This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and Geshurites, - Joshua 13:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 9, 2019): Joshua 13

Is it possible that we never get to “done?” At least, not as long as we are still able to take a breath, or maybe even more importantly, while we are still able to string together a few thoughts. If God leaves us with breath and the ability to think, then we are not done. Not yet.

God speaks to Joshua and reminds him that there is still much that needs to be done. In Joshua’s defense, he was getting older, or maybe just plain old. It happens to all of us. And we should not hear this as a condemnation of Joshua’s actions in Canaan. The problem with Joshua is not that he moved too slowly or that he gave too little of himself in the taking of Canaan. As far as we can tell, Joshua was an able leader who kept Israel together as they made their initial steps into Canaan. He divided the land and was a great commander of the army as Israel took control of the land. Joshua even seemed to do well at leading the nation spiritually.

But what Joshua failed at was realizing that the nation would have to continue after him. Israel was not going to die with Joshua. But Joshua struggled with leading Israel into that next step. (And I get it, I struggle there as well.) God’s instruction to Joshua here does not seem to be a “Joshua; you have to try harder” message. It is “Joshua you have to change the way that you think and lead” message. The time had come for Joshua to stop leading Israel and to start preparing another leader to continue the process. The job was not done and, as Joshua grows older, it becomes clear that the process will extend long past Joshua’s lifetime. It was time for Israel to change its tactics and find another way to take the land, under a leader who was trained by Joshua, just as Joshua had been trained by Moses.

But Joshua couldn’t make that transition. He couldn’t think past his point of done. It probably wasn’t that he didn’t care about the next steps. But Joshua was approaching done and doesn’t seem to be able to think past that point. The fight in Canaan would end not because the land had been taken, but because Joshua had become too old to continue the fight. For the next three and half centuries, until the reign of Samuel, the High Priest’s, leadership in Israel would be both episodic and regional. There would be no national leader until Samuel and the advent of the monarchy of Israel. And it wouldn’t be until the reign of King David that the process, which God here reminds Joshua is not finished, would continue.

Joshua’s failure was not that he did not fully take the land, but that he failed in preparing a leader that could finish the task. And we need to recognize that while the way we continue to honor God’s demands might change and that priorities could shift, we are not done either.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Joshua 14