What would you do if you inherited a billion dollars? What is an inheritance? To inherit something means you receive that thing (money, property) - at the death of the previous holder. In order to inherit you must be - by definition - an heir. The word for inheritance shows up more times in Joshua than any other book in the Bible. 59x - almost all in this next section. The Hebrew noun is nachalah - something that is a permanent possession, passed on as an inheritance to your descendants, that which is one’s rightful possession by virtue of birth, and ancient right, and that which is one’s permanently. Stays in the family.
In the OT, the main thing passed down from one generation to the next was land. This foundation now gets laid in Joshua. [Josh. 11:23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had spoken to Moses, and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Thus the land had rest from war.] It took 7yrs, but Israel has taken the whole land, the war of conquest is over, and now comes the task of dividing up the land of promise. The tribes of Israel will now take possession of the land which they will pass down as an inheritance to their children and their children’s children after them. Most of the second half of Joshua, really the next nine chapters, are about this idea of dividing up and allotting what the Lord here calls a nachalah. A permanent possession. Every tribe and every family among the sons of Abraham gets a share (with one exception). And Joshua casts lots for who will get what [Josh. 18:8 Then the men arose and went, and Joshua commanded those who went to describe the land, saying, “Go and walk through the land and describe it, and return to me; then I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.”]. Why lots: it's a totally objective way to do it.
Now, don’t forget, this specific promise of land came to Abraham from God Himself, >700yrs earlier [Gen. 13:14-15 The LORD said to Abram, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.”]. The promise of inheritance.
When it comes to inheritance, most of us think of something material. We all like to get stuff, don’t we (altho we’d all still choose Grandpa over his clock, wouldn’t we —> the relationship)? In ancient times - inheritance was all about land. Land made you wealthy. Land fed your family. So we do see that there is a fascinating exception here when it comes to the allotting of territory in the Promised Land. The Levites. The Levites receive no land [Josh. 13:33a But to the tribe of Levi, Moses did not give an inheritance.]. God has something special for them: the tithes of the people [Num. 18:21 “To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting.”]. But then there’s something even more amazing. The Levites are the tribe of priests. Their job was both to minister TO the Lord AND to help the people do the same. And to them the Lord gives Himself as their inheritance: Josh. 13:33b The LORD, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as He had promised to them. God is their nachalah! Hold that thought…
There IS a question of, is this promise of land-inheritance still to be taken literally for Israel? Rom. 11:26-29 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB. THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Irrevocable, Paul says. I.e. God’s still has plans and this physical land for the biological descendants of Abraham/Isaac/Jacob [many point to the significance and improbability of what happened on 5/14/48]. But see also Gal. 3:7-9 Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. In other words the true (spiritual) descendants of Abraham now are those Jews AND Gentiles who have faith in the Seed of Abraham (Yeshua)(which of course ethnic Jews insist is HERESY). There are some insist that both of these are (still) true, others insist that only the latter spiritual descendancy is true. Of course, in our present age, Christians seek/celebrate a different kind of kingdom, we embrace a new covenant [one of relationship/faith as opposed to religion/works]. Not one with geographic boundary lines and a flawed human monarch. Not one which is based on compliance with the law, with this set of more than 600 commands. Ours is a different kind of promise, involving a spiritual rebirth. Ours is a different kingdom, with an entirely different King.
The NT writers (all Jewish!) refer to this new covenant/inheritance repeatedly: Heb. 9:15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that… those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Eph. 3:6 to be specific, the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Gal. 3:18,29 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise…And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. So the real question before us today is: Do I belong to Christ?
And if I do…? Eph. 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. What exactly is this inheritance the apostles keep referring to? What do believers in Christ, true sons/daughters of Abraham, inherit? A [celestial mansion]? A [gold brick] on one of those heavenly streets? 1Pet. 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. So it definitely is something glorious, unfading, eternal. Titus 3:7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. So, we inherit Eternal life, yes - but more specifically: Eph. 1:14 [The Spirit] is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. 1Pet. 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Mal. 3:17 “They will be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” Let's tie this in to what we see in the last half of Joshua:
As Joshua distributes the land of promise to Israel, this nachalah, this permanent possession, we see a picture of God’s promise of inheritance to all people who would become His own people, who receive His grace, who are spiritually reborn and adopted into His family by trusting in Yeshua. We see a chosen race. A royal priesthood. A new holy nation of priests. This people for whom God pulled out all the stops and moved heaven & earth so that He could spend eternity with them. So that He could give them the greatest gift, the greatest inheritance of all - Himself. And so that they/we could be with Him forever. We inherit Him - and He inherits us. Forever. Let's not miss the power of that word. This is a permanent possession. I am His, and He is mine, forever. Psa. 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. David knew - in God’s presence, in Him are pleasures forever [Ps 16.11]. Best.Inheritance.Ever! God wants you to be with Him, in HIS family. Jesus died on the cross for you, so that you could inherit eternal life, real life that lasts forever. So that you could inherit Him, in your heart, closer than a brother, always with you. The promise of inheritance. Will you say yes to Jesus today?
For further reading:
On May 14, 1948, in Tel Aviv, Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the State of Israel, establishing the first Jewish state in 2,000 years. As the British army withdrew, the rumble of guns was heard as fighting broke out between Jews and Arabs. That day the US became the first country to officially recognize the Jewish state. Egypt launched an air assault that evening, and the next day, forces from Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq invaded.
As long as in the heart, within,
The soul of a Jew still yearns,
And onward, towards the ends of the east,
an eye still gazes toward Zion;
Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free nation in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.
Largest inheritance? Around his death in 1992, Sam Walton held a net worth of $8.6B —> $2.15B/child (but may have been as much$17.2B/child)
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