Uncommon Strength: A Series in Joshua (PT 3) - Joshua 17

I was so grateful for the opportunity and the invitation to come and share God's word with you today.

We're going to be looking in the book of Joshua.

We're going to be in chapter 17.

We'll be referring to a whole chapter throughout the message.

However, there's some key verses on which I want to focus this morning.

So if you would go to that passage in your Bible or if you uh have a Bible on a Bible app on your phone and let's look at this.

I want to direct our attention to those few uh path uh few verses in Joshua chapter 17, verses 15 and 17 and 18.

Joshua 17:15

Joshua 17, verses 15, 17, and 18.

Joshua 17:15

And I'm gonna be reading out of the New International Version.

Uh and those verses read this way, verse 15.

If you are so numerous, Joshua answered, and if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go into the forest and clear land for yourselves, there in the land of the Parasites and the Rephaites.

And then verse 17.

But Joshua said to the tribes of Judah to Ephraim and to Manasseh, You are numerous and very powerful.

You will you will have not only one allotment, but the forested hill country as well.

Clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours.

Though the Canaanites have chariots fitted with iron, and though they are strong, you can drive them out.

Now, I'm gonna go back and I'm gonna read uh two verses uh prior to that to what up what we've just read.

But rather than have you read along with me, I'm gonna ask you to just listen and let the words of these verses uh sink into your soul because they're going to be very key as we move forward.

And here are those verses.

I just want you to listen to verses 12 and 13.

Yet the Manassehit were not able to occupy these towns, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that region.

However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.

Yet the Manassites were not able to occupy these towns, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that region.

However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.

Now, I grew up in a pastor's home.

I grew up in what I call a Bapticoistal church.

We were Baptists, kind of worship like Pentecostals.

And during the service, uh, you didn't leave the preacher up there by himself to preach.

You would answer back, you'd say amen.

Or if something really hit you well, you'd say, preach, preacher.

If something uh uh convicted you, you might say, ouch.

Um, if there's something you didn't disagree, that something you disagreed with, you might say, hold up.

Don't say hold up this morning, please.

Okay.

But let me know that you are with me.

And in order to let me know that you are with me, I'm gonna ask you to help me put the title on the message this morning.

Please turn to the person next to you and say, neighbor.

Okay, let's try it again.

Turn to the person, how about we do this?

Turn to the person to your left, my right, and say, neighbor, there's a squatter in your inheritance.

Now turn to the person to your right, my left, and say to that person, neighbor, there's a squatter in your inheritance.

Let's pray together.

Lord, we don't take it lightly that we are looking into your word today.

We need your Holy Spirit to fill us for this moment, for this word, for this time, for this group of people.

So, Lord, as we look into your word, open our eyes that we would see, open our ears that we would hear, open our hearts that we would receive, and open our wills that we would respond to you.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

There's a squatter in your inheritance.

On December 29th of this year, my wife and I will celebrate 37 years of marriage.

In 37 years, we've had six children, three of whom are married, and one who's seriously dating.

And for the two that are still single, we are yet praying.

We also have two granddaughters that I like to call my grand beauties.

One of the three weddings that have taken place in our family just took place this past weekend in upstate New York.

It was a phenomenal weekend, and I made it through the entire wedding without shedding a tear.

And then I lost it when I gave the speech at the reception.

My daughter and new son-in-law wanted to start their married life in a new house where they hoped to raise a family someday.

So they purchased a home on ten and a half acres of land and decided to hold their wedding reception on the land of the new home they had purchased.

So everyone could see where they would be living.

The house was beautiful.

Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, space to expand the home when they're ready.

But what impressed me the most was the acreage on which the house was located.

What I wasn't sure what I w what I saw wasn't what they had described to me about how the land looked when they first got it.

To get to the place it is now, they had a lot of work to do.

They had to remove van loads of garbage and scrap metal and furniture and other debris that was strewn all over the yard that was just left there.

They had to remove tons of packed-down leaves and they had to reseed the lawn.

They had to cut down a lot of dead trees and uh power wash the house and sand the deck to prepare it for staining.

From their labor, family members walked through the trails in the woods that were on their property and got to see just how expansive the property is.

There's a huge fire pit area that's perfect for the cool nights in upstate New York.

They have plans for a pond with koi fish in it.

They have plans for a garden and a stone walkway and a pool.

And they can make these plans on this property because they own it.

They have the deed to it.

The deed is theirs.

It's all in their name.

But they realized they had to clear it so they could fully occupy it.

Let's imagine what would happen.

What would happen if we had shown up with all the stuff that they cleared off still on the property?

And their response was, oh, don't worry about that.

Let's put it to work.

You can sit on that.

Just walk around that.

Well, you can't use that area because that's got stuff in it.

What would have happened if we showed up and that's what their response was?

And that stuff was still there.

How about this?

Let's imagine that they saw all of that stuff after they bought it, after the deed was in their hands, after it was theirs, they saw all that stuff and they went back to the bank and said, this land has too much stuff on it.

It's taking up precious space.

We can't expand like we want to, so give us more property, or how about this?

Give us different property.

We can't get rid of what's on this property.

It's just too much.

As I look at our text for today, that's exactly what it looks like the descendants of Joseph were saying to Joshua.

Joseph's descendants were living in what should have been gone, living with what should have been gone, and then they came asking for more instead of dealing with what they had.

Let me show you what I mean.

You see, now that the Israelites were in the promised land, each of the two of the twelve tribes of the descendant of each of the twelve descendants of the twelve tribes of Israel were given an allotment of land to claim as theirs and and on which they could live.

Joshua chapters 16 and 17 deal with the descendants of Joseph in particular, the Ephraimites and the Manassehes, the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh.

Joshua 16 · chapter mention

Manasseh held a portion of the land, and Ephraim held a portion of the land.

And as they grew in number, as they began to expand, they began to believe they didn't have enough space.

So they went to Joshua and they said, Listen, what's up with this, brother?

Why did you shortchange our land?

Why didn't you give us enough?

What are you doing to us?

We need more.

This, of course, was the Kelvin translation.

Let me read exactly what scripture says.

Verse 14.

They said to Joshua, why have you given us only one allotment and one portion for an inheritance?

We are numerous people, and the Lord has blessed us abundantly.

Now, instead of Joshua responding to them, you're right, my bad.

Let me give you a bigger piece of property, he directs them back to the property that is already deeded to them.

We read this earlier.

Now it makes sense in this context.

Verse 15.

Because they're going on about how many people they are and how much they've grown, and you know, you haven't given us enough.

And Joshua's like, oh, you've grown?

Really?

So if you've really grown, go up into that hill country.

Tell, show me how grown you really are.

Instead of going, you know what?

He's right.

Let's clear the forest.

They came back with another excuse.

Yo, Joshua, that's still not enough land.

And by the way, do you know who's still on our property and what they're working with?

Did you catch that?

Do you know who's still on our property and what they're working with?

Verse 16 says this.

The people of Joseph replied, The hill country is not enough for us.

And all the Canaanites who live in the plain have chariots fitted with iron, both those in Bethshan and its settlements and those in the valley of Jezreel.

Now, Manasseh's territory reached up into this land that bordered two other tribes.

And right there, this wasn't like a hypothetical fear for them.

This was real.

These were fortified cities that they lived right next to.

And in those cities were a group of people called the Canaanites.

But it still doesn't change Joshua's mind about the situation.

In fact, I want to submit to you that they expected compassion and concession for more land.

Instead, Joshua replies, You're numerous and you're very powerful.

He wasn't throwing shade this time.

He was being direct with them.

You're numerous.

You have a lot of people.

You've grown.

You will not only have one allotment, but the forested hill country as well.

Let me show you what you will have.

Clear it, and its forest limits will be yours.

Though the Canaanites have chariots fitted with iron, and though they are strong, you can drive them out.

They're strong, but you can take them.

And when you do, and when you clear the land, you will have more than you realize.

It's there.

I want to submit to you that the way Joshua answered the people of Joseph, in the way that Joshua answered the way of the people of Joseph, there were some realizations that were coming up that they had to face.

And I promise you that there will be an application for us in these realizations.

There's gonna be an application for our lives.

But for now, stick with me as I apply them to the people of Joseph.

In his answer, I see three realizations that Joshua wanted the people to come to.

The first realization was this.

Joshua wanted them to see the deed is signed, yet the land is still occupied.

You're coming to me for more land.

The deed is signed, yet that land is still occupied.

Remember, I asked you to listen carefully to verses 12 and 13.

Here's the reason why.

And the Manassites grew in number, and as they grew in number and strength, they could have driven them off the land.

It was their land.

Instead, they chose to subject the Canaanites to forced labor and let them stay.

I want to submit this to you as a possible reason for the path that they chose.

Maybe there was consternation and compromise and comfort that played a role in this.

Consternation, compromise, and comfort.

Consternation.

These Canaanites have chariots with iron wheels.

That will be hard for us to overcome and defend.

Compromise.

Let's just let them stay.

We'll make that we'll let's just make the chariots work for us by making making them, forcing them to do labor for us.

Comfort.

They've been here working for us so long that we've now just incorporated them into our existence, not realizing the damage that was being done because the deed was theirs, yet the land was still occupied.

But before we start continually beating up on the Manassites, let's uh lest we think this was simply their problem, back in chapter 16, we get to see that their other descendants, the Ephraimites, made the same choice.

They made the same choice.

As their terrier, their territory is described in chapter 16, we find that a portion of their allotment also had Canaanites on it.

And instead of driving them out, the Ephraimites chose to let them stay and also use them for forced labor.

They did the very same thing.

What would have happened if the Ephraimites first had said, mm-mm, you can't stay.

How might Manasseh have thought about the land differently?

Here's what Joshua's point, I believe.

I believe he's saying this to them.

People of Joseph, you're coming to me to ask that I deed more land to you?

The land that's already been deeded to you is enough.

You've grown and expanded, and you want more space?

Space is your problem.

However, your problem with the space is this that which belongs to you, you're allowing to still be occupied by other people.

You do have a space problem.

But the space problem is because of the choice you made.

They had an allotment on which they could still allow squatters, on which they still allowed squatters.

And instead of going to war to drive them out, the people of Joseph made a deal with them.

And they thought they were controlling them by forced labor, but because of consternation and compromise and comfort, they choked themselves out of their own land.

You're probably wondering how this apply to you and me.

Stick with me.

I promise you I'll bring it back around.

The deed is signed, yet the land is still occupied.

This leads to the next realization that I believe Joshua's response was bringing out to their attention.

Here it is, the second realization.

You don't need more.

Just clear what you already have.

You don't need more.

Just clear what you already have.

Not only did they have plenty of space to occupy if they simply drove out the Canaanites who were squatting on the allotment that was deeded to them, there was another portion of land in their boundary that would be theirs to inhabit if they took the time to clear it.

Not just the pieces that the Canaanites said, hey, we're not leaving, but there was another portion.

Joshua brought it out to them.

Where were the where were there others dwelling in that other portion?

Yes.

The Perizzites and the Rephaites were there.

However, I believe Joshua was implying that this too was a part of the land into which they were intended to expand.

Or at least the opportunity was there for them to expand into this land.

But sometimes claiming what you have means clearing what you have.

Let me say that again.

Sometimes claiming what you have means clearing what you have.

And if you're not willing to clear it, don't be so quick to claim it.

I find it interesting that on this one that the people of Joseph didn't see this as an immediate initial answer to their problem.

It's the first thing that Joshua presented to them.

I mean, nowhere does Joshua even intimate that the Perizzites and the Rephaites would be a problem for them to clear out.

He just tells, go, go up in the forest area, clear that land, start chopping down some trees, you'll be fine.

Could it be that the that the Perizzites and them and the Rephaites were up in the forest hiding because they already knew they were on their way out?

And the only thing the people of Joseph had to do was to start chopping down trees.

And the people who were in that land would have said, We better get out of here.

They're coming.

This is theirs, it's not ours.

Could it be they went to the forest because they knew their days were numbered?

Maybe the parasites and reify stayed as long as they did, even though they knew they had no deed to claim in the forest, because the people of Joseph chose to complain rather than clear.

In reality, the space that the people of Joseph needed for expansion was space they already had.

It wasn't new space that was being given to them.

They already had it.

They just needed to chop down some trees.

You may have seen me come up the steps one step at a time.

About six weeks ago, almost six weeks ago, I had a total hip replacement on my left side.

I did not expect that I would be coming here this morning walking without a cane.

But praise God, here I am.

I feel like I've been I feel like I've been given a new lease on life.

But preparing our house for recovery was a challenge.

It was clear that the furniture we had in the living room was not conducive to what I needed to sit on for uh the early days of the recovery.

Nor was the space, in my opinion, that space wasn't big enough to accommodate the walker that I needed to use the first week or so.

I needed a new chair in the living room for recovery.

But where would I put it?

I began to feel like the space was too small and we needed more room.

Why did we get such a small place?

At the same time, my wife was beginning to lament that we had downsized to a three-bedroom townhouse when we moved to Columbus a year ago, which left her without the she shed that she had built in uh and claimed in our home in New Jersey.

She wanted to turn the guest room or townhouse into her new she shed, but where would guests go when they came?

We didn't have enough room.

We were a mess.

Lo and behold, after thinking about it, my wife came up with a brilliant idea for the living room.

We no longer needed this big sectional that we had.

I mean, it it just took up the whole room.

Uh we no longer needed it there.

If we got rid of two sections of that sectional, we could attach the chaise that was at the end to one of the other sections that was still there.

And it would now look like a uh a regular couch in a house that it would fit, and a chair could fit in that in the With no problem.

Well, what we thought wasn't enough space turned out to be enough space for that sofa broken down and three chairs.

And not only that, we have more open space in the house downstairs now to walk around.

Because the whole downstairs is just open, and we've got space in between the chairs.

We got space by the sofa.

We can, you know, the the walker, there was no problem at all.

We didn't need more space.

We just needed to clear the space we already had.

And by the way, the guest room now doubles as her she shed.

Guess how we did it?

We cleared out some stuff and found space in that room.

It was bigger than we realized.

You don't need more space.

Just clear what you already have.

Joshua's making that very clear to the people.

There's one more realization that I see here, and let me flesh that out, and I do promise we are going to get to the application for us.

Here's the third thing I see here.

Joshua's answer brings out the realization that it is always important to clear the land so squatters don't claim you.

Clear the land so squatters don't claim you.

Mind you, even though both tribes separately had times when they could have done it, neither the Ephraimites nor the Manassites decided to drive out the Canaanites.

As both grew in number, they could have joined together and changed that.

And I submit to you that in his response, Joshua was laying that opportunity before them and giving them a chance to now make the right choice because that right choice had their preferred future in view.

He could see what life would be like for them if they cleared out the forest area and if they drove out the Canaanites.

The reality is just doing one of those would have given them more space than they already had.

But he wanted them to really understand can you imagine what the space would be like if you would clear out those things that are now claiming you?

You would think it would have been a light bulb moment for them.

And you would think that the people of Joseph would have realized they already had enough space there and they didn't need any more, right?

You would think that the people of Joseph would have gotten it and acted upon it and cleared the land and expanded into the allotment to which they already had the deed, right?

Let me briefly take you to the book of Judges.

I'm gonna read for you Judges chapter 1, verses 27 through 29.

Judges 1:27–29

This is important.

Says this.

But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Bethshan or Tanakh or Dor or Iblem or Megedam and their surrounding settlements.

For the Canaanites were determined to live in that land.

When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor, but never drove them out completely.

Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer.

But the Canaanites continued to live there among them.

Now here we are in Judges.

Because the people of Joseph, both the Manassites and the Ephraimites, chose not to drive out the Canaanites when they held that, when they had that chance.

Those very same cities are named again in Judges chapter 1.

Judges 1 · chapter mention

Joshua years after Joshua's gone, because Judges 1 talks about, it starts out by saying, hey, let's talk about the history of God's people after Joshua died.

Joshua's gone.

And there's these places are still unconquered.

The Canaanites were still squatters.

The people of Joseph were still dealing with the Canaanites.

And the Canaanites were still fighting to lay claim to an inheritance that already belonged to the people of Joseph.

Canaanites were fighting for land that they didn't even have the deed to.

Let me for a moment circle back to my daughter and my son-in-law.

For as I saw what they did with the land they now owned, I kept asking questions about the land and kept asking how did they clear it, and I kept asking what their plans were.

And I couldn't stop telling them how proud I was of them and what they were doing with this piece of land.

Then I asked if I could share their story with you.

This is what my daughter said to me.

Thank you for asking.

God willing, we can accomplish our goals and bring glory to God as we stored the land He has provided for us.

That's what happened to the people of Joseph.

They missed stewarding the land that God had provided for them.

They had the deed, yet the land was still occupied.

They were so concerned with getting more land that they failed to see, even when Joshua tried to open their eyes to it, that they didn't need more land, they just needed to clear what was theirs to claim.

As a result, the Canaanites continued to be squatters on their inheritance, leaving the people of Joseph wrestling with consternation, compromise, and comfort.

They had forgotten just how powerful they are.

They had forgotten the strength that they had, and they had forgotten the strength that they walked with in that land, and who gave them the strength in that land.

And right now, if you're sitting with me, sitting where you are, I'd be sitting there saying, so what?

Get to it already.

How does this apply to us?

Well, let's take the land and look at it from the perspective of our souls.

The land of our souls.

For those of us who have become followers of Jesus, the apostle Paul is clear.

In his letter to the church at Colossae, he says this in chapter one.

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you.

We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, and so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you may know we may have great endurance and patience and give joyful thanks to the Father, listen to this, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son that He loves, through whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin.

Did you catch that?

The land of your soul, the deed of your soul, does not belong to the enemy of your soul.

It has been transferred from the kingdom of darkness and has been brought into the kingdom of the Son that he loves.

You have an inheritance that has been given to you because of the finished work of Christ on the cross.

As the song goes, you're no longer a slave to fear.

You're a child of God.

And as Paul says it, God has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

Maybe we need to be reminded of that from the words of this song.

I am chosen, not forsaken.

I am who you say I am.

You are for me, not against me.

I am who you say I am, who the Son sets free, always free.

I'm a child of God.

Yes I am singing my father's house.

In my father's house, there's a place for me.

Yes I let these words sink in.

Free and last, he has ransomed me.

His grace runs thee.

One was a slave to sin.

Jesus died for me.

Yes, he died for me.

You have an inheritance.

The land of your soul has a deed that has been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.

You have been set free.

The word says, He whom the Son sets free is free indeed.

Our inheritance is in the kingdom.

The deed of our souls belongs to the king of the kingdom.

Yet quite often we permit harmful patterns, habits, mindsets, personality traits, things that do not align with who we are designed to be as the people of God, squatters, if you will, to continue to exist in our lives, to continue to take residence in our soul.

Can I remind you of something today?

The deed of your soul belongs to the king.

Are you allowing the king to fully occupy your soul?

Or are there other occupants that are still there?

Simply put, do you have squatters in the land of your soul?

It might help if I can give you some specifics or some illustration of what I mean.

Remember consternation and compromise and comfort that we talk about?

They can still be at work in our souls today.

Let's examine consternation.

Fear of what the fight might cost you.

Could it be that the squatter is unforgiveness that you've refused to deal with?

Or a relationship that you know you should walk away from, but you haven't, because you fear what it would cost.

Let's, how about this?

How about compromise?

Where you've negotiated with the squatter instead of evicting the squatter.

Could be a habit or an addiction you told yourself, I got this under control.

I yeah, I I'm I'm good.

It could be gossip or a sharp tongue that you've excused and you phrase it this way.

I'm just being honest.

I'm just telling the truth.

Let's look at comfort because it's been there so long it feels normal to you.

Maybe that looks like this self-doubt that you've carried for years, and just accept that this is who I am.

It's just me.

And maybe yours doesn't fit so neatly into any of these areas, these three.

Maybe it's simply procrastination.

Putting off what God has already told you to do.

And with all of that, if you're like me, at the same time, you're praying, Lord, expand the capacity of my soul to contain the fullness of who you are.

And if you're like me, you might be hearing the Lord answer this way.

You don't need more capacity in your soul.

There's plenty of capacity.

What you need is to partner with me and clear out the things you still allow to reside that no longer belong there.

When you do that, you'll find there's plenty of space for the fullness of who I am.

We hear this, and we might think, wow, that's overwhelming.

Wow, that's heavy.

Bro, get back in your car.

We didn't need this.

That's a lot to do.

I look at what Joshua said to the Manassites and Ephraimites, and he kept saying to them, look, you're a lot, you know, you're a large number of people.

You can drive them out, clear the land.

Here's the good news for us on the other side of the cross today.

He is the redemptive truth for us.

We don't have to clear the squatters out that tried to rob us of our inheritance from our inheritance of Christ.

We don't have to clear them out on our own.

He has lovingly and graciously and intentionally provided for us an advocate in the person of the Holy Spirit who lives in us, who fills us, who empowers us, who walks with us, he reminds us of our inheritance, he helps us identify the squatters that seek to rob us of our inheritance, and who shows us how to clear the lands of our land of our souls, so we have the capacity to receive all the fullness of who God is and who God longs to be in our lives.

It is true.

We are chosen, we're not forsaken.

It is true.

The deed of our soul has been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.

It is true that the enemy still feels like he's got squatters who reside in our soul.

And he's not gonna let them go.

But it's also true.

We don't have to let those squatters reside.

We have help.

And he's here, not just in this room, he's here living inside of us.

So let me ask you in close, when are you going to let the Holy Spirit evict the squatters on the land of your soul?

Or maybe more basically, I ask this: are you willing and ready to let the Holy Spirit evict the squatters on the land of your soul?

Your inheritance is rich.

The land of your soul is rich.

And not just in eternity, in the here and now, the Lord wants you to walk in the richness of that inheritance.

So let's partner with him.

I want to take a moment as I pray.

And before I do, I'm just gonna ask you what the things that I have had to say, Holy Spirit, would you do this?

Um would you help me?

Would you guide me in relief in getting rid of the squatters?

They may be different for you.

So let's just take a moment and in silence bow our heads and ask the Holy Spirit to point out what are the squatters that he wants to go after.

We thank you that we have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of light and brought into the kingdom of the Son that the Father loves.

We thank you that we journey not by ourselves, but we journey with you.

And we thank you that you shine the light on our souls and speak truth to us in a gracious way about the places where there are still squatters.

We want the full capacity of our souls to be filled with all of the fullness of God.

And so we say yes to your work.

And we thank you that the Father loves us so much that he would pour into us the fullness of who he is so that this land in our souls can be free of all the things that we've been set free from.

And there's capacity for the fullness of who you are.

Bless your name, Lord.

We thank you.

Amen.