A DIGEST OF CHAPTER 14

Transcription

1 STUDES N JOSHUA- JUDGES-RUTH A DGEST OF CHAPTER 14 Vv. 1-5 The plan for dvdng the land. God told Joshua to dvde the land by lot (v. 2). Ths plan had already been selected durng the days of Moses (Numbers 26:55, 56; 33:54; 34:13). The sacred lot was often used to decde such matters, God showng Hs wll through -ths nstrument. Vv Caleb s request. Caleb had been the member of the trbe of Judah selected to go wth eleven other men to spy out the land. Joshua had been the man selected from the trbe of Ephram. These two men had gone out together under Moses order (Numbers 13:6, 8, 17-20). The passage here clarfes the statement whch God made about Caleb n the days of Moses (Numbers 14:23, 24). Caleb beleved God and expected that Hs promse would be fulflled. Vv Caleb s nhertance. Joshua knew full well the fathful servce rendered by Caleb. He must have known also about the promse whch was made concernng the land. For that reason He blessed Caleb and gave hm Hebron, the cty made dear to the sraeltes by Abraham s dwellng there. Snce the trbe of Judah receved all the land south of the north end of the Dead Sea, Hebron lay n the very center of Judah s terrtory. t was an deal place for the fathful leader to settle. Full detals of hs takng the land are gven later n Joshua 15 : and Judges 1:

2 JOSHUA LESSONS FOR LEARNNG 1. God rzakes clear Hs wll. Sometmes the Bble seems repettous to the reader, A statement may be repeated two or three tmes. The radcal crtcs often charge that these repettons ndcate dfferent authors who knew the same materal and wrote t down, They further charge that the edtors or redactors of the Scrptures put these dfferent accounts together, On the other hand, t s apparent that the reason for repettons n the Scrpture s for emphass. God made t crystal clear to Joshua that He wanted the land dvded by lot. Joshua followed God s wll. 2. Blessed s he nan who obeys God, The psalmst says that the man who follows God wll be lke a tree planted by the rver of water; hs leaf wll not wther; and whatsoever he does wll prosper (Psalms 1). Caleb was ths knd of a man. For eghty-fve years God had gven hm strength. 3, Mef who follow God buld fast frendshps. The fellowshp of kndred mnds s lke to that above. Joshua and Caleb had been sent out together wth the spes (Numbers 13). They had been fathful to God s bddng and Joshua was happy to gve Caleb the nhertance whch God had ndcated should be hs. CHAPTER FOURTEEN The Pla for Dvdng the Lard 14:l-j And these are the countres whch the chldren of srael nherted n the land of Canaan, whch Eleazar the prest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the trbes of the chldren of srael, dstrbuted for nhertance to them. 193

3 14: 1,2 STUDES N JOSHUA- JUDGES-RUTH 2 By lot was ther nhertance, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nne trbes, and for the half trbe. 3 For Moses had gven the nhertance of two trbes and a half trbe on the other sde Jordan: but unto the Levtes he gave none nhertance among them. 4 For the chldren of Joseph were two trbes, Manasseh and Ephram: therefore they gave no part unto the Levtes n the land, save ctes to dwell n, wth ther suburbs for ther cattle and for ther substance. j As the Lord commanded Moses, so the chldren of srael dd, and they dvded the land. 1. Why was Eleazar nvolved n the allottng of the land? 14:l Eleazar, the prest, was the son of Aaron who had been srael s frst hgh prest. Aaron was the brother of Moses and had ded whle the chldren of srael were wanderng n the desert. When Joshua was apponted successor to Moses, he was nformed that he should go to the hgh prest for assstance (Numbers 27:18-23). The hgh prest would make nqury of the Lord concernng Hs wll n some matters. The Lord s wll would then be made known to Joshua, the leader of the people. The allottng of the land was evdently of such mportance that the hgh prest was asked to assst Joshua n makng the assgnments. 2. How dd they cast lots? 14:2 The use of lots was especally characterstc of the ancent world. t was a standng custom of the Athenans to assgn the land of conquered enemes to colonsts by lot. How Joshua took the lot on ths occason we are not told. The Rabbns conjecture that there were two urns, n one had been placed lttle tablets wth the names of the trbes and n the other smlar tablets wth the names of the ds- 194

4 ~ 1! JOSHUA 14:3,4 trcts; and that one of each was drawn at the same tme. The decson was made by lot to prevent all dsputes wth reference to ther respectve possessons. t was also to remove every ground of dscontent and complant. Each trbe mght cheerfully and thankfully accept the share awarded to t as the nhertance ntended for t by God, Calvn says that castng of lots s not regulated by opnon, caprce, or authorty of men. t s true that t seems as though ths mght have been easly accomplshed f Joshua or the hgh prest had been dvnely nspred to gve to every trbe ts nhertance. But, men are never so ready to submt cheerfully to the decsons of another man, even though they may be the result of dvne nspraton, as they are to a decson arrved at by lot over whch the Lord presdes; for ths seems to rase the choce above human caprce. 3. Why were Ephravz and Maassek consdered two trbes? 14:4 Both Ephram and Manasseh were chldren of Joseph. When Jacob had come nto Egypt and found Joseph alve, he was so thankful for the preservaton of hs son s lfe that he adopted the two sons of Joseph as hs own sons, He gave them specal blessngs before he blessed hs own sons. By adoptng these two sons n the place of Joseph, Jacob thus had thrteen sons, but the trbe of Lev was not consdered wth the other trbes. For these reasons we stll speak of the twelve trbes of srael-reuben, Smeon, ssachar, Judah, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Dan, Napthal, Ephram, Manasseh, and Benjamn. Ephram and Manasseh receved nhertance along wth the sons of Jacob, and each was counted as a trbe n srael. Ths fact was mentoned here, and t s explaned that they receved an nhertance along wth the descendants of the eleven sons of Jacob. 19J

5 14:6 STUDES N JOSHUA- JUDGES-RUTH Caleb s Request 14: Then the chldren of Judah came unto Joshua n Glgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezte sad unto hm, Thou knowest the thng that the Lord sad unto Moses the man of God concernng me and thee n Kadesh-barnea. 7 Forty years old was when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land; and brought hm word agan as t was n mne heart. 8 Nevertheless my brethren that went up wth me made the heart of the people melt: but wholly followed the Lord my God. 9 And Moses sware on that day, sayng, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thne nhertance, and thy chldren s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God. 10 And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alve, as he sad, these forty and fve years, even snce the Lord spake ths word unto Moses, whle the chldren of srael wandered n the wlderness: and now, lo, am ths day fourscore and fve years old. 11 As yet am as strong ths day as was n the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so s my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come n. 12 Now therefore gve me ths mountan, whereof the Lord spake n that day; for thou heardest n that day how the Anakm were there, and that the ctes were great and fenced: f so be the Lord wll be wth me, then shall be able to drve them out, as the Lord sad. 4. Why was Caleb called a Kenezte? 14:6 The word Kenezte s a ttle gven to Caleb or to Jephunneh. Ths reference causes some to beleve that Caleb descended from an Edomte named Kenaz. Kenaz was one of the sons of Elphaz, the oldest son of Esau. He became the leader of one of the Edomte trbes (Geness 196

6 JOSHUA 14:6-8 36:11, 15). Caleb also had a brother, the father of Othnel by ths same name (Joshua 15:17, Judges 1:13; 3:9, 11). Several descendants of Caleb, or names whch may be compared wth Edomte names are lsted here: a. Shobal ( Chroncles 2 : J 2, Geness 36: 29) b. Korah ( Chroncles 2:43; Geness 36:14, 16, 18) c. Elah ( Chroncles 4:15, Geness 36:41) The Ceneztes are mentoned n Geness 15:19 along wth the Kentes and the Kadmontes who were among the natons to be dspossessed by srael. These natons evdently dwelt somewhere n the southern part of Canaan. 5, How long had srael been n Cazaaa when Caleb made hs request? 14:7, 10 Caleb sad that he was forty years old when he went to spy out the land (v. 7). Ths was n the days of Moses and at the begnnng of the wanderngs (Numbers 13). When he made hs request for land n Canaan he was eghty-fve years old (v. lo). Forty-fve years had elapsed between the tme of Caleb s esponage and the tme of hs request of Joshua. Forty years of ths had been spent n wanderng before they entered nto the Promsed Land. Ths would ndcate that the wars of conquest occuped only fve years. 6. Vhy dd Caleb call the ten spes hs brothers? 14: 8 Caleb sad the other spes had made the hearts of the people to melt, but he wholly followed the Lord hs God. Caleb had very lttle n common wth the spes brngng the evl report, but they were related to hm by ther common ancestry n Jacob. The brotherhood was one of the flesh and not one of the sprt. The ten spes had come from the trbes of Reuben, Smeon, ssachar, Zebulun, Dan, Napthal, Gad, Asher, Manasseh, and Benjamn, Joshua was of the trbe of Ephram. Caleb was wth the trbe of Judah. These two trbes were honored n havng such able men as Joshua and Caleb. 97

7 14: 9-12 STUDES N JOSHUA- JUDGES-RUTH 7. s there a record of Moses promse to Caleb? 14:9 Moses sad of Caleb that he would see the land and that God would gve to hm the land that he had trodden on (Deuteronomy 1 :36). Ths appears to be somethng of a general promse because God sad to Joshua: Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have gven unto you, as sad unto Moses ( 1 : 3 ). t s also recorded that God sad of Caleb he would be brought nto the land and hs seed would possess t (Numbers 14:24). All of ths ponts to the promse as a rather general covenant made wth Caleb. He probably was gven the prv- lege of selectng whatever land he desred. 8. Whut was the reason for Caleb s strength? 14: 1 Caleb sad that he was as strong at eghty-fve years of age as he had been when he was only forty. For ths reason, some have called hm a cheerful old prevarcator. Such a ttle was gven to hm by an octogenaran who sad that he knew he was not as strong at eghty as he had been at forty. Nevertheless, we fnd that the natural force of Moses was unabated when he ded at one hundred twenty years of age. t was sad of hm that hs eye was not dm, nor hs natural force abated (Deuteronomy 34:7). Caleb had wholly followed the Lord, and God had gven hm unusual longevty and strength. 9. What mountan dd Caleb want? 14:12 t s not apparent from the Scrpture text that Joshua and Caleb were n the southern part of Canaan when Caleb made hs request, yet hs request was so defnte that there was no msunderstandng about whch mountan he wanted. Hs reference may have been n general to the hll country of Judah, a mountanous secton of the land whch formed the central part of Canaan. Further clarfcaton of the land he desred was made by hs contnued descrpton of the terrtory, 198

8 1 1 ~! JOSHUA 14: 12, Who were the Anakm? l4:12b The Anakm were descendants of Anak, Anak s dentfed as the son of Arba. The Anakm were a terror to the chldren of srael (Numbers 13:22-28), but Caleb was not afrad of them, He sad f the Lord were wth hm, he would be able to drve them out. He was restng on the promses of God, He had no fear, even though these people are sometmes descrbed as gants snce the name means the long neck ones. 11, What ctes were n the area? 14: 12c Caleb descrbed the land as beng a land n whch the ctes were great and fenced. Hebron s mentoned as one of these ctes. Another was Debr, a cty whch was also known as the book cty -Krjath-Sepher (15 : 15 ), These ctes had been the captal ctes for kngs who had entered nto the southern coalton to fght aganst Joshua. The kngs had been defeated n battle, but ther ctes had not been razed. The land had not been occuped. Ths was Caleb s task. Caleb s zhertance 14: 3-1 j 13 And Joshua blessed hm, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an nhertance. 14 Hebron therefore became the nhertance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezte unto ths day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of srael. 15 And the name of Hebron before was Krjath-arba; whch Arba was a great man among the Anakms. And the land had rest from war. 12, What s kzaw about Caleb s nhertance? 14:13 Caleb s nhertance was wthn the borders of the trbe of Judah (15:13-19) and centered around the ancent cty of Hebron, known from earler tmes by the name of 199

9 14: STUDES N JOSHUA- JUDGES-RUTH Krjath-arba, Arba beng a great man among the Anakm whom the spes had encountered when they went through the land n the days of Moses, The author of the book of Judges gves a recaptulaton of the gvng of ths land to Caleb n Judges 1:8-15. Caleb evdently gave the cty tself to the Levtes (21:11) and kept the surroundng terrtory for hs own possesson. 13. Where s Hebron? 14:13 Hebron was one of the mportant towns n the mountans of Judah. t stood between two thousand and twentyeght hundred feet above sea level and lay between Beersheba and Jerusalem, beng about equdstant from each other, n earler tmes, t had been called Krjath-Arba (Geness 23:2), and Mamre (Geness 13:18; 3f:27). The modern name s El-Khull. Abraham, saac, and Jacob had all lved here (Geness 13 : 18 ; 3 f :27), Joshua had fought aganst the cty (10:36), but Caleb fnally occuped t. t was a cty wth a rch hertage and Caleb must have felt hmself rchly blessed to be allowed to settle here. 14. What evdence s bven here for the date of the wrtng of Joshua? 14:14 t was noted by the author that Hebron became the nhertance of Caleb unto ths day. Such a reference would ndcate the passage of some lttle tme, but t s not suffcent evdence to warrant the assumpton that the book was not wrtten untl many hundreds of years later. The fact that t s sad t was the nhertance of Caleb would lmt the tme between the settlement and the date of wrtng to the lfetme of. Caleb. Snce the book was qute evdently wrtten wthn, the lfe span of Rahab, the harlot, who was allowed to lve among the sraeltes (6:25), t s apparent that the book was wrtten sometme wthn that generaton. 200

10 JOSHUA 14: 15 ll, What was the w,eavng of tbe old aam of Hebron? 14:1 l Hebron had been known as Rrjath-Arba. Ths name ndcated t: had been the home of a man named Arba, He s descrbed as a great man among the Anakm, who were the descendants of Anak. The word ARBA means fouryy but t s hard to see any sgnfcance to ths name for the man. Arba s the name gven to the father of Anak (Geness 35 :27). t s sgnfcant to note that at ths tme the land was at rest from war , TEN QUESTONS ON CHAPTER 14 Who asssted Joshua n dstrbutng the land to the trbes of srael? Whch trbe receved no nhertance of land? How many trbes receved land east of Jordan? How many trbes were left to receve an nhertance? Who were the chldren of Joseph? How old was Caleb when he went to spy out Canaan? How old was he when he asked for land to be gven to hm? What cty was gven to Caleb as hs nhertance? What was the former name of the cty? Why was Caleb grantd ths specal request? A DGEST OF CHAPTER 15 Vv Borders of Judah. The terrtory whch was gven to Judah was outlned wth specfc ponts mentoned on each of the borders. The southern border reached from the south tp of the Dead Sea to a pont farther south at Kadeshbarnea. From Kadesh-barnea the southern border ran to the Medterranean Sea. The Medterranean Sea formed the west border, 201