Joshua 21:3 And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their suburbs.
It can be really fun to start things, a job, a trip, or a project. Tomorrow my family and I will be driving from the Bill Rice Ranch in Murfreesboro, TN to West Branch in beautiful Williams, AZ. That requires two 800-mile days. I love to travel and there is nothing better in my mind than an open road and the sun rising behind you. That is sheer joy! But, twenty-four hours from then we will be finishing up that trip on the other side of the continent. It is great to start a trip, but it takes work to finish it.
Maybe you have washed your car with your five-year-old. He loves to help Daddy or Mommy until it’s hard. Then, he doesn’t want to finish. Maybe you have decided you are going to paint your living room. You start on it, and it just never gets finished because it becomes boring and hard. Maybe you start some great project on Saturday morning that you think you will get done that day. When you get into it, you realize it is a two-day job. It is fun to start things, but what matters is getting the job done.
In Joshua 21, the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua and they basically reminded them of God’s commandment by Moses to give the Levites cities in which to dwell. God had given each of the tribes a portion of land, but to the Levites He had given portions throughout the land. The Bible says in verse 3, “And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their suburbs.” The bottom line is that this chapter and the ones previous are all about finishing the job, the wrap up, running through the tape, getting the job done. Joshua 21 is about God’s keeping His promise through Moses and then finishing it through Joshua to make sure the Levites had places to live.
In Joshua 17:3-4 there is the story of a group of ladies who had no brothers. There was a question of whether they would lose their inheritance. God had made a judgment. No, they would not lose their inheritance. They would have an inheritance in the land of Canaan, and they came to Joshua again and reminded him of God’s promise through Moses.
In chapter 22 Moses talks to two and a half tribes who had made a covenant to help Israel possess the land if they could have their ranch country on the other side of Jordan. God kept His word and these tribes, Reuben, Gad, and half the tribes of Manasseh, kept theirs.
In all these cases you had the promise of God to Israel, and you had Israel with the obligation to finish their part of this covenant, to finish the job. Ecclesiastes 7:8 says, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.” In short, you haven’t done the job until you finish the job. You find that throughout the Bible.
So, keep your word. The two and a half tribes were expected to keep their promise to Joshua that they had made to Moses. When it came to these ladies who had been given a portion, God was going to keep His promise through Moses and then through Joshua. It is easy to make promises; it takes work to keep your word.
Then, finish the work. You may be right in the middle of some job today. Maybe it is mid-semester at school or mid-job in painting, and you are a little weary in well doing. Be not weary in well doing because you haven’t done the job until you finish the job.