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.
The book of Joshua is the history of the children of Israel, under the leadership of Joshua, as they come into the "promised land". It is also the story of conflicts that followed as the Jews conquered the land. It is a record of one victory after another as the Lord gives the children of Israel what He told them He would give them 40 years before they arrive to claim His promise.
There is a great lesson in that thought. Sometimes, we ignore God's directives which brings upon us sorrow, heartache and distress. I do not understand why I do not learn His way, His way is the best way.
Our reading for today is a perfect example of my point. When Moses sent out the spies, Joshua and Caleb were the only two to return from their sojourn inside the “promised land” with a positive report.
Because the majority of the spies gave a negative, fearful report of the land and due to their unbelief, the children of Israel wandered around in the wilderness for 40 years before claiming their promise.
However, the Lord did not forget the faithfulness of the spy named Caleb. God instructed Joshua, the leader responsible for dividing the "promised land", to give Caleb the piece of real estate he wanted, the area around Hebron. Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb because this spy had "wholly followed the Lord God of Israel", verse 14.
This whole account is a great spiritual lesson for me and for you also. In our daily lives, we must do all that the Lord directs us to do, "wholly following the Lord."
Before I finish, let me remind you that this land and city that God gave Caleb 3,500 years ago is a center of controversy today. Hebron is the oldest Jewish community in the world founded by Abraham some 4,000 years ago, Genesis 13:18.
Today, there are around 1,000 Jews living in Hebron with 150,000 Palestinians surrounding them and many of those Palestinians self-proclaimed Islamic terrorists.
Hebron is the second most sacred piece of real estate in the world for the Jewish people. It was purchased by Abraham as a burial site, Genesis 23, and paid for in cash.
There is a great Jewish heritage in Hebron from the past, but the present situation is very controversial and will continue to be so until the Messiah, Jesus Christ, returns to deal with the enemies of the Jewish people.
It is good to reflect on the past as we look to the future, all under the watchful eye of our Lord. He is still in charge.
PRAYER THOT: Help me this day Lord, to wholly follow You in all that I do, as You lead.
And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
It is worth the time you will spend to read our extended reading for today, which is the complete account of the conquering of Jericho. God told Joshua that as He had been with Moses He would be with the new leader of the Jewish people as they would enter the “promise land”.
This portion of God's word is the record of God's beginning phase of the fulfillment of His promises to Joshua. This is an amazing victory over the awesome enemy standing at the entrance of the conquest of the “promise land” for the children of Israel.
Any true military strategist would have warned Joshua against the plan given to him by God. It would have been considered a suicide mission by any evaluation to simply have your religious leaders lead your people in a walk around this well fortified city.
It would have been ridiculous to walk around the city for one day but to do so for seven days and then to shout and think that the walls would come down would be out of the question for any logical leader.
However, God did not set Joshua in place as the leader of the children of Israel to lead the conquest of the land He had promised them because he was a logical thinker but because Joshua was obedient to his Lord.
The rest of the book of Joshua, which records the leadership of God's man for this mission, is a record of obedience and victory. It is the evidence that we must look at and consider, even as we in our own journey through life follow His direction for all the conquests that are promised for each of us as we do follow His direction.
It is interesting that as the children of Israel entered the promise land, it is "Jericho first" on the agenda for God's plan for taking the land. I used that phrase "Jericho first" because this is the phrase used in 1993 when the Oslo Accords were signed on the lawn at the White House in Washington.
The peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinian people would give to the Palestinians, "Jericho first." For this last 16 years we have seen how that peace treaty has been negated and the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people is deteriorating on a daily basis.
What got my attention is the fact that God gave “Jericho first” to the children of Israel and 3,500 years later the Jews gave “Jericho first” to their enemies. This scenario is in perfect alignment with Bible prophecy for these two peoples, the Jews and the Palestinians. (see my study on Esau and the Palestinians)
All the actors are in place and the curtain is about to go up on the final drama as described in Bible prophecy. Keep looking up. Jesus is coming and it could be today.
PRAYER THOT: Help me to realize the time of Your return is drawing closer as the current events unfold that are in line with the end time scenario found in Bible prophecy.
Today we read the account of the first several days of the children of Israel in the Promised Land. Joshua had been installed as leader after the death of Moses and given the responsibilities of leading the Israelites across the Jordan River and into the area just to the east of Jericho, out in the valley halfway between Jericho and the Jordan River and just north of the Dead Sea to a place that He would name Gilgal.
Even the name of the location where the children of Israel would first encamp, Gilgal, which in Hebrew means "rolling," was significant. It was here that God told Joshua He had rolled away the reproach of the Egyptian bondage,verse 9.
The first act that Joshua led the Jewish people into, once inside the Promised Land, was the “circumcision” of each of the males. The fact is that none of the men who entered the land God had given them had been circumcised, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb. The oldest of all the men would have been 39 years of age and none of them had ever been given the mark of God's promise to the Jews, circumcision.
The next item on God's agenda, even before He would lead them to conquer the land, was to begin the “cycle of Jewish feast” that He had given Moses for His chosen people. The Lord had commanded that once they entered the land they were to start with the Passover, the first of the seven Jewish feasts, and complete the entire cycle on a yearly basis.
Through the Jewish feast God was giving the Jewish people a glimpse into the future. The seven feasts all have a historic significance and an agricultural factor to them as well as the prophetic aspect to each of the Jewish feasts.
You remember that in the gospel records of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the events actually took place on the Jewish feast days. Jesus Christ was crucified on Passover,John 13:1, was buried on Unleavened Bread,John 19:31 and 42, and resurrected on Sunday, the day the Jews celebrate the Feast of First Fruits,John 20:1 and Leviticus 23:10-13.
Interestingly, Jesus, as He fulfilled the first three Jewish feast days in the proper day sequence, so also He will fulfill the last three Jewish feast days in the proper day sequence as well (See my study "The Feasts of God").
Year after year for the last 3,500 years, the Jews have been observing these Jewish feast days, a constant reminder of what the Lord has done, is doing, and will do for them in the future. PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for being a consistent, faithful God who always keeps His promises.
And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.
Joshua 4is the record of the miraculous entry into the Promised Land by the Israelites, under the leadership of Joshua. Those who were entering the "land", were those Jewish people who had not seen the parting of the Red Sea, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, the others had died during the forty years of wandering in the wilderness.
All those who would enter into the land that God had promised them had been born during the forty years of wandering in unbelief. The reason, of course, for the two exceptions, Joshua and Caleb, was that they, as spies, had reported back to Moses that the "land" was great and that they could enter in right away.
Joshua and Caleb believed God and thus they were given the privilege of entering into God's Promised Land.
Let me remind you that the time of the year when the Jordan River was parted was in the spring, the harvest time,Joshua 3:15-16. The waters of the Jordan River were overflowing their banks, more so than during the rest of the year.
God had directed Joshua to have the priest to bare the "ark of the covenant" to the eastern shore of the Jordan River and when the waters divided all of the children of Israel followed the priest with the "ark" as they crossed over into Israel on dry ground.
Joshua also had one man from each of the twelve tribes bare a stone from the center of the Jordan River, now dry, and take it to the place where they would "lodge that night",verse 3, and lay all twelve of these stones at Gilgal,verse 19.
You'll remember Gilgal, located about two miles from the Jordan River, is the place where the Jews celebrated their first "Passover" in the Promised Land,Joshua 5:10.
Verse 6of our extended reading says that the taking of the stones from the Jordan River would be a "sign" for the Israelites, an object lesson for the Jews so that they could tell their children of God's love, provision and protection for them.
However, it would not be done for the sake of only telling the children, verses 19-23, but it would be somewhat of a monument to have so that "all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that they might fear the Lord our God forever",verse 24.
Indeed, there are not many people on the earth that don't know the story of God's fulfilled promises to the Jews and His provision of the land as He had promised. Of course, the splitting of the Jordan River, like the splitting of the Red Sea, displayed the mighty hand of God.
3,500 years ago God took care of His chosen people, He is still doing so today, and will do so into the future, as He said He would. Praise His name!
PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for Your love, provision and protection for me as it has been for Your people, the Jewish people, over the last 4,000 years.
There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Our devotional reading for today is the record of the Lord giving a command for Joshua to take the children of Israel into the “promised land”. This is the land that He had prepared for the Israelites. Joshua was now the leader of the Jewish people and would lead them during the first return by the Jewish people to the "promised land".
As the Israelites would enter the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, the Lord would promise Joshua that the Jewish people would receive all the land promised to Moses and his descendants, the land that would extend even to the River Euphrates, verse 4.
On this return to the land, the first of three returns after the Jewish nation would leave the land God had promised the Jews, they would receive only a portion of the land that God promised. The complete fulfillment of the land prophecy, Deuteronomy 30, will take place during the future 1000 year Kingdom period.
The scriptures give us the details on the total amount of land that God has promised His “chosen people”, the Jewish people. One day the Jewish people will receive 10 times the amount of land they have today, that happens at His Second Coming.
Our passage for today’s reading is one of thirty-eight Biblical references that detail all the land promised, which is much of what we know as the Middle East today. This helps us to understand why the Arab world is concerned about what happens to the Jewish State of Israel.
The Lord also assures Joshua of “good success”, verse 8, and that He would be with this one who replaced Moses, the great Jewish prophet and leader. God told Joshua that as He was with Moses, He would be with young Joshua.
That success would come from daily meditation in the Word of God, verse 8, and obedience to the Word. These are the promises that the Lord gives a young Jewish leader at the exact time that he needed to have this encouragement and direction.
This first, of three returns to the “Promised Land” by the Jews, is evidence that the Lord will be faithful to His promise of a “land” for a “people”, His chosen people, as a “nation”, a land that He gives them, forever. This land will be given at the Lord’s return to earth.
But until that time, God will be with His people, the Jewish people, verse 5. God's promise to Joshua is that He will give them good success, verse 8. The success for the Jews and for us as well is dependent on each of us allowing His word to direct our every step.
Prayer Thot: Thank you Lord for being a “promise-keeping” God, not only for success but for Your promise of a return to the “land” to set up Your “Kingdom”.
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.
The book of Joshua is the history of the children of Israel, under the leadership of Joshua, as they come into the "promised land". It is also the story of conflicts that followed as the Jews conquered the land. It is a record of one victory after another as the Lord gives the children of Israel what He told them He would give them 40 years before they arrive to claim His promise.
There is a great lesson in that thought. Sometimes, we ignore God's directives which brings upon us sorrow, heartache and distress. I do not understand why I do not learn His way, His way is the best way.
Our reading for today is a perfect example of my point. When Moses sent out the spies, Joshua and Caleb were the only two to return from their sojourn inside the “promised land” with a positive report.
Because the majority of the spies gave a negative, fearful report of the land and due to their unbelief, the children of Israel wandered around in the wilderness for 40 years before claiming their promise.
However, the Lord did not forget the faithfulness of the spy named Caleb. God instructed Joshua, the leader responsible for dividing the promised land, to give Caleb the piece of real estate he wanted, the area around Hebron. Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb because this spy had "wholly followed the Lord God of Israel", verse 14.
This whole account is a great spiritual lesson for me and for you also. In our daily lives, we must do all that the Lord directs us to do, "wholly following the Lord."
Before I finish, let me remind you that this land and city that God gave Caleb 3,500 years ago is a center of controversy today. Hebron is the oldest Jewish community in the world founded by Abraham some 4,000 years ago, Genesis 13:18.
Today, there are around 1,000 Jews living in Hebron with 150,000 Palestinians surrounding them and many of those Palestinians self-proclaimed Islamic terrorists.
Hebron is the second most sacred piece of real estate in the world for the Jewish people. It was purchased by Abraham as a burial site, Genesis 23, and paid for in cash.
There is a great Jewish heritage in Hebron from the past, but the present situation is very controversial and will continue to be so until the Messiah, Jesus Christ, returns to deal with the enemies of the Jewish people.
It is good to reflect on the past as we look to the future, all under the watchful eye of our Lord. He is still in charge.
PRAYER THOT: Help me this day Lord, to wholly follow You in all that I do, as You lead.
And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
It is worth the time you will spend to read our extended reading for today, which is the complete account of the conquering of Jericho. God told Joshua that as He had been with Moses He would be with the new leader of the Jewish people as they would enter the “promise land”.
This portion of God's word is the record of God's beginning phase of the fulfillment of His promises to Joshua. This is an amazing victory over the awesome enemy standing at the entrance of the conquest of the “promise land” for the children of Israel.
Any true military strategist would have warned Joshua against the plan given to him by God. It would have been considered a suicide mission by any evaluation to simply have your religious leaders lead your people in a walk around this well fortified city.
It would have been ridiculous to walk around the city for one day but to do so for seven days and then to shout and think that the walls would come down would be out of question for any logical leader.
However, God did not set Joshua in place as the leader of the children of Israel to lead the conquest of the land He had promised them because he was a logical thinker but because Joshua was obedient to his Lord.
The rest of the book of Joshua, which records the leadership of God's man for this mission, is a record of obedience and victory. It is the evidence that we must look at and consider, even as we in our own journey through life follow His direction for all the conquests that are promised for each of us as we do follow His direction.
It is interesting that as the children of Israel entered the promise land, it is "Jericho first" on the agenda for God's plan for taking the land. I used that phrase "Jericho first" because this is the phrase used in 1993 when the Oslo Accords were signed on the lawn at the White House in Washington.
The peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinian people would give to the Palestinians, "Jericho first." For this last 15 years we have seen how that peace treaty has been negated and the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people is deteriorating on a daily basis.
What got my attention is the fact that God gave “Jericho first” to the children of Israel and 3,500 years later the Jews gave “Jericho first” to their enemies. This scenario is in perfect alignment with Bible prophecy for these two peoples, the Jews and the Palestinians. (see my study on Esau and the Palestinians)
All the actors are in place and the curtain is about to go up on the final drama as described in Bible prophecy. Keep looking up. Jesus is coming.
PRAYER THOT: Help me to realize the time of Your return is drawing closer as the current events unfold that are in line with the end time scenario found in Bible prophecy.
Today we read the account of the first several days of the children of Israel in the Promised Land. Joshua had been installed as leader after the death of Moses and given the responsibilities of leading the Israelites across the Jordan River and into the area just to the east of Jericho, out in the valley halfway between Jericho and the Jordan River and just north of the Dead Sea to a place that He would name Gilgal.
Even the name of the location where the children of Israel would first encamp, Gilgal, which in Hebrew means "rolling," was significant. It was here that God told Joshua He had rolled away the reproach of the Egyptian bondage,verse 9.
The first act that Joshua led the Jewish people into, once inside the Promised Land, was the “circumcision” of each of the males. The fact is that none of the men who entered the land God had given them had been circumcised, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb. The oldest of all the men would have been 39 years of age and none of them had ever been given the mark of God's promise to the Jews, circumcision.
The next item on God's agenda, even before He would lead them to conquer the land, was to begin the “cycle of Jewish feast” that He had given Moses for His chosen people. The Lord had commanded that once they entered the land they were to start with the Passover, the first of the seven Jewish feasts, and complete the entire cycle on a yearly basis.
Through the Jewish feast God was giving the Jewish people a glimpse into the future. The seven feasts all have a historic significance and an agricultural factor to them as well as the prophetic aspect to each of the Jewish feasts.
You remember that in the gospel records of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the events actually took place on the Jewish feast days. Jesus Christ was crucified on Passover,John 13:1, was buried on Unleavened Bread,John 19:31 and 42, and resurrected on Sunday, the day the Jews celebrate the Feast of First Fruits,John 20:1 and Leviticus 23:10-13.
Interestingly, Jesus, as He fulfilled the first three Jewish feast days in the proper day sequence, so also He will fulfill the last three Jewish feast days in the proper day sequence as well (See my study "The Feasts of God").
Year after year for the last 3,500 years, the Jews have been observing these Jewish feast days, a constant reminder of what the Lord has done, is doing, and will do for them in the future. PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for being a consistent, faithful God who always keeps His promises.
And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.
Joshua 4is the record of the miraculous entry into the Promised Land by the Israelites, under the leadership of Joshua. Those who were entering the "land", were those Jewish people who had not seen the parting of the Red Sea, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, the others had died during the forty years of wandering in the wilderness.
All that would enter into the land that God had promised them had been born during the forty years of unbelief. The reason, of course, for the two exceptions, Joshua and Caleb, was that they, as spies, had reported back to Moses that the "land" was great and that they could enter in right away.
Joshua and Caleb believed God and thus they were given the privilege of entering into God's Promised Land.
Let me remind you that the time of the year when the Jordan River was parted was in the spring, the harvest time,Joshua 3:15-16. The waters of the Jordan River were overflowing their banks, more so than during the rest of the year.
God had directed Joshua to have the priest to bare the "ark of the covenant" to the eastern shore of the Jordan River and when the waters divided all of the children of Israel followed the priest with the "ark" as they crossed over into Israel on dry ground.
Joshua also had one man from each of the twelve tribes bare a stone from the center of the Jordan River, now dry, and take it to the place where they would "lodge that night",verse 3, and lay all twelve of these stones at Gilgal,verse 19.
You'll remember Gilgal, located about two miles form the Jordan River, is the place where the Jews celebrated their first passover in the Promised Land,Joshua 5:10.
Verse 6of our extended reading says that the taking of the stones from the Jordan River would be a "sign",verse 6, for the Israelites, an object lesson for the Jews so that they could tell their children of God's love, provision and protection for them.
However, it would not be done for the sake of only telling the children, verses 19-23, but it would be somewhat of a monument to have so that "all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that they might fear the Lord our God forever",verse 24.
Indeed, there are not many people on the earth that don't know the story of God's fulfilled promises to the Jews and His provision of the land as He had promised. Of course, the splitting of the Jordan River, like the splitting of the Red Sea, displayed the mighty hand of God.
3,500 years ago God took care of His chosen people, He is still doing so today, and will do so into the future, as He said He would. Praise His name!
PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for Your love, provision and protection for me as it has been for Your people, the Jewish people, over the last 4,000 years.
There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Our devotional reading for today is the record of the Lord giving a command for Joshua to take the children of Israel into the “promised land”. This is the land that He had prepared for the Israelites. Joshua was now the leader of the Jewish people and would lead them during the first return to the land.
As the Israelites would enter the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, the Lord would promise Joshua that the Jewish people would receive all the land promised to Moses and his descendants, the land that would extend even to the River Euphrates, verse 4.
On this return to the land, the first of three returns after the Jewish nation would leave the land God had promised the Jews, they would receive only a portion of the land that God promised. The complete fulfillment of the land prophecy, Deuteronomy 30, will take place during the future 1000 year Kingdom period.
The scriptures give us the details on the total amount of land that God has promised His “chosen people”, the Jewish people. One day the Jewish people will receive 10 times the amount of land they have today, that happens at His Second Coming.
Our passage for today’s reading is one of thirty eight Biblical references that detail all the land promised, which is much of what we know as the Middle East today. This helps us to understand why the Arab world is concerned about what happens to the Jewish State of Israel.
The Lord also assures Joshua of “good success”, verse 8, and that He would be with this one who replaced Moses, the great Jewish prophet and leader. God told Joshua that as He was with Moses, He would be with young Joshua.
That success would come from daily mediation in the Word of God, verse 8, and obedience to the Word. These are the promises that the Lord gives a young Jewish leader at the exact time that he needed to have this encouragement and direction.
This first, of three returns to the “Promised Land” by the Jews, is evidence that the Lord will be faithful to His promise of a “land” for a “people”, His chosen people, as a “nation”, a land that He gives them, forever. This land will be given at the Lord’s return to earth.
But until that time, God will be with His people, the Jewish people, verse 5. God's promise to Joshua is that He will give them good success, verse 8. The success for the Jews and for us as well is dependent on each of us allowing His word to direct our every step.
Prayer Thot: Thank you Lord for being a “promise-keeping” God, not only for success but for Your promise of a return to the “land” to set up Your “Kingdom”.
