April 30, Day 120 – The Wonder of His Light
- Dr. Eric Stricker
- Apr 30
- 3 min read
Today in Joshua 15-16, we see the apportioning of the land areas and the definition of tribal boundaries. Here in chapter 15, land is allocated to the tribe of Judah, and in chapter 16, land is assigned to the tribe of Ephraim, a son of Joseph. As Judah was the most populous tribe, its inheritance was of significant size. In verses 13-19, we read that Joshua gave Caleb a portion of land in Judah “in accordance with the LORD’s command” (verse 13). We also read that Caleb drove out three Anakite peoples – “Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai – all descendants of Anak” (verse 14). These people were giants. We need to recognize the lesson here for us – to claim the spiritual inheritance that God has determined for us, we will likely face gigantic spiritual opposition. Caleb served the Lord wholeheartedly, which meant that He held nothing back, and he trusted God to stand with Him against great resistance. For Caleb’s wholehearted service, God gave him the victory. We must do the same. Also in chapter 16, we see the allotment for Manasseh, the other son of Joseph. We notice, however, from verse 10, that the Ephraimites did not take control of all their inheritance; in direct violation to the Lord’s command, they failed to drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer (cf., Deuteronomy 20:16-17; Joshua 11:20-23). Although they “required the Canaanites to do forced labor” (verse 10), nevertheless, we will see that the Israelites will have problems with the Canaanites in the future – clear up to the time of Solomon (cf., 1 Kings 9:16).
We also come today to Psalm 53, where we see three important observations that David makes: [1] “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Up until David’s day, practically everyone accepted the general truth of God’s existence. However, by David’s day, atheists began to appear, and the fool would more likely make this statement “in his heart” and less likely with his tongue. In our day, atheists have no problem vocalizing their nonsense and revealing themselves thereby to be foolish. David also observed [2] that all men everywhere are evil – “no one does good – not even one” (verse 3). This truth is easily confirmed, and to ignore or deny it is a sheer absurdity. Finally, David noticed [3] that “evildoers never learn” (verse 4). In this Psalm, God is simply reminding us that we are in an awful predicament of our own making. We desperately need His help, but thankfully, God meets our greatest need – “salvation comes out of Zion” – and God restores us (verse 6).
Today we also come to the marvelous gospel of John. In John 1:1-28, we see the truth of Psalm 53:6 revealed and fulfilled when God sent the “true light (i.e., His Son) that gives light to every man” (verse 9). This light was coming into the world” to redeem us from our sin and its darkness. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (verse 14), and by receiving Him, we now have “the right to become children of God” (verse 12). The light “shines in the darkness” (verse 5), though the darkness cannot understand it. People of the darkness do not understand people of the Light. Darkness is not equal to light nor can it prevail against light – it has no power over light. Both physically and spiritually, darkness is incapable of driving out light, but just the opposite is true – light drives out darkness. What a privilege is ours! John’s gospel addresses the true wonder of God’s good news to the world – that we, who are completely unrighteous, can be declared righteous by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. He is the perfect righteousness of God – given for us. I am so thankful that God has applied His mercy to my greatest need. Thank God for the wonder of His light - the Light of the world!
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