Serve God Wholeheartedly

Joshua 13-15
Key Verse: 14:2

“Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”

In this passage we get a lesson on the geography of Israel and the distribution of land among the twelve tribes. Up until chapter 12 we learned a lot about the conquest of Canaan, but from chapter 13 to the end of Joshua deals with the inheritance of the Israelites and distribution of land. But it is more than a geography lesson, we learn many spiritual truths from this passage. We learn much from one man of God, Caleb who is a good example of a person who serves God with all his heart, and in turn God blesses him greatly, as we see in this in this passage.

Part I – God Gives His Children a Great Inheritance

At this time the hard work was done by Joshua, who conquered dozens of kings. Not an easy task. Have you conquered your homework assignment, or your project at work? Imagine conquering many kingdoms, with exhausting battle campaigns and stressful war and much planning and administration. Imagine the supply chain issues to feed tens of thousands of armed men, every day. Joshua’s life is very inspiring, and so is his faith. Now God comes to Joshua with some blunt truth. In verse 1, God says, “You are now very old and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.” Not many people would say to another person, “Hey you’re old” , much less “Hey you’re very old!” But God is allowed to say that, if he wants, and we know God tells the truth. So we know Joshua was very old. We know that Joshua died in chapter 24 at the age of 110. So from a little math and research we see that here Joshua is about 100 years old. So if you think you are old, not you are not very old yet. However, it was not yet time for Joshua to walk away and go play bingo. Joshua’s time conquering other kingdoms was over, but Joshua would be a part of the administration and division of the land. We see that Israel still had a little bit of a mop up effort in their war campaign. Some land still needed to be taken over. Those areas are: (look at verses 2-5) “ 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.

(refer to map).

In verses 6 to 7, We see that God promised to drive out the Sidonians himself. This is something God would do for the Israelites. It was according to his own sovereign will, and his choice. We see in Judges chapter 1 that the Israelites did not drive out the Sidonians, rather they failed. This was because of disobedience of the Israelites who were influenced by idol worship of the nearby pagan people. We see that so often, disobedience to God leads us to defeat in life. There is a lesson here - that God’s promise is great, and he wants to bless us in so many ways and give us so much. But to receive his full promise we must be faithful to him. We cannot realize all the greatness God has for us if we stray from his commands, just as the Israelites could not get all the land that was intended for them when they disobeyed later.

The divisions of the land east of the Jordan are described throughout the rest of this chapter. Which would go to the tribes of Gad, Reuban, and the half tribe of Manasseh. (refer to map). In the book of Numbers chapter 32, these tribes wanted this land. It was land not originally promised to the Israelites. But when they saw that the land was suitable for livestock and herds, they coveted it. “They just said hey that looks good we want it.” They went to Moses and asked to go into the land and occupy it. What did Moses do? He rebuked them, because it was east of the Jordan. He made reference to the spies that gave a bad report about conquering the promised land. Those fearful spies, said it is a bad idea to enter the promised land because the people were strong and had fortified cities. That bad report spread fear among the Israelites. Then Moses said the tribes of Gad and Reuban were doing the same thing, because they wanted to stay east of the Jordan and he was worried other tribes would look for the easy way out too. But after much discussion Moses agreed that they could occupy the lands east of the Jordan, as long as they stayed in the campaign and fought alongside the other tribes. Therefore the lands described in verses 8-31, were officially allocated to the tribes of Gad, Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh.

They thought that what they were doing was a good idea, getting land that was practical and suitable for their herds. They justified it in many ways. But what happened later? They did not prosper there in that land at all. They had constant difficulty from their enemies to the east, such as the Ammonites, and Edomites. Eventually they lost their land and they were taken over. Even worse, they were enslaved and taken into captivity. They disappeared from history. This reminds us of Christians who want to have all the advantages of living in the world and stay just on the outside of God’s plan for their lives. Maybe they only go to church once in a while, while still calling themselves believers. They do not want to be with God’s people that much, but prefer the world. They want to dwell “over there”, and do what they want. When they live this way, with compromise and outside God’s plan, they are constantly harassed by the devil and led into temptation- and then they fall away. What could have been a great inheritance, is sadly lost.

On the other hand there is the tribe of the Levites. What about them? What was their inheritance? According to verse 33, they had no tribal allotment of land, but it says that the Lord, the God of Israel is their inheritance. The Levites were the priests. Although they had no allotment, they were not homeless, they were placed among the whole nation to serve each of the tribes. We remember one famous priestly couple Zechariah and Elizabeth, who were the parents of John the Baptist, from Luke chapter 1. They were Levites. Were they less favored because they did not have land? No they were more favored because their reward is God! They had the privilege of a relationship with the Lord. The inheritance we have from God, eternal life in heaven, far surpasses anything we could receive in this world. Far greater than land, far greater than money, far greater than status. We cannot bring anything material in this world with us when we die, except we can bring the salvation we have in God, so this salvation, is the most important possession we have. As believers we receive God as our inheritance when we believe in Jesus, and we are spiritually rich. I remember being very poor as a student in college, eating lots of 50 cent packages of ramen. I didn’t have much, but I had accepted Jesus at that time, and was studying the Bible a lot. And I felt I was very rich, and felt that I was lacking nothing at all, I was completely content. Sometimes I wonder, how I was so content just eating ramen and living on a meager budget, it was because I had Jesus.

When Jesus shed his blood for us on the cross, he gave us an inheritance in the kingdom of God. He gives us a place in heaven, real estate in the kingdom of God. John 14:2 says, “My Father’s house has many rooms, if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?” I am sure the view looking out of God’s house is breath taking. In Jesus there is an inheritance that can never “Perish, spoil, or fade, kept in heaven for you.” According to 1 Peter chapter 1. Thank God for our inheritance in Jesus!

A material inheritance is intended to be a blessing, but can so often be a problem as well. When parents die, siblings often fight over their inheritance and don’t talk to each other afterwards. In fact these Israelites, who fought side by side as brothers under their common ancestor Jacob, later began to bicker and quarrel and despise each other also, which led to division and the outbreak of war. King David then had to fight a war to unite the kingdom of Israel and keep it from dividing. The twelve tribes inherited a lot of land, but without God at the center they became petty and materialistic. So land seems like a good inheritance…… but it can be lost in war, it can suffer drought, or famine. However our inheritance in heaven is eternal. We are like the Levites, serving God faithfully and serving the people helping them to know Christ.

Part II – Serve God Wholeheartedly

In this part of the passage, which is based on chapter 14, the land west of the Jordan is divided. It was divided among nine and a half tribes, and was done so by casting lots under Eleazar, Joshua and the leaders of the tribal clans. They believed that by casting lots God would decide who should get the land, they did this by faith and with prayer So they divided the land just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

At that time Caleb approached Joshua and reminded him what Moses said to him, which occurred in Numbers chapter 14, some time ago. 45 years earlier Joshua and Caleb had just returned from spying out the land of Israel, and they had looked at the land of Hebron where the powerful Anakites were located. They were strong and had fortified cities. They had many Jericho type cities, with tall walls. This was also the best land by far, it was hill country. Hill country is the best land typically, so many towns today like to call themselves a hill country even if they are just a regular suburb. Like Hillside and Park Ridge, even though they are flat they pretend to be Hebron, hill country. Perhaps that is why the strongest people were there, because only the strongest and most powerful people could keep it. So Caleb had a big job.

When they returned from their recon mission, many of the spies said they should not dare try to enter the land and they were terrified. But Joshua and Caleb believed the promise of God and believed it was possible. As for all the others, they angered God. In Numbers 14, God gives the specific reasons why he was so upset, it was because of the unbelief of the people, because they treated him with contempt, they tested him, and disobeyed him. At that time God decided that no one from that generation 20 years or older besides Joshua and Caleb could enter the promised land, so the Israelites had to wander in the desert for 40 years until that generation was gone. That’s why Caleb is happy to say that God let him live, saying God kept him alive for 45 years. He was one of only two people, so he is pretty happy about that as you would imagine. Him being both alive and old was part of his testimony. At this time Caleb is 85 years old and he is reflecting on what God said about him to Moses after their spy mission. Now he is full of vision, not sentimental feelings, and wants to claim his inheritance. Lets look at verse 9, it says “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.” This was a promise that Caleb had in his heart for 45 years. Wow, he held onto God’s word for 45 years. At the age of 85 it would be easy to do a lot of things assuming the time had passed. He could take the grandkids fishing. But no, at this time he wanted to claim God’s promise, an inheritance promised to him because he had a “different spirit” and followed God wholeheartedly.

What did it mean that Caleb had a different spirit, and followed God wholeheartedly? Caleb spoke God’s truth to a group of Israelites that were against his ideas completely, they thought he was nuts, and that he should be quiet. To go against what others think about you or your beliefs is often hard to do. Standing up for the truth is not always popular in the world. Often times Christians care a lot about what others think instead of what God thinks. In John 15 verse 19 Jesus said that the world will hate us because of our faith. Under that pressure many Christians give in to peer pressure and follow the world. But Caleb did not follow the pattern of the world but followed God.

We also see Caleb was patient and could wait on God’s promises for a very long time. At no fault of his own Caleb had to wander around in a hot desert and wait for 40 years to enter the promised land. How would you like it if a bunch of complainers made you wander in a desert for 40 years? You might not be too happy about that. But Caleb was not bitter and kept his faith. He still kept believing in the promise of God, that God would bless him with the best inheritance in the land of Hebron.

We also see in Caleb’s character, there is no retirement plan in doing the Lord’s work. At the age of 85, he was ready to conquer the land of Hebron. Age is just a number as they say. In verse 11 he said, “I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle as I was then.” Wow at 85, he was still ready to do battle. He doesn’t sound like he wants to sit around sit on his porch, looking at the classified adds. He sounds ready to serve the Lord! We see that serving God is what kept him strong.

We need a mission to stay active and healthy. It is so often said that when people retire and they have no purpose they get sick and then die. Thank God we have a purpose to teach the Bible, and to serve the Lord and to help our small ministry grow to be a big one. We have a purpose to help others know Christ. I believe this purpose will keep us young and keep us off the couch and off the lawn chair watching the sprinkler go back and forth, and we will live a long vigorous life like Caleb. At the North American leaders conference held last month I met many people I have not seen in a long time, for many of them, their hair color was a different color than the last time I saw them. Many of them still do world mission work with much enthusiasm, traveling around the world a lot. Especially Pastor Ron who serves the Lord wholeheartedly. I am blessed to know such people and I am greatly inspired by their faith. Its ok to retire from your job, but our work in the Lord, and serving him wholeheartedly is a lifetime commitment.

Finally we see that Caleb had bold faith, he said in verse 12, “Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but the Lord helping me, I will drive them out.” Caleb had faith to believe that God would give him the best land, the land of Hebron. This was the very land he scouted out, and now he is coming full circle 45 years later and about to conquer that very same land. We must believe in God as a good and loving God, who gives us the best. When we do so, that is when God blesses us. Caleb believed God would richly bless him with the best inheritance and he put his faith into action. In Hebron the people were tall and seemed like giants, so there he would have the toughest opponent of all, but he believed with God’s help he could conquer the land. He depended on God, as he says, he believed that God would help him do it. Without God we cannot do much, but with God, we can do things that seem even impossible. Having this faith to do challenging things, things that seem impossible, is very pleasing to God. He wants us to claim the land, to claim God’s promise, and to believe in him and depend on him. Chapter 14 concludes with Joshua blessing Caleb and Chapter 15 then deals mostly with the distribution of land to the tribe of Judah, who’s land is west of the Jordan. Judah would become an important area during the time of King David. Judah would unite with Simeon and that land would become Judea. Jesus was a descendant of king David and from the tribe of Judah, so that is an important area in Israel.

In this passage we learn that we are like modern day Levites. We are not promised anything in this world, but we are in fact promised the Lord, and eternal life in Jesus. We also learn to have a different spirit like Caleb, who served God wholeheartedly and conquered the promised land and received a great inheritance from God because of his strong faith. May God help you to have a different spirit to serve God wholeheartedly like Caleb.