Gifts From God That Require Work (Joshua 16–18)

I. SCRIPTURE PASSAGE

Joshua 16:1–4, 10; 17:14–18; 18:1, 3; Matthew 20:1–16; James 2:17, 26

The allotment for Joseph began at the Jordan, east of the springs of Jericho, and went up from there through the desert into the hill country of Bethel.

— *Joshua 16:1*

They did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer; to this day the Canaanites live among the people of Ephraim.

— *Joshua 16:10*

The people of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one allotment and one portion for an inheritance? We are numerous, and the Lord has blessed us abundantly.”

— *Joshua 17:14*

“If you are so numerous,” Joshua answered, “and if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go up into the forest and clear land for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaites.”

— *Joshua 17:15*

The people of Joseph replied, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the plains have chariots fitted with iron, both those in Beth Shan and its settlements and those in the Valley of Jezreel.”

— *Joshua 17:16*

But Joshua said to the tribes of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—”You are numerous and very powerful. You will have not only one allotment but the forested hill country as well. Clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours; though the Canaanites have chariots fitted with iron and though they are strong, you can drive them out.”

— *Joshua 17:17–18*

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard… So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

— *Matthew 20:1, 16*

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead… As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

— *James 2:17, 26*

II. HISTORICAL-REDEMPTIVE ANALYSIS

• Contextual Grounding: Joshua 16–18 records the allotment of the Promised Land to the tribes of Israel, fulfilling God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The whole congregation assembles at Shiloh, where the tabernacle is set up, signifying God’s presence at the center of the allotted land. The distribution is by lot, emphasizing that the inheritance is God’s gift, not man’s achievement. Joseph’s descendants—Ephraim and Manasseh—receive a large, forested hill country, but it comes with Canaanites who have iron chariots.

• Emotional & Theological Depth: The tension between gift and labor is the heartbeat of this passage. God gives the land as an inheritance—pure grace—but the Israelites must clear forests and drive out entrenched enemies with superior technology. Joseph’s descendants nearly complain about their portion, but Joshua redirects them: the gift is real, and so is the work required to possess it. This mirrors the faith/works relationship that James later articulates—faith without works is dead. The Canaanites’ iron chariots are not a reason to despair but an occasion for trust.

• Application: When God gives us gifts that require effort, our response should be gratitude, not complaint. The work involved in receiving God’s gifts is itself an opportunity to demonstrate faith and trust in His provision. The Canaanites’ iron chariots are the obstacles in our lives that God has already promised to help us overcome—if we are willing to pick up the axe and clear the forest. God’s gifts and God’s work in our lives are not separate things; they are the same thing seen from different angles.

III. ZEB COMMENTARY

Welcome to today’s Daily Redemption Bible Blast Bulletin, everybody. I’m going to make this a short little commentary on Joshua 16 through 18, and then you can all go home from school early, and we’ll see you in church on Sunday.

What is Joshua 16 to 18 all about? It’s the allotment of land as per God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the Israelites move into Canaan. I find the allotment to Joseph’s people—the tribe that came from Joseph—most interesting. But let’s look at what it says about God’s character.

First of all, as I said, it’s a matter of faithfulness again. When it says in the Tanakh that God remembered his covenant with Abraham and with the others, it is saying that God—not that he had forgotten—but that he had recognized and honored that this covenant had been unfulfilled and how it would be fulfilled. That’s the faithfulness of God.

Also, we see being rewarded in spite of all of their shortcomings. In previous books and chapters, it showed that once people decide to be obedient and patient and trusting of the Lord, they get rewarded—in this case with the fulfillment of a homeland. It teaches us about unity and diversity, because basically what you had here in Canaan was one nation under God, but the identity of individual tribes and regions and peace. This land of Canaan would later become Israel, and become the new Israel prior to the New Israel when Jesus would later appear as Messiah. Actually, later than this, King David would be a king of Israel, and that set up the lineage through which Jesus arrived in this world.

The tribes were rewarded by inheritance, not by works and merits. Jesus would later teach us of God’s grace being generously given to all those who accept it, and how salvation is grace through faith—such as Matthew 20:1–16, the parable of the workers. You might want to refresh your mind on what Jesus says about God’s grace in that parable.

But okay, so you had quite a few—a large section of the population moving into Canaan was descendants of the tribes of Joseph. And I’ll tell you what—Joseph, you can say a lot of things about Joseph. You know, he had an ego and… anyway, he was definitely not a whiner. But this tribe was told by Joshua, “Okay, you’re going to inherit this land, including those forests up in the hills up there, and you’re still going to have to drive out the Canaanites.” And the Canaanites had Teslas and Hummers and big mega military tanks—and well, not really, but their chariots and so forth, they were made with iron. The Israelites had like Ford Pintos—they didn’t have anything of that magnitude. But they had God. And Joshua again was, “Do not worry about having to drive out the Canaanites. God will be with us.”

So then, this is a gift from God to honor the obedience and the trust and so forth that the Israelites were now showing to Him. But it required work. So how does that jibe with salvation is grace through faith? Well, it’s basically this: they weren’t getting salvation. They were getting their homeland. But if you look at certain sections of the book of James, certain sections of the book of Romans, and other places, you find that—well, James specifically says faith without works is dead. So Joshua is like, “Look, you’ve got quite a few people here. Knock down those trees and build yourself a beautiful homeland. God has given it to you. You just need to drive out the Canaanites.”

So this is something where we can look at gifts that we receive from God but that might require something of us. And that’s not an opportunity to whine. That’s not an opportunity to complain about how your workload is too much. It’s an opportunity to be thankful for God’s faithfulness and for His gifts to us.

So just—if you see that God has given you, has shown His grace down upon you with gifts, but that in order to get the gifts you’re going to have to work a little bit—that’s an opportunity also to demonstrate your own faith in God and your own appreciation. So it could not have been better for the people, the descendants of the tribes of Joseph, if God had just given it all to them and they didn’t have to drive out the Canaanites and everything was perfect—because this is what those people needed so that they would appreciate the gift from God.

So maybe we can all think of times in our own lives where God gave us grace and gifts, but there was some work involved. And it’s always a blessing, and we should not think of it otherwise.

And now let me know what you think about that. I mean, it’s only a couple of days before we’ll see each other again at church. Let me know your thoughts. And thank you so much for watching this brief video, and you may go home and watch television. All right, be blessed.

IV. CLASSIC COMMENTARIES CORNER

Matthew Henry (1662–1714): In his commentary on Joshua 17, Henry observes that the descendants of Joseph, though numerous and blessed, were not content with their portion and spoke of it as too little. Joshua, himself of the tribe of Ephraim, showed no partiality—”If you be a great people, go up to the wood, and cut down for yourself.” Henry notes the spiritual lesson: those who through grace are made great should not be solicitous for the gratification of their greatness, but should study how to make it serviceable. The Canaanites’ iron chariots, Henry says, were a trial of their faith—would they trust God or trust their own assessment of the odds?

John Wesley (1703–1791): Wesley, in his Explanatory Notes on Joshua, emphasizes that the Canaanites’ iron chariots were no match for the Almighty. He draws attention to God’s sovereignty in the allotment by lot—not by human negotiation, but by divine direction. Wesley consistently taught that God’s grace enables human response; the gift precedes the work, and the work is the fruit of the gift, not its cause. On Ephesians 2:8–10, which connects directly to this passage’s themes, Wesley insisted that the works God prepared beforehand are the evidence of saving faith, never its substitute.

Adam Clarke (1760–1832): Clarke, in his commentary, notes the geographical significance of the allotment to Joseph’s tribes—the hill country required labor to clear and settle, but it was also defensible. He observes that the Israelites’ failure to fully drive out the Canaanites (16:10) became a snare to them in later generations. Clarke, a thoroughgoing Arminian, uses this passage to illustrate that God’s gifts require human cooperation—grace is not irresistible but must be received and acted upon.

Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892): Though Spurgeon ministered centuries later, he frequently used the conquest of Canaan as a sermon illustration. “The Canaanites in the land” became for him a metaphor for besetting sins that believers must drive out. He warned against the spirit of compromise that says, “Let the Canaanites stay—they can be our servants.” The iron chariots, Spurgeon preached, are the devil’s devices to make the people of God despair of their inheritance; but the same God who gave the land will give the victory over every enemy that stands in the way of possessing it.

V. CORROBORATING SCRIPTURE & CHRISTOLOGICAL CONNECTIONS

The book of Joshua (Hebrew: Yehoshua) points directly to Jesus (Hebrew: Yeshua)—the names share the same root meaning “the Lord saves.” Joshua led Israel into the earthly Promised Land; Jesus leads His people into the eternal Kingdom. The writer of Hebrews makes this connection explicit:

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.

— *Hebrews 4:8–9*

The tabernacle set up at Shiloh in Joshua 18:1 foreshadows the ultimate dwelling of God among men:

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

— *John 1:14*

The inheritance given by lot—not by merit—anticipates the New Testament teaching that our inheritance in Christ is by grace:

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.

— *Ephesians 1:11*

And into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you.

— *1 Peter 1:4*

Joseph himself—sold into slavery, exalted to rulership, used by God to save his family—prefigures Jesus in type. Both were despised, both were exalted, both became the means of salvation for their people. The tribes of Joseph receiving their allotment last in this section is itself a Christological echo: the last shall be first, and the first shall be last (Matthew 20:16).

VI. ADDITIONAL CORROBORATING SCRIPTURE

When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally.

— *Deuteronomy 7:1–2*

He drove out nations before them and gave them their lands as an inheritance, setting up their boundaries.

— *Psalm 78:55*

After he had overthrown seven nations in Canaan, he gave their land to his people as an inheritance.

— *Acts 13:19*

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

— *Ephesians 2:8–10*

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

— *Hebrews 11:30–31*

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

— *Philippians 4:13*

VII. ESSENTIAL TAKEAWAYS

1. 1. God is faithful to His covenant promises. When Scripture says God “remembered” His covenant, it means He recognized it was time to fulfill it—not that He had ever forgotten. The land allotment is the fulfillment of a promise made centuries earlier to Abraham.
      1. God’s gifts often require our participation. The land was given by grace, by lot, by inheritance—but it had to be cleared, settled, and defended. Grace and works are not enemies here; they are partners. As James says, faith without works is dead.
         1. Do not complain about the work required for God’s gifts. Joseph’s descendants grumbled about their portion, but Joshua redirected them: the gift is real, and so is the work. The work itself is a blessing that helps us appreciate what God has given.
            1. The obstacles are real, but God is bigger. The Canaanites had iron chariots—Israel had Ford Pintos (so to speak). But they had God. The iron chariots are whatever stands between you and God’s promise today.
               1. Unity and diversity in the body. One nation, twelve tribes, each with its own identity and territory. The church is the same: one body, many members, each given a different gift and a different assignment—but all under one God.
                  1. Joshua points to Jesus. Joshua gave them the earthly land; Jesus gives us the heavenly Kingdom. Joshua set up the tabernacle at Shiloh; Jesus became the tabernacle Himself. The allotment by grace prefigures the inheritance we receive in Christ.

VIII. PRAYER FOR WHOMSOEVERS

Lord, forbid that we should complain, whine, protest excessively, or ever forget Your inestimable grace and endless mercies new each morning. Life pressing on us makes us so inclined to be ungodly in just such a fashion. And in each moment where we feel the temptation, give us Your strength. In the name of Jesus, the one who was always righteous and teaching us on every step to Calvary, and who still teaches us every moment of every day IF we listen—let us all say “Amen.”