One With Christ

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King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]

Date: Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Chapters: Joshua Chapters 16-18
Message: One With Christ

Hello My Friend,

Yesterday, I went to the tax collectors office and finally got my drivers license changed over to my married name, it only took me eight months due to both schedule and financial conflicts. Changing my name on paper does not change who I am, but it does show proof that my husband and I are now one person. Just like Jesus said, [Mark 10:7-9  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;  8  And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.  9  What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.]

The word asunder means to separate or tear apart, so if Jesus Himself placed such high importance on keeping the man and woman joined in holy matrimony from tearing each other apart can you imagine the importance of His people not tearing each other apart? [James 4:1-4  From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?  2  Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.  3  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.  4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.]

I do not know why God led me down this route this morning, but we will see as we read the chapters for today. As I started to read the chapters it occurred to me that if this were the actual time in which Jesus came into Jerusalem before His passion, today would be the day that He would eat His last meal with the disciples. Even among them Jesus knew that one of them would betray Him that night, [John 13:21  When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.]

I tell you what, those whom truly believe in Christ and have accepted that He gave His life for them in their own place will take a statement like that and make sure that they have no doubts in their faith. Of course, there is a difference between reassurance of ones faith and doubting ones faith. While reassurance means that one already knows that they belong to Jesus and are reconfirming their faith, doubting means that they either do not understand their faith or do not believe. Once one believes in Christ and accepts that He alone is their Saviour, just like a marriage vow, they become one flesh, and that may be a scary thought,

[John 17:20-23  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;  21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.  22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:  23  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.]

The Israelites were made up of twelve brothers, also known as the children of Jacob, while they were one people they still were divided among each other. When God had given them the land of Canaan for an inheritance besides the Levites, only nine and a half of them that actually received a portion of it. However, the tribe of Joseph was two tribes, Ephraim, which is the tribe that Joshua is from and Manasseh, this would be the other half of the tribe as the first half had received land on the other side of the Jordan. As we continue in the reading of Joshua, the children of Joseph are told what portion of land was allotted to them.

[Joshua 16:1,4-5,8-10  And the lot of the children of Joseph fell from Jordan by Jericho, unto the water of Jericho on the east, to the wilderness that goeth up from Jericho throughout mount Bethel, 4  So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.  5  And the border of the children of Ephraim according to their families was thus: even the border of their inheritance on the east side was Atarothaddar, unto Bethhoron the upper; 8  The border went out from Tappuah westward unto the river Kanah; and the goings out thereof were at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim by their families.  9  And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.  10  And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day, and serve under tribute.]

[And the lot of the children of Joseph fell from Jordan by Jericho,] It may seem strange that there are very few references of Joseph in regards to his children, but this goes all the way back to Jacob when he proclaimed them as his own sons, [Genesis 48:3-5  And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,  4  And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.  5  And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.]

Biologically speaking, our fathers go all the way back to Noah and if we had the time and resources we would even be able to trace our heritage back to Adam. So, biologically, we are all connected to our father, Adam, but as a people we are divided into different tribes just like Jacob’s children. Why? Well, God actually did that in order to separate His people from His creation. You see, while God is the Creator of all, He is only the Father of a few, in fact, the majority of Israelites did not make the cut, [Romans 9:7-8  Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.  8  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.]

[And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer:] This is why so many of the Israelites would not make the cut, while they were under the power of God and fully capable of driving the Canaanites out, they let their greed of money allow them to pay for their way to stay. Sadly, Ephraim’s descendants would not only be the first to forsake God because of this decision, they would also take the majority of the tribes with them, [1 Kings 11:31  And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:]

Nevertheless, God, never denied any of them the opportunity to come to Him and still held to His promise to give the children of Israel the land of Canaan regardless. There is one thing interesting in all this, the land allotted to Joseph’s children, was almost adjacent to that which was allotted to Judah as both would become two separate kingdoms, well, Ephraim’s anyway. By birthright, Manasseh was the first born, but it had already been told to Joseph himself that Ephraim’s descents would supersede them, which we can see starting already with Joshua. Now, we learn of what portion of land that the half tribe of Manasseh would receive.

[Joshua 17:1,4-5  There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he was the firstborn of Joseph; to wit, for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.  3  But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters: and these are the names of his daughters, Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4  And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore according to the commandment of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father.  5  And there fell ten portions to Manasseh, beside the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side Jordan;]

[The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren.] The five daughters of Machir, just like Caleb, were sure to remind Joshua that they were promised land of their own. I know it can seem a bit repetitious to read these things over and over but it actually is of a great significance. When Israel would fall away from God and He would scatter them all over the world this would be their map to guide them back. This is also proof that once a person receives Christ as their Saviour they may get misguided and lose their way, but their Saviour holds them closed and never lets go, [John 10:28-30  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.  29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.  30  I and my Father are one.]

There it is again, those who receive Christ as their Saviour become one with Him and His Father, that makes us joined in the holy matrimony of eternal life. In fact, we do become Christ’s bride, [Revelation 22:16-17  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.  17  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.]

We need to realize that we who are saved and born again are the inheritance of Christ, and therefore, we are all brothers and sisters in the same eternal life family. Therefore, we need to stop comparing about what one has over the other and just go get what He is giving us. Now, when it came time for Manasseh to get their land, even though they were strong enough to remove the Canaanites, again, being led by the greed of money, allowed them to pay to stay. This already proved a problem for them because there were more of them than there were Manasseh. They went to Joshua and asked him for more land, and did not get the answer they expected.

[Joshua 17:12-14,17-18  Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.  13  Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out.  14  And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as the LORD hath blessed me hitherto? 17  And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only:  18  But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.]

[when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute;] Joshua, is telling them that if they want more space to start knocking down trees, and to do what they were commanded to do in the first place, remove the Canaanites. We must understand that while God promised us salvation by grace, and that we would get heaven no matter what, He did not promise easy street until we get there, [1 Peter 4:14-15  If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.  15  But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.]

Who wants infirmities? No one. Yet infirmities are what define us and conform us into the image of Christ through our faithfulness. Far too many faithful Christians lead defeated lives, settling for what they have handed to them rather than going after what God has waiting for them. We are not to live defeated lives, we belong to Christ, we already have the victory, Amen! Take pleasure in your infirmities knowing that you belong to Christ, and break through that obstacle with Him. Now, many of the tribes still had not taken possession of their land yet, some of them content to remain with those who already had gotten theirs. Joshua gathers everyone together and fusses at them for not taking possession of their land.

[Joshua 18:1-5,10  And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them.  2  And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance.  3  And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you? 4  Give out from among you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall come again to me.  5  And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall abide in their coast on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coasts on the north. 10  And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD: and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions.]

[How long are ye slack to go to possess the land,] Are you slacking in receiving your inheritance of eternal life through Christ? It is time to take it. If you believe His sinless death, burial, and resurrection, and trusting in Him alone for your salvation then, your inheritance is awaiting you. Are you slacking in receiving what provisions God has waiting for you? Get to work. God’s work that is, [John 14:12-14  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.  13  And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  14  If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.]

Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Joshua 18:10  And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD: and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions.]


Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You that our inheritance is not dependent upon our earthly parents, but by our faith in Your Son Jesus. The second we believe in and receive Him as our Saviour, we are more than just saved from hell, we are born again, sons and daughter of Yours, and we become one with You. Thank You for the great sacrifice that You made so that I can become one of Yours, and for an amazing inheritance awaiting me as You prepare Your Kingdom for all of Your children. Jesus, You are my strength on this journey, You are the one who never leaves nor forsakes me, helps me do the work I need to do, and keeps me from becoming slack. Lord, Lead me and guide me, let me walk in Your power and strength to face each day, let me not be afraid or get lazy, give me the courage to walk by faith, and remove any doubt that I have. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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