Wednesday Night Bible Study….(Announcements): www.ebcnc.com (calendar & information) THE SETTLEMENT OF THE PROMISED LAND (Chaps. 13–21) Joshua 13:1 Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him: “You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed.

These words of the Lord to Joshua speak a timeless truth. Joshua was now of advanced age, and he had brought Israel well along the road to the blessing promised to them by Jacob (Gen 49) and by Moses (Deut 33). Yet, it was now Israel’s responsibility to “possess” her possession, to colonize her designated territories.

What was true of Israel is also true of the Christian church today. We have been around many years as an organized body of believers, but there is still much land to be possessed for the Lord Jesus. How can this be done?

The Apostle Paul may have had this thought in mind when he chided, “Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (1 Cor 15:34).

Joshua 13:18-33 (Reading Homework)- Summary and Interesting points… Dropping Levi from the tribes leaves only eleven tribes. But Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, are included in Joseph’s place, and that raises the number to twelve again. The reason Joseph’s sons are included is that they were adopted by Jacob as his own sons before his death (Gen. 48:5).

Special mention is made of the fact that Balaam was among those slain in Transjordan (v. 22). The Lord had not forgotten the terrible calamity that this wicked prophet caused His people (see Num. 23– 25). “Be sure your sin will fnd you out” (Num. 32:23).

The Land Divided West of the Jordan Joshua 14:1 These are the areas which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel distributed as an inheritance to them. :2 Their inheritance was by lot, as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe. :3 For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe on the other side of the Jordan; but to the Levites he had given no inheritance among them. :4 For the children of Joseph were two tribes: Manasseh and Ephraim. And they gave no part to the Levites in the land, except cities to dwell in, with their common-lands for their livestock and their property. :5 As the Lord had commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did; and they divided the land.

In a show of national unity Eleazar the priest, and Joshua (the heads of church and state, so to speak) began the task of apportioning the land.

The inheritance was determined by lot (Heb gōral, meaning a small pebble) but was in no way done by mere caprice. Lots were frequently used to determine the will of God because they assured that no personal ambition or external pressure would decide the outcome.

The sovereignty of God alone would prevail, and they would trust that “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord” (Prov 16:33).

Caleb Inherits Hebron Joshua 14:6 Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him: “You know the word which the Lord said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea. :7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. :8 Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God. :9 So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’

Caleb was the one-time spy partner of Joshua (cf. Num 13:26–33). These two godly men brought back the unpopular, yet proper, report that Israel should invade the Promised Land immediately from Kadesh-barnea.

Because of Caleb’s faithfulness to the Lord, Moses swore that day saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and now, forty-fve years later, the day had come.

1 Digital Copies can be found at: http://bit.ly/19k0HFJ Joshua 14:10 And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-fve years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-fve years old. :11 As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in.

Even though Caleb was eighty-fve years old, he was yet as strong and capable of being a soldier as on the day this promise was made. He could boldly claim his inheritance, saying give me this mountain.

Joshua 14:12 Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortifed. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.”

Caleb’s statements give a defnite clue to the time lapse in the conquest of the land. If forty-fve years had passed since Caleb received the promise of an inheritance (vs. 10) and that promise was given to him thirty-eight years before the crossing of the Jordan (cf. Num 14:24), then the actual time of the conquest was approximately seven years. Josephus apparently rounds this number off to fve years (Antiq. V:1:19).

Joshua 14:13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. :14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. :15 And the name of Hebron formerly was Kirjath Arba (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim). Then the land had rest from war.

The importance of Hebron as an inheritance cannot be minimized. It was at one time known as Kirjath (“the city of”) -arba, named after Arba, a giant of the Anakim.

But, more importantly, it was the burial site of the Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The tradition of the rabbis, followed by the Vulgate and Wycliffe translations, makes a great man (lit., “the greatest man”) to be Adam, adding his name to the list buried at Hebron. Thus, it can easily be seen why Caleb would request this village as his inheritance.

Caleb had been spared from the plague that took the lives of the unbelieving spies forty-fve years earlier (Num. 14:36–38). He had been preserved during the wilderness wanderings. He had survived several years of war in Canaan. He knew that God would not have kept him alive, promising him a reward for his faith, only to give him over to the Anakim. So what if they were giants? They were on his land, and he would drive them out by the strength of God.

He still saw things through the eyes of faith and not as they appeared outwardly.

This was the secret of his abiding strength and amazing success. He was not about to retire (although eighty-fve years old) until he possessed his possessions.

The Land of Judah Joshua 15-12 Summary The boundaries of Judah are described in verses 1–12. It is almost impossible to trace them with exactness at the present time. This may cause some to wonder why all these details are included in the Bible. The answer is, of course, that these details are important in the sight of God. They are inspired and proftable, full of rich spiritual lessons.

Joshua 15:13 Now to Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a share among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, namely, Kirjath Arba, which is Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak).

Joshua 15:14 Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak from there: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak. :15 Then he went up from there to the inhabitants of Debir (formerly the name of Debir was Kirjath Sepher). 16 And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife.”

Page 2 Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 121). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. MacArthur, J. F., Jr., MacDonald, Farstad, Believers Bible; Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2195). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.