Barry Metz 05/28/17

Wholly Following the LordJoshua 14-15

In the famous story from Numbers 13 and 14 where Moses sent 12 spies, one spy from each tribe, into the Promised Land, Caleb the Son of Jephunneh was chosen to represent the tribe of Judah.

Moses told the spies… “Go up into the Negeb…that’s the southernmost desert-like region of Canaan…and go up into the hill country…that’s the mountainous spine that runs north to south through the country1 …18 and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, 19 and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, 20 and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and ….and while you’re at it… bring some of the fruit of the land.”2 So the spies went throughout the land and eventually made their way to Hebron where the descendants of Anak the giant lived, Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai. Hebron had been around a long time.3 It was a city with a storied history. Most of the patriarchs were buried there4 And later in David’s time—a future time from our story—Hebron would be his first capital. But the descendants of Anak had made it home. At one point in its history Hebron was called Kiriath-Arba, the City of Arba. And Arba was the father of Anak.5 So we kind of get this picture of a dynasty of giants who lived in Hebron—first it was Arba, then his son Anak, and then Anak’s descendants Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai.6 And all of them were somehow connected to the Nephillim who walked the earth in Genesis 6.7

{Now I belabor this dynasty-of-giants-in-Hebron-thing because we’re going to find out that Caleb seemed to take a liking for Hebron from the get go. And it seemed to me it was the challenge of it all that attracted him. It’s a little bit like the Awana worker who surveys the kids signed up for Awana and says ‘I want the kids who’ve never heard the name of Jesus at all’ Or the Sunday school teacher when asked which group they’d like to teach replies by asking ‘Which group is the hardest?’ Or the father, in the midst of a terribly busy schedule, who commits to memorize a chapter of the Bible…. The whole thing reminds me of the story of the shoe salesman of an American shoe company sent to a foreign country. He had hardly arrived

1 Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). In Harper’s Bible dictionary (1st ed., p. 393). San Francisco: Harper & Row.2 Num. 13:17-203 See the parenthetical note at the end of Numbers 13:22 “Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt” “Zoan (Tanis) is in the Nile Delta and it was founded in the early second millennium BC and excavations at Hebron demonstrate that the first fortified cities dates to the middle bronze period (c.2000-1750 BC).” So Hebron had a storied history.4 Genesis 23 Kiriath-Arba = Mamre = Hebron5 Joshua 15:136 Joshua 15:13-147 Numbers 13:33

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before he cabled for money to come home. His reason: “No one over here wears shoes.” The company brought him back and sent another shoe salesman over. Soon he cabled: Send me all the shoes you can manufacture. The market is absolutely unlimited. No one over here has shoes.”8 The sheer difficulty of the task turned off one shoe salesman and stimulated another. Well there was something about “Giant Land” that attracted Caleb.}

So in their journey through Canaan, the spies took it all in—you can just imagine them doing their best to assess everything they saw-- and because they were commissioned to bring some fruit from the land, they arranged to bring back a single cluster of grapes that was so large that it had to be carried on a pole between two of them.9 As God had said, the land of Canaan was a very fruitful land. After 40 days the spies returned back to home base where Moses and Aaron and the congregation of Israel were.

Ten of the spies came to the people and said, “The land does flow with milk and honey, and pointing to the single cluster of grapes, they said…“And this is its fruit.” 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” It’s as if they said, “Enemies are everywhere.”

Forty year old Caleb, looking to squelch the rebellion that was beginning to break out, quieted the crowd and courageously cried out, Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.10

The other spies countered, “We’re not able to go, for they are stronger than we are. The land we spied out is a land that devours its inhabitants and all the people we saw are people of great height!”11 In their presence, in the presence of these giants we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers…and so we seemed to them.12

The rebellion gathered momentum, “Why is Yahweh bringing us into this land?.... Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt!13

Joshua and Caleb tried once again to counter the rebels… “It’s a good land…if Yahweh delights in us, he will bring us into the land and give it to us.”14

8 Davis9 Numbers 13:2310 Numbers 13:3011 Numbers 13:32-3312 Numbers 13:3313 Numbers 14:3-414 Numbers 14:8

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But no one was listening. The cause was lost. The congregation began picking up stones15 And thankfully God showed up.16

Alan Redpath says this: “The majority (of spies) measured the giants against their own strength; Caleb and Joshua measured the giants against God. The majority (of spies) trembled. Caleb and Joshua (trusted). The majority (of spies) saw great giants but a little God. Caleb and Joshua saw a great God and little giants”17

____________

So this was Caleb at 40. He was ready to follow God no matter what! He was ready to follow God no matter where! He was ready to follow God no matter when! And he was ready to follow God no matter why!

There’s a phrase used repeatedly of Caleb—he wholly followed the Lord.18 He fully trusted the Lord. He completely relied on the Lord.19

We could imagine someone saying, “Tell me about Caleb.” Oh he’s the one who wholly follows the Lord! Now does somebody just wholly follow the Lord like that out of nowhere? I don’t think so.20 It starts early and it starts in the little areas of life. And then it builds and grows. And before long it’s a lifestyle. Before long there have been a thousand decisions to follow the Lord. And then, God in his providence, brings along an ‘epic’ decision point when it would be particularly difficult to follow the Lord (like what Caleb encountered at Kadesh Barnea.) And Caleb did just what came natural—after a lifetime of wholly following the Lord….say it with me… he wholly followed the Lord.

Now we’re going to look at Joshua chapter 14 and Joshua chapter 15 this morning. And we’re going to pick up the story of Caleb some 45 years later—in other words 45 years have passed since Caleb stood up against the entire congregation of Israel at Kadesh Barnea. And Caleb at 85 is a ‘magnificent old man’21

________________

Now students of scripture have made the observation that Joshua chapters 14 all the way through chapters 19 are a literary unit of scripture—they go together to communicate a key idea.22 You’ll see a chart at the top of your sermon notes. I’d like to explore this chart with you—and the idea that Joshua

15 They talked of stoning Joshua and Caleb16 Numbers 14:1017 As quoted by James Montgomery Boice, ‘The Magnificent Old Man’ Sermon18 Deut. 1:36; Num. 14:24; Jos. 14:8,9,14; Num. 32:1219 Handbook20 Actually David Easling suggested this insight—‘following the Lord started early for Caleb’21 James Montgomery Boice22 ESV Study Bible; Davis points this out; Ziesse points this out

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chapters 14-19 are a literary unit-- before we jump into Joshua chapter 14.

Now again we’re talking about Joshua chapters 14 through 19. And we’re going to argue that these chapters exhibit a literary symmetry.23

At the far left of the chart is Joshua 14:1… These are the inheritances that the people of Israel received in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel gave them to inherit.

Now look at the far right of the chart at Joshua 19:51 …51 These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel distributed by lot at Shiloh before the LORD, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

Don’t those verses, Joshua 14:1 and Joshua 19:51, sound like bookends?

Now move in from each of those book ends and you see the symmetry continuing: on the left, Joshua 14:6-15 is about Caleb, a faithful spy receiving his inheritance. And then over to the right, Joshua 19:49-50 is about Joshua, a faithful spy receiving his inheritance. Again don’t miss the symmetry.

And then simply moving from left to right, starting at the third block in the chart:

■ Judah’s inheritance is given first (Why we wonder? We’ll talk about that. But just make a note—JUDAH IS FIRST!);

■ Joseph’s inheritance is given next (and by Joseph we include his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh and we’ll talk more about that. We know that Joseph plays a unique and

23 ESB Study Bible page 417

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“These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes…. distributed by Lot at Shiloh” (19:51)

The allotment

for

7 tribes

A crucial

assembly at

Shiloh before the

‘tent of meeting’

The allotment

for

Joseph (Ephraim &Manasseh)

The allotment

for

Judah

“These are the inheritances that the people of Israel received in the land of Canaan which Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes…. Game them to inherit” (14:1)

A

faithful

spy

receiving

his

inheritance:

Joshua

A faithful

spy receiving

his inheritance:

Caleb

Barry Metz 05/28/17

prominent role in the last chapters of Genesis. Is his prominence reflected in the fact that his inheritance comes second? More on that later.

■There is a convocation (a large assembly of all the people) at Shiloh before the ‘tent of meeting’. So as of Joshua 18, the Ark of the Covenant and the tent of meeting are positioned in the center of the land and in the center of the people and kind of in the center of this unit of scripture

■The inheritance of the remaining 7 tribes is given together.

So here’s the point. It seems that chapters 14-19 provide historical information in a carefully structured literary form. And that form is designed to communicate a message.

(Under the chart you’ll see a sentence from the ESV Study Bible) “Joshua chapters 14-19 provide detailed historical information in a carefully structured literary form, and in so doing underscore a fundamental theological truth: those like Caleb or Joshua who wholly follow the Lord (14:8-9, 14) will be able to enjoy their inheritance.” 24

Is that a truth that we could pull forward into our New Testament setting? I wrestled with that some. That those who wholly follow the Lord will be able to enjoy their inheritance? Aren’t the rewards that Jesus promises dependent on our faithfulness? Isn’t our enjoyment of the Lord in the new heavens and new earth dependent on how we live our lives now? I think so.

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Well having considered an overview of chapters 14-19, let’s jump in to Joshua chapter 14. Follow along as I read verses 1-5….Joshua 14:1-5.

14 These are the inheritances that the people of Israel received in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel gave them to inherit. 2 Their inheritance was by lot, just as the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses for the nine and one-half tribes. 3 For Moses had given an inheritance to the two and one-half tribes beyond the Jordan, but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them. 4 For the people of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. And no portion was given to the Levites in the land, but only cities to dwell in, with their pasturelands for their livestock and their substance. 5 The people of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses; they allotted the land.

Notice in verse 1, that Eleazar the priest is mentioned first along with Joshua and a leader from each tribe as Moses had prescribed25. Eleazar was the son and successor of Aaron the former 24 ESV Study Bible page 41725 According to Num. 34:16-29

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high priest.26 And this is Eleazar’s debut in the book of Joshua.27 His involvement communicates that distributing the land was a sacred act.28

Verse 2 tells us that the inheritances were granted by lot. This is the first reference in the book of Joshua to lots, but they show up again and again as we move along-- in 15:1; 16:1; 17:1; 18:6, 8, 10.29

Lots were probably small stones or pieces of wood “with markings keyed to the decision sought.”30 God had commanded that lots be cast to determine the inheritances (Num 26:52–56; 33:54).

And the assurance was, Proverbs 16:33, that the lot’s every decision was from Yahweh. {Of course today we have the scriptures and the Spirit so we no longer discern God’s will by casting lots.}

The end of verse 2 through verse 4 attempts to clarify how when it was all said and done that there would be 12 allotments of land, 2 ½ on one side of the Jordan and 9 ½ on the other. How would there be 12 especially since Levi, one of the twelve sons of Jacob wasn’t to be given an allotment.

Let me use a slide to help explain this.

26 Exod. 6:23; Num. 3:4; Deut. 10:627 Hubbard, NIV Application Commentary28 Hubbard; Num. 26:55; 33:54; 34:13 and 36:229 Howard, D. M., Jr. (1998). Joshua (Vol. 5, p. 325). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.30 Hubbard

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So if we go back to Genesis 29-30 where Jacob’s children are born, there are twelve sons born to Jacob. You’ll see them on the slide—Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulin, Joseph, and Benjamin31…these are the 12 sons of Jacob. Well God had announced that the tribe Levi was to be given no tribal inheritance; “their” inheritance was the offerings and Yahweh himself. We learned that last week. So Levi is crossed off the list.

And you can see that Joseph’s name is marked through on the slide and there is a note that his two sons basically take his place. What’s going on here? Well this happened way back in Genesis 48. Jacob was dying and he called for Joseph and his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh to come to see him. And Jacob pronounced a blessing on the sons and said—and this is Genesis 48:5-- 5 And now your two sons—this is Jacob speaking to Joseph about Ephraim and Manasseh—And now your two sons who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. In a sense, and this is a terrible way to say it, but Ephraim and Manasseh got a promotion—as nephews they got moved up by the command of their grandfather Jacob to be with their uncles.

So putting it together if you take Levi out and you add two from Joseph and you get the magic number 12.

One final observation from verses 2 and 5—everything was done just as Yahweh had commanded Moses…obedience is again emphasized.

___________

Well as we come to verse 6, we come to the allotment for the tribe of Judah. Now let’s again raise a flag, toot a horn, make a note that—of all the tribes west of the Jordan, JUDAH IS FIRST—and then let me ask a few questions that communicate the priority of Judah over the other tribes:

■Why does Judah receive its inheritance first? ■Why does Judah receive the most land west of the Jordan River? 32 (You might not

have known that fact but it’s true)■And why is the attention devoted to Judah’s inheritance the most detailed and

extensive of all the tribes?”33 (Again you might not have known that fact but we’ll see that when we get there.34)

31 Actually Benjamin is born later32 Howard, D. M., Jr. (1998). Joshua (Vol. 5, p. 326). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.33 Howard, D. M., Jr. (1998). Joshua (Vol. 5, p. 326). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.34 Howard, New American Commentary

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So why is Judah given prominence? Let me give a preliminary answer to that question. IF we took time to go back to Genesis 49 where Jacob blessed his twelve sons, we’d read some pretty amazing phrases from Jacob’s blessing of Judah….…Judah your brothers shall praise you….…your father’s sons shall bow down before you35……the scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet until

tribute comes to him and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.36

We see the tribe of Judah being prominent at the end of the book of Ruth with King David and ultimately Matthew 1 with King Jesus, born as the lion of Judah. So from lots of different angles, it’s pretty clear that the tribe of Judah is the most important and prominent of the twelve tribes. So their inheritance is given first !

Look at verse 6… 6 Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him…

Before we look at what Caleb said, we have to reckon with a new descriptor for Caleb that

shows up here in verse 6….He’s a Kenizzite. Now what’s a Kenizzite? Listen to Genesis 15:18-21…and fasten your seat belt! And remember that Genesis 15 is the great Abrahamic covenant…

18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land the Promised Land, Canaan, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river

Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, (there it is) the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, and so on.

Does this mean that the Kenizzites ,who were probably associated with Esau,37 were one of the tribes that originally lived in Canaan? Now admittedly there’s some debate here. One theory is that Caleb the Kenizzite “was at some point grafted in or adopted into the tribe of Judah (Num. 32:12; Josh. 15:13; Josh. 14:6,14).”38 Maybe his father was a Kenezzite and his mother was from the tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:13). Wouldn’t that make his story of whole-hearted following as an outsider even more remarkable? But there’s a second theory that ‘views the term Kenizzite, not as a people group, but as meaning “the descendants of Kenaz.”39 And in

35 Gen. 49:836 Gen. 49:1037 Gen. 36:10-1638 Nyberg, M.F. ‘Caleb, Israelite Spy, Son of Jephunneh, The Lexham Bible Dictionary39 Nyberg, M.F. ‘Caleb, Israelite Spy, Son of Jephunneh, The Lexham Bible Dictionary

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favor of this option there was a family name, “Kenaz” in Caleb’s family.40 Bottom line—I kind of apologize for the length of that rabbit trail—the bottom line is we don’t know if Caleb originally was an outsider or not. But it’s kind of tantalizing to think that he might have been another outsider like Rahab and even the Gibeonites who was drawn into the worship of God.

So what did Caleb come to Joshua to say?… continuing in verse 6….

“You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. …what a scene this must have been there at Gilgal—we know that Caleb was 85 and Joshua was somewhere in that ballpark— these two former warriors meeting to talk about what God had said to them 45 years previously….and what had God said to them? He had promised to bring them in to the land and give them inheritances there41…… 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 him word again as it was in my heart. 8 But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God. …there’s the phrase that is used of Caleb repeatedly…We could say it this way, “Caleb filled his heart to follow God.”42 His heart was fully, completely for…there was no division…for following the Lord.43 9 And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ 10 And now, behold….ok the ‘behold’ tells us that the something that follows is remarkable… the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold …again something is coming that also is remarkable…. I am this day eighty-five years old. 11 I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. 12 So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.”

Don’t you appreciate this magnificent old man? “Give me this hill country! Make me a shoe salesman in a place where people don’t wear shoes!... Give me all the kids who’ve never even heard the name Jesus”

40 1 Chron. 4:1541 Num. 14:24,30; Deut. 1:3642 Hubbard, NIV Application Commentary43 Snijders as quoted in Hubbard

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Caleb had found the fountain of youth it seems. Any formulas for ending up like Caleb? I looked everywhere in the text—but I didn’t find one! The text doesn’t even talk about drinking pomegranate juice!

(Humorous aside about how I saw a quasi- technical (but not really) article about the polyphenol (antioxidant) effects of pomegranate juice and went out and bought gallons of it)

Let’s look again and see where the “beholds” are in the text and let’s replace those ‘beholds’ with a Gomer Pile “Surprise, surprise, surprise!” because that’s essentially what the ‘beholds’ mean…

Vs. 10a And now, Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! Yahweh has kept me alive just as he saidVs. 10b Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! I am this day eighty five years old

What’s the point? Caleb is as surprised as anybody that his physical health is so good

We would wish we could for a formula to stay strong in our old age. Psalm 92 doesn’t give us a formula but it does give us a picture to pray toward…. Psalm 92:12–15 (ESV)

12  The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

13  They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.

14  They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,

15  to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Two other thoughts from the chunk of verses, verses 6-12 in Joshua 14.

First we would be remiss if we didn’t highlight what was fueling Caleb’s faith at this point in his life. It was God’s word….it was God’s promises to him.

When Caleb approached Joshua in verse 6, he based his request on ‘the word that Yahweh spoke to Moses.’ And if we read along in the verses, he keeps coming back to this, 5 more times…

Vs. 9 And Moses swore on that day sayingVs. 10 a Yahweh has kept me alive, just as he said

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Vs. 10 b Yahweh spoke this word to MosesVs. 12 a of which Yahweh spoke on that dayVs. 12 b I shall drive them out just as the Lord said..

What God promised was very important to Caleb! Six times Caleb hammered this point home. His request was for nothing but what God promised him.

‘True faith always functions that way; it pleads God’s promises; it anchors itself upon the Word of God. There can be no other foundation for faith.’44

A second point from verses 6-12, what are we to do with Caleb’s words in verse 12? It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.”

What is this, ‘It may be that Yahweh will be with me!’ stuff? Is that a failure to believe God? Jonathan expressed the same kind of faith to his armor bearer when he made the decision to surprise the Philistine garrison in I Samuel 14, “It may be that Yahweh will work for us.” What kind of faith is that? Well it’s faith without arrogance. It’s faith without presumption.

One author says it this way… “Faith does not dictate to God, as if the Lord of hosts is its errand boy. Faith recognizes its degree of ignorance and knows it has not read a transcript of the divine decrees for most situations. All this, however, does not cancel but enhances its excitement.”45

13 Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. 14 Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel. 15 Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba. (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim.) And the land had rest from war.

As we continue in chapter 15 here is what we will find….

44 Davis45 Davis, D. R. (2000). 1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart (p. 144). Scotland: Christian Focus Publications.

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As you can see on the slide, verses 1-12 give us boundary details for the tribe of Judah’s inheritance. It turns out that the word ‘boundary’ occurs some 21 times in these 12 verses and some 84 times in the entire book. What’s the point? What’s the implication? The boundary list in these verses is one of the ‘clearest and most detailed of all the tribes.’ And most students of scripture argue that among other things, this reflects the idea of the tribe of Judah’s prominence. On the back of your sermon notes you’ll see a map showing the allotment of the land. It’s pretty easy to see that Judah had the largest allotment of all the tribes.

In verses 13-19 we have the details of Caleb capturing and subduing his inheritance.

13 According to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah46, Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak). 14 And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the descendants of Anak.

We talked briefly about these giants at the start of the message. They were at Hebron 40 years previously. And now Caleb is older and they are older. “There is a certain poetic justice in Caleb’s now driving them out of the land that he had urged the Israelites to take a generation earlier.”47 I had a funny thought—or at least it was funny to me. I imagined Caleb in Hebron looking for these three giants. And one of the locals says, “Oh yeah they’re in the assisted living facility on the other side of the city.”

In any event, Caleb seemed to dispatch with them rather quickly. And he didn’t stop there. He marched to Debir, fifteen miles southwest of Hebron. Look at verse 15…15 And he went up from there against the inhabitants of Debir. Now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher. 16 And Caleb said, “Whoever strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife.” 17 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, captured it. So

46 This is a new detail—Joshua gave Caleb his inheritance at Yahweh’s command47 Howard, D. M., Jr. (1998). Joshua (Vol. 5, p. 337). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

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Othniel, Caleb’s nephew, captured Debir... and (Caleb) gave (Othniel) Achsah his daughter as wife. 18 When she came to him…Othniel, she urged him…Othniel… to ask her father for a field. So Achsah urged—and the Hebrew word beneath our word ‘urge’ is almost always negative—so Achsah incited Othniel to ask her father for a field…..at this point Othniel falls away and we hear about him no more…..Did he ask Caleb for a field? Yes? And now the story switches to Achsah….And she, Achsah, got off her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” In other words, your new husband wants a field. What do you want? 19 She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

{Now I wrestled a bit with the significance of this event in the story line. Why is it there? The only thing I could think of is that it’s just another picture of some people going hard after their inheritance.}

Well verses 20-62 lists the cities that Judah inherited. Again this largest list of inherited cities of all the tribes communicates the tribe of Judah’s importance.

What can a list like this do for us? These cities—“Israel’s concrete and tangible inheritance in Canaan (are) a foreshadowing of our own (inheritance). Our full possession is in new heavens and a new earth, not in some earthless, fleshless void. Our full expectation ought not to be in dying and going to heaven, as the usual cliché has it. The New Testament language is that believers, when they die, are ‘with the Lord’ (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; Luke 23:43). But the New Testament always lifts our eyes and fixes our minds upon the fullness of our hope, the redemption of our bodies on resurrection day at the return of our Lord (Rom. 8:23; Phil. 3:20–21; 1 Thess. 4:16–17; 1 Cor. 15) ”48and living with the Lord in a very earthy new heavens and new earth .

And finally, verse 63 sounds an ominous warning. For the first time in the book of Joshua, a tribe did not destroy the native people occupying its inheritance: But the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out, so the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.

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What have we talked about this morning? Caleb has been center stage hasn’t he? Caleb wholly followed the Lord. He filled up his heart with following the Lord. There was no room in his heart for anything but following the Lord. Though the challenges in front of him were

48 Davis, D. R. (2000). Joshua: No Falling Words (pp. 124–127). Scotland: Christian Focus Publications.

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great, though the giants were tall, though very few joined him on the journey, he was convinced that if God had called him to something, God would equip him, help him, and enable him to get it done.

Given the timing of Caleb’s story in the book of Joshua—just as the inheritances west of the Jordan River were first being allotted—it seems that his story is held up as an example for the rest of the people of Israel. And there is much to be said for having flesh and blood examples that challenge us to go hard after God.49

Phil. 4:9 What you have learned and received and seen in me—practice these things…Paul writes.

1 Tim. 4:12…Set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity

Heb. 13:7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith

Do you have someone in your life that’s a little further down the road that you can look to as an example? Personally I’m inspired by many of the magnificent older men and older woman in our midst.

Do you have someone in your life who sets a great example that you can follow? Is there someone in your life who goes hard after God?

The ultimate example of course is Jesus. And we do well to keep our eyes on him.

Just a few more personal comments and then I’ll close.

As I was studied this passage the message for me was crystal clear—I needed to resist the temptation to coast. As one ages a host of lies start showing up in one’s grey matter…I’ve done my part. It’s time for someone else to step up. I’m not as sharp as I once was. Maybe It’s time to circle the wagons and slow down.

But there’s a call on my life. And there’s a call on your life. And he who began the good work in my life (and your life) is going to bring it to completion. What was Paul’s attitude? Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.50

One last thought--remember Caleb was either the oldest man in the congregation or the second oldest man in the congregation—Joshua possible being older. Let that sink in.

49 ESV Study Bible, page 228650 Phil. 3:13-14

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Barry Metz 05/28/17

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This year we’re wrestling with how to bring a gospel focus to all that we do—we want to see, savor and show the gospel. With that in mind, up to this point what have I emphasized?

We need to follow good examples

We need to do our best to wholly follow the Lord.

It’s a challenge for me to live for Christ.

Listen as I use another’s words to bring a gospel focus to bear on the application of this passage

“Have you wholly followed the Lord? If you answer that question honestly, then you will have to admit that you have not. All of us have failed to believe the promises. We have not been willing to take the lonely stand of faith. We have let fear dominate our lives rather than courage to believe God’s truth. For this reason you and I need someone else from the tribe of Judah, a man greater than Caleb who believed God in the face of death, a man who was willing to stand alone outside the gate at that place called Calvary, a man who was willing to suffer and endure the cross for the joy that was set before him, the promise of an inheritance given to him, the inheritance of a people. There is a man greater than Caleb, and he is called Jesus. Because He wholly followed the Lord, because he perfectly obeyed the father, we can receive forgiveness for our failures by faith in him. For in every place you failed, Jesus has succeeded. For every sin you’ve committed, Christ has earned you a perfect righteousness. And he calls you to come, to commit your eternal soul into his hands (and follow him)”51

Do you feel the difference? Jesus wholly followed the Lord. Jesus wholly followed the Lord on my behalf. Thinking forward, I will fail again to follow the Lord. But the pressure’s off. I can with God’s help give it my best shot, knowing that I’m unconditionally loved no matter what. The gospel makes a difference.

51 Dodson, page 286

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