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In Joshua 13
● nod, and perhaps smile, at the familiar doubling that begins the chapter: the narrator announces that Joshua is “old and full of years” and then immediately the Lord repeats those words,
● see also the double “yet” (1, 2) that preface the announcement that there is more "possession" to come, “very much” (1) more, and the list of the many places awaiting God’s work,
● notice the Lord’s emphatic declaration that “I myself with drive them out” (6), with the “myself” providing the emphasis,
● understand the restating, “as I have commanded you” (6), of Joshua’s purpose to “allot” (6) and “divide” (7) by tribe,
● notice next the full descriptions of the portions allotted by Moses east of the Jordan, showing that this chapter, somewhat like the previous one, has a reckoning or accounting element, a reporting of the doing of that which the Lord had commanded,
● grab the detail, one that connects to a recent sermon and one that I had not remembered: Balaam, that “one who practiced divination” (22), was found among the dead in the land portioned to Reuben,
● rehearse with the Levites their double reminder (14, 33) that instead of land, which they do not receive, that “the offerings by fire to the Lord God of Israel” (14) and God himself are their “inheritance” (33), and
● notice again that mention is made of a failure to “drive out” (13) people and, as a consequence, that “to this day” these people “dwell in the midst of Israel” (13).
Thank you,

Randy Tumlinson