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That was the day that Moses solemnly promised, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance, you and your children’s, forever. Yes, you have lived totally for God.’ Now look at me: God has kept me alive, as he promised. It is now forty-five years since God spoke this word to Moses, years in which Israel wandered in the wilderness. And here I am today, eighty-five years old! I’m as strong as I was the day Moses sent me out. I’m as strong as ever in battle, whether coming or going. So give me this hill country that God promised me. You yourself heard the report, that the Anakim were there with their great fortress cities. If God goes with me, I will drive them out, just as God said.”

^13-14 Joshua blessed him. He gave Hebron to Caleb son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite still today, because he gave himself totally to God, the God of Israel.

¹⁵ The name of Hebron used to be Kiriath Arba, named after Arba, the greatest man among the Anakim.

And the land had rest from war. (The Message)

”But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it” (Num.14:24).

Caleb was another impressive old man, still walking by faith at 85 years of age. It was now 45 years since God’s promise had come to him through Moses. In all the intervening years he had held tightly to it, and now, at a great age, he was still spiritually vibrant, and willing to fight to see it realised. He recognised that it was by the grace of God that he was still alive, and he committed himself to the fulfilment of those purposes the Lord still had for him, recognising, of course, that he needed God’s strength in the pursuit of them (12).

‘ The drain of the years is amply met by the inflow of His all-sufficient grace. There is no reason why we should decline in usefulness and fruit-bearing with the increase of years; but the reverse…The secret lies in wholly following the Lord.’ F.B.Meyer

‘Caleb illustrates the truth that ”through faith and patience (we) inherit the promises” (Heb.6:12). Along with Joshua, Caleb was eager to claim his inheritance over forty years before, but the nation had rebelled in unbelief. Patiently, Caleb endured the trials of the wilderness; he knew that his future was secure (Num.14:24). That unbelieving generation had no hope, for they died in the wilderness, but Caleb had a ”living hope” because of his faith (1 Pet.1:3ff.).

What an example for us to follow! Age did not hinder him, the disappointments of the past did not embitter him, and giants did not frighten him! At a time in life when others were looking for security and ease, Caleb was saying, ”Give me this mountain!” (v.12). His secret? ”He wholly followed the LORD God of Israel” (v.14).’ Warren Wiersbe.

Now these are the areas the Israelites received as an inheritance in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel allotted to them. ² Their inheritances were assigned by lot to the nine and a half tribes, as the Lord had commanded through Moses. ³ Moses had granted the two and a half tribes their inheritance east of the Jordan but had not granted the Levites an inheritance among the rest, ⁴ for Joseph’s descendants had become two tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim. The Levites received no share of the land but only towns to live in, with pasturelands for their flocks and herds. ⁵ So the Israelites divided the land, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁶ Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. ⁷ I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, ⁸ but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. ⁹ So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’ (NIV)

People of faith live out of ”convictions” they cannot necessarily prove, but they see what others cannot, and what they see they speak.

”Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1)

What strikes me here is the negative impact unbelieving believers have on their brothers and sisters (8).

” My companions who went with me discouraged the people, but I stuck to my guns, totally with God, my God.” (The Message)

Prayer: Lord, may I be such a person of faith and conviction, that by the things I do and say I lift my fellow-believers up, rather than pull them down. Fill my heart and mouth with words of faith that build.

⁸ The other half of Manasseh, the Reubenites and the Gadites had received the inheritance that Moses had given them east of the Jordan, as he, the servant of the Lord, had assigned it to them.

⁹ It extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the middle of the gorge, and included the whole plateau of Medeba as far as Dibon, ¹⁰ and all the towns of Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, out to the border of the Ammonites. ¹¹ It also included Gilead, the territory of the people of Geshur and Maakah, all of Mount Hermon and all Bashan as far as Salekah— ¹² that is, the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan, who had reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei. (He was the last of the Rephaites.) Moses had defeated them and taken over their land. ¹³ But the Israelites did not drive out the people of Geshur and Maakah, so they continue to live among the Israelites to this day.

¹⁴ But to the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance, since the food offerings presented to the Lord, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as he promised them.

¹⁵ This is what Moses had given to the tribe of Reuben, according to its clans:

¹⁶ The territory from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the middle of the gorge, and the whole plateau past Medeba ¹⁷ to Heshbon and all its towns on the plateau, including Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon, ¹⁸ Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, ¹⁹ Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth Shahar on the hill in the valley, ²⁰ Beth Peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth— ²¹ all the towns on the plateau and the entire realm of Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled at Heshbon. Moses had defeated him and the Midianite chiefs, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba—princes allied with Sihon—who lived in that country. ²² In addition to those slain in battle, the Israelites had put to the sword Balaam son of Beor, who practiced divination. ²³ The boundary of the Reubenites was the bank of the Jordan. These towns and their villages were the inheritance of the Reubenites, according to their clans.

²⁴ This is what Moses had given to the tribe of Gad, according to its clans:

²⁵ The territory of Jazer, all the towns of Gilead and half the Ammonite country as far as Aroer, near Rabbah; ²⁶ and from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the territory of Debir; ²⁷ and in the valley, Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Sukkoth and Zaphon with the rest of the realm of Sihon king of Heshbon (the east side of the Jordan, the territory up to the end of the Sea of Galilee). ²⁸ These towns and their villages were the inheritance of the Gadites, according to their clans.

²⁹ This is what Moses had given to the half-tribe of Manasseh, that is, to half the family of the descendants of Manasseh, according to its clans:

³⁰ The territory extending from Mahanaim and including all of Bashan, the entire realm of Og king of Bashan—all the settlements of Jair in Bashan, sixty towns, ³¹ half of Gilead, and Ashtaroth and Edrei (the royal cities of Og in Bashan). This was for the descendants of Makir son of Manasseh—for half of the sons of Makir, according to their clans.

³² This is the inheritance Moses had given when he was in the plains of Moab across the Jordan east of Jericho. ³³ But to the tribe of Levi, Moses had given no inheritance; the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as he promised them.

The great victories over Sihon and Og are often mentioned in the Old Testament. But even after such feats, we read about the Israelites failing to fully live out the implications of that conquest (13).

This can be our experience too. The decisive victory over sin, death and the devil was won by Jesus at the Cross, but in our flawed fallenness we repeatedly fail to live in the fullness of His achievement. I wonder how many accommodations do we make with temptation and sin? How many compromises? What do we live with that we don’t have to? This verse, that we could easily pass over, challenges me to ask these heart-searching questions

When Joshua had grown old, the Lord said to him, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.

² “This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and Geshurites, ³ from the Shihor River on the east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north, all of it counted as Canaanite though held by the five Philistine rulers in Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron; the territory of the Avvites ⁴ on the south; all the land of the Canaanites, from Arah of the Sidonians as far as Aphek and the border of the Amorites; ⁵ the area of Byblos; and all Lebanon to the east, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath.

⁶ “As for all the inhabitants of the mountain regions from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, that is, all the Sidonians, I myself will drive them out before the Israelites. Be sure to allocate this land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have instructed you, ⁷ and divide it as an inheritance among the nine tribes and half of the tribe of Manasseh.” (NIV)

‘“You are never too old to set a new goal or dream a new dream.” C.S. Lewis

This short passage resonates with me, because I am very much aware of the advancing years. I am now in my 70th year, and some people reading this will no doubt say, ‘That’s not old at all.’ Comparatively speaking, maybe not. But 69 isn’t young!

But this also resonates with my heart. I must not now allow myself to simply ‘coast’, just because I’m a pensioner. Spiritually, there is much ground to be taken. I want to spend the rest of my days pressing on and pressing in. Don’t you? There will always be land ‘to be possessed’ while we are in this world. How we can serve may change, but may the desire to serve always burn in our hearts. We can trust the Lord who has led us this far, to show us the works He still has for us to do.

‘Unlike some elderly people, Joshua lived in the future and not in the past. He had a job to do, and he wanted to complete it before he died. He was not satisfied to defeat thirty-one kings. He urged the tribes to possess the land they had conquered and claim it for the Lord.

No matter how much God has enabled you to accomplish in life, there is always much more land to possess. In the Christian life, we never stand still; we either go forward or backward. The challenge to the believer is Hebrews 6:1: ”Let us go on!” ‘ (Warren Wiersbe).

”The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
    they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
¹³ planted in the house of the Lord,
    they will flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ They will still bear fruit in old age,
    they will stay fresh and green,
¹⁵ proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
    he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.” (Psalm 92:12-15, NIV)

In the next chapter we are going to meet yet another inspiring ‘senior’!

These are the kings of the land whom the Israelites had defeated and whose territory they took over east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon, including all the eastern side of the Arabah:

² Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.

He ruled from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge—from the middle of the gorge—to the Jabbok River, which is the border of the Ammonites. This included half of Gilead. ³ He also ruled over the eastern Arabah from the Sea of Galilee to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea), to Beth Jeshimoth, and then southward below the slopes of Pisgah.

⁴ And the territory of Og king of Bashan, one of the last of the Rephaites, who reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei.

⁵ He ruled over Mount Hermon, Salekah, all of Bashan to the border of the people of Geshur and Maakah, and half of Gilead to the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

⁶ Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the Israelites conquered them. And Moses the servant of the Lord gave their land to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh to be their possession.

⁷ Here is a list of the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir. Joshua gave their lands as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel according to their tribal divisions. ⁸ The lands included the hill country, the western foothills, the Arabah, the mountain slopes, the wilderness and the Negev. These were the lands of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. These were the kings:

(NIV)

‘Joshua 12 is a summary chapter in the Bible that lists the 31 kings and territories conquered by the Israelites under Moses and Joshua, marking the end of the initial conquest. It acts as a comprehensive record of victory, highlighting God’s faithfulness in fulfilling promises to give them land on both sides of the Jordan River.’

Verses 1-6 highlight the victories, under Moses, over the kings Sihon and Og on the east side of Jordan. This land was subsequently given to Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

Verses 7-24 list 31 kings defeated by Joshua, west of the Jordan River, in an area stretching from Lebanon to the desert.

This chapter also serves as a transition, concluding the stories of battle, and setting up the next phase: the dividing of the land among the various tribes.

There are two clear takeaways:

• God is faithful to keep His promises. He kept them to the Israelites; He will keep them to us.
• God wants to give us comprehensive victory in our on-going battle against sin, but we can only be victorious in His strength, not our own.

     ‘The deepest blessings of the spiritual life cannot be won or held in the strength of our own purpose, even though it be a holy and earnest one. These things can be ours only in so far as we abide in Christ, in whom our inheritance is vested, and from whom we receive it as we need, by faith. We can hold nothing apart from abiding fellowship with Jesus. And this is our privilege. Let us lift our hearts to the blessed Spirit, asking that He would reveal to us that which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, but which God hath prepared for those that love Him.’ F.B. Meyer

When Jabin king of Hazor heard of this, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the kings of Shimron and Akshaph, ² and to the northern kings who were in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Kinnereth, in the western foothills and in Naphoth Dor on the west; ³ to the Canaanites in the east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivitesbelow Hermon in the region of Mizpah. ⁴ They came out with all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots—a huge army, as numerous as the sand on the seashore. ⁵ All these kings joined forces and made camp together at the Waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

⁶ The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them, slain, over to Israel. You are to hamstringtheir horses and burn their chariots.”

⁷ So Joshua and his whole army came against them suddenly at the Waters of Merom and attacked them, ⁸ and the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel. They defeated them and pursued them all the way to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth Maim, and to the Valley of Mizpah on the east, until no survivors were left. ⁹ Joshua did to them as the Lord had directed: He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots.

¹⁰ At that time Joshua turned back and captured Hazor and put its king to the sword. (Hazor had been the head of all these kingdoms.) ¹¹ Everyone in it they put to the sword. They totally destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed, and he burned Hazor itself.

¹² Joshua took all these royal cities and their kings and put them to the sword. He totally destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. ¹³ Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities built on their mounds—except Hazor, which Joshua burned. ¹⁴ The Israelites carried off for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but all the people they put to the sword until they completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed. ¹⁵ As the Lord commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.

¹⁶ So Joshua took this entire land: the hill country,all the Negev, the whole region of Goshen, the western foothills, the Arabah and the mountains of Israel with their foothills, ¹⁷ from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and put them to death. ¹⁸ Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. ¹⁹ Except for the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. ²⁰ For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²¹ At that time Joshua went and destroyed the Anakites from the hill country: from Hebron, Debirand Anab, from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua totally destroyed them and their towns. ²² No Anakites were left in Israelite territory; only in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod did any survive.

²³ So Joshua took the entire land, just as the Lord had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war. (NIV)

Back to ‘Joshua’ today…

This victory marked a major milestone in the taking of the Promised Land. We also see that ‘the conquests were not instantaneous but part of a multi-year campaign.’

The David versus Goliath theme is repeated throughout the Bible. God’s people regularly find themselves up against overwhelming odds in this world, but ‘one with God’ is always ‘a majority’. It’s been said that this passage ‘Teaches reliance on God rather than trusting in technological or military superiority.’

‘It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in humans.’ Psalm 118:8

For our purposes, let us note that obedience to God and His clear Word is the only pathway of blessing and ‘success’. It is not the route to an easy life, but it is the only true way to flourish in this world.

‘God assures us before the battle (11:6), fights for us during the battle (11:8), and commands us after the battle (11:9,15). How we follow orders after the victory is as important as what we do before the battle begins.’ Warren W. Wiersbe.

When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them.⁵¹ While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. ⁵² Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.⁵³ And they stayed continually at the temple,praising God. (NIV)

Lord Jesus, we ask that you will lift up your hands over each one of us. We crave your blessing. We desire everything you want to give to us. We know we cannot live life alone; we cannot do without you. We cannot serve your mission in the world without the power of the Holy Spirit.

Lord, inspire in us a deeper worship, ever- increasing praise, and overflowing joy. Enable us to see you as you are: high and lifted up over everything. We are so small, but give us eyes to see your immeasurable bigness. Cause us to see your glory, for your glory. Amen.

He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (NIV)

Jesus seems to say, in effect:

• Look back and remember the Word: Remember the Word I spoke to you (see e.g.18:31-34), and remember the Word prophesied in every section of your Old Testament. See that the Word I spoke to you tallies with the Old Testament Scriptures. (Note that in order for disciples to ”understand the Scriptures” Jesus must do a work in their/our ”minds”). ‘ Christ’s scholars never learn above their bibles in this world; but they need to be learning still more and more out of their bibles, and to grow more ready and mighty in the scriptures. That we may have right thoughts of Christ, and have our mistakes concerning him rectified, there needs no more than to be made to understand the scriptures.’ Matthew Henry;
• Look forward and receive power. These men were going to be witnesses to Jesus all over the world, and ”in his name” they were going to preach forgiveness of sins through repentance. For this they would need help, and it would be given. They were going to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. These words prepares the way for the continuing story in ‘Acts’ (see Acts 1:4,5,8). The Holy Ghost gave them a holy go!