Joshua 14: 1 - 2

And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them. By lot was their inheritance, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half tribe. (Joshua 14:1-2)

The selection of land in Canaan for each tribe was made by lot (chance), but it was overseen by the leadership. It is a good thing that we do not make most of our decisions by chance. Sometimes I am at a restaurant with a group and ask someone else to order for me because I don't want to decide, when I do this I am usually unhappy with what I get, no surprise there. When there is a clear best choice, we should take it on ourselves to decide.
Some decisions affect everyone for better or worse and are a clear choice between a small number of well-defined options, on such a matter there surely should be input from all or a representative sample of the people.
Some decisions are complex, with many viable loosely defined options and although important, may be distant from the experience or concern of ordinary people. Such decisions are better made by as few people as possible, people of wisdom and responsibility. One person making such decisions is most efficient, especially in a crisis, but such responsibility is not good for one to bear, so a committee will be best most of the time. The matter of overseeing the distribution of land was such a matter, where this process could be organised in many ways that were all viable but one clear way was needed to preserve unity.
Some decisions are simple but based on so much information that they become complex, and the answer will often advantage one group at the expense of another, sometimes predictably, sometimes unpredictably. The matter of which tribe and family should be given which portion of land in Canaan (for ever) was just such a decision. To give this decision to the many would assure that those deciding would be unable to comprehend the unlimited possibilities and vast information, thus they would have been ripe for manipulation by the charismatic few to their hurt. It would also result in bitter conflict from the top to bottom of society. To give this decision to the leaders would put them in great temptation to enrich their own family at the expense of others, or conversely to disadvantage themselves to avoid the accusation of corruption. Either way this would be unfair. Chance was the ideal way to distribute the land, it was done by the two highest leaders with representatives from every tribe present. There could be no injustice with such balanced accountability, and although there may have been some less than ideal allocation of land because of the randomness of the process, there were no real moral or social evils that would result from even the most unfair allocation, since everybody would have as much as they needed. For example if I happened to get a piece of land on top of a diamond mine I could become very rich, but although you would not have a diamond mine and would not get rich, because your land remained in your family for perpetuity, there would never be a time that you could not grow enough food to feed yourself and your family. Similar to social security, but much more fulfilling for you and less expensive for me.
As it happens, the result seems to have made fairly good sense, one tribe seems to me to have been least fortunate, and it makes a good case study. Judah received a large territory, but Judah was also one of the largest tribes and this land was the least hospitable both environmentally and militarily. Judah could have felt hard done by with this result. Ephraim received much better land and a similar area, also the enemies there were weaker. Caleb was the overseer of Judah. He did not complain, rather he got special permission to choose the most difficult place he could find for his own land and made a point of conquering it, although it was not easy. This area became the centre of Judaism, and the whole tribe of Judah became the supreme tribe of Israel, because they accepted what God gave them and made the most of it. You can do the same.

Judge Me

The Lord shall judge the people: judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me. (Psalm 7:8)

Judgment is not always a bad thing. Judgment not only can mean condemnation for the guilty but also vindication for the innocent. Ask Jesus into your life. He was forgive you and change you and you can look forward to judgment instead of dreading it. David did.

What and Why

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: (Isaiah 58:13)

In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals. 16 There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? 18 Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath. 19 And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day. 20 So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice. 21 Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath. 22 And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy. (Nehemiah 13:15-22)

Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. 24 And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein; 25 Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever. 26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the Lord. 27 But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched. (Jeremiah 17:21-27)

There are some businesses that are especially profitable on Saturday, or alternatively that are benefitted greatly by running any or every day of the week. Nehemiah did not believe this was a good enough reason to break the Sabbath. According to Jeremiah, God agrees with Nehemiah, he doesn't think it is a good reason either.

Today the orthodox Jews are very careful about the Sabbath, already by Jesus' time they were a bit too careful about it, at least when they applied it to Jesus and his followers rather than themselves. But neither in Nehemiah or Jeremiah does God reinforce his early command that Sabbath-breakers be stoned. Instead he emphasises the benefits of Sabbath-keeping.

I want to note that desire for gain is a much bigger motivator over the long-term than fear of loss, although fear of loss is a bigger motivator for short-term decisions. So to motivate people to make lasting decisions we should appeal to their desire for gain. Keep the Sabbath and you can have peace and rest, a time for joy and family free from guilt like you should be working, you can have joy when your family and friends see your stand and are also inspired to join with Jesus on his side of this conflict against the dark forces of spiritual realms.

Loving Jesus More

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: (Isaiah 58:13)

And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it: 3 And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning.(Exodus 36:2-3)

Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. 13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: 14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. 15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:13-15)

God wants us to delight in spiritual things. Do you want to love God? It doesn't fully make sense to me, but God's solution seems to be the Sabbath. It's like that by focussing myself entirely on God during the Sabbath he will both be in my thoughts during the week and I will look forward to the time I spend with him.
The Sabbath is a time to remember what God has done for me. Spend time on Sabbath thinking and talking about what God has done for you and you will end up loving him all week. Spend a little time thinking about this during the week too.

Law on Sabbatical

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: (Isaiah 58:13)

Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. 14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. (Exodus 31:13-17)

Ancient Israel had a legal system built on the Ten Commandments. We often say of our legal system that it is also built on the Ten Commandments, but it's not really, it's built on the laws of the Saxons and Normans and our ancestors just modified their ancestors' laws to make them more compatible with the Ten Commandments, and this is to the credit of our ancestors. This passage shows one example of how our world would be different if our legal system was built on the Ten Commandments. People who worked on Saturday would be executed. There have been times that various Western nations have enacted laws that forbade work on Sunday, no doubt inspired by this passage, but one must wonder whether they also passed laws enforcing the wearing of blue tassels (Num 15:38) and forbidding the consumption of pork (Lev 11:7). I think not. If we are going to make laws inspired by the laws of Ancient Israel who is going to decide on which apply to our society today and how thoroughly they should be applied?
One may claim that because the Sabbath is among the Ten Commandments it is more appropriate to make a law enforcing it. If you use that argument you should also follow the commandment properly and keep it on Saturday, it has no significance when kept on any other day. So if you are going to go around making laws inspired by the Torah, at least get them right. But unfortunately people don't seem to care too much about truth, or consistency.
Jesus established the church as the new Israel, not to be a political nation but a movement of the Holy Spirit. The Ten Commandments have not passed away (Mat 5:18) but this other law that enforces the Sabbath by national law was intended for a political nation, not the church. So we can still keep the Sabbath as it was always meant to be kept, we just don't need to worry about the police knocking on our doors if we don't keep it well enough. Praise Jesus.

God Day

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: (Isaiah 58:13)

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:8-11)

Last time we looked at the significance of the Sabbath as a symbol or ritual of universal inclusion for God's people. But what does keeping the Sabbath look like today? The next cross-reference takes us to the Ten Commandments, spoken by God to the whole congregation of Israel, the most dramatic public announcement God has ever made, with Jesus' baptism coming a close second in drama. I think if we put aside our biases and ideas about what the Sabbath is we will notice a few things here in the Ten Commandments.
Contrary to the common misconception, the emphasis of the Sabbath is not on avoiding work, although the word "sabbath" means "rest". If we throw away all preconceptions, and read the opening line of the Sabbath commandment we read: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." So the first key is to recognise that for God, the Sabbath commandment is not about avoiding work at all costs, but about making his holiday (not Australia Day or Labor Day but we could say "God Day" but God calls it "Sabbath Day" so we'll go with that) special. God wants his day to be a special day and he doesn't exactly say how he wants us to do that, although in other places he suggests that his people should meet together on that day, which is where the idea of weekly worship comes from by the way.
Just like the way we need the whole of the second commandment to understand that it is ok to have artwork, we need the whole of the second commandment to understand the bare minimum requirements that God prescribes for keeping his day holy. We are to keep it on the seventh day of the week, to commemorate the seventh day of the week of creation, and we are not to work during that day, or make anybody else work for us.
God made this commandment, not me. God knew when he made it how incompatible it would seem in our modern world. Jesus made it clear that we can take care of emergencies on Sabbath, but anyway, each according to our own conscience we should do our best to avoid working (or studying for work) and avoid letting someone else do professional work for us.
This commandment is hard to keep today in our 24/7 world, but God knew about this when he made it, and he calls on us to show our loyalty by making his day special.

Ritual of Universal Inclusion

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: (Isaiah 58:13)

Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. 3 Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. 4 For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; 5 Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. 6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; (Isaiah 56:2-6)

This is fascinating. We have all been given the idea that before Jesus the Israelites were God's only people and yet here is a clear description of how a non-Jew could potentially show that he wanted to join the Israelite nation and be one of God's people. Obviously it would not suffice for him to stop murdering and stealing, he may not have been doing this before. Apparently it would not be sufficient to stop worshipping idols, even an atheist would do the same. The way for a non-Jew, a Gentile, to declare his loyalty to Jehovah God of Israel was to start keeping the seventh-day Sabbath that was unique to Jehovah alone. A Gentile convert that kept the Sabbath was not able to be admitted into the ceremonies of Jerusalem but was promised full access in the New Jerusalem. The Sabbath is the ritual of universal inclusion.

A castrated man could not have a biological family, and this being the standard form of church growth in Israel made him seem spiritually unfruitful too. But God declares that if that eunuch is faithful in choosing the best things then Jehovah will give him fulfilment beyond that of having children. I think the prophet Daniel is an excellent example of this, and in a less literal sense the apostle Paul. The God who made man's pleasures can make your life pleasurable whether that includes celibacy or not.

A Brief Word of Prayer: Help

Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. (Nehemiah 2:4)

It is hardly likely that Nehemiah got down on his knees and bowed his head to pray this prayer. That said, he may have been bowing to the king already, but that's a technicality. It is not at all likely he closed his eyes or prayed out loud.

These kinds of prayer are good, important and often necessary. But we can also pray silently with a moment's thought that appeals to God for help. "Help me Lord" that's all we need to say sometimes, and God honours and answers such prayers. There is nothing like this to give hope in dangerous situations, there have been many moments when I have prayed such a prayer and I am still alive today, perhaps as a result.

Prayer should be our automatic first response to problems, it will become this as we pray about other things in our lives on numerous occasions. Sometimes it is good to make habits of praying frequently, like before you eat or before driving. This can sometimes be necessary, and it is always a good way to train ourselves to pray without ceasing.

Ready or… What?

And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. (Isaiah 58:12)

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. (Daniel 9:25)

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: (Amos 9:11)

The reference in Amos is to the New Earth, it speaks of Jehovah himself repairing the breaches and ruins. But Isaiah is not speaking to Jehovah, Jehovah is speaking to his people. The reference in Daniel is referring literally to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, but this was done without a particular emphasis on good works. In this prophecy in Daniel, the Jews are given the chance to restore Jerusalem so that they can accept the Messiah before the expiry date specified in the prophecy (v.24). They had "seventy weeks" to anoint the Messiah along with several other things. But the Jews failed in this and they lost everything. The church today has a commission to prepare for Jesus' second coming. There is no expiry date on it, but Jesus is ready when we are. The bridegroom cometh, get ready.

What does it look like to get ready? Fast. Yes, afflict your soul and repent of your sins and go without food sometimes but mostly: draw out thy soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul.

Wall of Law

And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. (Isaiah 58:12)

But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth (Nehemiah 4:7)

Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;) (Nehemiah 6:1)

One might say that Nehemiah was the repairer of the breach described in Isaiah 58, which would explain why he gets so much more attention than many more significant people described in the Bible. But what Nehemiah did was different from what Isaiah described. Nehemiah built a wall, Isaiah describes God's people during the time of the Day of Atonement doing good for others. The breach that God wants repaired is not a hole in a literal wall, it is the exclusion of one of the Ten Commandments from being observed today.
Nehemiah worked hard and organised people and got government help to repair a literal wall. How much more should we do to repair the protective wall of God's law?

Restorers

And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. (Isaiah 58:12)

For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. (Isaiah 51:3)

Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. (Isaiah 52:9)

When will the deserts become a paradise? At the very end, after Jesus has returned (Rev 21:1). It that what is meant in Isaiah 58 by building the old waste places? I don't know. The restoration of the character of God in his once-wasted people will happen just before his return, perhaps this is the old waste places. Isaiah 58 is describing a situation before the Second Advent, not after it.
Jesus wants to restore things that have been destroyed as a consequence of sin. He is not the author of emptiness, but fulfilment. If he can command us to sing in joy he can give us the ability to do it. Trust in the Lord like you don't trust anything else, and he will fill your heart with joy.

Greatness

Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews. (John 7:13)

There are some topics and people that the average person is very interested in but doesn't want to talk about it public because of fear of social exclusion. At least at this point of Jesus' ministry, he was not someone that "everyone was talking about" but people actually were talking about him, they just didn't do it in public. Greatness for the Christian is not having your picture on the front of Time magazine, it is influencing the world for the kingdom of God.