God at Work in History 11: When Much Remains to Be Done — Joshua 13
Joshua 12 ended with a remarkable number:
Thirty-one kings.
Israel had fought battle after battle. Kings had resisted. Cities had fallen. The land had been conquered in a sweeping campaign that demonstrated the power and faithfulness of God.
Joshua 12 gave Israel a reason to look backward and remember.
Joshua 13 does something different.
It asks them to look forward.
And what they see is surprising.
There is still much to be done.
“Now Joshua was old and advanced in years; and the LORD said to him, ‘You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to be possessed.’” —Joshua 13:1
That verse changes the way we should read the story.
The battles had been real.
The victories had been real.
The promises of God had been real.
But the work was not finished.
And that is where Joshua 13 becomes especially interesting.
The Man Who Had Won the Battles Was Getting Old
Joshua had been the great military leader of Israel.
He had crossed the Jordan.
He had led the people at Jericho.
He had fought at Ai.
He had faced the southern kings.
He had faced the northern coalition.
He had watched God give victory after victory.
Now Joshua was old.
The Bible does not hide that fact.
The great leader was reaching the end of his active years.
And God tells him something that might have been difficult to hear:
There is still much land to be possessed.
Joshua had accomplished much.
But Joshua had not accomplished everything.
That distinction matters.
Sometimes we imagine that faithful people finish everything they begin.
They do not.
Moses did not.
Joshua would not.
David would not.
The apostles would not.
No human being completes everything that God is doing in history.
God's work is larger than the lifetime of any one servant.
Joshua had his assignment.
Moses had his assignment.
The tribes would have theirs.
The generations that followed would have theirs.
And through all of them, God would continue His work.
Victory Does Not Mean the End of Responsibility
Joshua 12 could easily leave us with the impression that the conquest was finished.
Joshua 13 reminds us that there is a difference between winning the decisive battles and possessing all that has been given to you.
God had given Israel victory over the major military coalitions.
But there were still territories to be possessed.
There were still enemies in the land.
There was still work for Israel to do.
This is one of the most practical lessons in the chapter.
Sometimes God gives us a breakthrough, but the breakthrough does not mean the end of responsibility.
A door opens.
Then we must walk through it.
A battle is won.
Then we must rebuild.
A crisis passes.
Then life still has to be lived.
A promise is received.
Then faithfulness still requires work.
Israel had seen God act.
Now Israel had to act upon what God had given.
Joshua Was Not Asked to Do It All
There is another important change in Joshua 13.
Joshua's role is beginning to change.
Earlier in the book, Joshua was the commander.
He was leading armies.
He was directing campaigns.
He was making military decisions.
Now he is told to apportion the land as an inheritance.
The Lord tells Joshua to divide the territory among the tribes.
That means Joshua's leadership is becoming less about personally leading every battle and more about preparing the people to carry the work forward.
This is an important moment in the life of a leader.
Eventually, every leader must understand:
The work of God cannot depend upon one person.
Joshua had to prepare Israel for a future in which Joshua himself would no longer be there.
That is not failure.
That is faithful leadership.
The Names Behind the Inheritance
Joshua 13 can feel very different from the dramatic chapters that came before it.
Instead of Jericho's walls falling, we encounter boundaries and territories.
Instead of armies marching, we meet tribes receiving their inheritance.
Reuben.
Gad.
Half the tribe of Manasseh.
Their names matter.
These are not abstract groups.
They are families.
They are communities.
They are people who will have to live in the land, cultivate it, defend it, raise their children, and remain faithful to God.
The great story of conquest is becoming the ordinary work of living.
That is often how history works.
There are moments when everyone notices what is happening.
Then the dramatic moment passes.
The people go home.
They build houses.
They plant crops.
They raise children.
They worship.
They work.
They make decisions.
And God's purposes continue through ordinary people doing their ordinary responsibilities.
Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh
Joshua 13 specifically remembers the inheritance already given to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh east of the Jordan.
This connects the story back to Moses.
Moses had already assigned this territory to them.
Joshua's task was not to erase what Moses had done and start over.
He was continuing the work.
That is another important feature of Joshua 13.
God's work in one generation becomes the foundation for the work of another.
Moses had fought battles.
Joshua inherited some of the results.
Joshua fought battles.
The tribes inherited some of the results.
The tribes would then have responsibilities that belonged to them.
One generation prepares the way for another.
The story is bigger than any single generation.
And Then There Is Levi
Near the end of the chapter we encounter an important exception.
The tribe of Levi does not receive a normal territorial inheritance.
Instead, the text says:
“The LORD God of Israel himself is their inheritance.” —Joshua 13:33
That is easy to read quickly.
We should not.
The Levites would receive towns and pasturelands among the tribes, but they would not receive a large tribal territory in the same way.
Their inheritance was different.
Their calling was different.
They were set apart for service to God and His people.
The lesson is not that one tribe was more important than another.
It is that God's people do not all receive the same assignment.
Different people have different responsibilities.
Different gifts.
Different locations.
Different callings.
But all of them belong within God's larger purpose.
The Unfinished Land
Perhaps the most striking phrase in Joshua 13 is simply:
“There remains yet very much land to be possessed.”
That sentence should stop us.
After everything Israel had experienced, there was still unfinished work.
That may sound discouraging.
It can also be encouraging.
Because God's faithfulness does not depend upon everything being completed today.
We sometimes think that if we cannot finish the whole job, we have failed.
Joshua 13 gives us another perspective.
Joshua had accomplished enormous things.
Yet much remained.
His faithfulness was not measured by whether he completed everything.
It was measured by whether he faithfully did what God gave him to do.
That is a freeing thought.
We do not have to finish God's entire work.
We could not if we tried.
We are called to be faithful with the part of the work God places before us.
The Story Continues Without Joshua
There is something else hidden in this chapter.
Joshua is still present.
But the story is already preparing for his absence.
That is how history moves.
Leaders age.
Generations change.
Responsibilities are transferred.
The people who seemed indispensable eventually disappear from the stage.
But God's purposes continue.
That was true when Moses died.
It was true as Joshua grew old.
It would be true when Joshua himself died.
And it would remain true throughout Israel's long history.
The faithfulness of God does not expire when one faithful servant's life ends.
God's work continues.
What Joshua 13 Teaches Us
Joshua 13 gives us several lessons worth remembering.
First, a great victory does not mean the work is finished.
Israel had won remarkable victories, but much remained.
Second, faithful leaders prepare others to continue the work.
Joshua's responsibility was changing. He was moving from conquest toward distribution and preparation.
Third, God's work is larger than any one generation.
Moses had begun work Joshua continued. Joshua would begin work others would carry forward.
Fourth, God's people have different assignments.
Reuben, Gad, Manasseh, Levi, and the other tribes did not receive identical responsibilities.
Fifth, unfinished work does not mean God has failed.
The story was still unfolding.
And that may be the most important lesson of all.
When We Cannot See the Whole Story
There are seasons in life when we can look back and see what God has accomplished.
Joshua 12 was such a moment.
There were thirty-one kings.
There was a record of victory.
There was evidence of God's faithfulness.
But then comes Joshua 13.
There is still work to do.
That is much closer to our experience.
We may look back and thank God for what He has done.
Then we look ahead and realize that there are still problems.
Still responsibilities.
Still prayers.
Still people who need us.
Still work that needs to be done.
Still questions that have not been answered.
Joshua 13 tells us not to confuse unfinished with abandoned.
The story is not over simply because our part of it is incomplete.
From Joshua to Christ
There is also a larger biblical story here.
Joshua could lead Israel into the promised land.
But Joshua could not complete God's entire work of redemption.
The land could be distributed.
Enemies could be defeated.
Israel could receive an inheritance.
But the deeper problem of sin remained.
The Old Testament story continues to move toward someone greater than Joshua.
The name Joshua itself points us toward that greater story.
Joshua means “The LORD saves.”
And the New Testament gives us Jesus—the greater Joshua.
Joshua led God's people into an earthly inheritance.
Jesus brings His people into an eternal inheritance.
Joshua's work prepared the way for what came after him.
Jesus came to accomplish the work that no human leader could complete.
And when Jesus cried from the cross,
“It is finished.”
He was announcing something Joshua could never announce.
The work of redemption had been accomplished.
God Is Still at Work
Joshua 13 may not contain a spectacular battle.
There is no wall collapsing.
No sun standing still.
No great military coalition gathering.
Instead, there is an old man.
There are tribes.
There are boundaries.
There are inheritances.
There are responsibilities.
And there is unfinished work.
Yet God is still at work.
That may be one of the most important truths in the entire God at Work in History series.
God is at work not only in the spectacular moments.
He is at work in the transitions.
He is at work when leaders grow old.
He is at work when responsibilities are handed from one generation to another.
He is at work when ordinary people receive ordinary assignments.
He is at work when the work is unfinished.
And He is still faithful.
Joshua 13 reminds us that we do not need to see the whole story to trust the Author.
Joshua had fought many battles.
Israel had seen extraordinary victories.
But much remained.
The story continued.
And so does God's work.
**The work may be unfinished.
The future may be uncertain.
Our own part may be smaller than we imagined.
But God is not finished.**
That is the message of Joshua 13.
And it is a message worth remembering.
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GOD LEADS US ALONG
In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet,
God leads His dear children along;
Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet,
God leads His dear children along.
Refrain
Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.
Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright,
God leads His dear children along;
Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night,
God leads His dear children along.
Refrain
Though sorrows befall us and evils oppose,
God leads His dear children along;
Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes,
God leads His dear children along.
Refrain
Away from the mire, and away from the clay,
God leads His dear children along;
Away up in glory, eternity’s day,
God leads His dear children along.
Refrain
George A. Young, 1903
The sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep
BY NAME, and leadeth them out. John 10:3
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