Joshua 22

The two and a half tribes that would have their inheritance east of the Jordan river had obeyed the agreement that they had with Moses prior to His death. The fighting men of those tribes had stood alongside their brothers through the conquest battles in the land of Canaan west of the Jordan. Now the time had come for them to return to their own allotments with the commendation of Joshua. They had not forsaken their brothers. They had kept the charge of the Lord their God. These were great words to hear from the Lord's appointed servant.

On the way home, they began to fear concerning their position in Israel. Could it be that the unity that they now enjoyed with the rest of the sons of Jacob would eventually be forgotten? Would the Jordan become a barrier that would separate those who called upon the Name of the Lord?

They built an altar on the western side of the Jordan, a monument that could be seen from the east as well. Their purpose was unity with their brothers in the worship and life of Israel's God, but the other tribes misunderstood the meaning of their actions. They saw division in the building of this altar, setting up a new place to offer sacrifices to the Lord that would be more convenient to the lands west of the Jordan.

While Phinehas the priest was able to eventually understand and affirm the real intention of the two and a half tribes, the confusion gave everyone an opportunity to solemnly affirm what it was that held Israel together as a people. Israel was not merely a nation of common ancestry, or even just a people of common worship practices. At root, their unity was in God Himself. The eastern tribes affirmed this with these moving words: “The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord!”

This altar was not a pragmatic or schismatic attack on the unity of the people of God. It was a plea for remembrance for future generations, that these tribes not be excluded from the oneness of the Lord's nation. The altar was a witness between the tribes on both sides of the Jordan, a witness to their mutual commitment to this most central truth, that the Lord is God.

The Lord IS God. We worship the same God as the Israelites worshiped so long ago. We have received not only the revelation of the Hebrew Scriptures, but most importantly, we have received the greatest revelation of all in the person of the Son of God. Our unity is in this: “Jesus is Lord!” Jesus, who died and rose again is our All in all. We confess one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is not only above all, but who is also in all.

Despite the various names and traditions that could cause us to question our oneness, we are the body of Christ. We have a remembrance of our unity that Christ gave to the church before he went to the cross: the communion ritual of the Lord's Supper. He commanded that the church do this meal in remembrance of Him.

The Lord is in our midst. We are one in Him, in His death, and in His resurrection. We must not make war against our brothers, but consider others more highly than ourselves, and treat all who profess the ancient faith with such mutual affection and care, that honest observers will be forced to admit this truth: “See how they love one another.”

Psalm 137

What would it be like for you and I to be in exile in some foreign land? There had been so much loss of life. Everyone was grieving not only their enslavement in Babylon, but the loss of dear ones that they loved.

“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

You've got to be kidding me.

How can I sing a psalm for my captors when I am far away from the city of Jerusalem, the city I love?

The psalmist remembers Jerusalem with tears. He longs for the holy city. And the Spirit of God composes this song in the heart and mind of His servant.

It is a song of heaven and hell. It is a song of exile for those who long for the appearing of the One who is called, “The Lord, Our Righteousness.”

We long for Him! We are eager for His return with all the ones for whom we have been weeping. We want to be in the Jerusalem above. But more than anything, we want the Jerusalem that is above with all her angels and redeemed people to come down upon the earth in the final Day of the Lord.

But that day will be a frightening Day of Judgment for the world. The Psalmist remembers the neighboring nation of Edom which was rejoicing in the destruction of Jerusalem when the Babylonians came against the holy city. But God's judgment would come against Edom too.

What will it be like for the enemies of Israel and the church when the Lord comes to judge the living and the dead?

“Forgive them, Lord, they don't know what they are doing.”

But do they know?

“Vengeance is mine,” says the Lord.

So be it. But give me a taste of the Jerusalem that is above today in the songs of Your people here below and in the Word that you speak to my heart. And fill me with your Spirit from the city above that I love.

Psalm 136

Thank the Lord for His eternal mercy!

It is great to have a burden lifted off your back even for a moment, but it is far better to have it taken away for a lifetime. God has done far more through His Son. Not only is our debt paid, but we have been granted heavenly riches due to Christ for His perfect obedience. We have the covenant love of God and the fullness of His blessings for all the ages that shall every be. This is what Jesus, God with God, the Lord of lords, has won for us.

God made everything by the Word of His power. Think for a moment of the six days of Genesis 1. Jesus spoke those days into being. It was through Him that everything was made. Light; waters above and waters below; dry land and all that grows upon the earth... all the realms of creation. Then He made rulers over those realms. Sun, moon, and stars; fish and birds that fill the waters; all creatures that fill the earth, and then people made in His image, male and female, to fill and to rule, having dominion over all in the Name of the God of the seventh day. All this was spoken into being by the divine Voice, the Son of the Most High God, Jesus Christ.

When Joshua of old was preparing to take the city of Jericho, he met a mysterious figure called “the Commander of the Lord's Army.” What was the instruction that this great Being gave to Joshua? “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. And what was the earlier command to Moses before He returned to Egypt to rescue Israel? He was confronted by a divine Voice that came from a burning bush that could not be consumed. “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

Jesus is not only the Son of God for creation. He is the Son of God for everything that is salvation. The God of the Passover; the God who provides in the wilderness; the God of the conquest... He is the God who wins everything for us through His life and death as the God-Man, Jesus of Nazareth.

He saw us, bloody and even dead by the side of the road. He came to us. He rescued us. He carried us to safety. He gives us Himself, the Bread of life, that we might live forever. It only seems right that we should thank Him for all eternity.

Psalm 135

It is time for all the earth to praise the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is time to praise the Lord. Surely my soul should praise God right now without the slightest embarrassment or hesitation!

You and I are servants of the Lord in His glorious people-house, the church. We have come to know that Jesus, the Man who bled and died for us, is Lord of all. His Name is pleasant, since it means, “The Lord saves,” or “The Lord is salvation!”

I recently heard accounts of the dramatic salvation of several Muslim men in the Middle East, and of an elderly Jewish man in America. Both came to an almost immediate awareness that Jesus is God. All over the world, people will hear the Voice of God today and believe. Jesus saves! Praise His Name!

People worship all kinds of gods, but the God of the Jews is the only true and living God. He is over all. He is the God of creation, making all things of nothing, but He is also the God of all that exists right now. Why else would Jesus talk about the number of hairs on your head and a sparrow that falls to the ground if not to assure you that He is in charge of every detail in your life?

He is also the God of history and the God of the future. He is working out His eternal purpose to unite all things in Jesus Christ, things in heaven and things on earth. When He saved Israel out of Egypt, that was a part of a larger plan. When His Son died on the cross, that story moved from the killing of a Passover lamb, to the death of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus saves!

The Lord was able to give the land of Canaan to His people. That too was a part of His larger plan. Now, through the Jewish Messiah and His church, all the ends of the earth will see the saving power of God. Jesus will not lose. His resurrection wins. It is the first part of a much larger reality. Already people are finding life through His Name, but one day, He will give life to our mortal bodies as the fullness of His people-house comes, and the meek inherit the earth. He will have mercy on His suffering servants from all the generations of Israel and the church.

Forget about any god your hands could make. Those gods are nothing but trouble. Bless the Name of the God who is Lord over the heavenly Jerusalem! Praise Jesus, the Risen Lamb of God!

Psalm 134

Journey's end! Jersualem! The temple mount! What a relief!

How much more when we reach the Jerusalem that is above! Better still, what a delight it will be when the New Jerusalem reaches us, descending from heaven upon the earth, bringing complete resurrection. Then the new day that Christ began will be fully among us.

I have too much of the old man in me. I am too easily showing signs of the weary traveler. Evenings are coming earlier for me. But then again, every morning the sun rises, and a new day dawns to those who are awake.

Wake me up, Lord!

Wake me up to the empty tomb. Wake me up to the resurrection of Jesus. The High Priest is already blessing me from the heavenly Jerusalem. He is sending me fresh water for the day ahead.

I am thirsty! I drink again, and am refreshed. What a blessing. The water of heaven is going through my body now. I am thinking more clearly. Fear and doubt are being cast off. Faith is renewed. Out of the abundance of a better heart, my mouth speaks, and brings help to the hearer.

Praise the Lord, you servants of the Lord!

Lift up your hands to heaven and shout out the Lord's prayer! “Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be Thy Name....”

We have a Father in heaven who loves us. His Son is Immanuel, God with us. His Spirit is in us. There is a whole body of Christ to stand with us. We can lift up someone's hand if they have no strength, and we can praise the Lord together.

The Lord, who made heaven and earth will bless you today. He will shepherd you by His Word and Spirit. He will give you a shepherd who will walk with you, a man equipped with the Scriptures, a servant of the Lord who will love you. He will bless you with the blessing of Jesus.

The Lord will bless your marriage and your family from Zion. He will love you forever and love you for always. The Lord is with you!

Joshua 21

What does it mean to be a Levite? Are you and I Levites in any sense?

Levites were descended from Jacob's son, Levi. Moses and Aaron, the first High Priest, came from that tribe. They were dedicated to the service of the Lord. We are all called to be servants of God, but some, like the Levites, have a calling to be dedicated to the Lord's worship assembly in a special way.

In the days of Joshua, this service involved care for the tabernacle, the traveling house of God, and all of the holy objects within that place of assembly. In our day, the word for “assembly” in the Bible has come to be translated with the word “church.” There are those in the New Testament order of life that pursue a calling of special dedication to the church.

When our church building was burning to the ground several years ago, the firemen came to me when they realized that they were not going to be able to save the building. They asked where we had our holy objects so that they could attempt to get those out before abandoning the building. I pointed to the brothers and sisters of faith next to me on the sidewalk who had gathered there to be with each other as their meeting house burned down. “These are our holy objects.” That kind of talk will win you a puzzled look from a firefighter, but it is a point worth making. Those who are dedicated in a special way to the assembly of the Lord today concern themselves with worship, teaching, sacraments, and evangelism; but they especially give themselves to the worshipers who are the Lord's holy ones, the “saints,” the members of the body of Christ.

Some people fight fires to the glory of God. Some, like the Levites of the Old Testament life, leave that kind of work to others. They plan worship services, write sermons, teach people the faith, and meet together to make plans for all these things; but most of all they care for God's holy ones as they seek to continue in the life of faith in a world where things fall apart.

All of us in the church give ourselves to the worship of the Lord, but some are set apart to a calling of oversight and service that may limit the energy and time they have left for any other job. They are pastors, elders, deacons, and other dedicated helpers. Some are retired from earlier callings. They have chosen this new life of service. Others are young men and women who see this calling to the Lord's church as the special focus of their entire lives. I think of a young couple our church is supporting who are praying now concerning which hostile field of service they will soon go to in order to give their lives away to Jesus there, helping to see His church further established in a place where it has almost no worshiping presence. Together, young and old, we are like Levites in the midst of the whole church of holy servants. Unless others supply us with food, housing, and pasturelands, we will not be able to live. God knows this, and He moves within the hearts of His people to supply our daily needs. The building that we love the most can never be destroyed. You who love the Lord are His tabernacle, and we want to serve you.

Thank you, church, for giving to the Lord.

Thank you, Jesus, for giving to all of us.

Jesus is our High Priest. His gift of Himself to us is the right motivation for every act of heartfelt service to others.

Jesus is alive. If He were not alive now, then what did His disciples see as He was blessing them going off in a divine glory cloud? He had already risen from the dead, and had visited among them for forty days. They knew He was alive, but now this alive resurrection man was going away in a divine glory cloud.

Where did He go? Even people all around us that don't read the Bible and that don't go to church know the answer. He went to heaven. Of course He did. There is another realm beyond this life. It is that realm above that rules this one here below. We who worship in assemblies here and who have to make decisions about buildings, music, church suppers, sermons, prayer meetings, and pastoral visits; have to keep at least one foot in that glorious realm, where Jesus reigns, in order to be of any use to people here. He went to heaven for us. We need to believe in Him and in His heavenly realm for one another.

I like our church motto. It was born out of suffering. “Nourishing souls in the hope of the resurrection.” Because Jesus is still serving us from a place where there are even better cities and pasturelands, we have power from on high to help prepare you for eternal life now as you farm your own lands and raise your animals to the glory of God.

If you stop believing in God and in heaven today, you place yourselves in a very small minority of the truly hopeless. I don't want that for you or for me.

You will not be able to keep serving the Lord from the heart for very long without hope. Don't give up. Keep on going. Pray, receive, and believe. Especially you Levites out there. Other people are counting on you.

Thank you, Jesus, for giving me hope today. I know that your conquest of love is the best. Help me and all your church to know the power of that conquest and to live it out today. Amen.

Joshua 20

God spoke to Moses about cities of refuge. In Joshua 20 the cities were chosen by the people in the midst of this section about the inheritance of the tribes of Israel. The people were to embrace the Lord's system of mercy. They were to choose the cities of refuge, appointing them and setting them apart for the Lord's good purposes.

The idea of mercy for the guilty is proclaimed throughout the Bible. God knows how to rescue people from destruction and to lead them to a place of safety. But now He calls them to be a people of mercy, and to set up cities of refuge for the manslayer within the land.

We have fled for refuge to Jesus. He and His glorious kingdom in heaven are the perfect city of refuge, not only for the one who has sinned unintentionally, but for all who are willing to repent from sin and to run to Him.

The Lord calls us now to set up the kingdom of heaven all over the earth. We do this in accord with His Word, not only making disciples of Jesus Christ through proclaiming mercy in His Name, but also organizing churches all over the world. These are merciful outposts of the Lord's kingdom upon the earth. People should be able to come to the church that Jesus has established and find Him inside; in the worship, in the Word and sacrament, and in the lives of the people. They should be able to experience a sure refuge there from the just wrath of God.

God appointed His Son to be our City of Refuge, and Jesus appointed His people to be His body, an expression of divine mercy to the world. No longer are these new cities of refuge, the churches, to be according to Old Testament Law, where only the manslayer could flee for sanctuary. The churches are the fruit of the death of Christ for us. Every sinner can flee to Him and find healing in the One who came from heaven to obey the Law for us and then to die for our sins. There is no better refuge for the guilty than Jesus Christ. In His church, people should sense the aroma of life.

When people come into the membership of the church of Jesus Christ, they come to the gate of the city of God, and explain their case to the elders of this good city. They admit the truth of their guilt, and they profess their trust in Jesus Christ as Savior. Then they give themselves to Him as the good Lord over the city. They also pledge to be people of worship and service, seeking the peace and purity of the church, and even the Lord's blessing upon the whole earth.

This new city of God as expressed in the New Testament church came into existence through the death of our great High Priest, Jesus Christ. But the establishment of the church required more than death. For Jesus to reign, He needed to live again and to send forth His blessing into us, so that His blessing might be known through us. It was on the day of Pentecost, when Christ poured out His Holy Spirit upon the church, that the a new era began.

On that day the old cities of refuge designated by the people according to the Law had to give way to a new great stream of mercy coming out of heaven. We look for the fullness of this great city to come down upon the whole earth in glorious perfection when our Lord returns. Until that day we proclaim a message of mercy and hope for all who call upon the Name of the Lord, and we experience something of the joy of the life to come in the midst of our present distress.

Joshua 19

The Lord has a great inheritance for His people. We are co-heirs with Christ. We need to hear that the meek shall inherit the earth, and we need to persevere with heaven-sent endurance, setting our hearts on Jesus and the coming resurrection.

The Lord is continually giving us good gifts, even in this life. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Not only that, the Lord who died for us has gone above. All these blessings come to us through Him, and He went ahead of us into heavenly realms to prepare a place for us there.

It is with this greatest of all inheritances in mind, that my soul considers the tribal allotments to Israel. We have already heard about the most prominent tribes. Now we hear about the rest of them. The Lord is not only the God of His prominent servants who are known in this life by so many people. He is our God too. It is His glory to work through many people whose names may be forgotten by people after they are gone. But the Lord Jesus remembers. Our names are written on the palms of His hands.

Jesus is our High Priest. In the Old Testament, the High Priest wore special garments with jewels on the breastplate, reminding the man who ministered before God for Israel that He offered up sacrifices not only for Judah, Joseph, Benjamin, and Levi, but for all the tribes of Israel, for they were all precious in His sight. When Christ offered up Himself as a sacrifice for us, He atoned for your sins too.

Simeon had an inheritance in Israel within the land of Judah. They were part of the Lord's plan in having dominion over the large allotment that Judah had received from the Lord in the south. They were soon lost to man's accounting, but God has never lost them. They belong to Him.

Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, and Naphtali would form the northern part of Israel. Isaiah would prophesy about this region many centuries later:

But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
(Isaiah 9:1-2)

This passage would be quoted by Matthew as Jesus fulfilled the ancient prophesies that others seemed to have forgotten. When the Messiah was doing so much of His teaching and so many of His miracles in these less respected parts of Israel, the response of many of the religious leaders in Jerusalem was the one recorded in John 7:52, “Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” They had missed the reference in Isaiah, but the Lord fulfilled His great plan for the land of these less-known Northern tribes.

The final tribal inheritance (not including the Levitical cities and pasturelands noted in Joshua 21) went to the tribe of Dan. The territory of Dan was along the central seacoast of Israel. This land would be very difficult to hold on to, a story that is told more fully in the book of Judges. Though the territory of Dan was lost to them before its time, it was not lost to God. Many centuries later, in the early years of the church moving out beyond Jerusalem and Judea, we have great reports of the churches in Lydda and Joppa, where Peter performed great miracles. It was while he was in Joppa in the ancient territory given to the tribe of Dan, that an adventure came to him from heaven, teaching him that he should not think of the Gentiles as unclean anymore.

Joshua 19 closes with the mention of a city allotted to Joshua. Our new Joshua, Jesus the Messiah, is the King of the kingdom of God. He is bringing the city of God down from heaven. He is the one who worked miracles through Peter, and who opened a door of blessing to the nations. He remembers the tribe of Simeon when everyone has forgotten it in the midst of Judah. He has a plan of blessing for places that are despised and rejected by everyone. He knows what it means to seem to lose everything that you cared most about, as happened to the tribe of Dan.

He knows your name, and He is well aware of your situation today. He has carried your sorrows on the cross, and He will never leave you nor forsake you. You have a great inheritance in Him in a place where He will wipe away your tears, and where you will do amazing deeds to the glory of God forever.

Psalm 133

God's plans for the church are very good and pleasant, despite any current suffering that we face. One great day we will dwell in perfect unity. Until that day comes, whatever true spiritual togetherness we experience is one of the Lord's best gifts that He gives to the church.

Are you facing a tough moment? You might have the impulse to hide away by yourself until it passes. That is an understandable inclination. The Lord has something better for you if you can receive it. You can be with other people who love Him and who love you. That will help you, provided that you can dwell together in the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Some people are restricted in their freedom. They may be in a hospital bed or in prison. They cannot worship God with His people, though they desire to. The Lord knows, and He is able to carry them through those days.

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” Though the Lord's people may be forced to move on, as happened because of the persecutions that arose in Jerusalem in Acts 8, they can still be the temple of the Holy Spirit as they walk together. There is a communion of the saints that we can enjoy even when we are no longer able to see one another. If you are in the Messiah, and I am in Him too, then we must be close together somehow. Even death cannot separate us from the love of Christ, and that means some togetherness in Christ for those who feel the separation that death brings.

This unity in the Lord that we can enjoy even now is a heaven-sent spiritual gift. It comes down upon us from above. It is the oil of heaven that flows down on the head of the priesthood of all who walk in faith and love. Ask and you will receive.

On the mount of the Lord, in the heavenly height where Jesus reigns, there is a great living Provision for all God's people. He comes down like dew upon the earth below. He brings more life and He gives more grace.

Jesus, who gave Himself to unite all things, things in heaven and things on earth, has commanded that the blessing of unity in Him might be known and experienced throughout the churches. His gift to us is not only the unity that we enjoy today, though we gladly receive that with much thanksgiving. His decree for us is perfect unity with Him and with one another in the fullness of the Holy Spirit forever. This is eternal life. Walk in it today as we worship and serve the Lord together. Enjoy His heaven-sent gift of the unity of the Spirit, and be at peace with one another.

Psalm 132

If you are on a journey to heaven, Jesus is the way.

Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Son of David. Not only is He the way to the heavenly temple; He is the destination. He is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

David was passionate about the temple of God that would be built in the place of God's choosing. He suffered greatly for it. Jesus was full of desire for the ultimate house of God. Zeal for the Lord's house consumed Him. He knew that His body would be that temple. Though His body would be torn down by men, He said He would build it up again in three days. On the third day after He was cast down through His death on the cross, He rose again from the dead. In His new life, the resurrection temple was brought to earth. We are made living stones in that temple when we are united to Him. We are the body of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are the dwelling place of the Mighty One of Jacob.

Though we are already the temple of God now in Jesus Christ, we are on our way to the temple above. Christ in us, a deposit of glory, leads us there to the fullness of glory. We hear of heaven in the midst of the journey, and we are pressed on by His Spirit in us, urging us to keep on going toward the journey's end.

The Father will not reject the voice of His Anointed Son, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. He is our High Priest, and in Him we have been made priests to God. We worship the Lord and we long for the fulfillment of all His heavenly promises. Because of Jesus, because we are in Him, the Lord will not turn us away from our journey to the heavenly Jerusalem.

When David was the King of Israel, the Lord God made a solemn promise to him that one of his descendants would come who would sit on his throne. The chosen Son would have to keep the covenant of God, obeying the voice of the Lord, and teaching His testimonies to His people.

Even the best kings that came from David's line fell far short of this holy requirement, and eventually all the kings that were descended from David came to an end. Yet God had not forgotten His promise to David. He sent His own Son to be that chosen One. Jesus, the fruit of the womb of one of David's descendants, fully obeyed the covenant, even dying the death that was the full measure of His true devotion to the Father. He teaches us the way of the Lord forever. He is our eternal King.

For many centuries, pilgrims traveled from their homes in far off places to Zion, to the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. They were eager to be in the place of God's blessing. Now all the earth is eager for heaven, where God dwells, and we are eager to have heaven come upon the earth, and to see the kingdom of God established in our hearts and all over the world.

One day Christ will came with all His heavenly host, and the blessings of the realm of light will overcome all the darkness of this world. We rejoice in the Lord today because of the promise of God that He will bless us forever on a renewed earth.

The Lord will dwell with us, and He already does. He will abundantly bless us, and He already does. He will clothe us with salvation, and He already does. We will shout for joy. We should do that even now, because all the promises of God are sure in Jesus Christ.

We are the light of the world. Hell is for somebody else. We have the glory of the heavenly kingdom in us already, through Jesus, the promised Son of David. We walk on toward heaven, but heaven is already dwelling in us by His abundant mercy.

Psalm 131

Your suffering, by the gracious hand of the Holy Spirit, produces the good kind of humility. Arrogance is a bad disease. The defeat of that enemy can require strong medicine. There is no substitute for trusting the Lord. The righteous person lives by faith. When you turn away from the obedience of faith you sin.

The remedy for sin is repentance. By the grace that the Lord supplies, you can trust Him and obey Him.

We can make this all very complicated in our minds. What is the connection between God's sovereignty and our responsibility? Why did sin ever enter the world at all? Why did God create Satan? If I change, in what sense will it be God who was at work in me doing it? Won't my efforts at obedience have the danger that I might become arrogant about my improvement? Why have I received one set of suffering providences, and you have received another? Interesting questions...

Yes, we can make this very complicated in our minds, but that won't really help us. What is necessary is to lean on our heavenly Father in every providence. I will only have peace when I have stilled and quieted my soul, not with answers to every deep question I could wrestle with, but with the reality of Christ in me, the hope of glory.

Christ is the hope in me that brings healing. He is the answer of first importance.

The great Redeemer has come. He lived and He died. Every law I could not even figure out He has already fully obeyed. Every debt I could ever have with God, He has entirely paid through His death on the cross for me. When He rose from the dead it was a great victory for me. All of the Scriptures are about Him. He has all power and authority. He reigns from heaven as the great King over all. He prays to the Father for me, and my heavenly Father hears Him. He is coming again with the brightness of heavenly glory. I do not need to be afraid. He is the only answer that brings peace.

All of Israel should hope in the Lord and be saved. All the ends of the earth will see the saving power of God. The whole church will be filled with the joy that comes from resting in God forever. The whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God when He comes here again with His heaven.

Psalm 130

The depths of trouble don't have to be very deep before we begin to be overwhelmed. We need the Lord in all the challenges that we face in everyday life. Even very confident and well-balanced individuals with very full cupboards are told to ask the Lord for their daily bread.

Yet we often act as if we are the masters of the universe... until our journey takes a bad turn that we know we cannot handle. Then we are desperate that the Lord hear our cry to Him, and that He bring us mercy right away.

This cry to God in trouble is not offensive to Him, but our ignoring of the Lord under normal circumstances is. Nonetheless, God is great and good, and His love for His children is sure and secure. We can count on Him.

God is not looking to find fault with you today. He is building you up in faith, even when the pathway to Jerusalem takes a turn into a deep valley of despair. You could not begin to stand in His presence if He were determined to destroy you through trials. Christ died for your sins. Our Father is not changing His mind about you now. He forgives your iniquities forever based on the perfect sacrifice that Christ has offered for you: Himself.

Even in despair we can approach the Lord, not only with holy fear, but with boldness, because of what Jesus, the Lamb of God, has done for us. We can wait for the Lord through the most exhausting and debilitating stages of our various journeys. The end of the road will come, and that end is glorious.

We need a sure hope that is so big that it invades the moments of darkness we face now. We need hope that cannot disappoint us, because the love of God has filled our hearts. We need to believe that the Lord has bought us back from the most ugly sin imaginable, from the most pitiful weakness of body and soul, and from the deepest affliction that we could ever experience, both in this life and the next.

If the news of that full redemption reaches our hearts today, then the future glory of heaven becomes a present joy, and we can walk on, even in the depths of trouble. We are not alone. The Lord of glory is with us.

Joshua 18

The people of Israel gathered together at Shiloh, and they set up the tent of meeting there. What a moment! Not only were the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the land that was promised to the patriarchs, but also the mobile place of worship that God had commanded was at rest in one location, and the people came there together.

While “the land lay subdued before them,” the job of the conquest was not yet completed. As they assembled together, Joshua challenged the people, “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?”

Up to this point, Judah had a territory in the south and the sons of Joseph in their two tribes had a territory allotted to them in the north. Prior to crossing the Jordan, Moses already gave territory in the east to two additional tribes and to some of the people of Joseph. But there were seven tribal allotments that had not yet been specified.

Joshua called on each tribe to supply three men who would survey the remainder of the land and report back to him. They were to “write a description of it with a view to their inheritances,” and then come back to Joshua.

After the resurrection of the new Joshua, Jesus Christ, the Lord Himself gave His church a mandate to make disciples of all nations. That was the beginning of a calling to the body of Christ to move out in truth and love; a calling that continues down to the present moment. We must consider together the land that is before us on earth, and bring the message of Christ everywhere.

But through this entire conquest of love, there is another sense that our citizenship is not here in this present world, but above in heavenly realms. We are encouraged to consider that inheritance more and more carefully. The Apostle Paul writes in Colossians 3:1-4 of this surveying of the land above during our lives here below:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Have you considered heaven today? What is it like there? Who is there already? What are they doing? Who rules there? What kind of Ruler is He? What does the whole Bible teach us about the land where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are right now? We need to survey that land based on the Scriptures, and consider the glory and goodness of it, and then come back to our Joshua, Jesus Christ, at the right hand of the Father, and speak to Him about what we have discovered.

Look at all the passages throughout the Old and New Testaments that speak of the glory and blessing that God has for His people, and then remember that the complete fulfillment of the promises of God are reserved for us now in the present heavens. Consider our present bodies (tents) and the more substantial dwellings that the Lord has for us above. This is what the Apostle Paul wrote about in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5:

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

Have we surveyed our heavenly inheritance according to the Scriptures? Have we spoken to God about it through Jesus, the Messiah, who won heaven for us? His Word and Spirit are with us today for this good enterprise. This is what our Joshua commands, that we consider the promised inheritance.

Joshua 18 ends with the first of the remaining seven tribal allotments. The tribe of Benjamin would be located between Judah to the south and the double portion of Joseph to the north. Benjamin was the youngest of the sons of Jacob, and the tribe of Israel's first king, Saul. The perimeter of this tribal land was described here, along with a listing of the cities within those boundaries.

Yet there would be something much more for Benjamin and for all the rest of the congregation of Israel then the men of Israel could see in that day. They would share a far greater inheritance with us. Together we would have a glorious land that we could call home, a land that only Jesus could win for us.

We bring the message of our Joshua and of this glorious inheritance throughout the world today. But how can we speak with credibility to others about an inheritance that we have not adequately considered ourselves? By the Word and Spirit of God, the land of Immanuel is before you. Set your heart on things above. Then speak with joy to God and to others here below of the glory that Christ died to secure for you.

Joshua 17

The Lord made covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob's favorite son, Joseph, had two sons. Manasseh was the first-born, and his name carried with it something like the Hebrew word “forget,” for the Lord had helped Joseph to forget all his hardship and his former life with his brothers who had sold him into bondage. Though this idea of forgetting was in Manasseh's name, the Lord did not forget Manaasseh's descendants. His younger brother Ephraim's descendants would be greater than his, but the Lord remembered Manasseh, and provided a large allotment for the people that bore his name.

God also remembered His earlier word to the daughters of Zelophehad. Their father was left without any male descendants. Would the Lord and his people forget them in their time of need? God had already given instruction regarding His provision for them, and now their cares and the Lord's sure promises had reached this point of fulfillment. They would have an inheritance alongside the other clans of Manasseh.

As with Ephraim, there was a disappointing note that the tribe of Manasseh was not able to complete the conquest in the territory allotted to them. The Canaanites were too strong for them. How could this be? Again we have a word about forced labor, but was this the Lord's plan?

The Lord gave a good word of faith to Joshua regarding His provision for the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. They were a numerous people, and their territory would be large. The job before them would not be easy, but the Lord would grant them all that they needed. His victory would be expressed through their labor and their battle.

Part of their allotment was in forests that would need to be cleared. “Though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders.” The other portion had inhabitants that had intimidating military equipment. Joshua said to them, “You shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.”

Each tribe, each clan, each family, and each person would have a different experience of the Lord's conquest working through them. Not every victory would come as it had at Jericho. Not every enemy would be defeated with a shout. For the descendants of Joseph, their large territories would require the labor of clearing forests, and facing enemies who would come against them in strong chariots.

There is a difference in what one person faces when compared with another. Some have lives that are genuinely more difficult than others, but we are all called to bear one another's burdens in love. There is also a difference between your lot in life today, and your inheritance that is surely coming to you in Jesus Christ. We all have a great inheritance worthy of contemplating right now, a land of eternal blessedness that God has prepared for us in Christ.

Jesus has won for us that perfect inheritance. He has cleared away all the penalty that was against us through His life and death. Through His one sacrifice we have been granted not only the tremendous blessing of His righteousness, but also the fullness of reward that He gladly shares with us in the new land of promise.

No enemy can stop Him. Let your heart be strengthened now in grace as you contemplate the great blessings that He won for you. Then go out again today to fight the good fight of faith, trusting in His Name, and expecting His help. The Son of God is your friend. What can man do to you? The Lord remembers His promises, and He remembers you.

Joshua 16

God chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. From Jacob would come the tribes of Israel. The most prominent and favored son of Jacob in the book of Genesis was Joseph. He received a double portion of the inheritance. His father adopted two of his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, as if they were his own. These two sons of Joseph were treated as tribal leaders alongside their uncles.

Between the two, Jacob had prophesied that the younger brother, Ephraim, would be greater, that is more numerous and prominent, than the older brother Manasseh. Neither tribe would be the tribe of kings. The Messiah would come from Judah. But the tribe of Ephraim the son of Joseph would be so prominent, that all of the remaining northern territories forming Israel in the north would often be spoken of as Ephraim.

A brief account is given here of the border for Ephraim. Beyond the rough description of the tribal perimeter, Ephraim also had some towns that were within the territory of Manasseh. But the chapter ends with this disappointing note: “They did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer...” In other words, the job of the conquest was not fully accomplished, “... so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day...”

This was not the way that Israel was supposed to be. We wonder why the conquest was only partial. The result was that some of the Canaanites were “made to do forced labor” by the people of Ephraim. Is this what Ephraim settled upon? Did they decide that their own version of conquest, enslavement, was better than the Lord's commandment?

The rest of the story of Ephraim and the northern tribes would wait for later accounts of the history of Israel. There would be much compromise, disobedience, and misery as the centuries moved forward. But the prophets would record the Lord's determination that He would not abandon His plans for this tribe and for the northern people of Israel that they represented.

The Lord says in Hosea 11:8, “How can I give you up, O Ephraim?”

The Lord disciplined Ephraim greatly over the history of Israel, but we remember that the Lord disciplines those He loves. He will not give up on His children.

The cross is the only answer for any of the tribes of Israel, and it has become the only answer for all the people groups of the world. We rest our hopes not on our own righteousness, or on our tribal heritage, but on Jesus Christ. In Him we have an excellent inheritance.

We who have been saved by the work of our Redeemer would do well to hear our Savior's voice in the Scriptures today, and to follow fully in the path that He has given us. Why would our own ideas of obedience be better than His?

Psalm 129

 “Jesus Christ, my joy, please be with me!”

The cries of afflicted souls go up to God all over the world. There is not a moment of rest. Thousands upon thousands do not know what else they can do. Their only hope is to send their empty hearts up to God for healing. They feel like their hope is almost gone.

This is not abnormal. It is a part of the journey, both in Old Testament times, and in New. It is what happens to us in a world of sin and misery.

The apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:12-13,

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

It is not a strange providence for the godly to suffer. There is a way to rejoice in this test. If you suffer, you share a small taste of what your Savior endured for you. Your suffering is not a sign that you are unloved or rejected. You can face it differently if you consider it today's privilege. God has let you feel a small part of what His Son passed through on His way to glorious joy. He suffered for you. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4:5, “Endure suffering.”

Songs for the journey have blue notes. Don't remove them. You will ruin the song. God is sovereign and wise and He loves Israel. Yet she could sing on her way to Jerusalem about the affliction that she had suffered from her early days up to the present moment. Yet by the Lord's grace, her enemies had not completely prevailed over her. This is not just an Old Testament song. This is the story of the church just as much as it is the story of Israel. Is it your story today?

The Lord is aware of your sorrow and pain. He cares for you. He is the reason you will endure to your appointed end. You are only facing a very small part of what the Son of God endured for you. When you willingly relate to His suffering in some small way, you discover His sympathy for thousands upon thousands of broken souls who are crying out in desperate affliction to Him at this very moment. To have compassion for them is another gift to you that comes from your own experience of trouble. This gift cannot be exchanged for unending joy until the right time comes for you to be with Jesus in glory.

Meanwhile, if you suffer at the hands of oppressors, pray for those who persecute you. They will have to stand before a just God, and their only hope in that day will be in Jesus Christ, who will defend you.

Today is still a day of mercy for those who will hear the Voice of the Son of God and repent of their sins. But the day of final judgment swiftly approaches. The enemies of the Lord will face dreadful trouble on that day. There will be no fruitful yield for those who do not repent.

Until that day, the New Testament ethic applies. Turn the other cheek. Bless those who curse you. If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat.

Eventually that day of gospel mercy must give way to the Lord's conquest; not just of Canaan, but the final conquest of God over the whole earth. Then the enemies of the Lord's people will never again hear words of invitation and blessing from the Lord's suffering servants.

But as for you and me, the Lord who suffered for us hears our cries. He is blessing us even now.

Psalm 128

 “Blessed.”

I want to be blessed. How do I get blessed?

The land of Israel was to be a picture of the eternal reign of God upon the earth. The people were to obey the Voice of the Lord in perfect fullness, and the Lord was to show them what life could be like for His children when they fully yielded to His Word.

Jesus used the word “blessed” in the Beatitudes at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. He spoke of future blessings for those who have present sufferings. These were not only the words of Jesus, they were the way of Jesus, and the way for the church in our present conquest of love. We may suffer today as we follow the Lord, but the fullness of His blessings that we receive will be far beyond anything that the people of Israel knew in the land of Canaan.

The Lord has blessed me already. He drew me to Himself. He kept we through my wanderings. He has given me people to love, and He forgives my sins continually. He has granted me His Holy Spirit. I have an excellent daily provision, and good work to do for His kingdom. I have a very wonderful companion through life who helps make up for my many deficiencies. I am serving a church that loves the Word, confesses sin, receives forgiveness, and seeks the work of the Spirit in their lives together. God has prepared good works for us to do, and we have much happiness as we walk together through good times and bad.

But there are bad times today even for those who serve the Lord very faithfully. There are dreams that cannot be, at least not right now. But we look for the return of the Messiah together in the sure and certain hope of the coming resurrection.

Meanwhile we do seek to walk in the ways of the Lord. Heaven is already ours, but then it is not yet ours. The “not yet” part enables us to minister out of our wounds, and to mourn with those who mourn.

This is the Christian life in the New Testament era, but there is a solid hope that comes with it. We are looking for the return of Christ and the fullness of heaven upon the earth.

Now we have godliness with contentment; then we shall have the fullness of reward. Now we have the joys and sorrows of family life; then we shall have perfect joy and peace in the glory of the family that Christ has won through His righteousness and death. Now we have a taste of prosperity and hints of the satisfactions that come from seeing future generations growing and serving together; then we will have the entire household of God in a kingdom of perfect love without any fear of death.

This is what Jesus Christ has won for us. This is His promise even to me.

I am blessed.

“Thank you, Lord!”

How are you, dear fellow child of God? Can I help you today as the Lord works through us right now? Can I encourage you in hope as we look together for the coming eternal tomorrow?

Psalm 127

The Lord God Almighty cares about us. He cares enough to teach us by His Word and Spirit, even to confront us, to show us the right way to go, and to help us along that pathway of following His Son. See 2 Timothy 3:16. He is committed to the complete sanctification of His church.

We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, a living, breathing, serving house of the Lord. That house will only get built if He builds it.

Jesus is the Cornerstone of that temple. Without that One Great Cornerstone, the entire house of the Lord could never stand. The temple of the Holy Spirit was founded on His righteousness, His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the grave. It was not founded on our worries, or our ability to obey.

We are also the city of God, His new Jerusalem. Unless the Lord watches over that city, cares for it, defends it, and builds it up, it can never stand. Jesus has promised to build it, and He will not be stopped.

He uses His people to build up the city, but He alone is the true Master Builder. Without His work from heaven leading and empowering us, the walls of that city come down, and we are left defenseless at the mercy of those who come to steal, kill, and utterly destroy us.

Because He watches over the city, we can sleep. It is right for us to work hard for the city of God, but it is a matter of faith for us to rest as well as to work. Anxiety does not honor our Lord. He gives His beloved children sleep.

We are not only His building and His city. We are His family. Just as He is the Master Builder of the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the Lord Protector of the City of God, He is the Father over all His household. We are called to be a rich inheritance for Jesus Christ, and to have eternal fellowship in the family of God.

Even now, the quiver of the Lord Jesus is full of all His precious children. He is our great Captain and our King. If we have been blessed with children, we know that we will never forget them. How much more will Jesus remember everyone who belongs to His beloved family? In love, He will protect us, sanctify us, keep us, and bless us forever.

Psalm 126

On our journey to the heavenly Jerusalem, we may face not only personal disappointments, but also serious setbacks that hit the entire people of God. When these are reversed by the Lord, when the Lord restores the fortunes of His people, His Zion, there will be cause for great joy.

Imagine what it will be like for the suffering church when the trumpet sounds, when the dead in Christ are raised, when we have the fullness of healing in body and soul at the return of the Lord. We have a taste of that great final restoration of life in every blessing that comes from above even now.

If a church community passes through a difficult time, it is refreshing to enter a season of relief. Think of Israel when the ark of the covenant was returned to Jerusalem after an earlier failed attempt. Or the decree of Cyrus calling the Jews to return to the land and rebuild the temple. God gives His people moments of extreme turnaround when our sorrow turns to laughter, and we experience great joy together in His presence.

Sometimes the good news is very hard to believe. Think about the joy and doubt of the apostles after the resurrection of Jesus. What an amazing new era had come to them! Yet after the shock of the cross, the resurrection seemed too good to be true. Yet when the Lord ascended into heaven on clouds of glory, His small band of followers had great joy in Him, in His death for us, and in His victory over death.

The Lord has done great things for us. Yet our fortunes may again seem more difficult than we can bear. We wait in hope for the coming resurrection and the return of our King. Yet we face profound moments of loss.

The assurance of God to us is that if we sow in tears, we will one day reap with joy. Even the burial of our precious seed will not be the end of the story for us or for them. One day we will have shouts of joy again. Our personal sorrows will yield to abounding triumph, and the trials of the church will suddenly give way to the eternal weight of glory that Christ has reserved for us even now in the heavens.

Come soon, Lord Jesus!

Joshua 15

The descendants of two of the sons of Jacob received by far the largest amounts of land in the allotments recorded in Joshua. From the accounts of Jacob's sons in the book of Genesis, we would have surely expected one of these sons to be Joseph, and we would be right. The other was Judah, and this tribe would increasingly exhibit the preeminence that Jacob spoke of in his final blessing. To Judah would come not only the “ruler's scepter” in Israel, but also “the obedience of the peoples,” the nations of the whole world according to God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3.

While the geographical markers may seem uninteresting to us, Joshua 15 would have been of the greatest significance to the tribe of Judah in the time of the conquest and beyond. This was a very exciting moment. Israel was receiving the land to the west of the Jordan, and the tribe of Judah would take the lead.

Significant in the list of places in the allotment to Judah was the land of the Jebusites and the city that would be Jerusalem. This place of Melchizedek, the territory where Abraham was ready to sacrifice Isaac, and the spot where the Lord would tell His people to build a temple, would not be fully subdued until the days of King David centuries later.

The territory would also include the seacoast and the cities of the Philistines. The people remaining there and their descendants would challenge the tribe of Judah for centuries.

We are granted a glimpse into the next generation in this account. Not only do we hear again of Caleb, but of his son-in-law, Othniel, who would be the first judge in Israel after the conquest generation was largely gone. The story of God's work in Judah would move forward. The promise of God was forever, but it was obvious that the conquest was not entirely completed.

How could it be that “the people of Judah could not drive out” the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem? There was so much success in the conquest, and yet some enemies remained in the land. Why?

We are not given the answer here, but we keep on reading in the Scriptures, and we see the accounts of what would take place in the centuries that would follow, even down to the coming of the Messiah and the present day. The plan of God, the Almighty One, touched down upon this land, and upon the city of Jerusalem in particular. We celebrate the Lord's fulfillment of His promise in this allotment to Judah, but we have questions.

The biggest answer comes in the fulfillment of the Lord's ancient words to Judah spoken through the dying lips of his father Jacob. Judah would not only be the leading tribe, it would be a tribe of leaders, and particularly one Leader who would come centuries later. Jesus, a descendant of Judah, would be the Lion of this great tribe. His kingdom would extend far beyond this ancient allotment. He would rule from the Jerusalem above, and the nations would come to Him through the power of a better conquest.

Today there may yet appear to be holes in His conquest of love. But one day, the Lion of the tribe of Judah will have the full obedience of all the peoples of heaven and earth. Nothing can stop the promises of Almighty God.

Joshua 14

Two and a half tribes received their inheritance east of the Jordan. One tribe, the Levites, had no inheritance of land. Though the Lord provided cities, pasture lands, and a participation in the offerings of the people, the Lord Himself was the inheritance for the people of Levi. The remaining nine and a half tribes received their allotments in the land of Canaan itself.

The story of that allotment for the nine and a half tribes began with the only man, together with Joshua, who was a part of both the wilderness generation and the conquest generation. Caleb had urged the people of Israel to trust God and to take the land of Canaan forty years before, but they would not listen to him. Now in his eighties, he was ready for the fulfillment of his dreams.

Caleb said to Joshua, “I wholly followed the Lord my God.”

Caleb had a good conscience, though he lived among a generation that was a confusing mix of faithfulness and unfaithfulness. On one hand, Hebrews 11:29 says that it was by faith that the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea on dry land. So they had faith. On the other hand, Hebrews 3:19 says that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. They had both faith and unbelief.

Even in the conquest generation, as we saw in the prior chapter, there were significant holes in their victory. It was a glorious gift of God to Caleb that in a sea of mixed belief and unbelief, he had the testimony of a good conscience. He wholly followed the Lord.

This was not only Caleb's internal conviction. It was confirmed by the word of Moses who had promised him a special blessing for his faithfulness. Now the Lord had preserved his life over these forty-five years. He was able to make the extraordinary report that, “I am still as strong today as I was” back in the day when he had first spied out the land. He came to Joshua to receive what Moses had promised.

Caleb asked for and received that blessing. He knew any victory that came to him would be due to the power and goodness of God, but he was willing to be the Lord's instrument in taking the land that Joshua granted to him. “It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.”

Caleb was a man of bold humility; humble before the Lord, but bold in the power of God at work within his life. Joshua allotted him Hebron in the hill country south of Jerusalem for an inheritance. That was his blessing.

Caleb was a great man. We celebrate the joy of knowing individuals to whom the Lord has granted a sincere life of holiness, especially when everyone else around them has such a mixed testimony. Not that Caleb was actually flawless. If Caleb had been entirely without sin, we would not have needed the Son of God to come and die for us.

Someone even greater than Caleb had to save us. That Someone was promised a great blessing because of His perfect faithfulness. Did He win a city like Hebron? Was He granted the whole land of Canaan? What was the allotment of Jesus for His work of absolutely perfect righteousness when He lived without sin in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.

You were.

You were granted to Him as an inheritance. He had the spiritual eyesight necessary to see that inheritance as great.

Jesus endured the cross. What kept Him going? The joy that was set before Him. The joy of obeying the Father, but also the joy of His promised inheritance, a glorious kingdom of holy ones, without spot, or blemish, or any such thing. Can you see it?

To grasp the joy of Christ toward you and all His glorified inheritance, you need eyesight that can only come from the Holy Spirit. That is why the Apostle Paul prays for the Ephesian church that they would receive wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ and His love, that they might understand, among other things, the glory of the Lord's inheritance in His people. See Ephesians 1:18.

You will be Jesus Christ's Hebron. He was able to see you as a glorious inheritance even as He went to the cross. That gave Him joy as He went forward to do His greatest work of suffering love. He saw you as part of the eternal kingdom perfected in trust and obedience to the glory of God forever.

See the joy of Jesus in His most difficult moment, and give yourself wholly to the Lord in suffering love. Joy is set before you in the One who reigns in heaven now. Like the Levites so long ago, the Lord is your inheritance. You are His, and He is yours. Follow the way of the cross in good conscience in the midst of a very mixed multitude, and embrace the One who will never let you go.