OVERVIEW:
Joshua conquers kings and cities for Israel; the land is divided by lot among the tribes; Caleb requests and obtains the mountain of Hebron from Joshua.
HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:
Word has been spreading throughout the land of Canaan about this weak, nomadic people who have been transformed into powerful warriors and their omnipotent God!
Notice as we move into Joshua 11 in today’s reading, the kings throughout the land have been struck with fear and are conspiring together to keep them from completely overtaking their cities. (11:1-5) Note: The word “king/kings” is found over 50 times in today’s reading!
Knowing that these various kingdoms banding together might be intimidating to Joshua and his people, God reassures him that He, by His power, will slay the conspirators and grant victory to Israel just as He had done with the previous individual kings and their armies. (11:6-9)
Notice in 11:10, that Joshua defeats the king who was the head of the villainous kingdoms with “the sword”, in the same way that our Joshua, the Lord Jesus Christ, will defeat the “king” who is the head of the kingdom of darkness with “the sword” that proceeds out of His mouth. (2nd Thessalonians 2:8; Revelation 19:15, 21)
Notice also, in 11:21, that Joshua not only utterly destroyed all of the kings and their cities, but also the giants and their cities! (The Anakims were giants.) Have the kings from the kingdom of darkness been conspiring together against you? Are there giants that seem to be coming down out of the mountains against you? Trust in the sword of the word of God that is in the possession of our Joshua! He’s got this! By trusting the word of God and the God of the word against the enemy, in time, one-by-one, you will be able to list the kings and giants that have been defeated as you take possession of your possession, just as surely as Joshua’s defeated foes are listed one-by-one in Joshua chapter 12!
As we begin chapter 13, the Lord reminds Joshua, “Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.” There is no doubt, many reading this today who feel the same way! But regardless of our age, I’m sure the Lord could speak these same words to each of us, “There remaineth yet very much land to be possessed!” May we passionately pursue possessing our possession!
In the remainder of chapter 13, God identifies the various places in the land that Joshua and the children of Israel still needed to possess. What is interesting, is that before they have actually taken physical possession of these various places (13:7), God goes ahead and has them divide the land as if it was already theirs. The fact is, it was as good as theirs because God had given His word in verse 6, saying, “Them will I drive out from before the children of Israel.” The point is, to go ahead and divide the land as the inheritance to the various tribes required faith in God and His word. That is the pathway to victory every time!
Chapter 14 is a significant chapter. It had been 45 years since Joshua and Caleb had gone with the other 10 leaders of the tribes of Israel to spy out the land that God has promised to them. When they were in the land, Caleb set his eyes and his heart on a particular piece of property. Though he was now 85 years old, he never forgot it, and never waned in his desire that God would give it to him. Notice his words in 14:12, “Give me this mountain!” It was the mountain of Hebron. This is the same mountain that the 10 other spies saw and feared because of the giants that lived there in the “great and fenced” cities. (Joshua 14:12) Caleb received permission to go and conquer this mountain and the giants that lived there. Even in his old age, Caleb was anxious to claim the inheritance God had promised him. (Joshua 14:6-9) It is interesting to note that Hebron means “fellowship”. It is the very thing that God desires from each of us. God has promised fellowship to us, but like Caleb, we must claim the promise of God that we are “more than conquerors” in defeating the giants in our lives that seek to keep us from it! (Romans 8:37)
What mountain are you trusting the Lord to give you today? Have you possessed Hebron, the mountain of “fellowship”?
CHRIST IS REVEALED:
Through JOSHUA – Joshua 11–14 (As the One who conquers the “kings” and “giants” in our lives—Romans 8:37, and as the One who gives us our “inheritance”—Acts 20:32; Ephesians 1:11.)