Joshua 14
In verses 1-5, the instructions for the inheritance of the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh east of the Jordan River are repeated.
In verses 6-12, Caleb approached Joshua and asked Joshua to give his tribe the hill country promised him by Moses when he spied out the land 45 years earlier.
- It is interesting that Caleb came to Joshua asking for permission to take the hill country (Hebron) where the Anakim lived.
- These Anakim are the giants of the land that scared the spies 40 years earlier into not going into the Promised Land (Genesis 23:2).
- Caleb, now 85 years old is still strong and willing to fight to fulfill God’s promise made to him 45 years earlier.
- In Joshua 14:12, Caleb continues to rely on God knowing that God will be with him and drive the Anakim out.
Note: In Joshua 15:14, Caleb does indeed drive out the Anakim.
In verses 13-15, Joshua blessed Caleb and gave him Hebron and the hill country he had been promised.
Joshua 15
In verses 1-12, the inheritance for the tribe of Judah is described. Judah’s land was sandwiched between the northern tip of the Dead Sea in the south and ran west to the Mediterranean Sea. The border on the north zigzagged across natural formations from the bay of the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
In verses 13-19, Caleb’s inheritance is repeated from Joshua 14:6-15 with the addition of specific places to be given to his children.
In verses 20-63, the towns of Judah are listed in four major geographic sections:
- 29 towns plus their villages in the south.
- 42 towns plus their villages in the western foothills.
- 38 towns plus their villages in the central hill country.
- 6 towns plus their villages in the Judean wilderness that slopes down to the Dead Sea.
Note: 29 towns are in the south, but 36 towns are listed. The difference is seven of these towns were later given to Simeon’s tribe (see Joshua 19:1-7: Moladah, Hazar-Shual, Beersheba, Ezem, Eltolad, Hormah, and Ziklag).
Joshua 16
In Joshua 16, the people of Joseph, (Ephraim and Manasseh) receive their inheritance.
- Their inheritance was north of the land of Dan and Benjamin. The northern border was the Kishon River from the Jordan River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.
- But, they failed to drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. Instead, they made the Canaanites do forced labor.
Note: The fact that they did not drive out the Canaanites is going to be a problem by the time we get to Judges.
Some thoughts for further consideration:
- Caleb impresses me. He was a man of great faith from the time he spied out the Promised Land and knew by faith that God would be with them, through all the wilderness journeys, and now in all the battles to drive out God’s enemies he maintained his faith. Even at 85 years old he was determined to finish the battle and drive out the very giants that had scared everyone else 40 years before. Such great faith in God and God’s promises over an entire lifetime is unusual among the Biblical leaders we have studied and certainly unusual among our leaders today!
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Tomorrow: Joshua 17-19
