[A Meditation on One Verse]

(Joshua 22:5) “But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

The three tribes (two and a half) that had already received their inheritance east of the Jordan, having fulfilled their promise to fight alongside their brothers in the conquest of Canaan, are now returning to their homes. Joshua sends them off with his blessing and with abundant spoils of war. In the world’s eyes, this might seem to be the entirety of the blessing. However, the true essence of the blessing Joshua wanted to impart is contained in today’s verse.

That blessing was ‘to love God, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart.’ It was a declaration that the ‘blessing’ itself is to know God and to walk in complete fellowship with Him. And here we find a crucial word: the Hebrew dāḇaq, translated as ‘to hold fast to.’ This word carries the meaning ‘to cling to’ or ‘to stick like glue.’

Why did Joshua use this specific word here? Because for these tribes who had to cross the river, moving physically away from the Tabernacle at Shiloh, nothing was more important, as it would be easy for the things they could see to become their whole reality.

If we reflect on it, loving the LORD was never something that came from our own ability. We were people who did not know how to love Him, nor how to cling to Him. To us, in that state, God first came, revealed Himself to us, and enabled us to find true satisfaction in His embrace. This is ‘the blessing.’ That is why Joshua prayed for this blessing for them as they returned home: the ‘blessing’ of rejoicing and delighting in God alone, at any time and in any place.

Now, let’s look at ourselves. Shouldn’t our fellowship today also be a sharing of this ‘blessing’ with one another? People who pray for and encourage each other to love God more deeply and to cling to Him more tightly, who bless each other in this way—that community of blessing is the ‘church,’ that is us.

[Prayer]

“Lord, grant me Your ‘blessing’ today, that it may be a new day of holding fast to You and finding my satisfaction in You.”
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(Daily Reading)

Joshua 22:1-16