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speedily have been taught the truth by bitter experience. It is true of us, as it was true of
Israel, that it is "little by little", "until thou be increased", even though in Christ we are
already "new creatures", and "seated together" in the heavenlies.
In both 11: 23 and 14: 15 we read that "the land rested from war". The conquest
was achieved and full possession awaited the children of Israel.
We must not omit from our review of all that the Lord had said unto Moses, the
passage that speaks of the possibility of Israel failing to drive out the Canaanites.
"If ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come
to pass that those which ye let remain shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your
sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Moreover it shall come to pass,
that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them" (Num. 33: 55, 56)
When, therefore, we read that the land was taken according to all that the Lord had
said to Moses, we must remember that He had said many things. Had Israel gone on
conquering, had they pressed onto their inheritance, they would have enjoyed a far vaster
tract of country than that which eventually became theirs, and this would have been
according to what the Lord had said unto Moses. When they failed to press on to the full
end of their calling, the failure to possess all that was given to them was still according to
what the Lord had said unto Moses. And when they not only failed to possess all, but
actually became affiliated with the Canaanites of their land, their total loss of all things,
instead of invalidating the promise of God, only fulfilled another part of what the Lord
had said to Moses.
Grace is a wonderful word, and runs through the epistle to the Ephesians like a thread
of gold, yet so is Faith, and that too interpenetrates the same epistle. The assurance of
Col. 1: 22 does not make the warning of Col. 1: 28 unreal or unnecessary.
The twelfth chapter of Joshua sums up the conquest of the land, and on both sides of
Jordan the land is said to be "possessed" (12: 1, 7, 8). This constituted an assurance and
a pledge of the fuller "possession" mentioned in chapter 13: Thirty-three kings are
enumerated, two from the east side of Jordan, and thirty-one from the west. Eleven, the
number of misrule (being one less than twelve), and three, the number of Divine
perfection and resurrection, are here brought together in the figure 33.
The way is now clear for us to consider the third and largest section of Joshua--
chapters 13:-24:, which deals with the possession and dividing of the land.