When we left off in chapter 11, the last thing we remember was that Joshua had taken control of the Promised Land and had given it as an inheritance to the people of Israel (Joshua 11:23), dividing it among the tribes. After about 7 straight years of war, the Israelites finally had some rest. Whew!

However, as we started back up last Monday in chapter 12 and went on through chapter 17, it seemed as though the Scriptures were now contradicting themselves. The Israelites had control of the land, but now we see God telling Joshua in his old age that, “much land remains to be conquered”. What’s up with that?! I thought they had already conquered it!

As we have been looking at these things “through the lens of the Gospel”, as John often says, they are beginning to get much clearer for us. Instead of these things causing us to be confused, they now shed a greater light on our own life in Christ. We can see even better how Israel is a picture of the believer and how Joshua is a picture of Christ. How beautiful is the Word of God! The Scriptures go deeper and are more alive than we could have ever imagined!

Yes, Joshua took control of the land. He conquered it. He took care of the most important part, which was disabling the leadership of the enemy. By doing this, their power over the Israelites was broken. Their dominion was overthrown. There were still a few Canaanites that remained in the land, but as one commentator puts it: “Those who still remained here and there were crushed into powerless fugitives, who could neither offer any further opposition to the Israelites, nor dispute the possession of the land with them.” And so now we see that Joshua conquering the land is a picture of Christ conquering our own hearts.

Christ conquers our heart, the most important part. He takes control of our life by disabling the leadership of the enemy. He breaks the enemy’s power over us and overthrows Satan’s dominion in our lives. But we know better than anyone, that just because we give our lives to Him doesn’t mean we will never have to fight another battle! On the contrary! After Christ conquers our hearts, there is now MUCH work to be done on a personal level. And if we do not keep up with the fight, we will eventually lose the territory that He has given to us. This we will even see happen to Israel, and are in fact beginning to see already. These fugitives who still remained were powerless until Israel gave them a place within their territory. We must not allow the remaining fugitives a dwelling place in our hearts!

Just as God told Joshua in chapter 1, verses 6 and 7, so it is for the Christian today. God’s promise to drive out all the remaining Canaanites depended on Israel’s obedience to the Mosaic Covenant. God is not required to hold up His end of the bargain if we are not holding up ours. Remember, we also learned on Monday that He will take us only as far as we want to go! Two and a half tribes chose not to cross over into the Promised Land because they thought the land looked good where they were at. So God allowed them to stay there. But as we learn in Scripture, they are also the first ones to be taken away as captives by their enemy (1 Chronicles 5:26).

We must continue in His Word, obeying Him. “Only then will we prosper and succeed in all we do” (Joshua 1:8). We are saved. Christ has beaten the enemy. But now we have the responsibility to keep the land (our hearts) free from any remaining fugitives. This is our job, and God is always with us to help us do it. It is our response to His victory. We keep the land in good shape in honor of all that He has done for us. When Christ conquers our heart, we have an unbelievable, supernatural rest in our spirits, even as the Israelites had rest from war. We have Him now. He is our rest. However, “much land remains to be conquered” (Joshua 13:1). We must never stop fighting! And we must remember what our only offensive weapon is: the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17).

For me, one of my most precious gifts is my wedding ring. Not only is it a constant reminder to me of my commitment to John, but I also understand that it’s a precious and very costly thing. He spent some good money and time in order for me to have this. That makes all the difference in the world. Had it been something that I spent my own money on for myself, I honestly don’t think that I would appreciate it as much. I definitely wouldn’t wear it daily. In fact, it would probably be lost right now. But because it cost him so much and it was a gift from him, the one I love, it is so much more important to me.

I can remember one time when I was cooking and had to mix some hamburger meat with my hands. I took the ring off and set it on the counter, making sure it was in a place far away from where I was working and away from the sink so that I wouldn’t knock it off or lose it in the food. I was very careful. In passing, John saw it there and he either thought to protect it, or he thought it would be funny to take it so that I would freak out when I went to look for it (I’m assuming it was the latter, knowing my husband). So he did just that. I can’t even begin to describe the feeling that came over me when I saw that it was not there! Panic would be an understatement. Fear and trembling are a better description of what I was feeling! And one of my first thoughts was, “How in the world am I going to tell him?!”

In the same sense, this gift that Christ has given us is infinitely more valuable than a wedding ring with even the largest diamond in it. We need to guard it and protect it even more so than we do for some of these measly little things that we put so much value on! Just as Joshua tells Israel to guard their territories and finish the work, God also tells us to guard our hearts (Proverbs 4:23) and to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).

There is still much that needs to be done, but as long as we continue in His Word, “no one will be able to stand against us as long as we live. For He will be with us as He was with Moses. He will not fail us or abandon us.” (Joshua 1:5)

Let us be in prayer this week about any “remaining fugitives” in our hearts, considering these things He has been showing us in His amazing Word. We look forward to seeing you and all of the friends you will bring next Monday! We love you very much and are praying for you all.

Sara