THE DIVISION OF LAND EAST OF THE JORDAN The divine inspiration ended the previous section by recording the boundaries of land taken by the people OF God, both under the leadership of Moses and Joshua; revealing the kings who were driven out or killed, and their lands occupied by Joshua; a reference to turning the kingdom of the devil, that he had taken in our hearts, to the kingdom of the true Joshua. And now, advanced in years, he began to divide the land among the tribes, starting by that east of the Jordan between the two and a half tribes. 1- Joshua advanced in years 1 2- The land remaining to be possessed 1-6 3- Dividing the land by lot 6 - 7 4- The portion of the two and a half tribes 8 - 33 1- Joshua advanced in years: “Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him: ‘You are old, advanced in years,’ ” (Joshua 13: 1) If Joshua was a symbol of Jesus Christ; why is it said that Joshua was old, advanced in years; although the Lord Jesus was never advanced in years? We can understand old age from two aspects: (1) Old age, meaning advanced in years; and man enters into a state of weakness and helplessness that ends with his death. That is a state that did not happen to Jesus the Lord of glory; He ascended to heaven while physically He was still a mature man; So that, His Church uniting with Him, and carrying His features, will never carry in herself spiritual old age or spiritual weakness. Like her Bridegroom, she carries a maturity that will never get old; as an eagle, her youth is renewed. In other words, the true Christian, even if he grows old and gets physically weak, yet he stays, in his spirit and heart, a youth with no weakness in Jesus Christ who never gets old. (2) Old age, meaning wisdom ... “wisdom of the advanced years”, which is not connected to age, but to maturity of mind and spirit. Adam lived long years on earth, yet, because of his fall into sin, he did not gain the title, ‘advanced in years’; as he did not benefit from his days, but rather lost them. The first to enjoy this title were Abraham and 188 his wife Sarah, being said that they were “old and well advanced in age” (Genesis 18: 11), when they received the Word of God and His two angels in their tent. Their life turning into a heaven, where God and His angels dwell, they became worthy of receiving the promise to get Isaac, the symbol of Jesus Christ. It is as though man becomes old and advanced in years, when he carries inside him the heavenly nature, receive God to dwell in him, and become open on the Heavenliness as beloved to him! Here also, as Joshua begins to divide the land of inheritance, as though, through the symbol, he presents the heavenly inheritance to believers, to be said of him, that he is old, and advanced in years. In that, Joshua symbolized Jesus Christ, not as a helpless old man, but as the wisdom of God, who grants us in him the eternal inheritance. The scholar Origen is credited with a beautiful comment on the expression: “was old, advanced in years”, saying: [Here we find the Holy Spirit proclaim that Joshua was old and advanced in years ... an expression that does not apply to a sinner; as the sinner is not advanced in years; as he will never “forgets those things that are behind, and reaches forward to those things which are ahead” (Philippians 3: 13); but he always, “looks back” (Luke 9: 62); that is why he, “is not fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9: 62). On the contrary, when we reach forward to those things, which are ahead, seeking perfection, we would be advanced in years] 1. That title, that was granted to Joshua the son of Nun, by the Lord Himself, is a testimony of recognition, a sign of his reaching forward to those things which are ahead, not only to enjoy inheritance, but also to extend the inheritance to others. He does not only carry the heavenly nature, but, by his glorified deeds, he extends it also to his brothers and children. And from the other side Joshua became advanced in years, because he as a symbol of Jesus, the Son of Righteousness, got a new day full of glorious deeds with every sun shine; as though he is adding to his life, those spiritual years he worked by the Lord, to be called “advanced in years”. 2- The land remaining to be possessed: How can the Book say: “The land rested from war” (Joshua 11: 23), then says: “There remains very much land yet to be possessed” (Joshua 13: 1)? The land Joshua came to tread with his feet, he reigned 1 In Jos. Hom 16: 1. 189 on it, driving out the adversaries, to rest from the war. Those are the congregation of believers, who received the Lord Christ into their spiritual and physical life, to forgive all their sins, and to give them peace with God the Father, as well as peace with each others, and peace inside man himself, between spirit and flesh, through sanctifying all! That is the true rest that came to be, for every true believer, in his relationship with God his Father, and his human brothers; as well as in his relationship with his own body, emotions, and inner feelings.... He enjoys an exalted rest in Jesus Christ. As to proclaiming that there remains very much land to be possessed; this is natural, as there were still much land that the true Joshua did not enter ... There are still a multitude of Atheists, who have not yet enjoyed the entrance of the Lord in their life to reign in them; according to the confirmation of the Psalmist: “All nations will serve Him” (Psalm 72: 11); and also: “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the River to the end of the earth; Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him” (Psalm 72: 8, 9). We can also say that the Lord Christ -- the true Joshua -- as he was lifted up on the cross, descended to Hades, to reign over those who died on hope, to bring them over to His paradise, this allows us to apprehend the phrase, “The land rested from war”: Christ, the Head, had, on behalf of all humanity, conquered by His cross, and by His conquest, He offered the Church along the generations, the possibility to conquer, to destroy Hades, and to set forth with every soul to Paradise. ... And to apprehend the phrase, “There remains very much land yet to be possessed”: The Lord, as He was in flesh, reigned on earth; and still reigns, as He is, amid His Church along the generations, presenting the victory to believers; opening the door of hope to all generations. 3- Dividing the land by lot: “…only divide it by lot to Israel as an inheritance, as I have commanded you.”(Verse 6) Lot has been used in the Holy Book during both the Old and the New Testaments. It was not used in the form of haphazard ‘lottery’, but was practiced following prayers to God; to stop the human will, to let that of God work. The scholar Origen1 criticized his contemporaries; namely, men of the second century AD; because they did not use it in the ordinations of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons; presenting from the Old and New testaments, proofs of its use. 1 Ibid 23: 2. 190 (1) In the Old Testament : In the Book of Leviticus, it came: “Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness” (Leviticus 16: 8 -- 10). Joshua used it in dividing the land given by the Lord to His people. In the Book of Jonah, as the mariners felt completely helpless before the deadly storm, they cried out to their gods, and finally they cast lots, by which they came to know that Jonah was the cause of their trouble (Jonah 1: 7). In the Book of Proverbs, it was written, “Casting lots causes contentions to cease, and keeps the mighty apart” (Proverb 18: 19); as though it helps to reveal the truth. (2) In the New Testament: When it was necessary to choose someone to replace Judas as an apostle of the Lord, “Men proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, ‘You, O Lord, who knows the hearts of all, show which of these two you have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles” (Acts 1: 23 -- 26). The scholar Origen comments on this, saying: [By using it, the apostles demonstrate that if used with absolute faith, together with prayers, it clearly reveals the hidden will of God] 1. Yet, some people assume, once the Holy Spirit descended on the Church, it was given the Spirit of discernment and apprehension of God’s will, through prayers, together with a holy life; and so overshadowed the need for casting lots; as it happened in choosing the Deacons (Acts 6: 2, 3) 2. God might have allowed the use of casting lots in the division of land, so that personal factors would not interfere with the division; and in order that any of the tribes would not suppose that what it earned is a favor from anyone; but is a gift from God Himself; the gift of God is free, so no one great or small could humiliate a certain tribe, that he has given it something of his own. 4- The portion of the two and a half tribes: 1 Ibid. .234 ، 2 الحب الرعوي: ص 233 191 It was not possible for the two and a half tribes -- who represent the Old Testament -- to get their inheritance before the other tribes; but they had to receive the inheritance from Joshua himself; The apostle Paul says: “And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us” (Hebrew 11: 39,40). Their inheritance was fixed in the days of Moses, but they crossed to fight with the rest of the tribes so that all posses the land in due time, when Joshua gets old and the land rest from war. As Origen says that this-[refers to our beloved deceased who show strife along with us through prayer on our behalf till we all acquire the inheritance.] 1 1 In Jos. Hom 16:5.
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