Joshua 13-15

1. Land Still to Be Taken
In this passage, the Lord tells Joshua that the Israelites have not fully obeyed His commands; in particular, they have not conquered the land of the Philistines to the south, and they have not conquered the land of the Sidonians to the north. Now the Lord does promise Joshua that He will drive the Sidonians from their land.

I can understand why the Israelites failed to fully obey the Lord's command for them to completely destroy the inhabitants of the Promised Land. If I were an Israelite at that time, my stomach would have churned at the prospect of having to slay pregnant women, infants, and the elderly. Why the Lord determined that the inhabitants of the Promised Land were beyond redemption is an issue that Christians continue to wrestle with.

2. Division of the Land East of the Jordan
In this passage, the land east of the Jordan is divided among the half-tribe of Manasseh, the tribe of Reuben and the tribe of Gad. Manasseh received a fairly large portion of land that included the former kingdom of Og in Bashan. As for the land that formerly belonged to Sihon king of Heshbon, it was divided between Reuben and Gad. It is noted that Levi did not receive an inheritance.

I wonder if the decision by these tribes to separate themselves from the rest of the Israelites caused friction within Israel. Did the members of these tribes feel a strong bond with the other tribes, or did enmity occasionally bubble to the surface?

3. Division of the Land West of the Jordan
In this passage, it is noted that the Levites were allowed to live in towns; they were also given pasturelands for their flocks and herds. Also, the inheritance of the other nine-and-a-half tribes was determined by casting lots.

4. Hebron Given to Caleb
In this passage, it is noted that Caleb, son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, asked Joshua for the land that the Lord had promised him for his faithfulness 45 years before the writing of this book. Joshua then gave Caleb Hebron as his inheritance.

I definitely enjoyed reading the account of Caleb's acquisition of Hebron - for the obvious reasons. Even though he was 85, he was still raring to drive the Anakites from Hebron and fully claim his inheritance. It is amazing that he still possessed a fighting spirit in his old age - and that he trusted the Lord to carry out the promise that He made 45 years ago.

5. Allotment for Judah
This passage meticulously describes the inheritance of the tribe of Judah. It contains a complete list of the towns that they received - which happened to be in the Negev, the western foothills, the hill country and the desert. It is also noted that Judah could not dislodge the Jebusites from Jerusalem, and so they co-existed at that time. In addition, it is noted that Caleb gave his daughter Acsah in marriage to Othniel son of Kenaz, his brother - since Othniel had captured Kiriath Sepher.

The account of Caleb in this passage was rather humbling, as it appears - based on the note in the sidebar in my NIV Study Bible - that the land that he gave to Acsah and Othniel lacked a source of water. I suppose that we are all forgetful and overlook key details every now and then...