Joshua

Joshua Chapter 15

We can see from the map that the borders originally assigned to the tribe of Judah. From the Mediterranean Sea to the Salt Sea or the Dead Sea, were the original borders of the tribe of Judah. This was just one tribe. The tribe of Judah is the tribe God chose to bring forth to us the one who was to save us from our sins. The map shows the part that Caleb inherited. Notice they did not inherit the land of Edom, Moab or Ammon. If Israel would have totally followed the Lord, other nations would never have been able to take back any of that land. They will in the future time of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, be given back every inch of the land originally promised to Abraham. God keeps His promises. It is us who do not always keep ours to Him.

Joshua 15:1 This then was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah by their families; even to the border of Edom the wilderness of Zin southward was the uttermost part of the south coast.
2 And their south border was from the shore of the salt sea, from the bay that looketh southward:
3 And it went out to the south side to Maalehacrabbim, and passed along to Zin, and ascended up on the south side unto Kadeshbarnea, and passed along to Hezron, and went up to Adar, and fetched a compass to Karkaa:
4 From thence it passed toward Azmon, and went out unto the river of Egypt; and the goings out of that coast were at the sea: this shall be your south coast.
5 And the east border was the salt sea, even unto the end of Jordan. And their border in the north quarter was from the bay of the sea at the uttermost part of Jordan:
6 And the border went up to Bethhogla, and passed along by the 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 so northward, looking toward Gilgal, that is before the going up to Adummim, which is on the south side of the river: and the border passed toward the waters of Enshemesh, and the goings out thereof were at Enrogel:
8 And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem: and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward:

The valley of Hinnom was where there were continual fires that burned the refuge of Jerusalem. It became a symbol of eternal hell. It is believed that this place is where idols were worshiped and humans were sacrificed to the idol Molech in this place.

I can see where that would represent hell. Human sacrifice is one of the reasons that God allowed the land of Canaan to be wiped out by Israel. Worshipping images is so dangerous. It is not innocent. There are evil religious spirits that accompany all idol and image worship. Even those images that represent Christian saints, Christ and Mary have evil spirits present to fool people into thinking it is God.

God didn’t make the 2nd commandment for a joke. It was made for our good to keep His people from the evil that accompanies false gods and images. We must stay away from this. This is why God allowed Israel to take over this land and also worshipping idols is what caused God’s judgment to fall on Israel later. They came into the captivity of Babylon.

Idolatry is a sin that is so dangerous. We fail to realize the danger. We’ve changed that commandment to mean anything that separates us from the Lord but that is a subtle change that is dangerous to make because it gets us away from the original meaning. Idolatry is dangerous.

Images are forbidden both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. We must keep away from them. The early church had no right to bring heathen idols into the church and give them Christian names. I warn of this because the modern Emerging Church movement is bringing them back into the evangelical church of today.

Joshua 15:9 And the border was drawn from the top of the hill unto 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 Kirjathjearim:
10 And the border compassed from Baalah westward unto mount Seir, and passed along unto the side of mount Jearim, which is Chesalon, on the north side, and went down to Bethshemesh, and passed on to Timnah:
11 And the border went out unto the side of Ekron northward: and the border was drawn to Shicron, and passed along to mount Baalah, and went out unto Jabneel; and the goings out of the border were at the sea.
12 And the west border was to the great sea, and the coast thereof. This is the coast of the children of Judah round about according to their families.

The prophecy concerning Judah in Deuteronomy and Genesis.

In Deuteronomy 33:7 “And this is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be thou an help to him from his enemies.”
Genesis 49:8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.
9 Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:

Judah was to be the one who rules. Shiloh is the Messiah who was to come from the tribe of Judah. David also came from this tribe and was the greatest king in Israel until the latter day rule of Christ.

Joshua 15:13 And unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a part among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, even the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron.
14 And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.
15 And he went up thence to the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher.
16 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.
17 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.

It was common for a father to give his daughter to someone who did a great deed like conquer land. Most nations of old times did that against the will of the daughter and most believe that it was the same in Israel but I kind of think differently. I believe she willingly became Othniel’s wife. The reason I think that way is from the story of Isaac and Rebecca. Rebecca was asked by her family if she was willing to go with the servant of Abraham to become the wife of Isaac. She went without even seeing him first.

I believe that was the plan of God and she willingly went along with it whether or not she knew it was God’s will. Rebecca was given a choice by her father Laban. So that is one reason I believe the family of Abraham gave their women choices in marriage. That is my speculation here, not the word of God necessarily. There are always exceptions but from the way I read the bible, women were more respected by those that knew the Lord and kept His word than those that didn't.

Joshua 15:18 And it came to pass, as she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou?
19 Who answered, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs.

This further shows me that Caleb’s daughter had a mind of her own. She was given an inheritance. So many religions and nations use to treat women as property, but the Jewish religion was different. God used women in biblical times as well as men. (Anna the prophetess, Deborah the judge, Mary to bring forth the Messiah, Priscilla, Phoebe, Lydia, and many others).

Christ went out of His way to present the gospel to the woman at the well in Samaria. Christ changed the way women were regarded and the church of today has no reason to return to ancient religious practices of treating women as chattels and property. Christ commended Mary for wanting to hear the word of God more than working in the kitchen. I love that story. I say this though with a reminder that a godly woman is to have a meek and quiet spirit, not be proud and haughty about her God given place in the body of Christ.

Joshua 15:20 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families.
21 And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the coast of Edom southward were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur,
22 And Kinah, and Dimonah, and Adadah,
23 And Kedesh, and Hazor, and Ithnan,
24 Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth,
25 And Hazor, Hadattah, and Kerioth, and Hezron, which is Hazor,
26 Amam, and Shema, and Moladah,
27 And Hazargaddah, and Heshmon, and Bethpalet,
28 And Hazarshual, and Beersheba, and Bizjothjah,
29 Baalah, and Iim, and Azem,
30 And Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah,
31 And Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah,
32 And Lebaoth, and Shilhim, and Ain, and Rimmon: all the cities are twenty and nine, with their villages:
33 And in the valley, Eshtaol, and Zoreah, and Ashnah,
34 And Zanoah, and Engannim, Tappuah, and Enam,
35 Jarmuth, and Adullam, Socoh, and Azekah,
36 And Sharaim, and Adithaim, and Gederah, and Gederothaim; fourteen cities with their villages:
37 Zenan, and Hadashah, and Migdalgad,
38 And Dilean, and Mizpeh, and Joktheel,
39 Lachish, and Bozkath, and Eglon,
40 And Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish,
41 And Gederoth, Bethdagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen cities with their villages:
42 Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan,
43 And Jiphtah, and Ashnah, and Nezib,
44 And Keilah, and Achzib, and Mareshah; nine cities with their villages:
45 Ekron, with her towns and her villages:
46 From Ekron even unto 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, unto the river of Egypt, and the great sea, and the border thereof:
48 And in the mountains, Shamir, and Jattir, and Socoh,
49 And Dannah, and Kirjathsannah, which is Debir,
50 And Anab, and Eshtemoh, and Anim,
51 And Goshen, and Holon, and Giloh; eleven cities with their villages:
52 Arab, and Dumah, and Eshean,
53 And Janum, and Bethtappuah, and Aphekah,
54 And Humtah, and Kirjatharba, which is Hebron, and Zior; nine cities with their villages:
55 Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Juttah,
56 And Jezreel, and Jokdeam, and Zanoah,
57 Cain, Gibeah, and Timnah; ten cities with their villages:
58 Halhul, Bethzur, and Gedor,
59 And Maarath, and Bethanoth, and Eltekon; six cities with their villages:
60 Kirjathbaal, which is Kirjathjearim, and Rabbah; two cities with their villages:
Jos 15:61 In the wilderness, Betharabah, Middin, and Secacah,
62 And Nibshan, and 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 unto this day.

The Jebusites were not defeated until the time of David the king. He drove them out.

All this land will one day be returned to Israel like God originally promised to Abraham.The kings of this world will not be able to fight against God although they are trying hard to do so. DC

Joshua Index