Gold for the heart - Joshua 13-15

Joshua 13

God wants us to conquer all the land that He has for is and live in His fullest blessing

1 Now Joshua was old and advanced in years; and the LORD said to him, You are old and advanced in years, and there still remains very much land to be possessed. 2 This is the land that still remains: all the borders of the Philistines, and all Geshuri, 3 from Sihor, which is before Egypt to the borders of Ekron toward the north, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites: 4 From the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah/cave that is beside the Sidonians, to Aphek, to the borders of the Amorites: 5 And the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baalgad under mount Hermon to the entering into Hamath. 6 All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephothmaim, and all the Sidonians, them I will drive them out from before the children of Israel: only divide it by lot to the Israelites for an inheritance, as I have commanded you.

God made this land. He sustains it.
His people were taking it back from evil.
He will drive out all the enemy.
He will give the inheritance He promised.
God has great blessings for all of His children to claim by faith.

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD; and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Romans 11:36 of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.

7 Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh, 8 With the other half tribe the Reubenites and the Gadites have received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond Jordan eastward, even as Moses the servant of the LORD gave them;

God’s strategy here was to divide and conquer.
He gave a part for each to conquer.
The Israelites that went into the land only conquered 10% of what God had promised.
The Bible has 7,000 promises for God’s children to claim today. Promises for things beyond what we can imagine.

1Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for them that love him.

9 From Aroer, that is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain of Medeba to Dibon; 10 And all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon to the border of the children of Ammon; 11 And Gilead, and the border of the Geshurites and Maachathites, and all mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salcah; 12 All the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei, who remained of the remnant of the giants: Moses stuck these down, and cast them out. 13 Nevertheless the children of Israel did not expel the Geshurites or the Maachathites: but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day.

Remember that in these days, before many judgments from God against idolatry, that this land that God gave to His people was the most beautiful and fruitful land in all the earth (Deuteronomy 8:7,8, Ezekiel 20:6).

God was the inheritance of the Levites

14 Only he gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi; the sacrifices of the LORD God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as he said to them. 15 And Moses gave inheritance to the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their families. 16 And their coast was from Aroer that is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain by Medeba; 17 Heshbon, and all her cities that are in the plain; Dibon, Bamothbaal, Beth-baal-meon, 18 Jahazah, Kedemoth, Mephaath, 19 Kirjathaim, Sibmah, and Zarethshahar in the mount of the valley, 20 Bethpeor and the springs of Pisgah, Beth-jeshimoth, 21 And all the cities of the plain, all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck down with the princes of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, who were dukes of Sihon, dwelling in the country.

Verse 33 explains that the Lord is the inheritance of the Levites.
Do we need land when we inherit the One who owns all things?

22 Also Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer/diviner, the children of Israel killed with the sword among them that were killed by them. 23 And the border of the children of Reuben was Jordan, and its border. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben by their families, the cities and its villages. 24 And Moses gave inheritance to the tribe of Gad, to the children of Gad according to their families. 25 Their border was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon to Aroer that is before Rabbah; 26 And from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim; and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir; 27 And in the valley, Betharam, and Bethnimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, Jordan and its border to the edge of the sea of Chinnereth/Galilee on the other side Jordan eastward. 28 This is the inheritance of the children of Gad by their families, the cities, and their villages.

God provides plenty for all and he judges greedy motives.
Numbers 22-24 is the story of Balaam who let his greed overrule his relationship with God.
He was hired by the king of Moab to curse Israel.
He said the things that God told him to say.
However, this passage in Joshua 14 reveals to us that Balaam did find a way to bring a curse on Israel.
Jude 1:11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

29 And Moses gave inheritance to the half tribe of Manasseh: and this was the possession of the half tribe of the children of Manasseh by their families. 30 And their coast was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities: 31 And half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were to the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, to the one half of the children of Machir by their families. 32 These are the countries that Moses distributed for inheritance in the plains of Moab, on the other side Jordan, by Jericho, toward the east. 33 But Moses did not give any inheritance to the tribe of Levi: the LORD God of Israel was their inheritance, as he said to them.

God is our inheritance and our exceeding great reward.
Is it better to have the land, or the one who made all lands, all the universe?
Genesis15:1 I am your shield and your exceeding great reward.
Revelation 21:7 He that overcomes will inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he will be my son.
Revelation 3:21 To him that overcomes I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Joshua 14

The LORD has a vast inheritance for those who wholly follow Him

1 And these are the countries that the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them. 2 Their inheritance was by lot, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half tribe. 3 For Moses had given the inheritance of two tribes and a half tribe on the other side Jordan: but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them. 4 For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim: therefore they gave no part to the Levites in the land, except cities to live in, with their suburbs for their livestock and for their substance. 5 As the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did, and they divided the land.

God was the portion of the Levites.
They served God at the tabernacle/temple and were sustained by the tithes and offerings of the people.
The Levites were exempt from military service.
God places high responsibility on spiritual service.
If the nation’s spiritual life goes downhill, so does the rest of the life of the nation.
God is life.

Revelation 21:7He that overcomes will inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he will be my son.

1Corinthians 3:21Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; 23 And you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

6 Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said to him, You know the thing that the LORD said to Moses the man of God concerning me and you in Kadesh-barnea. 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 that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God.

Making the hearts of the people melt is recorded in Numbers 13:30.
The 144,000 in Revelation 14 also wholly follow the Lord.
Caleb wholly followed God and had a family.

Revelation 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they that follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits to God and to the Lamb.

9 And Moses swore on that day saying, Surely the land on which your feet have trod will be your inheritance, and your children's forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God. 10 And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as he said, these forty-five years, since the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, look, I am 85 years old today. 11 Yet I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

God keeps us alive.
He preserves our strength.

Job 12:10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait on the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings as eagles; they will run, and not be weary; and they will walk, and not faint.

12 Now therefore give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if the LORD will be with me, then I will be able to drive them out, as the LORD said. 13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance. 14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel. 15 And the name of Hebron before was Kirjath-arba; which Arba was a great man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war.

God is with us.
He drives out our enemies.
Hebron means communion.
When we wholly follow the Lord we are in continual communion with God.
God gives rest from war.
He gives the peace of the One who has all the power in heaven and earth.
Hebrews 13:5 Let your way of life be without covetousness; and be content with what things as you have: for he has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you.
Exodus 14:14 The LORD will fight for you, and you will hold your peace.
John 14:27Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world gives, I give unto you. Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.

Joshua 15

God sets the boundaries of the nations

1 And the allotment for the tribe of the children of Judah by their families; to the border of Edom the wilderness of Zin toward the south was the farthest part of the southern coast. 2 And their southern border was from the shore of the salt sea, from the bay that looks toward the south: 3 And it went out to the south side to Ma'aleh-acrabbim, and passed along to Zin, and ascended up on the south side to Kadesh-barnea, and passed along to Hezron, and went up to Adar, and around to Karkaa: 4 From there it passed toward Azmon, and went out to the river of Egypt; and the boundary of that coast was at the sea: this will be your southern coast. 5 And the eastern border was the salt sea, to the end of Jordan. And their border in the north was from the bay of the sea at the uttermost part of Jordan: 6 the border went up to Beth-hogla, and passed along north of Betharabah; and the border went up to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben: 7 And the border went up toward Debir from the valley of Achor, and on northward, looking toward Gilgal, that is before the going up to Adummim, which is on the south side of the river: and the border continued toward the waters of Enshemesh, and ended at Enrogel: 8 And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom to the south side of the Jebusite; that is Jerusalem: and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lies before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward: 9 And the border was drawn from the top of the hill to the fountain of the water of Nephtoah, and went out to the cities of mount Ephron; and the border was drawn to Baalah, which is Kirjath-jearim: 10 And the border turned from Baalah west to mount Seir, and passed along to the side of mount Jearim, which is Chesalon, on the north side, and went down to Beth-she'mesh, and passed on to Timnah: 11 And the border went out to the side of Ekron north: and the border was drawn to Shicron, and passed along to mount Baalah, and went out to Jabneel; and the border ended at the sea. 12 And the western border was to the great sea, and its coast. This is the boundary surrounding the children of Judah according to their families.

Acts 17:24-28 God that made the world and all things in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, since he gives to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 And has made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed, and the boundaries of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might feel after him, and find him, though he is not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being

Ezekiel 20:6 In the day that I lifted up my hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt to a land that I had found for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:

13 And to Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a part among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron. 14 And Caleb drove from there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak. 15 And he went up there to the inhabitants of Debir: previously the name of Debir was Kirjath-sepher. 16 And Caleb said, He that strikes Kirjath-sepher, and takes it, I will give him Achsah my daughter as his wife. 17 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.

Hebron means communion and signifies the place that God would have us always dwell, in constant contact and fellowship with Him.
Caleb wanted a strong warrior for his daughter, a warrior who wanted her enough to fight for her.

18 And as she came to him, she persuaded him to ask of her father a field: and she alighted off her ass; and Caleb said to her, What do you desire? 19 Who answered, Give me a blessing; for you have given me a southland; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the lower springs.

The south, also called the Negev, was dry country. So Achsah asked for springs of water.
Our heavenly Father offers to us the desires of our hearts.
Jesus fought evil for us, and died for us. _
Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD; and he will give you the desires of your heart.

20 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families. 21 And the farthest cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the coast of Edom southward were Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, 22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24 Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, 25 Hazor, Hadattah, Kerioth, Hezron, which is Hazor, 26 Amam, Shema, Moladah, 27 Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Bethpalet, 28 Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Bizjothjah, 29 Baalah, Iim, Azem, 30 Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, 31. Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon: all these twenty-nine cities, with their villages:

Luke 19:17 And he said unto him, Well done, good servant: because you have been faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.

33 And in the valley, Eshtaol, Zoreah, Ashnah, 34 Zanoah, Engannim, Tappuah, Enam, 35 Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, 36 Sharaim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim; fourteen cities with their villages: 37 Zenan, Hadashah, Migdalgad, 38 Dilean, Mizpeh, Joktheel, 39 Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, 40 Cabbon, Lahmam, Kithlish, 41 Gederoth, Bethdagon, Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen cities with their villages: 42 Libnah, Ether, Ashan, 43 Jiphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, 44 Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah; nine cities with their villages: 45 Ekron, with her towns and her villages: 46 From Ekron to the sea, all that lay near Ashdod, with their villages: 47 Ashdod with her towns and her villages, Gaza with her towns and her villages, to the river of Egypt, and the great sea, and its border: 48 And in the mountains, Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, 49 Dannah, Kirjath-sannah, which is Debir, 50 Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, 51 Goshen, Holon, and Giloh; eleven cities with their villages: 52 Arab, Dumah, Eshean, 53 Janum, Bethtappuah, Aphekah, 54 Humtah, Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, and Zior; nine cities with their villages: 55 Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, 56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, 57 Cain, Gibeah, and Timnah; ten cities with their villages: 58 Halhul, Bethzur, Gedor, 59 Maarath, Bethanoth, and Eltekon; six cities with their villages: 60 Kirjath-baal, which is Kirjath-je'arim, and Rabbah; two cities with their villages: 61 In the wilderness, Betharabah, Middin, Secacah, 62 Nibshan, the city of Salt, and Engedi; six cities with their villages. 63 As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.

By God’s grace Judah inherited/conquered 113 cities, their promised land.
We conquer God’s land for us by faith in His promises.
The children of Israel didn’t conquer the Jebusites until David’s day.
David conquered them and dwelt in their stronghold—Mount Zion.
God makes us more than conquerors through His love.
Romans 8:37 in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Revelation 21:5-7 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said to me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that is thirsty of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcomes will inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he will be my son.

Revelation 21:9-26 and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 18 And the building of its wall was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 20The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass. 24 And the nations of those that are saved will walk in its light: and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.

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SUMMARY: Joshua 13-15

The Lord wants us to inherit all that He has for us
He wants us to live in His great blessings
He is the inheritance of His priests
He has a vast inheritance for us
He makes us able to conquer
He is our confidence
He sets the boundaries of the nations