January 13 - Joshua 14:1-15
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.
6 Then the people of Judah
came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite
said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of
God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. 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. 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,
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, 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.”
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.
I love this
passage. Caleb did just as God told him to do. He scouted the land and showed
complete faith in God as he gave his report to the Israelites. As a result, God
blessed him with the entirety of the land that Caleb had scouted. Verse 14
clearly says:
“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.”
I admire Caleb’s strength at age 85, I
admire his memory of the promises of God. Simple obedience and the courage to
live out his faith as he delivered a message that was so different from the ten
other spies. May you and I stand in faith, even when others are in complete
disagreement with God’s word. God
asks us to act in obedience to his will for our lives. Where are you in your
walk of faith right now?
Heavenly
Father, I want to be more obedient to You.
I know I have come a long way, but I have so far to go. Help me be like Caleg and stand up in faith
and obedience on the promises You have given.
You are so faithful to me when I fail You daily. May I be one that is faithful to You to the
end of my life with whatever You give me to do in Your name. Help me be a woman of great faith that
impacts lives for You. Help people see
Jesus in me.
In Jesus’
name.
Amen!
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