Iron Chariots (Part A)

Great reminders, great encouragements. We're not going to be absolutely victorious in this life if we think that means we're going to be perfect and possess every single place that we want for Christ. In Satan, we inflict heavy casualties in the form of saved souls. In the book of Joshua chapter 16, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Joshua chapter 16 with a brand new message called Iron Chariots. Joshua chapter 16, Iron Chariots will stand out hopefully in the lesson that we get from this section. Joshua 16, we'll get chapter 17 also. Anything fierce against us is an iron chariot, a tank, mechanized warfare of the enemy against the righteous.

We'll close the 16th chapter with the theme that will find its way through the book of Judges. They did not drive them out. This section concerns itself with two tribes, really the children of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh and their borders. Eleven times in this chapter the word borders shows up, those boundaries we talked about in the last session we had, markers, locations for where one's territory begins and the other ends. In the New Testament concerning personal territory, Paul writes to the Ephesians, he says, But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.

And so there are still boundaries, there are still limitations placed on us by the Lord. Joseph had, again, two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. And out of Egypt, Manasseh numbered 32,000 men for war, just to give us an idea of how they grew.

When they crossed Jordan, they had 52,000 men for war. And so Manasseh was a sizable tribe and Ephraim was large also. And that is going to factor into the story because as we get towards the end, they're going to complain that they don't have enough land. And Joshua is going to say, you know, you have a lot of land, you just need to go work it. You need to fight for it and develop it.

And that's going to be one of the highlights, hopefully, of this consideration. Now remember, Manasseh's tribe was big enough to split in half and still remain strong. Half the tribe of Manasseh wanted to stay on the east side of the Jordan River, the trans-Jordan side. The other side entered into the Promised Land and they got a large share of territory. And between these two, Joseph's sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, they had the most territory. Judah was given the rod to rule in the blessings of Jacob. But Joseph's sons were given a double blessing and it shows up in the allotment of their land. And now we look at verse 1, the lot fell to the children of Joseph from the Jordan by Jericho, to the waters of Jericho on the east, to the wilderness that goes up from Jericho through the mountains to Bethel. Now the author considers them one tribe, sons of Joseph.

Of course, they felt distinct and really three tribes if you consider Ephraim, Manasseh East, and Manasseh West. But that's not really that important. It's just interesting as a Bible student. They will complain about the process a little bit, but Joshua shines in how he handles them. Such tact, such firmness, and love and care that comes through that old man of God. And verse 3 now, we won't get a lot out of verse 16. He mentions Beth Horan to Gezer and it ended at the sea. Now Horan, Beth Horan the house or the temple of Haran, it was a Canaanite god. And it just helps us stay on track that things haven't changed in all these centuries.

You know, they're still the days of the week that we use in our language or after the fake gods of antiquity. But anyway, Gezer, this city listed here, did not come under Israelite control until the days of Solomon. And it was Solomon's father-in-law, an unnamed pharaoh of Egypt, who sent troops to Gezer, took it over, and then gave it to Solomon and his daughter whom Solomon married as a wedding present. Pretty neat dad, thanks.

Thanks for the bloody gift. Anyway, that's in 1 Kings chapter 9, which also tells us that there was editing going on of the documents of Joshua long until the reign of Solomon. Anyway, only Judah and Manasseh were given allotments that touched both the Mediterranean Sea and also the Jordan River.

So now we look at verse 4. So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance. Now some say Ephraim's territory was the most beautiful of all the inheritances. And also an inheritance loaded with Canaanites.

More boogeymen there. Because the land was so nice and fertile, so rich. We'll get to some of that in a little bit. Not much, but just a point that the blessings that they were allotted also came with great responsibility in combat. Verse 9, the separate cities of the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages. Now the separate cities of the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh. So what we have is tribes overlapping, woven together.

That creates a condition where they both have an interest in each other. There is a brotherhood that is maintained, or sustained I should say. The cities that Ephraim received in their territory, well they also received some in Manasseh's territory. And that would extend to Asher and Issachar also. And I think it's a brilliant stroke of the Lord to sort of join them together like this. It would certainly help them in fighting the enemies of the land, and we'll get to some of that in Judges. We'll see the tribes joining each other and trying to get rid of the flesh. And that's what the Canaanites become in type in the book of Joshua and through the book of Judges. This ongoing battle we have to rid ourselves of those things that resist the purposes and the possessions that God has for us.

And it is going to be lifelong as it was with the Jews. Verse 10, and they did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer. Again I mentioned the Egyptian king or pharaoh that sent his troops to take Gezer and award it to Solomon and his bride. But he says here in verse 10, they did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day and have become forced laborers. So at this time, the original draft, they were still there.

This is further explored in chapter 17. But again we read those words, and they did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in the richest tracts of the country. There they were, no intention of giving up what they had. And of course, the Ephraimites wanted that land, it was good land. But that's how it turned out to be, good land to fight over.

2 Corinthians 7, therefore having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in fear of God. It wasn't that they couldn't purge them, that was not so much the problem. The problem was that they stopped fighting. That is where their greatest failure was, that eventually they entered into covenants with these people. The Jews were free to enter into covenants with Gentiles outside of the promised land.

They were not free to enter into these arrangements within the promised land. They were to totally wipe them out, and they did not. And that is the greatest lesson, I think, for us as students of life in Christ, is that we must continue the fight, we never give up, we must never stop. We get setbacks, we suffer defeats, such as A.I., you know, Joshua suffered a great defeat, but then they regrouped and they came at it again. And when we get to Judges, we'll see that, we'll see that the Jews were defeated, God raised up deliverers, called judges, and then they fought back and they would prevail, but then they'd stop fighting back, and when they stopped fighting back, the influences of the indigenous people, the Canaanites and others, would begin to out-influence the Jews and they would enter into idolatry.

And now you had spiritual warfare that the people of God were losing because of the present influence under the Canaanites. Great lessons for us, great reminders, great encouragements. We're not going to be absolutely victorious in this life if we think that means we're going to be perfect and possess every single place that we want for Christ. However, by fighting for what we can get, we do great damage to Satan. We inflict heavy casualties in the form of saved souls, strengthened souls.

We do great damage. Our labor is not in vain. And that's why Paul suffered, and not only Paul, all the apostles, John, Peter, all of them suffered because they knew the truth. And though they did not see the victories that they envisioned many times, they saw victory enough to keep going forward and what is the result? Countless multitudes saved from a fiery judgment of God.

It is worth it, the labors we put into the faith. So Satan comes, of course he amplifies every sin. You can be driving out of the parking lot and someone irritates you and you lose your cool. You may not do anything that's out of bounds, really, but just enough to remind you that you're still in the flesh and you're disappointed with yourself and you feel that you can do better. And the next time you get in your car, you're going to try to do better.

I can't wait until I get an automatic driving car, a car that just chauffeurs me around. The flesh will be dead in that area, right? No, it won't.

No, it will not. There'll be something else. Anyway, again, the Israelites gave in and that created enormous problems. Now we come to chapter 17. There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph, namely of Makar, the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war. Therefore, he was given Gilead and Bashan. Now, Makar, the firstborn of Manasseh, died before the exodus of the Jews, before the Jews. So the historian is going back to Egypt and he's saying the roots of Manasseh, they come from Manasseh, but he had a son, Makar, and he was a man of war. And it sort of became a badge of honor for those of this tribe, that they were associated with such a distinguished man of military prowess.

And he's noted for it here. And his tribe is sort of given that name, you know, a nickname. They are Makar, they are the ones that are distinguishing themselves. And so they take the territory on the west side of the Jordan before the Jews entered the Promised Land. And this old patriarch, who distinguished himself on the battlefields for Egypt, before the Egyptians turned on the Jews, the Jews were very plugged in because of Joseph. And Moses, he learned so much in the universities of Egypt. He likely distinguished himself also on the battlefield.

How did Joshua learn his military strategies, be able to fight the Amalekites? Well, there was an Egyptian influence there. Well, this man also likely fought in the interest of Egypt long before the Jews were pulled out. And the people were very proud of this.

And this warlike spirit continued into his prosperity, his descendants. And they are assigned Gilead and Bashan, these large tracts that are to the north. And Gad and Reuben are to the south.

Now, the major enemies of the Jews almost always come from the north. I mean, there was Egypt to the south and Ethiopia, which was a long trek for them. But throughout their history, the north was the gate by which the enemies would roll into the Promised Land. And so Gad places Manasseh, who has this link to military power, to the north, sort of a buffer. But both or all three of the tribes that settled to the west of Jordan, they were the first to fall to the Assyrian centuries later. So the Gilead mentioned here in verse 1, Gilead and Bashan both on the east side of Jordan and not the Promised Land itself, that he was a man of war, a man of organized struggle and suffering.

That's what war really is, not a man of battles, but a man of war, long drawn out and awful. Verse 2 now, he speaks of, for the children of Abiezer, that is the hometown of Gideon. Any of you looking to go to the homecoming of Gideon, good luck with that.

That flopped. Verse 3, but Zelophead, Zelophead, the son of Hephir, the son of Gilead, the son of Makar, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters. Verse 4 now, and they came before Eliezer the priest, before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the rulers saying, Yahweh commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers. Therefore, according to the commandment of Yahweh, he gave them an inheritance among their father's brothers. Well this is a civil matter, but it is a civil matter and in God's kingdom everything is a spiritual matter. And so it's a civil matter, yet Eliezer the priest is there to oversee it because it's no way to separate if you're in God's kingdom you really can't separate the two.

It just helps channel who's going to handle it and what are the codes, laws, and ordinances surrounding the matter. And so Eliezer the priest is there, and of course in Joshua, and so the story goes back to the book of Numbers. The inheritance went to the men, and the daughters of Zelophead come along and say, Well, my dad doesn't have any sons, so do we miss out?

Does his name sort of just evaporate from the history books? He gets no land? And Moses said, you know, that's a good point, takes it to the Lord, the Lord says, No, those girls get the land. And so here they are now in the promised land, because of course in the wilderness was nothing to inherit, and they come and they make their claim. If they did not speak up they would have gotten nothing. So God makes provision for the daughters.

He takes care of things the right way. And ten shares fell to Manasseh, verse 5, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side of Jordan, because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons, and the rest of Manasseh's sons had the land of Gilead. And so there's just that note. It doesn't mean a lot to us, but as you go through the Bible, we tend to want to know what every single thing means.

What's that space mean between the R and the E? Because the rabbis are known to say that when Messiah comes, he will interpret not only the sentences, but the lines between them. And that's just, of course, a glorious hyperbole.

Or to say it this way, God will just tell us everything we need to know. Verse 8, Manasseh had the land of Tapuah, but Tapuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim. I just don't get to say Tapuah, and I figured I'd say it twice at least.

I think we'll get it again. But verse 9, and the border descended to the brook Canaan, southward to the brook. These cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh. Now we pause there.

So there we go again. Manasseh's got cities, Ephraim has cities in Manasseh. They're woven together. Continues in verse 9, the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook, and it ended at the sea. Verse 10, Manasseh's territory was adjoining Asher on the north and Ishikar on the east. Verse 11, in Ishikar and Asher, Manasseh had Bethshean and its towns, Abilim and its towns, the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, the inhabitants of Endor and its towns, the inhabitants of Tanakh and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and, of course, its towns, three hilly regions. So we've got a lot of cities here and towns, I should say, that are worth commenting on in this territory allotted to Manasseh.

Where do we begin? Well, we start with Bethshean. Bethshean, the Jews said if the Garden of Eden was in Israel, it was in Bethshean. It was such a lush and beautiful place, which means that the Canaanites felt the same way about it. Well, not the Eden part, but that it was a place worth fighting for. And not only that, was it such a prolific land, producing, of course, the harvests of fruits and vegetables and whatever other things you could grow on the side that were useful. Trade routes. To this day, you can go to Bethshean, and the Gentiles, of course, put a city there.

Psychopolis, I think it is. Anyway, the ruins of the Gentile city is there. You can see how they heated up the water for the baths, and the, you know, the streets are there, and they had places where you could charge up your iPhone, and just thought, well, okay, that's a bit much. But anyway, the ruins are there, and it's very impressive. Well, it's impressive for about ten minutes.

And then you're kind of bored. So, at least I was. So, Bethshean, it's a big deal. Iblium also. Now, there's a movie, The Kingdom of Heaven, which is about crusaders there, and the landlord, or the star of the movie, was given Iblium, another trade route.

And that's, the crusaders would, of course, be very interested in the trade routes, as anybody else would be. Endor of the Witcher, Endor was Saul the fool king, the man with no redeeming feature. Not only was he head and shoulders taller than everyone else, he was head and shoulders dumber than anybody else spiritually. Just, again, a character you read. We'll be going to Samuel. I look forward to talking about Saul. I don't like him so much. It's like a chance to gossip legally. It's like, no, it's okay.

It's in the Bible. Go ahead. Rag on him. I don't like him. He's a murderer, a nut. Anyhow, I'm sorry.

I always do that. Certain things set me off. Corinth, Saul, Balaam, Cain.

There's a few of them, and you should have some too. What do you just, no, I'm just happy. None of these things get me emotional.

Well, they get me emotional when I read about them. Well, Megiddo, of course, the valley of Megiddo, Armageddon will be fought there. I mentioned Beth Shem, now verse 12. And yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities, but the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. Well, the flesh is determined to dwell in us, and it just makes, it's one of the types in the Bible that you don't have to work for. It's just handed to you. You say, yep, yep, that's, I can see the type.

It's a perfect match. So the Canaanite presence always sought to keep the promises of God from being fulfilled, just like our carnal nature. We're born with it.

We're saddled with this nature. And the righteous fight it to the death. They, it causes struggle, just as it did here in Israel. It interferes with righteous living. So the lesson of, again, the Book of Joshua is not purging the land of the Canaanite. It is making sure we don't abandon the fight. That's where the victory is. Otherwise, none of us could come to the communion table.

None of us would be good for anything. It's the perseverance that means very much. And John, in, of course, his third letter is that magnificent verse in 1 John 5, verse 13, where he says, These things I have written to you, that you may believe in the name of the Son of God, and that you may know that you have eternal life, and here it comes, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. Well, why would he put that there? Was it just because there are these spiritual influences in the Gnostics? That's why he put it there? Well, that's part of it, but that's not all of it.

Paul said, Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world. So there are other influences than just doctrinal or heretics or heretical teachings. There are other things that weigh on us. You just get fatigued.

It's just battle fatigue. And we don't have the right. So when Paul writes to Timothy, he says, You've been a good soldier. Continue to fight. Don't get entangled in the world.

It's so easy to become entangled as citizens in a country where we can be involved in politics through votes and other activities. The caution looms over our heads. Don't be entangled.

Don't get so involved in these things that you lose your first love. That was Ephesus. Ephesus got so into Christian work that they left Christ out. Thanks for tuning in to Cross Reference Radio for this study in the book of Joshua. Cross Reference is the teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia. If you're interested in more information about this ministry, please visit our Web site, crossreferenceradio.com.

You'll find additional teachings from Pastor Rick available there. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. By doing so, you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross Reference Radio. Just search for Cross Reference Radio in iTunes, Google Play Music or your favorite podcast app. You can also follow the links at crossreferenceradio.com. We're glad we were able to spend time with you today. Tune in next time to continue learning from the book of Joshua right here on Cross Reference Radio.