faithful God

Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
Joshua 21:45

This is the summary of Israel's position as the land has been allotted to tribe and then by family clan. Everything that God promised the Israelites under Moses came to pass under Joshua. And entire new generation had grown up with nothing but the promise in their memory and they now possessed all that they needed and could ever desire through the provision of God in their new home.

At stake in the entire conquest of Canaan is the reputation of God and his faithfulness to keep His promises to His people. And no failings were at God's hands. Israel made its share of mistakes and compromises. God lived up to all of His promises. That is the point of this passage. There was work left to do in places, there were mistakes made by Israel in sparing some Canaanites as slaves. God did not tell them to do this. And they would later be hurt by these incomplete obediences in future generations. God still had done all He said He would do for them.

I am encouraged by the faithfulness of God. Faith is no easier today than it was back then, with the possible exception that we have a long record of God's faithfulness in the Bible. But it still takes faith to believe and trust what I cannot see either in the past, or for the future. One thing is certain, God is faithful to His good promises. I know that from my past, I believe that for my present, and I will stride into my future and eternity on that hope!


- Prepare your minds for action.
1 Peter 1:13