OS 12-17{M. This chapter tells us all the kings that were killed, and the land that was possessed by the children of Israel—some was taken by Moses the servant of the Lord, on the other side of Jordan, and more by Joshua on this side of Jordan: there were thirty-one kings altogether. Joshua was an old man at this time, and the Lord said to him, You are old and there is yet very much land to be possessed, and the country of the Philistines; now, therefore, divide the land among the nine tribes and a half; for two tribes and a half got their inheritance from Moses. Then the Lord told Joshua exactly what he was to give to each tribe. God meant each tribe to take possession of its own inheritance, but none took all that God gave them, and alas! many of their enemies were allowed to live among them. But among those who were killed was the wicked prophet Balaam who caused Israel to sin. The tribe of Levi had no inheritance among the tribes because the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance, and all the offerings of the Lord made by fire belonged to them. But they gave them cities to dwell in, and land for their cattle.
S. Did Joshua divide the countries that were not yet conquered?
M. Yes. Joshua, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of all the tribes divided the land, as the Lord had told Moses. God told Moses exactly what He meant them to have, that last day when He took Moses up to the top of Mount Pisgah. There God showed Moses the land that He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but Moses might not go into it because he had grieved God at Meribah. And when Joshua had divided the land, Caleb, who was of the tribe of Judah came to him, and said, You know what Moses the servant of the Lord said about you and me in Kadesh-barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me to spy out the land, and I brought him word as it was in my heart. But my brethren, who went up with me, frightened the people, yet I wholly followed the Lord my God. Then Moses said that the land where my feet had trodden should be my inheritance, and now the Lord has kept me alive these forty-five years, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, and to-day I am eighty-five years old,; and yet I am as strong this day as I was that day for war, to go out, or to come in. Now, therefore, give me this mountain: you know there are giants there, and great and fenced cities; if the Lord is with me I shall be able to drive them out.
S. Were those the giants that made the other spies afraid to go up?
M. Yes. The unbelieving ones were frightened, but Caleb was strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. It is very beautiful the way this old man boasted of the power of God, and he fully trusted to it. So Joshua blessed him and gave him Hebron: it was a great city where four giants lived, but Caleb drove them all out, and Hebron became an inheritance to him, and to his children, because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel.
And the land had rest from war. But the tribe of Judah had a great deal besides Caleb's inheritance, and in their country was the city of Jerusalem.
Now when Caleb had conquered the giants, he said that there was a place near, and if any man conquered it he should have his daughter for his wife. So Othniel, Caleb's own nephew, took it, and Caleb let him marry his daughter Achsah. Achsah must have been like her father Caleb, for she liked to have possessions in the good land too. For as she came to him, she got down off her ass, and Caleb asked her what she would like, and she answered, Give me a blessing; you have given me a south land, give me also springs of water. So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.
S. I am very glad Caleb was rewarded for believing in God all those forty years when they were in the wilderness.
M. Yes, he belonged to the tribe of Judah, the one that Jacob blessed with the best blessing among all his sons, when he said, Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; but even the tribe of Judah did not take full possession of their inheritance, for some of the Jebusites were allowed to live in Jerusalem, and they never could drive them out.
S. Did all that Jacob said of his sons when he was going to die come true?
M. Yes, God's part came true, because He did all that He said He would do, but the people failed in every way to come up to God's purpose for them. God did make Joseph like a fruitful bough whose branches run over the wall; for the Lord had blessed them greatly. They came to Joshua and said that they were a great people, and Joshua said, If you are a great people, go up to the wood country and cut down for yourselves in the land of the giants; but they said, The hill is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites have iron chariots; so Joshua said, You are a great people and the mountain shall be yours, and the country round shall be yours, and you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they are strong and though they have iron chariots. Still the children of Joseph did not drive out all the Canaanites, but they made them pay tribute.
Jacob's blessing to his sons will not be perfectly fulfilled until the Lord Jesus comes back to this earth to reign over it. Then the kingdoms of the earth will become the kingdoms of the Lord. All enemies will be put under His feet, and the children of Israel will inherit this very land and it will be their own forever. I explained this to you when we talked about the year of Jubilee.