all came to pass
As I went to my Read Scripture app for my daily reading of God’s Story this morning,
I noticed it had listed that I would be reading Joshua 13 to 21. I did a Scobby-Doo double-take because normally there are a few chapters in the main book I’m reading, and one Psalm. I thought it must be an error in the app that this morning I’d be reading almost 10 chapters (not that I have a problem reading a few more chapters of the Bible than usual, I mean, I am a good Christian, after all….wink, wink).
But, I carried on.
Opened my Bible to that part of the story.
And I found my answer to this head-scratcher.
It wasn’t a mistake.
Because that multi-chapter section of God’s story has pages and pages of describing the very specific dimensions of each piece of land that is allowed to each segment of the house of Israel. It’s kind of like taking a trip to your local county seat, and asking the person working the desk to pull out every map they have of every lot in your county and then hand-writing a description of what each family owns.
And then reading it for family worship.
Most people don’t do that, never have done, never will do.
Most people won’t find this very gripping.
I think it’s why my app assigned 9 chapters instead of the usual 3—they actually assumed I’d pretty much skip over them.
So why is it here, as part of God’s story?
Well, here’s the thing. It’s actually really, really, really important.
Hugely so.
For Israel.
And for us.
You see, tucked in at the end of all these land records is a reflection, a note, a cataclysmic statement. And if you fell asleep during the previous retelling of the records, you’d miss it. If you just skipped this portion all together, you’d lose out on an opportunity to strengthen your faith and marvel at God. For here’s what the author explains was the reason for all those records that may seem so boring to our modern sensibilities:
Thus Yahweh gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. And Yahweh gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for Yahweh had given all their enemies into their hands.
Not one word of all the good promises that Yahweh had made to the house of Israel had failed;
all came to pass.
Joshua 21:43-45
All came to pass.
NOT ONE word of all the good promises that Yahweh had made to the house of Israel had failed.
NOT ONE.
He swore he would do something, and he did it.
I read this recently about faith:
Faith is relational, describing reliance on a reliable God. Faith is a covenant word, expressing the commitment and trust that binds two parties together. Throughout Scripture, God by his grace makes promises and commits himself to his people. They in turn are to trust those promises and live in light of them. God shows himself faithful and people are to respond in faithfulness.
To say “I have faith” does not so much say anything about oneself; rather, it says, “God is a trustworthy God.”
Faith [in this way] has an adhesive quality to it; it binds the believer to the one who is believed.
Klyne Snodgrass
Oh dear reader, do you see!?
Faith is not about us, but about our trust-worthy God.
You know, the Apostle Paul reflects that we are actually part of True Israel (Rom9-11), the house of Israel, so that all of his promises are failure-proof for us too. Even better, Paul reflects that all of God’s promises are “yes and amen” in Christ Jesus for us! (2Corinthians1:20)
Promises about the riches of his grace,
the forgiveness of our sins,
the healing of all our diseases,
the redeeming of our lives from the pit,
the cleansing of all our impurities,
the strengthening of our weakness,
the mercy that comes only from the Father,
promises of kindness,
peace,
gentleness,
self-control,
goodness,
faithfulness,
and JOY!
Time fails for how many promises we could list that are yes and amen because of Jesus!
And because they come to us via Christ,
ALL of them will come to pass.
NOT ONE word of all the good promises that Yahweh has made to the house of Christ has failed, is failing, or ever will fail.
NOT ONE.
Oh my.
Yes, and very amen, in Jesus’ name.
