This evening in Joshua chapter
18, we want to look at one verse in Joshua 18 verse 1, and then
again over in Joshua 19 verse 49 through verse 51. And what originally caught my
attention as I was reading through this, seeking the Lord's message
for you, and the whole congregation, Joshua 18, 1, of the children
of Israel assembled together at Shiloh and set up the tabernacle
of the congregation there. and the land was subdued before
them. Now, you remember those 40 years
they wandered in the wilderness. That tabernacle was made to travel. It was set up on the priest,
and they had a routine where they could take it down, or they
could put it up, and they could travel and move it, and here
and there. But this is the first time after
we read about them crossing over into Jordan and possessing the
land, fighting the enemies, and the Lord giving the land to the
children of Israel by lot, this is the first time we read of
the tabernacle being set up. Now remember before their base
camp was at Gilgal. Gilgal was toward the east, over
there toward Jordan, near to Jericho. But if you look at the
map, and I love to look at those maps, if you look at the map
and you follow the map over to the center part of that land
of Canaan, you'll find right smack dab in the center of that,
you'll find this little city called Shiloh. Now it's north
of Jerusalem. Why didn't he set the tabernacle
up in Jerusalem? Why in this place called Shiloh? And that caught my attention.
So the title of the message is the tabernacle set up at Shiloh. Now, I'm sure it was set up before
over in Gilgal, but here seven or eight years later, now it's
set up in a permanent way at Shiloh. And you know how long
it stayed there in Shiloh? 350 years it stayed there in Shiloh. We read about, remember when
we read 1 Samuel, remember when we studied through 1 Samuel several
years ago, that when Elkanah and Hannah went to worship the
Lord. Do you remember where they went?
They went to Shiloh. And that's 350 years later than
what we read here in Joshua chapter 18, verse one. The Lord preserved
that tabernacle in that spot and blessed the people of Israel. The tabernacle set up. Now also
in chapter 19 verse 51, as we read earlier, the tabernacle
again is mentioned there. When and how, in that verse,
Joshua and Eleazar, the priest of God, divided the inheritance
upon the remaining seven tribes of Israel, and they did so by
lot. Notice we read that many times
there in chapter 18, the first 10 verses, it was done by lot.
Now, there were seven tribe who read up here in chapter 18 who
had not yet received the land of promise given to them, but
it was given to them by lot. That is, it wasn't by chance,
it wasn't by luck, it was by the lot or the appointment and
decree of God. It was lotted to them, granted
to them, given to them, appointed for them. Now we too, and that
was their inheritance in the land of Canaan. We too as believers,
we enjoy the whole inheritance of grace by the appointment decree
of God, not by luck, not by chance, not by fate. We enjoy the whole
inheritance of grace, God's grace, everything he has for us. He
gives it to us by lot. He's allotted that to us. He's
granted it to us. He has given it to us by His
appointment and His sovereign decree, by His grace. And we
always say His free and sovereign grace. And that's the only kind
of grace there is. Free grace and sovereign grace. He said, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. So then, it's not of Him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that shows mercy."
You see he has made us an heir of God and a joint heir with
Christ. Now this was done as we read
in Joshua 19, 50 and 51. This was done at the door of
the tabernacle when the tabernacle was set up in Shiloh at the door. What do you think of when you
think, in reading the scripture, when you think of the tabernacle
and the door? Well, immediately we think of
Christ who is the door. Our Lord said, I am the door,
by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved and he shall go
out. And in, what does that mean?
And find pasture out of death and into life. That's what it
means to me. Out of bondage into liberty in the Lord Jesus Christ
and find plenty. Now, when the fighting of the
enemy had been completed and finished, remember the land rested
from war. Hold your place there and turn
back to chapter 11, verse 23. So Joshua took the whole land
according to all that the Lord said unto Moses, and Joshua gave
it for an inheritance unto Israel. Remember, I emphasize the fact
that Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their
divisions by their tribe, and the land rested from war. The war was over. The fighting
was done. The tabernacle of the Lord was
established and set up in Shiloh for those 350, some say 360 years. I won't, I don't know, I just
go by what they said. But I went back and looked at
the dates and that's about right, that's about what I figured.
Now why at this particular place? Why was it located? in this particular
place? Well, it was located, as I said
a moment ago, in the center part of the land. In the middle part,
north and south, east and west, boom, right in the middle is
Shiloh. Now, when we were driving back
from Colorado last week, we passed through a little town called,
or near a little town, called Lebanon, Kansas. And there was
a sign that said, this is the geographical center of the United
States. I didn't know such a place existed,
but it does. It's the center, north and south,
east and west, boom. Lebanon, Kansas, that's where
the center is. And it caught my attention, and
we talked about that for a while, the center. We're in the middle
of the United States. Now, in this wilderness journey,
those 40 years, the tabernacle was always set up in the center
of the camp. Here's the tabernacle. They were,
all the different tribes were surrounded that tabernacle, set
up in such a particular order. You can go back and study that
as we have in the book of Leviticus. Now, why this particular city?
Well, if you hold your place there, and let's turn back to
Deuteronomy chapter 12 for just a moment. Deuteronomy chapter
12, verse 10. The Lord says this, Deuteronomy
12, verse 10. But when you go over Jordan and
dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit,
When he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about,
so that you dwell in safety, then there shall be a place,
a place, which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his
name to dwell there, and thither shall you bring all that I command
you, your burnt offering, your sacrifices, your tithes, your
heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which
you vow unto the Lord, in the place that the Lord said, I will
name." Now, obviously Shiloh was that place. And somehow that
was revealed to the priest of God and to Joshua, and it was
established in that place that God had chosen there in Shiloh. Now, it reminded me also of this,
but also remember, and we read this recently, when Jacob, when
he was dying and giving the blessings to those different sons, the
twelve sons of Israel, sons turned out to be the twelve
tribes. When Jacob blessed Judah, we
read about that in Genesis 49, 8 through 10, he talked about
the coming of Shiloh, which I told you meant Son of Peace, and it
was in reference to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is our Shiloh. He is our Son of Peace. He is
the Prince of Peace. Our Lord said unto us, a child
is born, a son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace. He is the Prince
of Peace. He is the King of Righteousness.
He is Lord of Lords. Remember, the Lord Jesus Christ
in His humanity came from which tribe? Judah. Judah, the Lion of the tribe
of Judah has prevailed. Revelation 5, 5. In Genesis 49,
continuing with the blessing that Jacob put upon Judah, in
prophecy, talking about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, he
said, unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Now who is
he talking about there? He's not specifically talking
about Judah or even that tribe, but rather the King of Judah,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that tabernacle remained
there in Shiloh for those 350 or 360 years. When Elkanah went with Hannah
to worship the Lord in 1 Samuel chapter 1, they went to this
same place called Shiloh. That's amazing that the Lord
preserved it there all them years. The tabernacle remained there
until it was taken, you remember? It was taken by the Philistines. Remember they set it up by their
god Dagon? You remember Dagon kept falling
over? And the Philistines took that
tabernacle, or the Ark of the Covenant. They took the Ark of
the Covenant, and they did not have it very long, and they sent
it back. They said, this is a curse to us. It was a curse to them.
It was a blessing to the Lord's people. Now we see in the Lord
Jesus Christ and in the gospel of Christ, sinners are still
being gathered unto Him. Unto Him shall the gathering
of the people be. He is our Shiloh, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He says by way of commandment,
Come unto me all ye that labor and every laden, I will give
you rest. We read that this is a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation that the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners.
That's how he gathers us by the sacrifice of himself and the
calling of the gospel. In our blessed Lord, in our blessed
Shiloh, in our blessed dwelling with the Lord, we shall have
no ending. Now they had the presence. Do
you remember what they called the Shekinah glory of God was
on that place? The visible presence of God shined
on that tabernacle. And they had that for those many
years. But our dwelling with the Lord
Jesus Christ is forever. It's not 360 years, that's a
long time. But our dwelling with our Shiloh
shall be forever. In Revelation 21 verse three,
let me read this to you. I heard a great voice out of
heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God. There it is, the tabernacle
of God. Who is that? It's Christ. The tabernacle of God is with
men. Remember He said, I in them,
thou in me, that we may be made perfect in one. He will dwell
with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall
be with them, and be their God." No separation. Nothing can separate
us from the love of God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I said all that in way of
introduction. Now let's look at verse 1. Joshua
18, verse 1. And the whole congregation of
the children of Israel assembled together at Siloam and set up
the tabernacle of a congregation there, and the land was subdued. The land was subdued. Now, who
did that? Who subdued it? Read Psalm 44. The Lord had gotten the victory
for them. He subdued the land before them. Now, in our study in the book
of Joshua, this is the first time we read of the tabernacle
being set up. Although, remember when they
came up, bumped up against Jordan, the Jordan River, they would
come up this way from the east, and the Jordan River, it's a
big river. I mean, it's not just a, it's not just a, what we'd say, out west we'd
say a creek, but out here you say creek. It was a river. It was a big river, something
similar like you would say the Ohio River. How are we going
to get across that Ohio River? Well, we know what happened when
the priest of God put that ark upon their shoulders. Remember,
they came down to the shore of that river, and when the priest's
feet hit that river, it separated. And the whole millions of those
people walked right across on dry ground. That was the ark. But we know
that passing through that river also, they were carrying the
tabernacle. Tabernacle. Now, we read about
the Ark of the Covenant, but we didn't read anything about
the tabernacle crossing through the river. We know, remember
we studied, I made the emphasis that all Israel passed clean
over, you remember? There wasn't any mud on their
feet. They passed over clean and clean over, all of them passed
over. You read about that in Joshua chapter three. Now, probably
the tabernacle was set up in their base camp, which was at
Gilgal before, but we don't read about that. Now, I'm just assuming
that it was set up because it was such a vital part of approaching
God. But this now at this time was
the Lord who the Lord had intended for this time for it to be set
up in a permanent way. where orderly conduct of regular
worship again was established around the tabernacle of the
Lord in Shiloh. And this happened seven or eight
years after they crossed over through Jordan and they fought
all them battles. Seven or eight years later, we
read about this here in Joshua 18 verse one. Now you remember
how the tabernacle and all that's involved in that tabernacle.
We read about it earlier in Hebrews chapter 9. Remember how the tabernacle
is a vivid picture and type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't
turn back there, but it says here, for Christ had not entered
into the holy places made with hands, which are figures of the
true, but in the heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us. So all that is involved in that
tabernacle in the Ark of the Covenant, and the Mercy Seat,
and all that went on there. Everything, every piece of furniture,
every sacrifice that was made, the linen fence that covered
it, those different coverings over the tabernacle, you remember?
The goat skin, the ram skin, the linen underneath, and all
these different... All that is a picture of the
Gospel of the Blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. But remember
also, What was the most important thing that happened inside that
tabernacle on that one appointed day called the Day of Atonement?
Those priests always went into the first place called the Holy
Place all the time. ministering under God and ministering
and representing the people under God. But there was that heavy,
thick veil, thick veil, heavy veil, 15 feet high, I believe
that tabernacle was. Once a year, that great high
priest or the high priest went under that veil with blood from
a sacrifice of an animal and he put that blood upon the mercy
seat making satisfaction or propitiation for the sins of the people. He
put that upon the mercy seat and that blood covering that
law that was in that covenant. All that is a picture of Christ,
our substitute who made satisfaction, making propitiation for the sins
of the people. We won't turn and read it, but
in Exodus 25, verse 21 and 22, you remember what God said of
that mercy seat? He gives them the exact dimensions
of it. And then he tells them what to
do with it, with those winged creatures and where to place
it over the Ark of the Covenant. And then God said that, that
is the place where I will meet with you there upon that mercy
seat. And we know from reading the
scripture that Christ, He is our mercy seat. That's the only
way we can approach God is in Christ, our mercy seat, and His
sacrifice. Oh, that's a beautiful picture
of the gospel. as we've tried to set it forth
here these almost 25 years now. I've been trying to preach the
Gospel to you folks here. John put it this way, here in
His love, not that we love God, but that He loved us, and that
He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sin. And then in Romans
3, remember, He was set forth, the Lord Jesus Christ was set
forth to be our propitiation that God might be a just God
and Savior, that he might be just and the justifier of them
which believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. But notice not only the
place where the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant was established,
but also notice in verse one of Joshua 18, how all Israel,
it says the whole congregation, assembled together at Shiloh
and set up the tabernacle of the congregation, the whole congregation. I take that to mean all of them,
all of them, the whole congregation. All the Israel, they had a vital
interest in what was happening there that day at Shiloh. That's why it's called the Tabernacle
of the Congregation. Now we know it's the Tabernacle
of the Lord, right? But they owned it. They claimed
it. They said it's ours. God's given
it to us. to make a sacrifice for our sin. And God's people today still
have an unwavering interest and a vital interest of Christ, our
mercy seat, and Christ, our tabernacle. Do we not? He's the power of
God and the salvation to everyone that believes. The gospel is
the power of God. The gospel of Christ is the power
of God to everyone that believe it. Now, we all have an interest,
a vital interest, in Christ our tabernacle. We read in John 1,
14, the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. That word can
also be rendered, the word was made flesh and he tabernacled
among us. We all as believers have an interest
in Christ our dwelling place, Christ our righteousness. He
put it this way, Paul did in 1 Timothy 3, 16 without controversy.
Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Think about it. How can God,
who inhabits eternity, inhabit the body of a man? I don't know. But the Word was made flesh.
I don't understand it, but I believe it so. The Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us. He tabernacled among us. We have a vital interest in Christ. We also have a vital interest
in Christ our Mercy Seeker. He alone is the whole of our
salvation. He alone is the whole of our
propitiation. He made complete atonement for
the sins of the people. Remember we read in Hebrews 9
verse 11 and 12 that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Great High
Priest. He did not bring that typical
animal sacrifice. He didn't bring bulls, blood
of bulls and goats, did He? What did He bring? He brought
Himself. He offered up His own blood unto
God and by doing that obtained for us eternal redemption with
His own blood. I like the way that is written.
He obtained, He hath attained for us. That means He did it
all. He attained for us. And we as
believers have a vital interest in that sacrifice. For we are
redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. We're also, we have
a vital interest in the mercy seat, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our propitiation and he's
our propitiation for the people of God. Notice in our text, this
tabernacle of the congregation, the children of Israel set it
up. This tabernacle and this mercy
seat wasn't for the Amalekites, the Hittites, the Jebusites,
the Philistines, and all the other ites. It was set up exclusively
for God's people. And we know the Lord Jesus Christ
did not die in a general way making a general atonement for
all the sins of all people. Would you dare think that the
priest of God on the Day of Atonement went in there to make propitiation
for the Philistines? No, he didn't. He went in there
and made propitiation for Israel. He represented God's people.
And my friend, that is a sweet and precious picture of Christ
making atonement for only the sins of His people. It wasn't
a general atonement. It was a particular atonement.
We call that, or the old timers called that, definite atonement. Limited atonement. That's what
we preach. That's what we believe. Not ashamed
of it. This book declares it because
He has said, we must boldly say. The Lord said, I lay down my
life for the sheep. Call His name Jesus. He shall
save His people from their sin. Now, that leads me to point two.
Turn to Joshua 19, verse 49. And let's read again. Joshua
19, 49. When they have made an end of
dividing the land on inheritance by their coast, the children
of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua. Now, don't you find
that a little bit peculiar? Everybody else had their inheritance
already given to them, and then Joshua standing over here with
nothing. And the children of Israel, they
gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun among them. Now
look at verse 50. According to the word of the
Lord, they gave him the city which he asked. even Timnath-Sera
and Mount Ephraim. Now he was of that tribe of Ephraim
and the city in that region there of Ephraim, Timnath-Sera, and
he built a city and dwelt therein. These are the inheritance which
Eliezer the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, the heads of the
fathers of the tribes, the children of Israel, divided for inheritance
by Lot, there it is again, in Shiloh, before the Lord at the
door of the tabernacle of the congregation, so they made an
end of dividing the country. Now, a couple of points here. The children
of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua according to the word
of the Lord. Just as Joshua like unto Caleb,
The Lord gave him that specific mountain, remember? And now the
Lord, by commandment, gives Joshua this particular city. But notice,
everybody else has their inheritance, and Joshua, the greatest man
in Israel, is the last one to receive a blessing. Now, what
do we see in that? I'll tell you what we see. We
see something of the humility and modesty of this great leader.
He could have demanded my portion first. He could have demanded
not a city, but a whole country. Although Joshua was so greatly
blessed and used of the Lord, the eldest and greatest among
them, who led Israel to so many victories, but Joshua put the
people, his people first, sought the good of his country, not
his own private interests. Now, what does that sound like
to you? Now we know that Joshua is a picture of the greater Joshua,
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ in his
great humility and lowliness, who came not to be served when
he was manifest in the flesh, but rather to serve, to give
his life a ransom for many, to accomplish the Lord's will in
saving his elect. You remember from Matthew chapter
20 verse 28, let me read it to you. But whosoever will be great
among you, let him be your minister. And whosoever will be chief among
you, let him be your servant. Even as the Son of Man came not
to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life
a ransom for many. You see his great humility, even
in the type and picture of Joshua. The Lord who thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but took upon himself the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of sinful men, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. That's humility. The Lord Jesus Christ God said,
Behold, my servant, my elect, and whom my soul delighteth.
I put my spirit upon him, and he shall bring salvation to sinners. Secondly, verse 50, this town
here that's kind of an unusual town, The name of it, Tim-nah-see-rah. You see that? Tim-nah-see-rah. When I typed that in on my Word
in the computer, when I typed that in it underlined it red.
You misspelled it. My dictionary in Word didn't
even recognize this well-known city, so I had to put it ad,
ad. But Timnasibe, what does it mean?
You don't have to do something with the gospel, does it not?
I know it does. You know what it means? It means
an abundant portion. It means a place in the sun. Christ is our portion. Christ
is our light. He is the light of life. John Gill said this, I wrote
it down. Joshua's great reward was in seeing the promise of
God fulfilled before his very eyes. And the children of Israel
served in the Lord during his lifetime. Joshua may have received
but a small inheritance in the promised land, but this was just
and earnest of the future glorious inheritance in eternity. The
saints of God, listen to this, this is still John Gill, the
saints of God have their best portion saved for last, whereas
the unbeliever has his best portion now, his worst is yet to come. eternal condemnation. Now here
is the last thing, verse 51, Joshua 19, 51. These are the
inheritance which Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of
Nun, the heads of the fathers of the tribes of Israel, the
children of Israel, divided for inheritance by lot in Shiloh
before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So they made an end of dividing
the country. There was an end to this. And
God goes through great detail, each tribe, each Reuben, Simeon,
all those different tribes. They all had their, you go back
and read the detail of their borders were exact. You can go
back and look at the map how it's all drawn out. But here's
the point. The final dividing of the land
was done by Lot. You see that? In Shiloh before
the Lord. All this was done before the
Lord at the door of the tabernacle. So too at the last day before
the Lord, the last day of the Lord, when He comes again, when
all nations shall be gathered together Before Him, He will
divide to the elect of God their eternal inheritance according
to His lot, according to His divine will, decree, and purpose. Now, you can turn with me if
you want to to Matthew 25. If not, just sit and I'll read
it to you. Read about Matthew 25, 31. When
the Son of Man shall come in His glory and all the holy angels
with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and
before Him shall be gathered all nations. He shall separate
them one from another, as the shepherd divides his sheep from
the goat, and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but
the goat on the left. Then the King shall say unto
them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father. Inherit. We have it by lot. by decree,
by appointment, come inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. That means at least this, you
had no part in the accomplishment or earning any inheritance. The whole inheritance is the
inheritance of grace. being justified freely by His
grace. God who spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely? I like that word, don't you?
Freely! Give us all thanks.