Joshua 15:20-41.  As I mentioned yesterday this chapter started with a list of places.  Many of them are unknown today but they were well known in the days in which this book was written.  Also I mentioned that God will always remember where the lined are.  That list of places defined the outline of Judah’s territory.  This list gives a more specific look at the content of Judah’s land. It wasn’t just a border but what was inside of it.  We will see later that within the borders of Judah another tribe (Simeon) will receive it’s allotment.  So not everything inside of Judah’s borders belonged to them.  Also in the part of the list we are reading today is a city that was given to the Levites, Ain.  If you read “The Twelve?” you would know that the Levites did not get a tribal territory but received specific cities scattered throughout Israel.  The Levites were to serve as priests to God and their inheritance was to come from the offerings.  Seven other cities listed in this part of the chapter are also Levitical cities and I will mention them tomorrow.  Also one city in the border list, Beth Shemesh (v. 10) was a Levitical city.  One other city which is in tomorrow’s part of this list is a special city too and I will tell you about it tomorrow.

One scholar has pointed out that this list is much larger than all the other lists given in the book of Joshua.  Just as Israel’s blessing of Judah was longer than the blessings for his other children, it appears that Judah received a greater blessing at this point too.  Judah plays an important part in the life of the nation of Israel and many important people come from this tribe though not all of the important people in the history of Israel.  Also later in the history of Israel it became a kingdom with a king then split into two separate kingdoms.  The southern kingdom was called Judah even though it also included the tribe of Benjamin.  The capital of Israel was in the land belonging to Judah and it was at that capital that a permanent place to worship God was built.  But we need to remember as we read on in the book of Joshua that the other tribes all received a portion.  Back in verse one it says that “the Lot for the tribes of the sons of Judah, family by family, reached…”  They actually cast a lot or dice to see who got what.  To us this is a very random way of doing things, like a lottery, but God actually determines what number comes up (Proverbs 16:33) when dice are cast.  And God made sure every tribe received a part just as he promised they would.

One other thing that I want to mention is that all of these city names have meaning.  I looked up several of them and eventually want to look up all of them.  I wish I knew what all the stories were.  In the “What’s in a Name” page there is a description of how names in the Bible often predict things or remind us of important events.  Not always but sometimes.  I hope if any of these names have that kind of meaning that God will show us in eternity.  I love all the little details that God has been involved in through out history.

As to today’s reading I think it is important to remember that the more you have the more God expects of you (See for example Matthew 25:14-30 and compare Luke 12:48).  God will make sure each of us has enough for the things he wants us to do.  We need to be content and faithful with what he has given us  (See Matthew 6:25-34.  Luke 12:22-34 is parallel with this passage).  Above I underlined the part about God’s promise to Israel to give them a land because I don’t want anyone to go away from today’s post thinking that they should go play the lottery.  God used the lot to divide up what he had already promised to the Israelites, they were acting on his directions.  Before Adam and Eve’s disobedience everything was very awesome.  They had work to do but I imagine it was pretty easy and fun.  When they disobeyed God he applied a curse on mankind, actually on the whole universe.  Part of that curses was that Adam (and all of us after him) would exist or live by the “sweet of his [our] brow”.  We all have to work hard to get by (See more in “The Old Testament Connection”).  The Puritans in the history of our nation understood that life would involve hard work.  It seems that in our day everyone is looking for the “golden ticket” the easy way out.  We want to win the lottery, literally.  Gambling has become a big problem in our society.  We actually have a part of our state government dedicate to helping problem gamblers.  Really?  Play the lottery so the state can have more money so we can help you when you start playing the lottery too much.  Really?  Really!  As believers we need to take the time, talents, and stuff (including money) that God has given us and faithfully use it in ways that he tells us.  We need to look at the promises and direction he has already given us and be faithful to act on those things.  When you obey God you have no idea what the journey is going to look like you just know that he is at the end and that He is pleased when we consider Him along the way.  Hebrews 11:1-2 tells us the “faith is the assurance of things hope for and the conviction of things not seen”.  Later in Hebrews 11 we see a list of people who lived lives of faith, who were keeping their eyes on eternity.  Living by faith is our roll of the dice, not the lottery.  But the Bible proves that the outcome for that life is in God’s hands and that the outcome is good, eternity in Heaven with Him.  Faith is assurance of things hoped for.  Live by faith and stay away from human lotteries.  God thank you for giving direction to our lives.  Thank you for watching over us.  Thank you for giving us the Bible to we can try to make choices that please you.  Help me understand what the Bible is teaching me about the decisions I have to make every day.  Help me not chose the easy path but the one you want me to use.  Help me not look for and easy way out.  Let me be content to work hard and fight the battles life will bring when I honor you.  Thank you for Heaven.

Joshua 15:1-19.  Yesterdays post was made very late because I was without internet for most of the day.  If you missed it you’ll want to read it.  We learned a little bit about the tribes of Israel and how the land was going to be divided.  The division started with a very enthusiastic old timer from the tribe of Judah, Caleb.   One thing I did not mention about Caleb was why he is calle a Kenizzite. The Bible is very clear that he was descended from Judah.  It was implied in yesterday’s passage (Joshua 14:6) and was clearly stated in Numbers 13:6; 34:19).  The term Kenizzite means descendant of Kenaz.  There is a Kenaz in the Bible who was a grandson of Esau (Jacob’s brother)(Genesis 36:11).  If that was the person who was an ancestor of Caleb then Caleb would not have been from the tribe of Judah.  The was also a Kenaz who was the grandson of Caleb (1 Chronicles 4:15) so we must be careful in not jumping to conclusions Caleb was from the tribe of Judah and he also had an ancestor who was named Kenaz.

Today’s reading starts with a description of the territory given to Judah.  There are a lot of specific places, some of which are unknown today, but they were well known in those days and as I mentioned a couple of days ago are well known to God.  Caleb’s inheritance is repeated in this description along with more detail about his conquest of Hebron.  You might remember from Joshua 11:21 that Joshua killed the Anakim in Hebron, he “utterly destroyed them”.  The problem is that people were always moving around and it would not be impossible that some came back to live in Hebron (or Kiriath-arba as they called it).  We also find out that he fought for other cities as well and that he was a great leader who encouraged others to fight too.  One person that he inspired was his younger brother Othniel (Joshua 15:17, Judges 1:13; 3:9).  As a reward for taking a city Caleb gave his daughter in marriage to Othniel.

Caleb was not the only bold person in his family so was his daughter.  Evidently Othniel was allowed to keep the land around the city which was in the southern hill country (Called the Negev and part of Judah’s portion of the land).  The daughter must have realized the potential of the land if she had access to water so she boldly asked her dad for some land that had springs on it too.   Caleb gave her the water.  This is the first of two specific times in Joshua that a woman gets a portion of the land.  That would have been unheard of in those days (as we will see when we come to the second example).  It is clear that God is not a woman-hater as some people in our day believe.  She did ask he husband first before she asked her dad.  Othniel gave permission and she made the request.  It seems that women get much more respect in the Bible that in many other societies in Old Testament times.  Two things stand out to me today in the reading.  One is boldness and the other is respect.  Caleb, Othniel, and Achash all seem bold to me.  Bold to act on the things they know about God.  On the other hand we see a great deal of respect.  Achash respected her father and her husband.  Othniel respected Caleb and God.  And it seems Caleb respected his daughter.  It also seems that there was quite a bit of benefit because of this.  Another town was taken, Othniel not only got land but a very wise wife also who’s actions would make his land much more productive.  The “blessing” of Jacob n genesis 49:8-12 tells us that Judah would be like a crouching lion, tht he would be a respected leader, and that he would have a life filled literally with milk and fruit.  It seems that is just what we see in this story.  We need to be bold in following God.  We need to trust Him and aact like Caleb did.  We need to inspire others by our actions like Caleb did.  And we need to be bold like his daughter in asking God to bless us, to help us fulfill our destinies what ever they are (Psalms 139:16, Ephesians 2:10).  LORD I know that you have me on a mission, it’s not a five year mission but a lifetime one, you want me to explore new relationships, to share new life, to boldly go wherever you want me to go.  Help me on this trek.  Show me the way.  Give me the wisdom and the word.   Thank you for the privilege of being a part of your journey.  If it pleases you don’t give me a red shirt though, I’d much rather have a firm with a spring.  Your will be done, LORD.  Make me bold, give me peace.