Chapter 18

Bible scholars tell us that a considerable amount of time had passed since the 5 tribes of Israel settled in their respective territories. The remaining 7 tribes had settled for a life of complacency. They were satisfied with how things were. They were not living in the promise. God had promised them that He would give them their own land. And God was faithful to bring their own brethren into their inheritance. So then, seeing all this shouldn’t they have gone ahead and taken all that God had for them? After all God was for them and not against them.

What was the issue then? Could it be that they were afraid to venture out by faith into something that they were not familiar with – even if it was for their good? “Why step out? It’s so nice and familiar here” could have been their justification. Clearly, their justification had brought them to a point where they were living in stark disobedience to the word of the Lord. This is when Joshua had to confront them saying:

Many Christians, even today find themselves in similar situations. They prefer sitting in the boat and rather watch ‘Peter’ stepping out in faith at the word of the Lord and walk on water. There are many of God’s people who are not living the lives God planned for them because they haven’t taken hold of the promises of God.

As Christians, we must seriously guard against complacency creeping into our lives. Complacency saps our spiritual strength and this in turn causes us to lose sight of our calling and vision. The reason why many Christians have not entered into what God has for them is because they have lost sight of the vision that God gave them. (Read Proverbs 29:18)

Joshua fulfilled the ministry of an encourager by encouraging them to reach out and enter into all that God had promised them. We all need people like Joshua who will encourage us to take obedient action. 

Map of the Settlements of the Twelve Tribes of Israel

Joshua also revealed that each individual tribe was responsible to subjugate their portion of land and remove the defeated people. Many of the tribes failed in this responsibility. The land of Israel was divided and the map below shows each area that the tribes settled in, the larger tribes received more land.