Unlike some elderly people, Joshua lived in the future and not in the past. He had a job to do, and he wanted to complete it before he died. He was not satisfied to defeat thirty-one kings. He urged the tribes to possess the land they had conquered and claim it for the Lord.
约书亚有别于一些年长者：他活在未来而不是过去。他有任务在身，并想在临终之前完成。击败31个国王并不足够。他催促各支派要为主的缘故完全征服且掌控分地。
No matter how much God has enabled you to accomplish in life, there is always much more land to possess. In the Christian life, we never stand still; we go either forward or backward. The challenge to the believer is Hebrews 6:1: “Let us go on!”
无论神使你在生命中取得了多少成就，我们总是还会有更多未征服的土地。在基督徒的生命里，我们是不会原地不动的；我们只能向前走或倒退。信徒所面临的挑战是希伯来书6:1所勉励的：“让我们竭力前进！”
In all his ministry, Joshua was careful to follow the regulations laid down by Moses. Obedience to the Word guaranteed his success (Josh. 1:8).
在他所有的事工里，约书亚谨慎地遵循摩西所吩咐的规定。对话语的顺服是他成功的保证（书1:8）。
Did the Levites feel left out? How could they, when God was their inheritance (v. 33)!
利未人是否被冷落了呢？怎么可能，因神是他们的产业（33节）！
Praying the Scripture 用经文祷告
- It is easy to read verse 1 and to forget just how much had been accomplished under Joshua’s leadership. A careful look at ‘the land that remains’ shows that this land was, in one sense, on the edges of Israel’s land. If such was the land that remained, it implies that Israel had achieved a significant measure of dominance in the main part of Canaan. Not that such dominance was total, but it was substantial. Joshua and Israel’s conquests apparently caused a power vacuum into which Israel could step. Now it was time to allot the land to tribes who would follow up and extend the conquest (vv. 6b–7). For Christians, the Lord has won the victory for us, but there are the fringes of our lives that need to be overcome by the power of God. Let’s pray that we are willing to drive the enemy out of our lives.
若只看第一节，我们会轻易忘记以色列在约书亚的领导下所取得的众多成就。仔细查看那“未得之地”的位置，便可晓得它多数都是以色列边界的江山。若是如此，这表示以色列已在迦南首要的领域取得了主要的掌控。虽说这掌控不完全，但它是主导。约书亚和以色列的征服显然制造了权势上的空缺，使以色列人可以介入。如今是给各支派分配土地的时候，让他们各自继续征服、扩展土地（6-7节）。对基督徒而言，主已为我们赢得了胜利，但我们生命中仍有细小的领域仍需要靠神的力量来征服。让我们祈祷，叫我们愿意将敌人从自己的生命中完全赶出。
- Furthermore, we cannot help detecting a note of repeated encouragement throughout verses 8–33. There are repeated allusions to Israel’s victories over our old friends Sihon and Og (vv. 10, 12, 21, 27, 30–31), not to mention Balaam (v. 22; see Num. 22–25; 31:8). What does this mean? It means that throughout all this geography and topography there are constant allusions to the victories Yahweh had previously given Israel under Moses. This is the biblical prescription for faith; faith finds both steadfastness and expectancy by rehearsing and reveling in Yahweh’s past acts of faithfulness. Are we weak in faith? Should we be reminded of what the Lord did for Israel? Let’s pray that our faith will grow by reading what the Lord has done in the Bible.
此外，我们会在8至33节不经意察觉到鼓励的话反复出现。事实上，这些暗指的是以色列对老友西宏和噩（10,12,21,27,30-31节）的胜利，巴兰也当然包括在内（22节；见民22-25; 31:8）。这意味着什么？这些地理、名称都会叫我们想起耶和华曾在摩西的领导下所已给予以色列的胜利。这就是圣经对信心的描述；信心会不断地复述并回想耶和华过去的信实，从而被坚定，有盼望。我们的信心是否软弱？我们不当记念耶和华为以色列所做的事吗？让我们祈祷，叫自己的信心能通过阅读神在圣经中的作为而得长进。
