Word of Salvation – Vol.32 No.31 – August 1987
The Usefulness Of The Scriptures
Sermon by Rev. M. C. DeGraaf on Joshua 19:1-9
Reading: Matthew 25:14-30
Singing: Bow.H.3; 391; 226; 169; BoW.H.809
Brothers and Sisters,
In Paul’s second letter to the young man Timothy he writes: “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, through it the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work…!” Now, of course we all agree with that statement, don’t we? But, you’ve got to admit that sometimes it is easier to see this truth than at other times:
FOR INSTANCE, when I read the Ten Commandments or Matthew 5 it is quite easy to see that I am being rebuked and corrected…! Other passages, such as, for instance Romans 8 or Psalm 23 show a God who loves me and takes care of me; a God who sent His Son to die for me and now in gratitude I am called to “follow him.” The same could be said for much of the gospels and many of the Old Testament narrative stories.
The prophecies are filled with warnings AND signs of God’s love. AGAIN, clear sign-posts to the way we should go!!
AND YET we’ve still got to admit there are some passages where it can be very difficult to see how they can be useful for “training” or “rebuking” and the rest of the things necessary for us to be “thoroughly equipped for every good work.” You know the kind of passages I mean. For example the genealogies in Genesis where we are told such things as “Kenan was the father of Mahalalel, and that he lived for 840 years, and had various other sons and daughters…!” Or what about later when we are told that “Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites etc..?” And WHAT ABOUT passages like THIS one here this morning?? At first glance it seems to be bordering on the irrelevant, the type of passage Dad skips over when reading at the table; like all those laws and the numbers during the exodus. How could they possibly be equipping us for “every good work”?? To answer that question, let’s do what we don’t do enough of; let’s have a closer look at this part of Joshua 19, noting also of course what lies behind it.
- It is speaking, of course, about that period of time immediately after Israel’s arrival in the Promised Land: after the people had wandered in the wilderness for forty years. God is true to His covenant, true to His promises and He brings them to that land flowing with milk and honey. BUT OF COURSE THE STORY DOESN’T END THERE like some fairy tale or Hollywood movie – no, Deuteronomy doesn’t just end with “…and they lived happily ever after!” It is followed by the book of Joshua, which shows firstly that the conquering of the land was quite a struggle and at times some of the tribes felt like giving-up. That’s not surprising I guess. The Canaanites were good fighters and were well established in the land.
AND YET the second thing that JOSHUA (as a book) shows us, is that God was with them the whole way through! Not just until the border, not just up to some conversion experience or during religious highs. NO, He was thoroughly involved with His people even down to the little details. That is one of the things that Joshua 19 illustrates for us. I MEAN, when we read a passage like this we are tempted to ask, “Who cares about Ziklag, or Beth Marcaboth or Hazar Susha and all the rest of them?? WELL WHAT OUR TEXT IS TELLING US IS, GOD CARES!! He cares about the lives, the homes, the work of His people; even the hairs on our heads are numbered. The sheer boredom of these passages is what makes them so exciting. “My God cares”, even about the details. What better way to illustrate His faithfulness. You can find these towns on the map as a memorial to God’s grace. As Psalm 136 puts it: “The Lord gave their land as a heritage, for His steadfast love endures forever.”
- AND YET there is still more that we can see in this passage,
BECAUSE we’re not just dealing with any old tribe. Nor have they just been given any old land. This is the tribe of Simeon, and where Joshua places them is very interesting. SIMEON, you may remember, was a rather headstrong, impetuous young man. He and his brother Levi had deceptively killed every male in Shechem because their ruler had seduced their sister Dinah. That act made it impossible for Jacob’s people to remain in that area AND IT ALSO VERY CLEARLY BROUGHT Jacob’s anger down on those two sons. At the end of Genesis, Jacob had obviously still remembered, because in chapter 49 we hear him say: “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 pleased. Cursed be their fierce anger and their cruel fury. I will scatter them in Jacob, and disperse them in Israel…!” THAT CURSE and the anger behind it obviously had not been forgotten in Joshua 19. If we look at chapter 15 where Judah’s allotment is mentioned we see many of the same cities listed as we see here in our passage.
It seems that Simeon’s territory was within the borders of Judah. They were obviously going to be under the supervision and control of Judah. The reason given in verse 9 is that Judah had more land than they needed. BUT behind those words we can clearly see the voice of a God who keeps His Word as spoken by Jacob. The history of Simeon shows that to be true. Already during the Exile their numbers had declined by more than 50% from 59,300 to 22,100. As we read on through the Old Testament they are mentioned less and less. There are exceptions (for instance they sent quite a few soldiers to David in 1Chronicles 12), BUT NEVERTHELESS eventually they seem to have simply been totally absorbed into Judah, losing their own identity. As Jacob had prophesied, “dispersed in Israel.”
The everlasting faithfulness of God has another side, namely, “remembering the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generations…!”
- At times that can seem a bit frightening, can’t it?
God’s judgement WILL come true. It is unavoidable, you cannot hide from it, you cannot somehow cover it up. Through Jesus Christ THERE IS NO DOUBT my sins are totally forgiven, wiped clean before the JUDGEMENT seat of God… AND YET what I say and do, how I use what God has given me, still, somehow, influences my role in the Kingdom of God. What Jesus taught in the parables clearly points to that. Or think of Romans 14 where we are told that, each one of us SHALL give account of ourselves to God. And 1Cor.3 reminds us that some will be saved, BUT as through flames with little to show for their efforts.
STILL, in the end, there is little to be frightened of in the story of Simeon. Some may get ten talents and some five but the wonders of salvation and paradise will still outshine anything we can imagine. In Revelation 7 where the inhabitants of the New Jerusalem are mentioned, Simeon is also listed, along with all the other tribes, (except for the one which was totally apostate – Dan). And even though that listing may only be symbolic, it reminds us again of our faithful God, the God who knows His children and holds them close.
AFTER ALL, if you think about it, even Simeon’s “punishment” in Joshua was really for its own good and for the good of the rest of Israel. Supervision is not really punishment, though children often think it is. It is protection.
AND FROM THAT TRIBE OF JUDAH, into which Simeon was absorbed, would one day come the ultimate sign of God’s mercy to us His wayward children, the Christ through whom we can stand and walk in the way set before us.
Amen.