Wholly Follow the Lord

GETTING STARTED

Chapters 13 through 19 of Joshua provide details of how the land was divided between the twelve Israelite tribes.* We will cover these chapters in a way that is slightly different from the usual Time With God format. As you read the text, pay special attention to God’s promises that are fulfilled and aspects of God’s character that are revealed.

READ THE WORD: JOSHUA 14:6-15 (ESV)

6 Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. 8 But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God. 9 And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’ 10 And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. 11 I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. 12 So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.”

13 Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. 14 Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba. (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim.) And the land had rest from war.

English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

DIGGING DEEPER

  1. What promises of God are in this passage?
  2. What aspects of God’s character are evident?
  3. Which characteristic of God do you need right now in your life?
  4. Where are you seeing one of these aspects of God’s character present in your life right now?

RESPOND TO GOD

When Moses sent men to reconnoiter the land that God had promised to the Israelites, Caleb and Joshua were the only two spies who remained faithful to God, believing he would give the land to the Israelites in spite of the fearsome inhabitants they encountered (Num. 13-14). As a reward for their faithfulness, God promised to give Caleb and Joshua land (vs. 9; Deut. 1:36).

In today’s passage, God’s promise to Caleb is fulfilled, and Caleb is given his allotment first because of his wholehearted commitment to the Lord (vss. 8, 9, 14). God used Caleb’s faith for the conquest of the Promised Land. Caleb’s story is a reminder that God will keep his promises, and that he is willing to use us to accomplish his plans if we will trust him.

*Map of the division of land by Joshua and the Israelite tribes: https://bible.org/assets/netbible/ot4.jpg.