The division of the land.
I. THE DIVISION WAS INTO SEPARATE ALLOTMENTS. The land of Israel was not held in common by the whole people. Certain dues were attached to it, and certain regulations governed the treatment of it by its owners. Thus it was forbidden for any one to make an absolute sale of his estate. On these conditions each family held its own land, like the peasant-proprietors of France and Belgium, God divides our lives out severally. Each must live his own separate life and discharge his individual duty while he receives his personal grace, we are to live in the community and for its benefit, bearing one another's burdens and so fulfilling the law of Christ, but still each taking his own particular part in the common life of the whole.
II. THE DIVISION WAS CLEAR AND DEFINITE. There were exact confines, and it was a criminal offence for any one to remove his neighbor's landmark (Deuteronomy 19:14). We ought to have no doubt as to our portion in life. Occasionally we may see a desolate, ruinous house—part of an estate in chancery, the ownership of which is disputed; on the other hand, we hear of claimants to estates who find it difficult to obtain what they urge is their own property. But in the region of personal religion each should see what is his portion and mission for the world.
III. THE DIVISION INCLUDED A PORTION FOR EVERY ISRAELITE. It was so carefully made that the most insignificant family should not be overlooked. There should be a share for every one in the produce of our great fruitful earth. Centers of population may be overcrowded, but the earth is not yet full. Folly and sin, tyranny, injustice, and robbery, keep many out of their fights. If all did their duty and had their dues there would be enough for all. This holds good also in the spiritual world. There is room in the kingdom of heaven for all. No one need fear that others will go in first and take the blessing, and so leave him behind too late to get any benefit from the Divine bounty—like the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:7). There is a portion in Christ's redemption for every soul of man. It only remains for all to receive their inheritance, accepting it by faith and entering it with obedience to the Lord who is supreme over the whole.
IV. THE DIVISION WAS BY LOT. This expedient prevented all complaints of supposed injustice. The owner of a bit of bare hillside had no right to envy the fortunate possessor of a rich plot in the valley. But there was more than this object in view in the use of the lot, which was taken as part of the method of Divine government. "The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord" (Proverbs 16:33). The people were thus to feel that God was to determine where each should settle, and to say, "He shall choose our inheritance for us" (Psalms 47:4). We talk of the "lottery of life," but we should remember that Providence obliterates chance. God orders our circumstances, and whether the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places and we have a goodly heritage, or we are left to poverty and hardship, our Father's choice must be good.
The stranger's portion.
We do wrong to the ancient Jewish Law and to the character of the Jews themselves when we regard a selfish exclusiveness as the marked feature of Old Testament times. A certain separateness was required to keep the people of God from the idolatry and immorality of their heathen neighbors, and none of the privileges of Israel could be enjoyed excepting on condition of entering into the covenant of Israel—the covenant which needed to be accepted and kept by the chosen people themselves in order that they might enjoy their privileges. But the bitter jealousy which was seen in the narrow Judaism of New Testament times is not encouraged by the Law, nor does it seem to have been indulged in by the Old Testament Israelites. It was the revenge of a persecuted sect turned against their powerful oppressors. A freer, happier, more generous spirit prevailed in the earlier Hebrew nation. The people were taught to cultivate national hospitality. Care for the stranger was repeatedly inculcated in their Law. Much more is it incumbent on Christians to manifest a brotherly spirit in welcoming strangers.
I. STRANGERS SHOULD RECEIVE A BROTHERLY WELCOME FROM CHRISTIAN PEOPLE. Hospitality is an Eastern habit; it should be a Christian grace.
1. In the church. Care should be taken to make strangers feel at home in our midst. The least aversion to having a stranger sitting by one's side may cheek the beginning of a new course of life by repelling the seeker after truth from the means of enlightenment. The friendless, the poor, the timid, the penitent, should be received with especial kindness.
2. In the home. Christian people have not sufficiently regarded their Lord's command to make guests of the poor who can offer no return (Luke 14:13).
3. In the world. A generous Christian spirit should open the heart to receive strangers. The miserably selfish isolation in which some people immure themselves is quite alien to the brotherly spirit of Jesus Christ.
II. STRANGERS ARE WELCOMED BY CHRIST INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
1. Gentiles. Assuredly Christianity is not narrower than Judaism, under which even provision was made for a brotherly reception of proselytes. They who were strangers to the covenant of promise are now brought nigh by the blood of Christ. The wild olive branch is grafted in to the fruitful stock (Romans 11:17). Gentiles are freely admitted to the promised blessings of Abraham.
2. Heathen. Strangers to Christendom are invited into the kingdom of Christ. The heathen world is to receive the gospel. From China, from New Guinea, from Central Africa, the strangers press into the privileged kingdom.
3. Sinners. We have not to go to a distant continent to discover strangers to Christ. They may be found in a Christian land—even in a Christian Church! Every man who lives in sin is a stranger to Christ. But all sinners are invited to the Savior.
III. STRANGERS MUST BECOME TRUE CITIZENS IN ORDER TO ENJOY THE PRIVILEGES OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. The stranger needed to adopt the Law, to be circumcised, and to become a Jew, if he was to have his portion in the land. People who are spiritually strangers now need a circumcision of heart (Deuteronomy 30:6) and a new birth to have the blessings of Christ. All may have the Christian blessedness, but all must first become Christians. There is a portion for every one in Christ's kingdom; it now only rests with every one to qualify himself for his inheritance by penitence and faith in Jesus Christ.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON