Remain Faithful as You Go

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we are at Joshua chapter 22. We're going to look at the first 10 verses. Some people are going home from war. Who gets to leave? Let's have some coffee. We'll pray. We'll get into God's Word. Let's pray. Father, we thank You so much for this day. What a blessing it is to get to read Your Word. We pray that You would please help us, Lord, to understand it and that it would be applied to our lives. We pray that You would please teach us and let us follow in Your ways. In Jesus' name, Amen. All right, here we go. Joshua, Joshua chapter 22. Let me grab my Bible up here. Joshua chapter 22, the first 10 verses, nine verses, sorry. Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh and said to them, You have kept all that Moses, a servant of the Lord, commanded you, and have obeyed my voice and all that I command you.
You have not left your brethren these many days up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God. And now, Yahweh your God has given rest to your brethren as he promised them. Now therefore, return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, which Moses, the servant, of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan, but take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses, a servant of Jehovah, commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. Now to half the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half of it Joshua gave a possession among their brethren on this side of the Jordan westward. And indeed when Joshua sent them away to their tents and blessed them, they spoke to them, saying, Return with much riches to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver and gold, with bronze and iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren."
So the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses."
So, we need to ask ourselves our three A, B, C questions. A, what's this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do? So, what's this about? Well, In the previous chapter, we ended up with, "...not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass." Right?
The Lord was good on His promise. They were in the promised land. The land was being conquered. People were winning. The tide of war was on their side. And so now, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, they've done their part. Now it's time for them to get their reprieve, to go home. And so this is them, Joshua called them. This is Joshua, he's the leader of God's people. He's not the king, God's the king, but he's the leader of the people. He calls them to him at Shiloh. And he says to them, right, you've done it, boys.
You kept all the commands. You told Moses you were going to take the land. You wanted your inheritance on that side of the Jordan River, on the east side. But you promised you were going to come, and you were going to fight. And you left your women, you left your children, you left your homes, and you left your herds, and you came here. And you've done it. And you've done well. So take your part of the spoils. Take your part of the spoils of war. Take the good things that God's given you and go home. Enjoy your family now.
That's what this part is saying. So, they go. So the children, verse 9, so the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and half-tribe of Manasseh returned and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, right? And they go to their own country, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead. to the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses." Right? The Lord had given them land.
Now they had gone and fought with their brothers so that they might have their land, and now they get to finally go home and rest. What a sweet, sweet return home that must have been, as their wives and their little ones, their children, were waiting for them, longing to see when was daddy going to come home.
So that's what this section is about. What's the best verse to summarize this? Well, in my Bible, I have verse 2, you're going to laugh at me, 2 through 5 underlined, right? Because there's really two parts here. The command to go home. God's given you, given your brothers rest as he promised them. Now, therefore, return and go to your tents into the land of your possession, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you on the other side of the Jordan. But then there's also this departing charge, isn't there? Did you notice that, the charge that Joshua gives him in verse five? But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses, a servant of the Lord, commanded you.
To love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments and hold fast to him, to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. Remember the Shema. Remember the Lord your God. Hero Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God, the Bahavta. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.
Go on the other side. God bless you as you go do your work. Keep following the Lord. Keep going with him. Don't forget him. Don't forget his promises. This is the leader, Joshua, reminding them to be faithful to God and His covenant as they go home on the other side of the Jordan. He knows a distance might make them even be able to move away from the Lord. And he says, don't do that, guys. Go. You've done well here. Go and do well at home. So that's why I really like verse four and five, especially. All right. So let's do seek calling. What are we called to do now? Don't we long for the same thing? Well done, good and faithful servant.
Isn't that—I mean, I stand in front of the congregation each week, and as I pronounce the blessing of God upon His people with the Aaronic blessing, right? The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. As I say that to God's people each week, Isn't that what we want to be sent home? Knowing that God's face has shined upon us, that we know who we are in Christ, and that as we go out, we're encouraged. Go love the Lord. You have been loving the Lord. Keep loving the Lord. Walk in His ways. He's a good God. He's a covenant-keeping King, and so follow after Him. So today, love the Lord. Love Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Yeah, we're not gonna do that perfectly. It's not about legalism. To keep His commandments, follow after Him because He's a good Father, a loving God, a great King. Endure with great patience. Walk in His ways because He has loved you.
Let's pray. Father, we thank You that You have demonstrated Your love for us and that You sent Your Son, Christ Jesus, to die for us. You've changed our hearts. You've made us turn to love You. And so, Father, we pray that we would love You Lord, we pray that we would volitionally, from our own will, from our own desires, desire you, love you, and walk in your ways.
So God, may you be glorified in our lives. May we follow in your ways all the days of our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May His face shine upon you. And may you know that His countenance has been lifted towards you. And may you have peace. Love the Lord. Walk in His ways. I'll see you next time. Bye.