PROLOGUE — The Division West of the Jordan Begins
Joshua 14 is the chapter where the division of the land west of the Jordan — the actual mainland of Canaan — begins. But rather than a tedious list, it opens with the moving request of an old man who remembered a promise made forty-five years earlier.
ACT ONE — Nine and a Half Tribes to Be Divided by Lot (verses 1–5)
“And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them. By lot was their inheritance, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half tribe.”
By lot. The principle already established in Numbers 26 and 34 — that the division of the land would be determined not by human preference, but by lot, entrusted to God’s sovereignty — was now actually put into practice.
ACT TWO — Caleb’s Bold Request (verses 6–12)
The most moving moment of this chapter follows.
“Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him… Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land… Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God.”
But I wholly followed the LORD my God. Caleb vividly recalled the events of Numbers 13–14, forty-five years earlier — the moment when, among the spies, only he and Joshua brought back a faithful report.
And he declared a remarkable physical boldness.
“And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God. And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years… and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.”
Fourscore and five years old… as yet I am as strong this day. Most of Israel’s first generation, twenty years and older, had perished in the wilderness (Numbers 14), but Caleb survived those forty-five years, from age forty to eighty-five — and throughout that long span, he never once grew weak.
Caleb volunteered for the most difficult region — the hill country of Hebron, inhabited by the sons of Anak.
“Give me this mountain… in which the Anakims were, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.”
I shall be able to drive them out. An eighty-five-year-old man volunteered for the most dangerous region, home to the most powerful enemies — a living testimony that faith, not age, was the true source of boldness.
ACT THREE — Hebron Given to Caleb (verses 13–15)
“And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance. Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.”
Because he wholly followed. This sentence summarizes Caleb’s entire life. In youth and in old age, amid the majority’s unbelief, throughout forty-five years of wilderness journey — he consistently followed God wholly, without wavering.
REFLECTION — A Faith That Never Grows Old in Boldness
The most powerful encouragement Joshua 14 gives us is that boldness of faith is never limited by age. At eighty-five, Caleb himself requested the most difficult challenge — his body had aged, but his faith remained as young as ever.
Rather than using age or circumstance as an excuse to avoid challenge, do you carry, like Caleb, a boldness that wholly follows God to the very end?
NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW
Joshua Chapter 15 — the vast territory allotted to the tribe of Judah, and its detailed boundaries, unfold.
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