Men's Group Study Guide
Introduction
If a person I knew came from a family that was known for their spiritual maturity, I would tend to think that it would have been passed on to that person. And so would be the case with the tribe of Manasseh. These were the grand children of a faithful man who reigned in Egypt – Joseph. However, they lacked his faithfulness. Even though they had made it into the promised land, their perceptions and attitudes were wrong. Why? They had received the exact same statutes and commandments from the Lord as the other tribes had, yet they failed to obey. Faithfulness, maybe. I know that this is something lacking in my own life. It is something that can rob me of Gods best and plague my family later down the road. I hate the thought of that and do not want it to happen. We often times want more from God when we haven’t yet been faithful with what He has already given to us. This is something we will all have to face. It is my hearts desire to see men of God take on this matter with all seriousness and prayer, for obvious reasons. Matthew 25:21
STUDY NOTES: verses 1-18
Vs.1-6 There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph: namely for Machir for he was the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war; therefore he was given Gilead and Bashan..... vs. 6 because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons; and the rest of Manasseh’s sons had the land of Gilead. Manasseh’s oldest son was the man of war named Machir, which we can see from the first verse of chapter seventeen. In Numbers 32:39-40 it says that the children of Machir took it (their lot) and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it and so Moses gave Gilead to Machir. Even more interesting are the five daughters of Zelophehad. These women were gracious in presenting to Moses their predicament in Numbers 27:1-4. After years gone by, their continued faith in their gracious God showed as they patiently waited their turn and reminded Joshua of the commandment given to Moses concerning them. This was not a culture of political correctness where feminism was allowed, if you know what I mean. The daughters of Zelophehad however understood enough of the character of their God to know that He was a just God (Psalm 89:14/Psalm 25:9/Romans 3:26). This small group of women has provided for us a beautiful picture of true faith and also the truth that our God has always been the equal opportunity God.
Vs.7-13 And the territory of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethath, that lies east of Shechem; and the border went along south to the inhabitants of En Tappuah..... vs.13 And it happened, when the children of Israel grew strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out. The boundaries are given for this half tribe of Manasseh. Unfortunately we see the pattern continued from chapter 16:10. Again we are reminded by these obstinate Canaanites that sin will always be trying to hang on to us like a slimy leach. But praise be to God that we already have the victory through Jesus as long as we remain obedient to Him and His law (Mark 12:29-31). To love your God means more than just to have a feeling for Him.
Vs.14-18 Then the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua saying, “Why have you given us only one lot and one share to inherit, since we are a great people, inasmuch as the Lord has blessed us until now?”...... but the mountain country shall be yours. Although it is wooded, you shall cut it down, and its farthest extent shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots and are strong.” The first thing for us to address is the loosing attitude that is being revealed in this petition to Joshua for more land. The children of Joseph had received one lot just the same as every other tribe, yet they ask why they had not been given more as we see in verse 14. God’s commandment to Moses was that every tribe was to be given a portion of land that was suitable for the size of their group (Numbers 26:52-56). So we can plainly see that the error was not in the amount of land that was given to the tribe of Manasseh, but the error was in their hearts. Their attitudes were quite different from that of Caleb’s in chapter 14. Sure, part of their allotment was a wooded mountainous region that was occupied by giants with iron chariots, but how many times does God have to tell them that He is for them before they will be emboldened to go fight for what is theirs. So I ask my brothers in Christ the same question. Have you genuinely believed in what God has said to you since the beginning of this study in Joshua? Let me remind you, “Be strong and courageous!” Be faithful with what God has given you, namely the salvation that was paid for with another man’s blood (1 Corinthians 7:23). Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Joshua sees the condition of their hearts and gives the kind of wise answer that we could expect from a man of his character. Ok, if you are such a great people than you shouldn’t have a problem occupying the rest of the land that was given to you already. The children of Joseph were lazy. It was easy to follow the lead of Joshua as he lead them into the promised land, but now they had to go it on their own. They were given a portion of land that was large enough for them, unfortunately they would not follow thru and fully seize what was given to them. This is a problem with many Christian men today. We become so sidetracked with our own ideas and agendas that we are lazy with what the Lord has already given us and we let those slimy leaches have their way.
TRUTH APPLIED:
Q. 1 Are you faithful in these areas of your life; prayer time; bible time; family time; the things that hold true value?
Q. 2 How does the just and holy God respond to us when we are not faithful?
How should He respond?
Q. 3 Do you constantly wait to see what other people will do or do you act upon what you know is right?
Q. 4 What is faithfulness and what is love? Luke 19:17 / 2 John 1:6
CONCLUSION:
For a long time the Lord has shown His great faithfulness in the lives of millions of people, including myself. He has given us Jesus, the Holy Scriptures, the body and the Holy Spirit just to name a few. We could easily write a book on the faithfulness of God and the unfaithfulness of men. But would that help us any further in our efforts to return the favor of that faithfulness? I tend to think, probably not. That is why He gave us Jesus. So that we might be motivated by a real love that was given to us despite our incapability to return genuine love and faithfulness. This is what God is all about. He knows that we are void of these things and so He supplies them for us through faith and grace. The half tribe of Manaaseh could not have taken on the giants with their own means, but God had communicated to them time and time again how He was for them and that they had nothing to fear. He was faithful. They did not obey through belief and action. They lost.
Can we look at our lives and see fruit from the love that was given to us from the Lord. Or do we see a tearing down of that beautiful love from not acting upon it and being faithful with the little that we have already been given?