LESSONS OF FAITH FROM JOSHUA
Lesson 9 : Heirs of the Promise, Prisoners of Hope

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9.2 The Land as a Gift
Living in Covenant with God

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Introduction

In today’s lesson, we realize that the land was more than just territory for Israel. It was a visible sign of divine grace, identity, and relationship. It reminded Israel that they were not autonomous—neither materially nor spiritually—but dependent on God’s grace. Even for us today, it’s important to remember: The earth belongs to the Lord (Psalm 24:1). Our life, our possessions, and even our homeland are temporary gifts entrusted to us in faithfulness and trust.

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Bible Study

1. The Promised Land as a Gift from God – Not a Property Right

Exodus 3:8
“So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

• The land is not only geographical, but a theological expression of divine grace and care.

• It is “good” and “spacious”—not just because of its resources, but because it was prepared by the Lord.

• It is the destination of deliverance from slavery—a symbol of freedom, identity, and hope.

Leviticus 25:23
“The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.”

• This core principle changes everything: God is the owner.

• Israel was only a tenant, a steward, a guest—dependent on God’s favor.

• Ownership was secured not by right, but by covenant faithfulness.

• Theologically, this means: All resources are on loan.

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2. The Land as a Framework for Knowing God

Deuteronomy 6:3
“Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.”

• The blessing of the land is tied to obedience.

• “Milk and honey” is an expression of abundance, but not automatically guaranteed.

• The land was meant to educate Israel—to trust in God’s Word, not in human strength or productivity.

Leviticus 20:22
“Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.”

• The image of “vomiting out” is dramatic: The land itself becomes a judge when the people are unfaithful.

• Possession of the land is not static, but a dynamic result of the covenant relationship.

Numbers 13:27
“It does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.”

• The spies confirm: God’s promise is true!

• Yet possession does not depend on material richness, but on inner trust (see Joshua and Caleb).

• Faith is more important than geo-strategic strength.

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3. God’s Universal Ownership

Psalm 24:1
“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”

• God is not only the owner of Canaan—but of the whole earth.

• That means: No human being is the ultimate “owner.”

• Even today, we live on God’s land—with accountability before the Creator.

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4. Life as Pilgrimage – The Faith of the Fathers

1 Peter 2:11
“I urge you, as foreigners and exiles…”

• The New Testament church lives like Israel—as foreigners.

• Our possessions are temporary, our life a journey toward an eternal home.

• The Christian lifestyle is shaped by letting go of worldly attachments—in anticipation of what is to come.

Hebrews 11:9–13
“By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country… For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

• Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived in the promised land—but as guests.

• The promised land was a foretaste, but not the final home.

• They lived in the now with a view toward the not-yet—and still believed.

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Theological Overview

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Answers to the Questions

Question 1: What characterized the special relationship between God, Israel, and the promised land?

Answer:
The relationship between God, Israel, and the land was covenant-based. God gave the land to Israel out of grace, not because they earned it. It was not a property right, but a trust. As long as Israel remained faithful to the covenant, they could live in the land—but the true owner was and always would be God Himself (Leviticus 25:23; Psalm 24:1).

The land also had a teaching function:
In Egypt, they depended on people. In Canaan—without irrigation systems—they depended on rain, that is, on God. Every harvest became an act of trust. The land’s fruitfulness reflected spiritual faithfulness. And: When the people disobeyed, they lost not just the land, but also God’s protection (Leviticus 20:22).

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Question 2: What does it mean for you personally, in light of 1 Peter 2:11 and Hebrews 11:9–13, to live as a stranger and sojourner and to look expectantly toward the city whose designer and builder is God?

Answer:
These verses remind us: This is not our true home. We are strangers in this world—not rootless, but oriented toward what is coming. Like Abraham, we live between promise and fulfillment, in tents instead of palaces, by faith instead of sight. Our lifestyle, decisions, and view of possessions should reflect the fact that we are awaiting a heavenly city (Hebrews 11:10). This gives us direction—and comfort: Our current home is not the final destination.

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Spiritual Principles

1. God is the owner of everything—including the land.

2. Promise means grace, not entitlement.

3. Blessing is linked to the covenant relationship with God.

4. Our life is a pilgrimage—what matters is trust, not ownership.

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Application for Daily Life

• House, apartment, possessions—everything we have ultimately belongs to God. We are stewards, not owners.

• Seek spiritual home: Our hope should not be in the earthly—our perspective must go further.

• Live faith daily: Just as Israel depended on rain, we too live spiritually in dependence on God’s daily grace.

• Be worthy guests: We are guests on God’s earth—so we live with respect toward the environment, others, and resources.

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Conclusion

The promised land was never the end goal—but always a sign of God’s presence and faithfulness. As Christians, we live in the tension between the now and the not-yet. We know: Even though we live in this world, we are on our way to the eternal city. God calls us to be stewards of His gifts—not masters. And: What God gives is always bound to His grace.

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Thought of the Day

“You may own much—but only those who rest in God’s hands truly have a home.”

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Illustration 

“The Earth Beneath My Feet”
A Story of Faith That Remains When the Land Is Taken

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Chapter 1: The Border

Zambezi Valley, Zambia, dry season.
The old man, Jabari Chileshe, stood in his parched garden, gazing at the soil where his family had planted cassava for generations. But now a dam project was coming—”for progress and electricity,” the government said. Yet his house wasn’t on the blueprint. No paperwork, no title, no right.

“It was my land. I cared for it like a child,” Jabari told his son Mubita, who had returned from studying in Lusaka.

“But who really owns it, Baba?” Mubita asked gently.

“Us,” Jabari replied.

“Or… God?” Mubita wondered aloud.

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Chapter 2: Rain on Borrowed Ground

That night it rained—the first rain in weeks. But Jabari couldn’t rejoice. His faith was deep, but the thought of losing his land made it tremble.

His wife Tariro read from the Bible aloud the next morning:

“The land must not be sold permanently, for the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.”
(Leviticus 25:23)

“So we’re… just guests?” Jabari murmured.

“Guests who were entrusted with something,” Tariro replied. “And trust means responsibility—not ownership.”

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Chapter 3: The Contract

Two men in suits came with contracts. They offered resettlement and a new plot “closer to the road.” But Jabari refused.

“My father lies beneath this soil. I won’t leave.”

But that evening, Mubita read to him from Hebrews 11:

“They admitted that they were foreigners and strangers on earth… they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.”

“Maybe,” Mubita said quietly, “God wants to take us somewhere we wouldn’t choose on our own.”

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Chapter 4: The Departure

Reluctantly, they packed. There were tears, bitterness, and prayer. But Jabari was not a bitter man. On the last day, he sat under his favorite tree and said:

“I loved this land. But I didn’t make it. I was allowed to tend it—and now I give it back.”

He picked up a handful of earth and whispered:

“You were never mine. You were always His.”

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Chapter 5: The New Field

The new plot was dusty, uneven, without the shade of a tree. But they began to work. Cassava again. Hauling water again. Praying again.

And it grew.

Not overnight. But it grew.

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Chapter 6: The Tree

A year later, a small mango tree stood there. Jabari had grown it from the seed of an old tree—from the old field.

When it bore fruit for the first time, Jabari told his grandson:

“God doesn’t give us land—He gives us hope. And if you care for it well, it’ll take root.”

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Epilogue

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
(Psalm 24:1)

Jabari is no longer alive. But his mango tree still stands. And Mubita now teaches in his village school:

“My father taught me that we are strangers—yet never without a home, if we remain with God.”

Source: https://fulfilleddesire.net/9-heirs-of-the-promise-prisoners-of-hope-9-2-the-land-as-a-gift-%f0%9f%97%ba%ef%b8%8f-lessons-of-faith-from-joshua-%f0%9f%8c%b1-living-faith/

24 November 2025

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BELIEVE HIS PROPHETS
Daily Bible Reading

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Judges 11 – Judge, Outsider, and the Tragedy of His Vow
Between Calling, Deliverance, and Bitter Consequences

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Read online here

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Introduction

Judges 11 tells one of the most dramatic and at the same time most tragic stories in the Bible:
Jephthah, the rejected son, becomes the savior of Israel – and yet his victory ends in deep personal tragedy.

This chapter shows how God Himself calls broken people, but also how unconsidered words and hasty zeal can have destructive consequences. It is a chapter full of tension: between human weakness and divine strength, between victory and pain, between trust and a foolish vow.

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Commentary

The story begins darkly: Jephthah, a brave warrior but born of a prostitute, is rejected by his half-brothers. “You shall not inherit in our father’s house,” they say – and with these words they drive him out of his family.
He flees to the land of Tob, far away from the houses of Gilead, and there gathers around himself a band of men – people who, like him, live on the margins of society.

Time passes. A new war breaks out: the Ammonites threaten Israel. And suddenly the elders of Gilead remember the man they once cast out. Of all people, he is now to be their leader.
Jephthah reacts wounded and sharply:
“You are the ones who hated me and drove me out of my father’s house – and now you come to me in your distress?”

The elders lay down their pride. They plead. They promise. Jephthah becomes judge – not only because of his strength, but because of the promise they make under God’s eye. Thus the outcast returns as head over them.

Before Jephthah fights, he seeks understanding. He sends messengers to the king of the Ammonites and lays out Israel’s history in detail: Israel, he says, never took land from the Ammonites. But his diplomatic words fall on deaf ears. The answer remains stubborn: “Give me the land back.”

When the dialogue fails, the decisive moment comes:
The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Jephthah. God confirms his calling. Strength and courage fill him.

But then something happens that will darken the course of his story. In a mixture of zeal and insecurity, Jephthah makes a vow that will later tear him apart:
“If you give me victory over the Ammonites, then whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall belong to the Lord, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

The battle begins – and Jephthah wins an overwhelming victory. Israel celebrates the greatest triumph in years. All Gilead breathes a sigh of relief.

But when Jephthah returns home, he suddenly hears tambourines, singing, and dancing. His daughter – his only child – runs out to meet him with joy.
In that moment, everything shatters. The terrible realization cuts through his heart. “My daughter, you bow me down to the ground!” he cries.
He understands that his own vow is now taking from him the most precious thing he has.

But his daughter, driven by a dignity that shakes the reader, answers:
“My father, if you have made a vow to the Lord, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth.”

She asks only for two months – to go to the mountains and weep over her virginity.
This is not only mourning over death, but also over a life that will never be fulfilled.

Two months later she returns. And Jephthah keeps his vow.
The tragedy is so great that Israel forms a yearly tradition from it: the daughters of Israel go out four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah.

Thus ends the life of a man who stands between rejection and honor, victory and loss, calling and a tragic vow.

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Summary

Jephthah, once rejected, is called by God to save Israel. He leads a successful war against the Ammonites, but an ill-considered vow leads to the greatest tragedy of his life: the loss of his only daughter. The chapter shows both God’s power working through broken people and the destructive force of rash words.

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Message for Us Today

• God does not call people because of their background, but in spite of their past.

• Yet spiritual zeal without wisdom can destroy.

• Words – especially those we speak before God – carry weight.

• Trust replaces vows: God does not ask for self-destructive promises, but for a listening heart.

This story calls us to humility, caution, and trust – especially when we are under pressure.

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Reflection Prompt

Which words, decisions, or promises in my life do I speak too hastily?
Where do I need, instead of impulsive vows, a quiet trust in God’s working?

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23 – 26 November 2025

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BELIEVE HIS PROPHETS
Weekly Reading – Spirit of Prophecy

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Ellen White | Patriarchs and Prophets – Chapter 43
The Death of Moses | Justice, grace, and hope beyond the grave

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Read online here

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BLOG 2 – The Final Ascent

The Road to Nebo – A Quiet Farewell
Moses walks alone — but not abandoned

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Introduction

When God calls Moses this time, it is not a call to action but a call to rest. The ascent to Mount Nebo is his final journey — a path filled with memories and divine closeness.

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Commentary

Moses sets out alone. No human accompanies him, yet his steps are not lonely. The God who called him from the burning bush walks silently beside him.

The wind of Pisgah brushes around him, and below him stretches the land he has loved all his life. He sees the valleys, the mountains, the cities, the vastness — all clear, as if he were already there.

As his gaze rests on the horizon, his thoughts wander back: to Jethro’s flocks, to God’s voice in the fire, to the Red Sea, to the wilderness, to Israel’s battles, and to God’s gentle, enduring mercy. He sees the wonders — and the hardships. Yet in his heart there is peace.

He regrets nothing. No hardship, no sacrifice, no tear. His life had been a mission from God — and that thought carries him. Now he lays his heart in God’s hands, like a traveler who has finally reached his destination.

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Summary

Moses ascends Mount Nebo, looks over the land and over his life — and finds rest in the nearness of God.

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Message for Us Today

Some paths we must walk alone, yet anyone who trusts in God does not take a single step without His presence.

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Reflection Prompt

Which memory in your life would you like to look upon today together with God on your own “Mount Nebo”?

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LuxVerbi | The light of the Word. The clarity of faith.

Source: https://fulfilleddesire.net/24-11-2025-%e2%9a%96%ef%b8%8f-judges-chapter-11-judge-outsider-and-the-tragedy-of-his-vow-%f0%9f%93%9c-believe-his-prophets/