The book of Joshua can be broadly divided into three parts: 1) entering the land; 2) conquering the land; and 3) the distribution of the land. Starting from chapter 15 began the third part of the book. From this chapter to chapter 21, Joshua provided a detailed description of the land and cities inherited to the twelve tribes and the Levi tribe.

As a reader, one of the most difficult challenges associated with these chapters on land distribution is drawing out applicable messages. The details of geographic and cities, if you are not familiar with the Israel geographic, would be difficult to follow and to extract appropriate meanings. 

Thankfully, the most important message that we, the reader, need to obtain from the land distribution chapters is nicely summarized by the last three verses in chapter 21, as summarized below: 

“43 So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. 
44 And the Lord gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; 
the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand. 
45 Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.
Joshua 21:43-45 [underline added by the blog author]

Joshua 21:43-45 provides a key summary of both conquering and distribution of land chapters. God is the subject of all the accomplishments. The phrase, “the LORD gave,” is repeated three times, along with two repetitions of “He had sworn.” As the LORD loved the Israelites, He had sworn to give the land to their fathers. The LORD is the main promise keeper and enabler of all the promises. 

Detailed descriptions of land, territories, and cities are a manifestation of God’s faithfulness. Faithful God is always the central message of the entire Bible. These detailed accounts of borders, territories and cities are one of the manifestations of God’s goodness and promises to the Israelites. 

Now let’s go over the content of chapter 15. 

Chapter Summary

Chapter 15 provides a detailed description of the land and the cities given to the tribe of Judah. 

The effective first born

Let’s note that the lot allocation started with the tribe of Judah. In terms of biological order, Reueben was the first born of Jacob. In terms of the number of lots inherited, Joseph was considered the first born as he received two lots, one each for his son, Manasseh and Ephraim. In terms of land allocation order, however, the LORD seemed to have chosen Judah, biologically the fourth born, as the first born. Why was Judah the first? Perhaps, they were the most actively obedient among the twelve tribes? 

Description of the border and cities (v. 1-13, v. 22-63)

The Judah tribe inherited the southern part of Canaan, the detailed conquest of which was described in chapter 10 (Joshua 10:29-43). Compared with other tribes, Judah received an expansive area of land and many cities as they were numerous and the most dedicated tribe to fulfill the promise of God with their active obedience. However, even the Judah tribe was not able to drive out the Jebusites in Jerusalem. The Jebusites were driven away much later by the second king of Israel, David (2 Samuel 5:6-10).

Caleb and Othniel (v13-21)

A more description of a military exploit by Caleb was given in these verses. Approximately 45 years ago, the descendants of Anak placed a fear into the first-generation Israelites (Numbers 13:32-33). In contrast, verse 14 pointed out that Caleb drove out three sons of Anak to emphasize the victorious aspect for Caleb, who represented all those who followed the LORD fully. 

Othniel, along with his wife, Achsah (Caleb’s daughter), were introduced in verse 17. Joshua might have highlighted this event to introduce Othniel, who would be the next leader of Israel as a judge. Othniel was described as a man of God filled with the Spirit of the LORD, who delivered Israel from an adversary (Judges 3:9-10). 

Lesson

Land distribution was one of the major manifestations of God’s faithfulness to the Israelites, and He provided the land and the cities abundantly. The first lot was allocated to the Judah tribe, who under the leadership of Caleb, showed a full heart to follow the LORD and fulfill His promises.

What are some manifestations of God’s faithfulness in your life?