Joshua 18:1-7: a reflection

1The whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The land was subdued before them. 2Seven tribes remained among the children of Israel, which had not yet divided their inheritance. 3Joshua said to the children of Israel, “How long will you neglect to go in to possess the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you? 4Appoint for yourselves three men from each tribe. I will send them, and they shall arise, walk through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance; then they shall come to me. 5They shall divide it into seven portions. Judah shall live in his borders on the south, and the house of Joseph shall live in their borders on the north. 6You shall survey the land into seven parts, and bring the description here to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God. 7However, the Levites have no portion among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance east of the Jordan, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.”

The conquest of the land is largely done, and yet seven of the tribes have still not gone in to take possession of their inheritance. God has given them the land; it is theirs by promise. But they have not acted, not gone in, not taken hold of what is already given. And Joshua confronts their passivity with a pointed question: How long will you neglect to go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?

Notice the odd situation. The land was already given, a settled gift from God. What remained was for the tribes to go in and possess it, to lay hold of what was already theirs. And they were slow, negligent, passive, leaving God's gift unclaimed. Joshua's question exposes the strange gap between what God had given and what they had actually taken up: how long will you neglect to possess what is already yours?

That question searches us too. God gives his people many things, promises, gifts, resources for the life he calls us to, and it is possible to leave them unclaimed through sheer passivity, to have them by promise and yet never go in and take hold of them. The forgiveness, the strength, the callings, the promises are given; the question is whether we actively lay hold of them or leave them lying unclaimed. Do not neglect to possess what God has given you. Hear Joshua's question about the gifts and promises God has set before you: how long will you neglect to go in and take possession? Rise, and lay hold of what is already yours.

Lord, you had given Israel the land, yet seven tribes were slow to go in and possess it, and Joshua asked, how long will you neglect to take possession of what God has given? Show me where I leave your gifts and promises unclaimed through passivity, having them by promise but never laying hold of them. Stir me from neglect. Help me actively take possession of the forgiveness, strength, and callings you have given, and not leave your gifts lying unclaimed. Rouse me to lay hold of what is already mine in you.