Summary
The LORD directly told Joshua that he was old and advanced in years and reminded him that very much of the land remained to be possessed. The LORD reinforced His promise that He would drive out the rest of inhabitants from before the sons of Israel, and commanded Joshua to apportion the land to the nine and a half tribes. Then, the author recounted all the land which was on the east side of the Jordan that was inherited to the two tribes and the half tribes (Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh).
The sons of Judah and Caleb, the leader of the tribe, drew near to Joshua in Gilgal to demonstrate their insatiable desire to fulfill God’s promise by asking for one of the most difficult lands to conquer, Hebron in the hill country. Joshua was pleased and blessed Caleb and gave Hebron to Caleb for an inheritance.
Remaining Land
Why was still very much of the land remaining to be possessed (Joshua 13:1)? Joshua probably exerted his best effort with the help of the LORD to make the most of his ability to conquer a large portion of the Canaan region. Not every tribe was likely to be as fully engaged as Joshua was in fulfilling the promise of God, however.
First, two and a half tribes already received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan. Although they did send their men of war to the west side of the Jordan River, it would have been very difficult for them to sustain their best effort in every battle for the land that would be for other tribes. Therefore, over the long period of war of seven years from chapters 10 to 13, their enthusiasm for this conquest was almost inevitably to decline over the time.
Second, because the two and a half tribes already inherited the land on the east side of the Jordan, there might have been other tribes that were jealous over them or to some extent demonstrated discontent. Instead of focusing on the land that they could acquire in the future through the battles, some tribes might have longed for some land in the east side of the Jordan River.
Third, a varying degree of God-aligned leadership across the nine and a half tribes would have played an important factor in how much each tribe exerted its effort in fulfilling the promise of God in possessing the land.
For example, the Judah tribe had a leader who followed the LORD fully like Caleb, who in chapter 14 demonstrated his insatiable desire to fulfill God’s promise as much as possible even at an old age of 85. The Judah tribe under the leadership of Caleb, who followed the LORD fully (Joshua 14:14), would have had many followers who were motivated to fulfill the promise of God. On the other side of the spectrum, one of the leaders among the Simeonites, Zimri played the harlot with the Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and all the congregation of Israel while they were at Shittim (Numbers 25), only a few months before entering the land of Canaan. Zimri was soon killed by Phinehas the son of Eleazor (Numbers 25:7-15), who righteously demonstrated the zeal of the LORD. Given that Zimri, who prioritized his sexual pleasure over the holiness of the LORD, was one of the leaders of the Simeon tribe, it would be hard to imagine that the Simeon tribe would have had a leadership quality commensurate with that of the Judah tribe. Therefore, as a whole tribe, it would be hard to imagine that the performance of the Simeon tribe was anywhere near that of the Judah tribe.
Perhaps for the aforementioned three reasons, it was a difficult task, even for Joshua, to conquer all the land of Canaan. Therefore, some land remained to be possessed.
Reset
Despite the land that remained to be possessed, God reminded of His promise to Israel again that He would drive the inhabitants of Canaan out. Then, He commanded Joshua to apportion the land as an inheritance.
This was a call to reset. The LORD acknowledged that Joshua did well in spite of a difficult task of uniting the diverging interests of the twelve tribes over the past seven years. God was encouraging Joshua to reset to start again to motivate each tribe again to conquer the remaining land.
Inheritance
In chapters 13 and 14, the word “inheritance” appeared very often. Although the land was taken after defeating the inhabitants, inheritance, not conquest, was the main principle that guided how the land was given.
The use of the word “Inheritance” reveals a few important aspects of God. The first important aspect is the relation between the LORD God and Israel. Inheritance is typically defined as a transaction of properties from parents to children. Even in the midst of fierce wars, the word “inheritance” implicitly reveals an important relational aspect between the LORD God and the Israelites – a father and sons, and a father and daughters. The second important aspect of the word “inheritance” points out the ownership of the land. The ultimate, true owner of all land, including the land of Canaan, is the LORD God – as mentioned in the book of Leviticus (Leviticus 25:23). Notwithstanding however many years the Canaanites had occupied the land, the true owner of all the land is the LORD God.
“Active” Inheritance
The land was not just given to the Israelites to each tribe in a “supernatural” way, with no action from the Israelites. Although the LORD promised to give the land as an inheritance to the twelve Israel tribes, the role of the Israelites was to obey the LORD. They had to step on the land that God promised and drive out the inhabitants (Joshua 1:3). They had to actively proclaim the promise of God.
Fulfilling the promise of God requires active obedience.
True Inheritance
For the Levites, land was not given to them because the LORD Himself is their inheritance. This was repeated twice in Joshua 13 (Joshua 13:14 and 13:33).
Land is one of the most important topics in the book of Joshua. Inheritance was mainly manifested as land from the LORD God to the Israelites. However, these two verses in Joshua 13 emphasize a very important message, not just to the Levites, not just to the other twelve tribes and Joshua, but to all the followers of Christ. The true inheritance, the true portion and wealth, is the LORD our God Himself. In addition, many psalmists also expressed this truth.
Let’s not forget. Let’s remember that gifts – in this case the land – mainly serve as a sign that points to the giver – our God. Our Lord Jesus Christ is our most valuable possession. He is our true portion and inheritance.
Caleb and His Identity
The latter part of chapter 14 exclusively focused on Caleb. Caleb was described as “the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite.” So, who was Caleb in the Bible?
His father Jephunneh was a Kenizzite. Genesis chapter 15 shows that the land of Kenizzites was one of the many nations in the land of Canaan (Genesis 15:19). This indicated that Caleb was not a direct descendant of Abraham. It might have been that his father was integrated to the Israel society when Israel was under slavery in Egypt. As a gentile, his family might have easily been marginalized in the community. Besides, the name of Caleb also possibly indicated his humble background as it meant dog.
Although we do not know exactly how he rose to become a leader of the Judah tribe, one thing that was clear in this chapter was that the LORD God showed no partiality in ethnicity as long as the person was fully dedicated to the LORD. He actively obeyed the LORD to claim the promised inheritance by the LORD. Because Caleb knew the LORD, the true inheritance, he was able to actively obey to claim the promised inheritance, land, by the LORD.
Lesson
Caleb and Judah knew the LORD, the true inheritance. Therefore, Caleb was able to actively claim the promise of the LORD’s inheritance, which in this case manifested as the land in Canaan.
I pray that you will be able to actively follow our Lord Jesus Christ to claim all the promises and blessings that He has granted. More importantly, I pray that all these promises and blessings will allow you to have greater intimacy with our Lord Jesus Christ, the true inheritance.
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