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Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango, and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan.
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And join the Journey.
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Family. We used church candy for our new church plant the Garden, and the response blew me and my team away. At our new church plant the Garden, we ran simple invite ads through none other than church candy, and hundreds of people responded.
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Seriously.
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People who had never even heard of us, who had never met me or heard me preach. They saw an ad on Facebook or Instagram. They showed up to a launch party or launch team training. Some of them have joined our team. Here's the best part. A good amount of them have started giving and tithing, which means the ads have paid for themselves. Our church plant is growing, and it's because we chose the right partner. We didn't have to figure out marketing strategies or spend hours tinkering with ad settings. Church candy handled it all, and it worked. You might not be planting a church, but if you're a pastor who wants to see more new faces on Sunday. And by the way, I've never met a pastor who doesn't want to see.
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More new faces on Sunday.
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It's time to check them out. How about you go to churchcandy.com Manny and book a discovery call, Let their team show you what's possible when the.
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Right people hear about your church fam. Welcome to day139. We are still in the book of Joshua. We got a big chunk today. Joshua chapters 14 to 19. Now, you may be a little upset that on our Bible reading plan, we put this much reading on one day, but to be honest, I think you're gonna thank me because we don't want multiple days of just, like, land allotments. Okay? So when I broke down the book for you at the very, very beginning, I told you that Joshua 1:5 was prep for conquest. Joshua 6 through 12 was the actual conquest. Yesterday, we kind of crossed the line, and conquest is over. Chapters 13 to 22 are all land allotments. Okay? So we tried to put a lot of the land allotments here on today's reading assignment, day 139. So it's a bit of a hard climb. It's definitely not the most invigorating reading in the world, but I think that the Holy Ghost still wants to talk. I think the Holy Spirit wants to tell us something. And so if you've done the reading, I'm proud of you. And we're going to get into some context clues, some nerdy nuggets, and I'm going to leave you with a timeless truth. If you haven't done the reading, I really, really want you to do the reading. Don't substitute reading the Bible for hearing me talk about the Bible. Don't do that with anybody. So definitely make sure that you do the reading. All right, Context clues. Okay. In order to appreciate what we would probably say is pretty, like, boring reading material, you need to know just how climactic this moment is. Okay? The people of Israel are finally getting their inheritance. So, so imagine you wanted something for, you know, years, and you finally got it. You know, there's nothing more important that God has for his people than a home, than rest, than land. Like, this is a massive, massive, massive deal. So let's kind of put this in context. We'll move into our context clues. I'm gonna give you two numbers we can wrap our head around these numbers. People kind of date Abraham's life to 2100 B.C. the. The. They date the conquest to right around 1400 B.C. and there's discrepancy on that. Some scholars are going to give different dates. Those are just the dates that. That. That I like. Okay, so if you use just that framing. I mean, they have been wandering around for 700 years. 700 years of, like, nomadic life and life enslaved in Egypt and wandering around the desert. I mean, they've been living 700 years believing God's going to bring us into a land one day. We're not just going to be wandering around. And I think all of us have this thing in us that has an innate longing for a home, for rest, to be in a place that is predictable and dependable and where we can put roots down. So 700 years means man. It is long past overdue. So that's that. So that's kind of like a big number. 21 B.C. 2100 B.C. is the year is the approximate dating for Abraham. 1400 B.C. the approximate dating for the conquest. So that's a big number. Now let me give you, like, a small number. When we get into this section of the book, Joshua, chapter 14 through 19, we're seven years into the conquest. Okay, seven years into the conquest, which immediately I could get into a timeless truth, because God clearly is working with supernatural power. It is God who's fighting for Israel causing the sun to stop. I mean, just fighting with Hail. Just. Just the Lord is fighting, causing the walls of Jericho to. To disintegrate. I mean, just God is fighting for Israel. But just because you have power doesn't mean that God still isn't gonna bring you through a process. And we're gonna see that as a bit of a theme with today's reading. So power doesn't negate process. So there's still gonna be seven years, and they're still not completely done settling the land. So that's that. Now we're gonna move into land allotments, which are essentially real estate agreements. Real estate agreements between Yahweh and the people of Israel. And we can't look at every single tribe. We just don't have enough time. And I bet nobody's complaining about that, but we can look at some major tribes. So the first tribe is the firstborn son of Jacob, which is Simeon. Sorry. Which is Reuben. Reuben is not gonna get much land, but we kind of know that because of how things went down back in Genesis 49. So if you go to Genesis 49 and we can see what Jacob said to his sons. Reuben, you are my firstborn. This is Genesis 49, verse 3. You are my firstborn. My might, the first sign of my strength. Excelling in honor, excelling in power. Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel. For you went up onto your father's bed on my couch and defiled it. So. Oh, Reuben, I think he took Bilhah, his father's maidservant, which would have been the equivalent of trying to usurp his dad's patriarchal authority and usurp the position of patriarch for his family. So Reuben's allotment is not impressive. Sorry, sorry. Reubenites. The next two brothers get a prophecy in Genesis 49 as a tandem. Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council. Let me not join their assembly. For they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they please. Cursed be their anger so fierce and their fury so cruel. I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel. And that's a hundred percent. What happens with Simeon and Levi in the land? They get scattered, they get dispersed. Simeonites and the Levites. Levites are scattered all throughout the land. They've got cities. And the tribe of Simeon is scattered as well. Originally, they were kind of scattered in with the tribe of Judah, but they're going to end up going north, actually. Okay, then we get to Judah. Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your Hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's sons will bow down to you. You are a lion's cub, Judah. You return from the prey. My son, like a lion he crouches and lies down like a lioness who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come. And the obedience of the nations shall be his. So until he who it belongs shall come. This would have been seen even by the original audience as a prophecy about the Messiah. Now, there's this interesting moment in history where the Romans actually come into what is Judah during the time of Jesus. And by this point, that region is Judea. And they take away the ability for the Judeans or the Jews, okay, from the tribe of Judah to govern themselves in terms of capital punishment. And there's great mourning about this until you realize, because that scepter shouldn't depart from Judah until when? Nor the ruler staff from between his feet until he to whom it belongs shall come. Now there's actually mourning within Israel because it feels like the scepter has departed from Judah. But there wasn't a Messiah. However, Jesus was a young boy. So that's just a really, really cool moment of. Well, God actually did keep this promise here that the ruler staff had not departed from Judah until he whom it belonged to came. So it's just the crew, the crowd, the people who are mourning, lamenting, just are not aware that Jesus is alive, which is just really dope. It's a good. It's a good moment. Okay? So neither Reuben, Simeon, or Levi are really going to get, like, serious land allotments. Go figure. Because of sin that they had committed. So that leaves Judah, fourth born son, who is definitely going to get a lot of land. Like, so Judah's about to get mad land, okay? And then Joseph. Joseph actually gets the double portion, but he gets the double portion because he's got two boys, Ephraim and Manasseh. And each boy actually takes on tribal weight and responsibilities. So that's kind of just like a breakdown of the major players, like the major tribes. So gonna read a little bit here. Let's actually go to something from yesterday's reading. Joshua, chapter 13, verse 1, says, When Joshua had grown old, the Lord had. The Lord said to him, you are now old. There are still very large areas of land to be taken over. So Joshua's now going to have to hand the responsibility over for the taking of land. My man's old. Like, he has fought the good fight. He is old, and the text acknowledges that he is old. Now, I told you that Ephraim and Manasseh, which are essentially tribes of Joseph, like, got a really, really, really good allotment. Like, they got a lot of land. But I'll read a couple of things to you. It says this. In 1610, they did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer. To this day, the Canaanites live among the people of Ephraim, but are required to do forced labor. So it's like, dude, the Bible said to destroy them. Like, to. To drive them out, to dislodge them. So this is just nonchalant sign of disobedience. Then 1714, the people of Joseph, okay, so this is Ephraim and Manasseh are the people of Joseph. Said to Joshua, why have you given us only one allotment and one portion for an inheritance? We are numerous people, and the Lord has blessed us abundantly. Okay? So nerdy nugget. The allotments are proportional to the size of the tribes, okay? So if you're a big tribe, you get a lot of land. If you're a small tribe, you get a small amount of land. Makes. Makes a lot of sense. But where that land is, is based on lots. So you got to cast lots in order to actually get land. And I love Joshua's response to these people of Joseph, why have you given us only one allotment and one portion for inheritance? We're numero, okay? There's a lot of us. The land allotment that you chose by lots. Not a good decision. Verse 15. If you are so numerous, Joshua answered, and if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go up into the forest and clear land for yourselves there in the land of the perizzites and rephaites. So if you looked on a map, you'd be able to see they got mad land, okay? And they're complaining it. They're complaining about the land that they got, which immediately tells us, like, God could provide the best of the best of the best for us. I think humans are incredibly hard to please. So two more things kind of before three more things that are here that I think are important. One of the. One of the things that's here that is going to set us up for tomorrow, which is chapter 18, verse 1. The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh. So Shiloh now becomes the hub for worship and obviously the tabernacle and set up the tent of Meaning there the country was brought under their control, but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had not yet received their inheritance. So there's tribes who are not going to receive their inheritance yet. But this is a huge difference. Now, up until this point, the people of Israel kind of been at Gilgal. So they're going to move their headquarters from Gilgal to Shiloh. So this is a great question. 18, chapter 18, verse 3. How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors has given you? This is classic. This has been provided by God. And all is required is your participation. And they still drop the ball like they're. They. Yeah. Joshua said to the Israelites, how long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors has given you? Like, hey, you own it. It's been gifted to you by God. There's a real estate agreement here where you are responsible for this land. But there's no. Yeah, like chutzpah. Like, there's no motivation to actually go possess it, which means driving out other people groups. How long will you wait? How long will you be nonchalant? How long will you not access that which God has actually provided to you? So this idea that the land is been given to the people of Israel, but they haven't possessed it yet. This idea can be found in Exodus, chapter 23, verse 30 to 33, in Deuteronomy, chapter 7, verse 22 to 23. One of the phrases that you'll recognize immediately is the phrase little by little that God is actually going to give them the land little by little. So it's been seven years, and by the time they actually do get full possession of the land, David is going to be king. So they little by little. You can do a lot of teaching, preaching, all types of stuff with just that concept. Again, that's Exodus 23, 30, 33 in Deuteronomy 7. 23 to 23, 22, 23. I'll give you this nerdy nugget. Caleb and Othniel are actually not brothers, but Othniel is Caleb's nephew. And Caleb is about that life. Yo, Caleb is like, I do not care how old I am. I'm about that life. And so he gets his daughter married off because Othniel is also about that life. So Othniel is going to appear in the next book of the Bible, in the book of Judges, Judges, chapter three, verse seven to eleven is going to have Othniel actually serving as the very, very, very first judge of Israel. The only other thing would be Zelophehad's daughters get a second appearance. Remember them from numbers, chapter 27? Well, they are back. And the idea to treat them as if they were sons would have been unheard of in any other culture, any other society. Seriously, these daughters are special. And moreover, Yahweh is special. Yahweh is kind and gracious and revolutionary. Yahweh is light years ahead of where other nations and other tribes and other people groups are. So that's just really, really dope and reassuring family.
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The wait is over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos is out now and available everywhere. Books are sold. Literally. Today I walked into a Barnes and Noble and I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location. So you can grab this book at.
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A physical Barnes and Noble or you can go to a Books a Million.
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Or Amazon or anywhere books are sold and grab a copy. If you enjoy reading the Bible from an ancient perspective, if you understand that the beauty of scripture is actually knowing it in context, then you'll love this book. And if there's any chaos in your personal life, I think that reading the Bible from an ancient perspective can actually help to crush the chaos in your life. I think this book is going to be a New York Times bestseller. I really do. I think we wrote a good one. I think you should get a copy today. All right, back to the episode.
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So Thomas truth, our Thomas truth is going to come out of Hebrews chapter 4, verse 8 to 11. For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from all his works, as God did from his. So are the people going to get land? Get land? Yes. Are they going to get rest? Yes. In the land? Eh, kind of, but that's complicated. Our Thomas truth, okay, Our Thomas truth is that was God giving the people rest? Yes. Was it the complete rest that we long for? Absolutely not. Was it a glimpse of the rest that we long for? Yes. Where is rest found? In the person of Jesus. In the person of Yeshua. That's where. That's where rest is found. The Anglicized version of Yeshua is Joshua. So I think that there's a massive link here between the person who brings the people into the land to get rest and then the ultimate person who provides rest in his presence, and that is Jesus. All right, I gave you some context clues. Gave you some nerdy nuggets. I gave you timeless truth. I'll see you right here tomorrow as we continue as we wrap up the Book of Joshua. I'm so happy to be on this journey with you guys. If you're on a streak, do not break it. If you're not on a streak, what you doing with your life? I'll see you tomorrow right here. Love you guys. Peace.
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Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department Podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show at the Bible Department and on Instagram. Hebibledepartment if you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.