Did you ever sing that song in Sunday School when you are little?
The one that says...
O, be careful little eyes what you see.
O, be careful little eyes what you see.
for the Father up above is looking down in love,
O, be careful little eyes what you see.

Because that's what I begin to think about as I read the book of Judges.
For these children of Israel no longer have a leader to follow.
I mean, where is the Moses, the Aaron, the Joshua or Caleb?
Where are the priests and the elders... the leaders of the tribes?
Is no one appointed and to ready to step up and take the lead now?

And the Israelites are busy settling into their inherited lands.
Some by battling for the territory and taking possession, destroying those who worship other gods, as the Lord commanded they do.
And some just moving in... and settling, literally,
Because, seriously, it's just too difficult, to awkward, to pushy and inconvenient to tell these people that they have to go. I mean, honestly, that's exactly my personality.

Now, I am not happy to admit that... but I am totally in sync with these Israelites.
I mean, I am one of the most non-confrontational people you'll meet.
I hate conflict and will go to great lengths to avoid it.
So do I really want to move into a new land and tell the people who have lived there all their lives, that... "Ahem!... Um, excuse me...if you don't mind... please, would you scooch over a bit, and find another place to live. Because, well... my God told me that this is my land now. And, oh by the way, would you please take those idol statues and altars with you so I don't have to look a them, because they just might be a distraction to me.

Riiiggghhht!
I mean to be honest... that's not happening.

And that's exactly why we see this verse.
Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord,
and served the Baals; and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers,
who had brought them out of the land of Egypt;
and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people
who were all around them, and they bowed down to them;
and they provoked the Lord to anger.
Judges 2:11-12 NKJV

Now I'm sure when these children of God moved into their lands
they had no intention of bowing to other gods.
None of us do.
They were just the non-confrontational type like me.
They wanted to be nice and accepting of others and figured they could keep to their own worship practices without being influenced.

And that's where the song comes in...
the one I mentioned before.
O, be careful little eyes what you see.

That song...
is all about subtlety.
It's about the little things that change slowly.
Simply because we get used to seeing them everyday.
Simply because we get used to hearing them everyday.
Simply because we get used to them... and they are no longer about right... or wrong.

The black and white... blend to gray.
And our God... is no longer perceived as holy and worthy of our worship.
Because we have allowed the world around us
to slowly creep into our perspective.

And God was well aware of that possibility
​long before the people arrived in this place.
For He had created the Canaanites as well...
they are descendants of Noah, of his son Ham.
And it's not that God had not tried to pursue them as well.
But they would not turn their hearts toward Him.

You see, God was just looking... seeking a people to dedicate themselves to Him.
To set themselves apart to Him and love Him first and only.
And He had that for a time, with the Israelites.
But then when they got to their promised land...
they didn't quite finish what they were assigned to do.
And they compromised.
They were not careful with their eyes.
They were not careful with their ears.
And soon, their lives began to crumble.

But the story is not over...

Word of God... train me, today...
to be careful of my eyes and what I allow them to see,
to be careful of my ears and what  i allow them to hear.

Lord,
I admit that I do struggle
with facing conflict.
And many times that
is to my advantage.

However...
when I fail to be
obedient to Your calling,
push me still
that I will complete
whatever is necessary
that I do not compromise,
but finish faithfully.

I am reminded of a song by...
Casting Crowns called Slow Fade
that speaks of this very thing.
If you cannot see the video below, click here.

Time has passed, and the Lord had given much rest to Israel.
As Joshua grows old, it is time he called all of Israel
and it's leaders to gather for a farewell address.

And he reminds those old enough to remember...
You have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations
because of you, for the Lord your God is He who has fought for you.
Joshua 23:3 NKJV

But it is important to also teach the younger generation...
those too young to fully recall the need to remain steadfast,
dedicated and faithful to God.

Therefore take careful heed to yourselves,
that you love the Lord your God. 
Or else, if indeed you do go back,
and cling to the remnant of these nations...
these that remain among you, 
and make marriages with them,
and go in to them and they to you, 
know for certain that the Lord your God
will no longer drive out these nations from before you.
But they shall be snares and traps to you,
and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes,
until you perish from this good land
which the Lord your God has given you.
Joshua 23:11-13 NKJV

What exactly does all this mean...
...take careful heed to yourselves... Or else....
For these are not words we often use today.

So lets us look up their original language...
What take careful heed... means is
diligently guard your souls... or, to be on active watch.

And the reason it is set up with an Or else....
is because God knows how easily we can be influenced
when we just put off needed confrontation... one more day.

I mean, we may certainly intend to fight that battle,
change that habit,
confront and confess that sin,
work on that troubled relationship,
pay off that debt,
finish that project,
or move in the direction that we sense from God.

But then we stand still just one more day...
Tomorrow... we say to ourselves.
And we genuinely believe
that we are taking careful heed to ourselves...
and truly loving the Lord our God,
even when we put it off until tomorrow.

But what God is telling us...
is that when we simply stand still today
and do not take action,
we are living with, and among  the remnant of those nations
that worship other gods.
We are living in, and like the world around us.
And it taints us, discolors us, dilutes us, and weakens us
so that we are no longer fully and wholly His.

And in the Old Testament day, God told them that
those people would become snares and traps to them.
They would be scourges to their sides and thorns in their eyes.

But now that the New Testament has been fulfilled...
this punishment shifted.
Don't get me wrong...
the sin is still the same.
But now I see that when Jesus came,
these punishments listed for my sin of standing still in the battle...
are the very punishments He bore.

This is how Jesus was punished for my clinging to the world.
For snares were set by the teachers of the law,
desperate to find Him guilty of blasphemy.
And the and trap was the kiss of death by Judas in the garden.
The scourges to His side were the beatings
by the Roman guard as they mocked Him.
And the thorns He wore as a crown, pressed down above his brow...
cutting deep, onto His eyes.
Until finally, He perished from this land... to rise again,
seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven.

All the times I have I gotten lazy and delayed...
it honestly has never crossed my mind,
that those were the times I caused Him pain.
And while I cannot go back to remove that,
for surely other sins of mine, He died for as well,
But I will think upon this when I have a tendency to put it off...
​again.

Word of God... train me, today...
to diligently guard my soul and be on active watch for what distracts,
to love You by stepping into the battle for my heart and not stand still. 

Lord,
words cannot express
my gratitude
for taking upon Yourself
my punishment.

I was the unfaithful one...
putting off until tomorrow,
what needed to be done today.
I continue to delay
in the guarding of my heart,
soul and mind,
allowing the world and it's idols
to creep in again.

Forgive me and help me, Lord!
Guide me and change me.
Help me to find the balance...
consecrated and set apart
from the world.
And yet, help me to remain
loving, accepting,
and lacking judgement
toward the people around me.

So the Lord gave to Israel
all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers,
and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. 
The Lord gave them rest all around,
according to all that He had sworn to their fathers.
And not a man of all their enemies stood against them;
the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. 
Not a word failed of any good thing
which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel.
​All came to pass.
Joshua 21:43-45 NKJV

Everyone seems to love a happy ending.
And this is seemingly one here, as the book of Joshua begins to draw to a close.

But as we know, there is much more of the Bible yet to read...
and much more in store for these Israelites.

However, this is surely a place where we need to pause,
and celebrate the goodness of our God!
Not a word failed of any good thing
which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel.
​All came to pass.

God's WORD is GOOD!

We can trust that our God
is an unfailing God.

If we are faithless,
He remains faithful.
2 Timothy 2:13

Throughout the Bible God has given promises.
And His promises never fail...
because God never changes.

But did it need really to take all these forty-plus years
for the Israelites to see His promises...
for them come to pass?
Absolutely not.
It was heir disobedience that delayed the fulfillment of many of them.

So is there a lesson in this for us?
Absolutely.

God's Word is true... and filled with promises.
And since we are His children...
we are heirs as well to these same promises.

So anywhere in the Bible that God makes a promise...
we should be able to make a claim to it.

If we are not receiving the promises of God,
then we should begin to pray for them.
If we still see no evidence of them in our life,
then it may be time to examine some areas
that need to yield to His will.
So that all His promises can be fulfilled.

For we have seen for ourselves, why the Israelites had delays in these promises.
And by reading His Word daily...
chronologically, we gain a better sense of how much God truly loves His creation.
For even when we are faithless, He continues to be faithful.

Word of God... train me, today...
to find the promises You give,
to search my heart and humble myself before You.

Lord,
thank You for never changing.
Thank You for being trustworthy.
Thank You for Your faithfulness.
Thank You for Your promises.

Help me to examine my heart.
Make me moldable and humble,
longing to receive all You have promised!

Now the whole congregation of the children of Israel
assembled together at Shiloh,
and set up the tabernacle of meeting there.
And the land was subdued before them. 
But there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes
which had not yet received their inheritance.

Then Joshua said to the children of Israel:
“How long will you neglect to go and possess the land
which the Lord God of your fathers has given you?
Joshua 18:1-3 NKJV

The children of Israel have come a long way from their days in the wilderness.
And we see them gather together here... they whole assembly.
I cannot imagine how many they are.
But they have set up the tabernacle.
So God is surely present...
for the land was subdued before them.

And Joshua has been assigning the territories...
But he finds a need to call some of the tribes into question.
For they have not moved from this central place.

It's as if Joshua is looking around on the day after Christmas.
And he's scratching his head, wondering...
why are there still wrapped presents sitting beneath the tree?

For five of the tribes have moved forward
and begun to settle in their inheritance.
But seven others remain.
​And Joshua's statement is not without accusation.

Then Joshua said to the children of Israel:
“How long will you neglect to go and possess the land
which the Lord God of your fathers has given you?

Let's look at what he's really saying.
For these words we read were no originally written in english.
So sometimes they lose a bit of their meaning in translation.
When we research a bit more into the Hebrew language we find...
this word neglect...
means to sink, to relax, to fail.
These people have seemingly become helpless and discouraged...
as if they have lost the motivation to move forward.
Or maybe they simply do not fully understand that it is theirs for the having,
so they do not know quite how to grasp hold of it?

And this word possess, does not simply mean to take.
It is a much stronger word which means taking possession of... by force.
it is taking something in place of others;
to occupy by driving out the previous tenants,
to expel, or to cast out others.

The when Joshua says given you,
what he is really saying is,
that this was not just any gift.
This was a "special delivery,"
It was personally delivered by God...
or custom made and placed in your hands.

Joshua is trying to shake these seven tribes a little bit with his words.
He is trying to get them to move into action and have someone take initiative.
ownership, even.

For when he says...
Lord God of your fathers,
it's as if they have not claimed God, as their own God.

Why is does it not say...
which the Lord your God has given you?
Wouldn't that be a better question?

That would mean that they had developed a personal relationship with God.
That they had drawn close enough to God to reach out their hands
and accept the gift He was handing over to them.

So Joshua has been very intentional here.
He gathered the assembly,
had the tabernacle of meeting set up...
so the people are aware of presence of God.
And he calls them into question.

Come get your gifts!
Unwrap them!
God is here with us, and He wants you to have all that He has promised!

And God has the same message for you, and for me as well.
He does not want us to neglect to possess all that He has given to us.
He very much desires to have a personal and close relationship with us.
And His hands are ever open to deliver these custom gifts to us...
unfailing love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
And yes, even a special purpose, custom made and hand delivered
just for us.

But we must first be aware of it.
And then know how to receive it... and even how to unwrap it.

Word of God... train me, today...
to humble my heart and draw nearer to Your open hands,
to never neglect the gifts You freely give.

Lord,
I long to take possession
of the gifts You give.

But that means that I need to
drive out the tenants of
my pride and selfishness
in order to live in
Your realm of peace
and contentment.

For when I dispossess my will
and move into Yours,
I better understand
how in this life we can fulfill...
Your kingdom come
Your will be done 
on earth as it is in Heaven.

Show me all that You have for me.
And teach me how to unwrap these gifts
and put them to use for Your glory.

Joshua is advanced in age.
His battles are over and he has entered a place of rest.
But God has given him a new task.
One that is not without it's challenges.

And the Lord said to him...
there remains very much land yet to be possessed.
And while there were yet inhabitants of the land that still need to be conquered, God promised... I will drive (them) out from before the children of Israel;
only divide it by lot to Israel as an inheritance, as I have commanded you.
Joshua 13:1, 6

So Joshua, along with Eleazar the priest, and the twelve heads of the tribes, distributed as an inheritance the land, by lot as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

The borders and boundaries of land had been issued to the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons of Joseph. And they had begun to settle in their land. But the Canaanites who dwelt in the land were determined to stay.

And some of the leaders of two tribes came to Joshua...
Then the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying,
“Why have you given us only one lot
and one share to inherit,
since we are a great people,
inasmuch as the Lord has blessed us until now?”
Joshua 17:14

These men were upset because they were two tribes sharing one allotment.
So when they say... since we are a great people,
they mean, great in number.
And now that they have begun to settle, they are feeling crowded.

And it's not simply that they are many.
For they have neglected to mention to Joshua
what he already knows.
For for in order to take possession of land...
they first needed to dispossess the current inhabitants.
The inhabitants that God had previously commanded them to... utterly destroy.

Joshua knows that this land is quite possibly large enough
for both tribes... Manasseh and Ephraim;
If the Canaanites were no longer there.

So Joshua answered them,
“If you are a great people, 
then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself
there in the land of the Perizzites and the giants,
since the mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you.”

What a great tactic Joshua uses...
restating their own words as an argument for his own purpose.
Even though they came with an appeal to Joshua for more land
in sort of a complaining way...
this warrior who rules them is not falling for it.
For he has wandered in the wilderness with the worst of complainers.
And he has also led them in and out of battle.

​Joshua obviously knows that the reason they are asking for more land...
is simply because they are not willing to clear the land they have been given.
By destroying, or running off the current inhabitants.
So he gives them another option to clear land...
​he tells them to head to the forested part of their land
and literally clear the land.

Joshua, who we have seen in the past, 
as a man of action, is saying... 
Quit whining, and GET TO WORK!

But the children of Joseph said,
“The mountain country is not enough for us;
and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley
have chariots of iron, both those who are of Beth Shean
and its towns and those who are of the Valley of Jezreel.”

Wah!
Somehow, these children of Joseph have surveyed the land.
And even peering through the forest, they have determined it is not enough.
But Joshua knows that these men do not truly have a vision
for what they have already been given.
And while they may say they are great...
they are simply ordinary people like me... maybe like you, too,
fearful of the unknown.
Believing only what they can see with their human eyes.
and uncertain of what God sees in them...
their great potential.

But Joshua wants to give them one more pep talk!
For Joshua is actually from the tribe of Ephraim, as well.
​These are his people.
And I don't believe he wants to give them a break
or cut them any slack.
He knows that they can rise to this occasion.

And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph... to Ephraim and Manasseh, saying,
“You are a great people and have great power;
you shall not have only one lot, 
but the mountain country shall be yours.
Although it is wooded, you shall cut it down,
and its farthest extent shall be yours;
for you shall drive out the Canaanites,
though they have iron chariots and are strong.”

Joshua wants them to know...
that they are not simply great in number,
but great in might and courage.

He wants to speak to the heart of them
and motivate them to achieve more.
He has been through the battle and
knows the thrill of victory.
​Now it is their turn.

And through this, God is speaking to us as well...
Now it's my turn.
Now it is your turn.
We cannot simply get what we want in life
by standing still and asking for more.
This is not a life of ease and luxury.
God is telling us, like Joshua did these two tribes...
in order to make room for our purpose,
we must either...
Go to Battle, or
Go to Work!

Word of God... train me, today...
to not sit back and expect my inheritance to be given to me,
to get to work clearing a lot of what You have already given to me.

Lord, thank You
for opening my eyes
to what You have already given.

Let me not expect my inheritance
through luxury and ease.
But rather always know
that I need to put in the work
and be willing to fight the battles.

I trust You, Lord
to give me strength as I clear.
I have already been give a lot!