In this session, we conclude the Conquest of Canaan and the vital transition from collective victory to individual faith. While God faithfully fulfilled His promises, each tribe was required to secure their own Conquest of Canaan by driving out lingering enemies and resisting compromise. Learn how to maintain a steadfast spirit to claim the full measure of your God-given inheritance.
The Mandate for Individual Faith
BIble Passage : Joshua 24:14-15
14 “Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
This is the 12th and session on the Land Flowing with Milk and Honey. Today, we’ll wrap up the story of the conquest of Canaan. Israel had conquered Canaan with Joshua and all the tribes had been allotted their inheritance. What they had to do was to completely drive out the Canaanites and make the land their inheritance. But, this time, Joshua wasn’t supposed to fight ahead of them and their victory wasn’t to be achieved by Joshua’s faith alone. Each tribe had to take the allotted land by their own faith.
God’s Wisdom in the Gradual Conquest
They still had battles to fight. In general, just because a nation loses war doesn’t mean all its citizens are destroyed instantly. Of course, when a nation is defeated, many of its citizens are killed or taken captive. It becomes subject to the victorious nation in a military or political sense. But still, there remain resisting forces here and there.
The same way, Joshua subdued all the Canaanite kings and destroyed many cities, but that doesn’t mean the entire land of Canaan was empty with all the Canaanites having been killed or driven out. Quite a few of them were still alive and some of them heavily armed themselves to confront Israel. Moreover, God already proclaimed that He would drive out all the inhabitants of Canaan but He wouldn’t rush.
The Bible says, “I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 30 I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.” Until the Israelites multiplied and filled up the land, it must’ve been not easy to keep the land even if the Canaanites had been driven out entirely. Exodus 23:29-30
Other gentiles could’ve attacked to take the empty land. Also, those uninhabited areas could’ve turned into desolate land filled with wild animals. For this reason, God told them that He would gradually drive out the Canaanites, to the extent Israel became great and strong enough to take over Canaan. So, no matter how long it would take, each tribe had to fight and drive out the Canaanites from the land they receive as an inheritance.
Preparing for Joshua’s Departure
The reason is, God instructed each tribe to take the land because He’d already given it to them, and He promised to drive out all the Canaanites however strong they were. But depending on how Israel trusted in God’s promise and how faithfully they carried out His command, they would face a difference outcome.
Continuing from the last session, today, we’ll look over the process of each tribe’s taking their inheritance and their outcome. Also, we will wrap up the story of the Conquest of Canaan. Hopefully, beloved Manmin members will completely make bread of all the words, make faith and life of them, and conquer the land of Canaan like Joshua and Caleb. I pray in our Lord’s name that you’ll surely reap the fruit of God’s promise. (to each one of you)
Each tribe who was allotted their land began to take their inheritance according to their own faith and competence. Based on what they’d learned from Joshua, they asked God how they should fight. They made various strategies and positively advanced in. Meanwhile, many years went by. While all the tribes hadn’t taken their inheritance, Joshua knew that it was time for him to leave the world.
Joshua’s Last Will and Exhortation
Joshua felt the need to remind the Israelites of God’s promise once again and urge them to march on with faith. As we learned from the deeds of the sons of Joseph in the last session, the spiritual level of the entire Israel wasn’t still reassuring. As they fought under Joshua’s command, they obeyed and positively displayed faith. But as they were told to fight with their own faith, they got scared with negative thoughts.
While Joshua was alive, he could still teach them so they would have faith. If they committed sins, Joshua could reproach them so they would turn back. But, he wasn’t sure that even after his death, they would continue to faithfully serve God only, obey, and take the land of Canaan. That’s why Joshua felt the need to leave them with words of exhortation just as Moses did before he went to be with God.
First, Joshua called together all the elders, heads, and judges, and officers of Israel and left a last will. “Be very firm, then, to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, 7 so that you will not associate with these nations, these which remain among you, or mention the name of their gods, or make anyone swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them. 8 But you are to cling to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day.” To sum up, Joshua advised them to stay close to God and love Him without changing. Joshua 23:6-8
A Solemn Resolution to Serve the LORD
So far, God had been with Joshua, giving Israel marvelous victories. God promised that if Israel continued to love and stay close to Him and diligently kept His commands, He would give the nation the entire land of Canaan. It’s just as He said, “One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you.” If Israel pressed on with faith, God would enable them to defeat their enemies, however strong they were. Joshua 23:10
But if they backslid in faith, forgot God’s promise, became close to the Gentiles, and served their idols, God couldn’t help but abandon them and leave them utterly destroyed in the middle of Canaan. Thus, Israel had to make sure to keep this in mind and love and keep close to God alone. After Joshua delivered such remarks to the leaders, he called together all the people before God and they had a time of a solemn resolution.
First, Joshua reminded them that God is the faithful God who’d fulfilled His promise to Abraham so far and that He is the God of power who helped them defeat the strong nation of Egypt and the seven Canaanite tribes. Then, he told them to decide whether they would indeed serve God or the idols. He said, If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15
The Passing of a Faithful Leader
There is no question that they must not serve other gods while serving the LORD God, so they had to abandon all the idols. Also, they had to keep God’s commands faithfully. Joshua urged them to decide whether or not they would indeed believe in God only, abandon all the idols, and faithfully keep God’s commands.
Then, Joshua affirmed that he would serve no other god than the LORD God Himself, saying, “as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Hearing this, the Israelites also didn’t hesitate. They immediately confessed their faith in God, saying, “We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God.” Joshua repeatedly confirmed their commitment. Joshua 24:15, Joshua 24:18
Then, Joshua once again taught them the commands they had to keep to serve God and sent them back. After that, at age 110, he silently ended his life characterized by enthusiasm and faith.
Choosing Sincerity and Holiness Today
Brothers and sisters, we, Manmin, have also experienced God’s numerous works. For us, God has resolved the issues that can’t be handled by any man, science, civilization, or religion. And, He’s given us eternal life, heaven, and joy.
Thus, we should be able to confess before all people, “As for me and my house, we’ll serve God only.” I told you that to serve God is to keep His commands without serving idols. It is to keep and live by the words in the 66 books of the Bible and not to commit sins. Today, while numerous people claim to believe in God, they still dwell in darkness by committing sins. Some people put one foot on God and the other on the world and think of this as wise. But, God clearly tells us to choose between the two.
The Bible says, “The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, (namely, those who claim to know or believe in God but don’t keep His commandments,) is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” Namely, while we don’t act according to the word, if we say, “I know God. I believe in Him. I love Him,” that’s a lie. If you indeed decided to choose God, you should reflect on your heart and deeds always, casting off all sins and evil. Only then can you be acknowledged as God’s true child. 1 John 2:4
Self-Examination and Sanctification
Therefore, we should examine ourselves once again as to whether we’re making ourselves holy as people who belong to God and have chosen Him. I ask you to briefly check whether you indeed chose God and have served Him only, whether you’ve prioritized worldly things, money, and your benefits and feelings over truth. If you have, you didn’t choose God and haven’t served Him only. Check whether you haven’t ceased to pray fervently and whether you still earnestly long for sanctification.
If you chose God, you would try to achieve His holiness and joyfully keep His commands. Even if you have shortcomings, if you always try to reflect on and change yourselves, you can say you chose God. Let’s say you discover just a little bit of envy, hatred, self-seeking heart, or craftiness. Then, you feel so embarrassed that you rend your heart in repentance and try to cast off such evil. If so, you’re also serving God.
But, while you know the word you’ve heard, if you still commit evil, you’re not serving God. Also, I ask you to check whether you cherish your God-given duties and stay passionate about perfectly carrying them out. Particularly, do you cherish the souls entrusted to you as your own life and pray and fast with tears so you won’t lose even one of them?
Spiritual Loopholes and Failed Obedience
Having chosen God, all of us should confidently say, “Yes,” to these questions. Brothers and sisters, even after the old general, Joshua, left his last will and passed away, the conquest of Canaan had to go on. But regrettably, not long after Joshua left them, the Israelites started revealing their spiritual loopholes here and there. They failed to obey God’s command of driving out the Canaanites completely.
As we learned in the last session, the sons of Joseph failed to demonstrate faith and made confessions out of fear. They ended up not driving them out completely. The Bible says, “Now the LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots.” They confessed out of fear that people whom they were to conquer had chariots of iron. And things just happened according to their confessions.
But, with faith, how would they’ve acted? We can answer this by remembering how David acted. While King Saul, his generals, and all his soldiers trembled in fear, David confessed in faith, saying like, “Because the LORD God is with me, it’s no big deal.” And, it really turned out to be no big deal. Suppose the sons of Joseph confessed with faith, “If our God is with us, it doesn’t matter whatever the enemy has, not to mention the chariots of iron!” Then, the outcome must’ve been different.
The Consequence of Compromise
But, because they were frightened, they failed to drive them out. Also, the tribes of Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan failed to drive out the Canaanites completely. There were cases where they were overcome by the Canaanites because their resistance was so strong. One of the tribes was even driven out by the Canaanites.
There was also a case where the Israelites were strong enough to win but they lacked passion to obey God 100% and fulfill His word for sure. Actually, driving away all the Canaanites (with exception of no one) in the conquered areas required much effort.
Having secured land to cultivate and houses to live in, they were not that desperate to drive out all the remaining Canaanites. They thought, ‘It wouldn’t hurt to leave just a few of them alive.’ Making excuses for this and that, most of the tribes left the Canaanites alive here and there and didn’t obey God’s will.
For their disobedience, Israel was repaid with troubles and afflictions. No matter how strong their enemy was, if Israel had demonstrated faith, God must’ve worked for them. Even though they’d experienced God’s works of stopping the flow of Jordan, the sun, and the moon, they were scared of the Canaanites. This indicates their lack of faith, which is so heartbreaking.
The Danger of Mixing with Gentiles
Moreover, it was unacceptable that they compromised, became lazy, and intentionally disobeyed God’s command. God never wanted His people to mix with the gentile tribes. As they mingled with the gentiles worshipping idols, they would be exposed to their culture. As they married each other, they would become intimate.
As a result, Israel would be deceived into idolatry and turn away from God. Indeed, after Joshua and the people who experienced the Conquest of Canaan died, Israel forgot this faithful God. Consequently, things unfolded exactly according to God’s concern. Israel built intimate relations with the neighboring Gentile tribes, married them, and accepted and served their idols.
Thus, God turned His face away from the sinful Israel, and thereafter, Israel continuously lived in afflictions, suffering trials and tribulations. Among the Israelites that didn’t obey completely, the sons of Dan faced the most tragic outcome. The Bible says, “Then the Amorites forced the sons of Dan into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the valley; 35 yet the Amorites persisted in living in Mount Heres, in Aijalon and in Shaalbim.” Judges 1:34-35
The Tragic Fall of the Tribe of Dan
The sons of Dan were forced out their inheritance, let alone driving out the Amorites from the land. They failed to take the God-given land by faith. Instead, they found some land easy to conquer and took it as their inheritance. As we look at the history of Israel, this land which they arbitrarily took turned into a place of great iniquities. As soon as they entered this land, the sons of Dan began serving an idol.
The Bible says, “So they set up for themselves Micah’s graven image which he had made, all the time that the house of God was at Shiloh.” A person named Micah was serving an idol made of silver, and the tribe also accepted and served that idol. Hundreds of years later, as King Jeroboam put a golden calf on their land, the land served as the capital(center) of idolatry for Israel.
As a result of their idol worship, Israel ended up being destroyed by the gentiles. And, as we find in Revelation 7, Dan was not included among the twelve tribes that were sealed, which was a tremendous curse. They failed to take their God-given inheritance by faith and forsook His promise. Their weak faith led to their rebellion of idol worship. Eventually, they were deprived of the qualifications as God’s people.
The Power of an Unchanging Heart
With Joshua, all the tribes obeyed with faith and conquered Canaan. But as they were required to act by their own faith, each bore different fruit depending on how true their faith was. The tribes with faith positively advanced and expanded their land. But the ones without faith failed to take their inheritance or drive out the gentiles, thereby facing troubles.
Particularly, the sons of Dan, as they didn’t display faith in the first place, they even lost their inheritance. Seeing how each tribe ended up, we have to keep in mind that we shouldn’t backslide in faith but stay on alert all the time. The Bible says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10
God is pleased with truthfulness. He loves an unchanging, clean heart. If we stay steadfast in our faith in God and obey what God has commanded without a change of heart, He would also trust and rejoice over us, answering all our prayers and petitions. God who was with Moses and Joshua faithfully kept His promises that He gave Abraham and finally gave Israel the Land of Canaan.
The Secret to Receiving God’s Honor
Even thereafter, God unchangingly kept His promises to Israel. Namely, when the Israelites loved and feared God and kept His commands, He made them stand out among all nations. Particularly, during the reigns of David and Jehoshaphat, when the king and the people forsook the idols and feared God, Israel won battles no matter how difficult they were and became a mighty and rich nation, revealing the glory of God.
On the contrary, when they abandoned God, worshipped the idols, and committed evil, God also turned His face away and as a result, they faced big troubles with wars and famine. In the history of Israel, we confirm that things went exactly according to this principle. When they loved and stayed close to God, God was with them and made all things prosper. But, when they kept away from God, violating His commands, they soon faced trials, tribulations, etc. This applies to God’s children in the world as well. God said, “for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.” 1 Samuel 2:30
Conclusion: Achieving Perfect Faith and the Promised Blessings
As said, people who love God are loved by Him. But as for those who forsake God, He cannot help but forsake Him. If God loves us, what a great blessing this is! If God says to us, “I trust you. I honor you,” what a great honor this is! There’s a secret to our receiving God’s honor. God tells us that when we honor Him, He will also honor us.
If we believe God 100% He believes us 100%. If we trust God 100% He also trusts us 100%. Thus, we should steadfastly press on until we build a perfect trust relationship with God. After making a certain amount of effort, we shouldn’t think, ‘Until when do I have to live like this?’ or ‘I’ve done enough.’ If so, we may well fall down or backslide.
God has been cultivating humans to obtain His children who love Him with an unchanging heart and completely obey regardless of any temptation or persecution. As He did hundreds or thousands of years ago, even now, God earnestly waits for such children so that He would give them the blessings of the land flowing with milk and honey both on this earth and in heaven. I hope that you’ll make a lesson out of the Israelites, always stay on alert, and achieve unchanging, perfect faith, thereby coming forth as the best quality fruit that Father God desires.
A Call to World Evangelization and the Grand Sanctuary
God who gave Abraham the promises of blessing faithfully fulfilled them. He also gave us many promises. He promised that we would evangelize the world with the Gospel of Holiness and build the grand sanctuary to glorify Him and that many people would change into spirit and whole spirit and enter New Jerusalem. (the Holy City)
To fulfill the promises He made, God has steadfastly guided this church. And, Senior Pastor has marched on vigorously, holding onto all His promises. We’ve also marched on with obedience. And, God has manifested His great and amazing power, constantly confirming that He is with the shepherd and Manmin.
He has helped us march vigorously until His promises on the Grand Sanctuary and world evangelization are fulfilled. Our current circumstance is also part of the process of God’s promises being fulfilled. Initially, the Israelites relied on Moses’ and Joshua’s faith but later, they had to take their inheritance for themselves with faith based on their experiences.
Likewise, God wants each one of us to grow our faith and bring forth fruits. He’s allowed us the time to satisfy the justice and to qualify ourselves to build the Grand Sanctuary and fill up New Jerusalem. Therefore, we shouldn’t be discouraged, give up, and just stand by. But relying on the God of Manmin we’ve experienced, we should press on all the more vigorously.
Also, we should quickly finish adorning ourselves as His bride by praying fervently and arming ourselves with the word. As we’re changed so, God will have all the missions fulfilled through us. As you fulfill all the missions, I pray in our Lord’s name that God will always be with you with the blessings of the land flowing with milk and honey and finally allow you to enter the glorious New Jerusalem.