulers staff from between his feet until Shiloh comes.? Certainly this use of Shiloh references the coming Messiah and yet now we see the people establishing the Tabernacle and center at the city called Shiloh. It is here that the rest of the division of the land takes place, still by the process of lot, the divine election portioning out to each.
III. The Division of the Land Points to the Sovereign Methods of the Kingdom Come.
Certainly the danger of any metaphor or symbol or type is to read too much into what is really there. We know the land of Israel was certainly a type of heaven, the crossing of the Jordan a type of the way we cross by death into glory. But we have been talking of the division of the land and that too pictures something greater than itself. Like a sign post it points to what is to come. Consider these pictures that this division of land suggests:
1. Joshua is a picture of Christ as He allocates to us our inheritance in heaven. We are of Christ and of the Father's family and He portions out to us in glory, for all eternity, the roles of work and ministry and fruitfulness and joy that will be ours to grow in forever.
2. The process of election with the Urim and Thummim picture the perfect light that God uses in choosing us and in allocating His purpose through us. In a sense the Israelites we're saying, ?God knows better than we how to divide this up, let us depend on Him?. On top of that this was the way that God prescribed for them to consult Him. We have in the Urim and Thummim a picture of Christ as the One who mediates our will and request before the Father and by the Spirit directs us today.
3. The tribe of Levi in the land but not possessing the land is much like a picture of the church. It is of the land but the land is not theirs, it is not what they were intended for. Their inheritance is God Himself.(14:33)
4. There is contentment with the lot that is given them. For us this is like the hymn, It Is Well With My Soul??Whatever my LOT that has taught me to say it is well with my soul?. There is now and to come ever deeper contentment in Christ.
5. As Shiloh is the center point for the dispensing of the Law and worship so is our SHILOH, Jesus Christ.
6. In Sovereignty our Sovereign is sovereign. How can we say it any more forcefully. He elects who and where and when and how with perfect light, to the praise of His glory!
Indeed the land of Israel pictures our rest in Christ, the division of it our inheritance in Christ, the occupying of it our entry into His glory.
Rev. Spence Laycock pastors at Church of the Open Bible, Ponoka, Alberta, Canada.
www.churchoftheopenbible.ab.ca