Darash Chai Experiment

The church of Corinth was divided and in disarray. Factions were forming and standing in opposition to each other. It is into this fray that Paul sends this letter to the Corinthian church. In the first few chapters, Paul makes an appeal for unity among the members of this church, but we also know that throughout the book, Paul demonstrates that division is also to occur from time to time. The question that then follows is, where does that line between division and unity lie?

The church at Corinth was a mess. There were many issues that it faced that Paul decided to confront through written letter. But what were those issues? What was the underlying cause that allowed those issues to propagate within the church? To discover this we need to examine the culture and context of the city of Corinth. Only then can we begin to understand the daunting task of discipling this church.

As the book of Joshua closes, Joshua gathers the leaders of the people of Israel to Shechem for the last time before his death. While there, Joshua closes the book in the same way that it opened. He encourages Israel to remain true to God and to keep His ways. It is in these last two chapters and the way that Joshua presents his appeal to Israel, that we find what set Joshua apart from the rest of his kinsmen.

As the war for Canaan draws to a close, the two and a half tribes that had chosen to settle beyond the Jordan River are released from their vow and are sent home. And all is at peace in the land. But on the way home these tribes decide to create a thing meant to bring continued peace and camaraderie with their brothers in the land, but this token of brotherhood is misunderstood and nearly leads to civil war.

In these two chapters of Joshua we read of the cities that were given to the Levites as their inheritance in the land of Canaan. As we read through this list there is one city that stands out among the others. The city of Hebron. A city that had already been granted to Caleb as his inheritance. How can this be? How can two families both inherit the same city?

Prophecy is a very misunderstood spiritual gift. But using this chapter and its descriptions of the tribal allotments for the remaining tribes, and then looking at the prophecies spoken over the tribes by both Jacob in Genesis 49 and Moses in Deuteronomy 33, we read of prophetic blessings that were spoken over each of the tribes, and when we compare these blessings to the tribal locations we discover some things of interest.

Map 1: https://seeklifesc.com/wp-content/uploads/podcast/tribalallotments.jpg

The next two chapters of the book of Joshua are among the most dry chapters in the Bible. There is not a lot that occurs in these chapters as they are simply an accounting of the tribal allotments for the remaining seven tribes of Israel. But at the beginning of chapter 18, Joshua sends out men to scout the inheritance that lay before them and report on it. Well, we too have an inheritance and this chapter serves as a great time to scout out our own inheritance that God has given us.

After the tribe of Judah has been given their inheritance the next in line are the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. The sons of Joseph who were adopted by Jacob. When these tribes are given their allotments thought there is a huge discrepancy. Ephraim only gets one allotment while Manasseh receives 10! Why is it that Manasseh receives 10x the land while having less that 2x the people, and what must Ephraim do in order to gain more room for growth?

As we begin to read the chapters of Joshua that deal with the dividing of the land to the various tribes, it is easy to simply check out and seek to move on to more exciting texts. But if we were to do this we would miss out on the simple story that is featured in the midst of these lists. The story of Caleb’s tribal brother. A man who is also a son of Kenaz. A Gentile for all intents and purposes. And this gentile is rewarded with status and honor for his feat of prowess, but the reward is not enough to sustain life. More is required and so more is requested.

In Numbers 13 and 14 we read of the faith of Joshua and Caleb when they reported on their scouting trip to Canaan. Despite their faith, Israel reacted in fear to the report of the spies and that generation was prevented from entering the land. Forty-five years later, Israel is in the land and the time has come for Caleb to get his reward. But as we consider the reward that was granted to Caleb we discover that there was more going on than we might expect.