“Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the Israelites conquered them. And Moses the servant of the LORD gave their land to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh to be their possession.”
~ Joshua 12:6
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you count wins? If you count wins, what wins do you count? Do you count the number of times that you win a video game? Do you count the number of times that you win a board game? Do you count the number of times that the team wins that you play for? Joshua counted wins. Joshua had 31 wins. The wins that Joshua had were over kings. Joshua’s 31 wins were over Hittite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite and Jebusite people group kings. Joshua’s mentor was Moses. In his Joshua Book – in Joshua 12, Joshua first recorded the two wins that Moses had. Moses had a win over Sihon – who was the Amorite people group king, and Og – who was the Basham land area people group king. The Amorite people groups land area and the land area that Og ruled over were located on the east side of the Jordan River. The land area that God was giving to the Israelite people group guys and gals – who are God’s specially chosen guys and gals – which was the land area of Canaan, was located on the west side of the Jordan River. Moses divided the Amorite people groups land area and the land area that Og ruled over between the Gad tribal clan, Rueben tribal clan, and half of the Manasseh tribal clan. Right before Moses left the Israelite people group guys and gals to die alone on Mount Nebo – which was a high enough place where Moses could get a good view of the land area of Canaan, Moses handed the leadership baton over to Joshua to lead over two million Israelite people group guys, gals and kids into the land area of Canaan and the task on dividing the land area of Canaan between twelve Israelite people group tribal clans. Joshua had the daunting commission but also the overwhelming privilege of leading the Israelite people group guys, gals and kids across the Jordon River – which had them walking on a miraculously dried up river bed, into the land area of Canaan. The 31 kings that Joshua defeated all lived on the west side of the Jordon River. Each of the 31 kings that Joshua defeated lived in and was the ruler of a city that was in the land area that God was giving to His specially chosen guys and gals.
Do you think that it is good to remember all your wins? Do you think that it is good to keep a record of all the wins that you have had? Do you think that it is good to tell other kids – and guys and gals, about all your wins? Do think that it is good to remember all your losses? Do you think that it is good to keep a record of all the losses that you have had? Do you think that it is good to tell other kids – and guys and gals, about all the times that you lost? A win, victory or conquest means that a kid – or a guy or gal – or a team – or a city – or a people group, has lost, been defeated or been vanquished. How do you feel when you win after playing a board game? Do you feel elated? How do you feel when the team that you are playing on is victorious over an opposing team? Do you feel euphoric? How does your dad feel when his political party conquests during a presidential election? Does he feel ecstatic? How do you feel when you lose after playing a board game? Do you feel really deflated? How do you feel when the team that you are playing on is defeated by an opposing team? Do you feel dejected? How does your dad feel when his political party is vanquished during an election? Does he feel despondent? When to you think that life lessons are best learned – through wins or through losses, through victories or through defeats, through conquests or through vanquishment? Your grandpaa knows that it is much harder for him to accept and forget the times when he has lost while playing a game than when he has won at playing a game, when the team that your grandpaa has been playing on has been defeated by another team than when the team that he has been playing on has been victorious over another team and when your grandpaa’s political party – the conservatives, have been vanquished by the opposition party – the liberals, than when his political party has captured an election.
Keeping tallies is actually not a really bad thing to do. Your grandpaa thinks that it is equally important to keep accounts of life failures as it is to keep accounts of life successes. When Moses and Joshua were doing their people group eradication surge on both sides of the Jordon River, Moses and Joshua were doing exactly what they had been told by God – as God the Father to do. When Moses and Joshua divvied up the conquered land areas on both sides of the Jordon River between the Rueben, Gad and half of Manasseh tribal clans, they were doing exactly what they had been told by God – as God the Father, to do. Do you do exactly what God tells you to do? Verse 6 says, “Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the Israelites conquered them. And Moses the servant of the LORD gave their land to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh to be their possession.” Your grandpaa thinks that God wants your grandpaa to never ever forget certain personal life events – such as the times when your grandpaa saw with his own eyes God intervening miraculously and the times when your grandpaa knew in his heart that God was leaving him to wallow in a self-pity pigpen. The thoughts that are coming to your grandpaa as your grandpaa is finishing up this James and Ellen are about some of the overland trips that your grandmaa and grandpaa made alone between Concepción, Ñuflo de Chávez – in Bolivia, and Santa Cruz, Bolivia. It is a miracle to your grandpaa that nothing catastrophic ever happened while crossing the Rio Grande, when stopped by a road blockade, when pickup parts broke in the middle of nowhere, when bandits were in an attack mode, when . . . your grandpaa believes that God is not going to ever stop teaching him through improbable life moments and through personal life missteps.
Joshua 12 (890)