 |  |
I Cor. 15: 24-28)--showing how fully the occurrences in Joshua are shadows of things to
come. Although the individual tribes might fail in taking full possession of their
inheritance, yet at Shiloh, in the tabernacle of the congregation and before the Lord, the
land was subdued.
The tabernacle remained at Shiloh until the days of Eli (I Sam. 4: 12). We hear of it
at Nob in the days of Saul, and at Gibeon in the days of Solomon. Reference to the
transference of the ark from Shiloh to Jerusalem is found in Psalm 78:, where the
historic truth of Josh. 18: is endorsed:
"They provoked Him to anger with their high places, and moved Him to jealousy with
their graven images. When God heard this He was wroth and greatly abhorred Israel: so
He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh . . . . . He refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose
not the tribe of Ephraim" (Psa. 78: 58-60, 67).
From Josh. 18: 11 to 19: 50 the inheritances of the remaining seven tribes,
together with Joshua's own portion are described. While we must not stay to consider the
passages dealing with the seven tribes and their portions, the inheritance of Joshua
himself calls for attention. Caleb receives his inheritance first (Josh. 14:) and, although
Joshua had as much right as Caleb, it is not until "an end of dividing the land" has been
accomplished that Joshua enters into his own. The wording here is remarkable:
"The children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun among them"
(Josh. 19: 49).
Above and beyond the evident meekness and unselfishness of Joshua personally, we
certainly have here a foreshadowing of the greater Joshua. Joshua himself had nothing
to leave or to give up, but the Lord Jesus laid aside His glory that He might find a
dwelling-place among His people. The city for which Joshua asked was called
Timnath-serah, a word which means, according to Gesenius, "A portion that was over
and above". In Heb. 1: 1-3 we have revealed something of the glory of the Lord Jesus,
which He laid aside when He stooped to die. And verse 4 continues:
"Being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a
more excellent name than they."
Why does this passage assure us that Christ is so much better than angels? Such a
statement seems, at first sight, hardly necessary. But the point of Heb. 1: 1-4 is that what
was His by right, is His now by merit or inheritance--and therefore, that what could
never have been shared by man before, can now be shared by all His own. The true
Joshua receives an inheritance from His people, and comes and builds a dwelling-place
for Himself among them.
The name of Joshua's city in Judges 2: 9 is given as Timnath-heres, meaning "A
portion of the sun". The Rabbins have not been slow to interpret this as being due to the
representation of the sun on Joshua's grave, in memory of the miracle at Gibeon. This is
highly improbable, the simpler explanation being that the letters "s" and "h" have been