THROUGH THE BIBLE - Joshua 1..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Let's open them up to the book of Joshua. We will continue to go through the book of Joshua, as we always do as a church, we read a full chapter together.

We're in Joshua chapter 15, and we read a full chapter together. I'll give a brief explanation, and then we'll come to our Lord in prayer, and then we'll ask our brother Nelson to come and to preach God's word to us, the word that the Lord has placed upon his heart and upon his soul, and trust that the Lord will bless us in all that he does. Joshua chapter 15. I'll be reading from the ESV Bible. 63 verses.

This is a difficult chapter, so bear with me. Joshua chapter 15 from verse 1. The allotment for the tribe of the people of Judah, according to the clans, reached southward to the boundary of Edom, to the wilderness of Zin, at the farthest south. And their south boundary ran from the end of the Sol Sea, from the bay that faces southward. It goes out southward of the ascent of Akrabim, passes along to Zin, and goes up to Kadesh, Barnea, along by Hezron, up to Adar, turns about to Kaka, passes along the Asmon, goes out by the brook of Egypt, and comes to its end at the sea.

This shall be your south boundary, and the east boundary is the salt sea. to the mouth of the Jordan. And the boundary on the north side runs from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan. And the boundary goes up to Beth Hogla and passes along north of Beth Araba. And the boundary goes up to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben.

And the boundary goes up to Debiru from the valley of Achor and so northward, running towards Gilgal, which is opposite the ascent of Adumim, which is on the south side of the valley. And the boundary passes along to the waters of En-Shemesh and ends at En-Rogel. Then the boundary goes up by the valley of the son of Hinnon at the southern shoulder of the Jebusite, that is, Jerusalem. and the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the valley of Hinnon on the west, at the north end of the valley of Refi'im. Then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain to the spring of the waters of Nephthoa, and from there to the cities of Mount Ephron.

Then the boundary bends around to Bala, that is, Kiriath-Jerim, and the boundary circles west of Bala to the Mount Sierre, passes along the northern shoulder of Mount Jerim, that is, Shazalon, and goes down to Beth Shemesh and passes along the Timna. The boundary goes out to the shoulder of the hill north of Ekron, and the boundary bends around the Shikaron and passes along the Mount Bala and goes to the end at the sea. And the west boundary was the Great Sea with its coastline. This is the boundary around the people of Judah according to their clans. 13.

According to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, he gave to Caleb, the son of Jebuneh, a portion among the people of Judah, Kiriath Abba, that is, Hebron. Abba was the father of Anak. And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak. And he went up from there against the inhabitants of Debir. Now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepha.

And Caleb said, whoever strikes Kiriath-sepha and captures it, to him will I give Aksa, my daughter, as wife. And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, captured it and gave him Aksa, his daughter, as wife. When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field, and she got off her donkey, and Caleb said to her, What do you want? She said to him, Give me a blessing, since you have given me the land of Negev, give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Judah according to their clans. The cities belonging to the tribe of the people of Judah in the extreme south towards the boundary of Edom were Kabzil, Eder, Jagur, Kinah, Dimnah, Adodah, Kadesh, Hazor, Ifnan, Zif, Telem, Biloth, Hazor, Hadath, Kirioth, Hezron, that is, Hazel, Emem, Shema, Molada, Hazar-gada, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, Hazar-shewel, Beersheba, Biziothia, Bala, Im, Ezim, El-Tolad, Shezil, Horma, Ziglag, Madmana, San-Sana, Leboeth, Shil-Him, Ein, and Rimon, in all 29 cities with their villages. And in the lowland, Eshteo, Zora, Ashna, Zenoa, Enganim, Tapua, Enam, Jarmuth, Adulam, Soko, Azeka, Sarim, Adithyam, Gedira, Gedirothiam, 14 cities with their villages, Zenan, Hadasha, Migdad Gad, Dillian, Miss Beth, Jock Thiel, Lakish, Boss Kath, Egglon, Cabon, Lahman, Shitlish, Jed Deeroth, Beth Dagon, Nama, and Makeda, 16 cities with their villages. Libna, Ethar, Ashan, Iftar, Ashna, Nezib, Kila, Achzib, and Maresha, nine cities with their villages. Ekron, with its towns and its villages, from Ekron to the sea, all were by the way of Ashdod and their villages.

Ashdod, its towns and its villages, Gaza, its towns and its villages, to the brook of Egypt, and to the great sea with its coastline. And in the hill country, Shamir, Jatir, Saqqa, Dana, Kiryath Sana, that is, Debir, Anab, Eshtimo, Anim, Goshen, Holon, and Gilo, eleven cities with their villages. Arab, Duma, Eshan, Janim, Beth Tupah, Beth Tapua, Afeka, Humta, Kiryath Abba, that is, Hebron, and Zior, nine cities with their villages. Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juta, Jezreel, Jopdin, Zenoa, Cain, Jibbea, and Timna, ten cities with their villages. Halhul, Bezzur, Gidor, Marath, Beth Anoth, and El Tekon, six cities with their villages.

Kiryat Baal, that is, Kiryat Jereem, and Rabah, two cities with their villages. In the wilderness, Beth Arabah, Medin, Setaka, Nibksha, the city of salt, and Engidi, six cities with their villages. But the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah, could not drive out. So the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day. This is the word of the Lord.

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord, it remains forever. Well, brothers and sisters, we are well beyond halfway point in the book of Joshua. In fact, a book that can be neatly divided into three portions. From chapters 1 through 12, we have the portion that would be called the narrative of the conquest. So apart from some preparation in the beginning, it speaks to the conquest of the people of Israel in that land that is flowing with milk and honey promised to the fathers.

from chapters 13 through to 21, is it pertains to the inheritance, how that land will be divided amongst the tribes of Israel, what allotments go where and to which tribe. And then the latter chapters of this book speaks, puts it all together in essence. It speaks to the fact that He, your God, Israel, has been faithful in all that He's done. He's fulfilled His promise. He's defeated your enemy.

He's given you the land. He's a God who keeps His covenant with His people. Now you are to keep your side of the covenant with this great God and love Him with all your heart, soul, strength and mind. However, we are here in chapter 15 and we are in the second portion, that is, the portion of Joshua, the book of Joshua, that speaks to the allotments of land. And it's interesting because we begin with Judah, the allotted land given to the tribe of Judah.

Now, one may say, why is that? Because it is important. Why would you begin with Judah? One may say that it's because Judah It's the largest of the tribes, and that would be true. If we go back to Numbers chapter 26, the last census that was taken among the people of Israel of the fighting men over the age of 20, yes, Judah was ahead of the rest in the population of those men.

So yes, the population of the tribe of Judah was greater than the rest. And it would make sense also, Numbers chapter 26, that tells us that the tribe that had the greatest number of people, the greatest population, according to the command of God, they too would be allotted the largest land. Greatest number, the largest land. A defense to that may be given when we think about what comes next in Joshua. Because after Judah is treated here in chapter 15, we move forward, and then the sons of Joseph are treated.

Joseph himself, through his sons Manasseh and Ephraim. And those of us who have studied our Bibles, or at least had a chance to have a look at some of those maps of ancient Israel, and seen where the allotments have been given to different tribes, you would quickly notice that almost three quarters of the total land is given to the people of Judah and Joseph, through his sons Manasseh and Ephraim. But however, brothers and sisters, that's not the reason why Joshua has put Judah first in the allotments of land. In fact, we don't have to go very far. Even when we go beyond the sons of Joseph, we'll quickly notice, once we hit the other tribes, that it's not at all in the size of population or size of the allotment that they were given that the order was given at all.

It's not that at all. I submit to you it's neither the population nor size of the allotment for the reason for which Judah comes first when speaking about the inheritance and the land that is going to be allotted to these people, but rather because of what Judah represents among the people of Israel. What Judah represents among the tribes of Israel. Because God had a purpose in his heart, and something great will occur from the people, from the tribe of Judah. And we get a glimpse of this when we look back to Genesis chapter 49.

You remember back then, Genesis chapter 49, when Jacob was pronouncing his blessings upon his sons. Judah was told that the praise of all his brothers will come towards him. And then something interesting. We're told the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until tribute comes to him and to him shall be the obedience of the people. There's going to be a royal, ruling, kingly line that comes through the people, through the tribe of Judah.

And so all the people of Israel, from the time that prophecy was added, and they were aware of it, were to have their eyes upon Judah, because something remarkable was going to come from Judah. The Deliverer, the King, the Warrior King, will come from the tribe of Judah, and all eyes were to be upon Judah. And it's no surprise to see, as we read through, that Jerusalem, the city of the Great King, was also part of the allotment to the people of Judah. All eyes in anticipation are on this tribe, Judah. and special attention is to be given for those who come from his loins.

Already we've seen such a man, have we not? Caleb. In the previous chapter, our brother took us through Caleb and his life. A man of great renown, and we see him in this chapter also. A well-respected elder.

How many among the people have actually experienced the delivery and the rescue from Egypt, and also experienced the 40 years of bondage in the wilderness, and now have experienced the conquest in the land? Two. One of those is Caleb. But beyond his age and beyond his experience, what stood Caleb's heads above the rest of the men of Judah was what our brothers explained to us last week. His faith.

The faith of Caleb. Unwavering, holistic, total faith that spanned out a lifetime. Caleb's faith stood the test of time. He was promised an allotment of land and he needs to wait. 45 years, 45 years before he saw the fruition of his faith.

He was one of the men who went in and said, we can take them. They are giants in the land of Canaan. Yes, they're big and they're strong. We're like grasshoppers before them. But God is on our side.

We can take them if God is with us. But the rest didn't believe it, the same as Caleb. And Joshua was with Caleb, of course. And of course, that's the reason for the wanderings in the wilderness for 40 years, where the people died in the desert wasteland. Beloved, 45 years to receive his allotment, his allotment in Hebron, and his faith did not waver.

If the scepter, the rule, is not going to depart from Judah, and the people are to be led by the royalty that comes from Judah, then it's men of faith, like Caleb, who would need to take the charge. Caleb, now an old man, he's a man who is filled with faith. He knows that he requires men of faith to take the charge. So when he'd led his men to take Hebron, the very allotment that was given to him as his inheritance, and then they go to the next place, the place of Debir, he says something very interesting. He issues an interesting challenge that we find in our text.

It says in verse 16, whoever strikes Kyriath-sephir, which is Debir, and captures it, to him will I give Aksa, my daughter, as wife. At first sight, one may think that Caleb is searching for a brave warrior, one with military prowess and outstanding physical abilities in order to be a worthy suitor for his precious, precious daughter. As though all it takes to be a great husband is a bit of muscle and some brains. No, that's not it at all. You know, so many have actually read this passage and come out with very unjust conclusions of Caleb.

And I haven't got the time to go into those this evening, but beloved brothers and sisters, remember the character of this man. His character has just been put on display in the previous chapter. This is a man of faith, and as I said earlier, a faith that has stood the test of time. Caleb knows God. The knowledge of God is the beginning of what?

Caleb knows better than that. He wasn't really merely looking for a man who was strong and one who had engagement strategies. That's not it. Look at the facts. Dibir, not far from Hebron, chapter 11 had already told us that just like Hebron, Dibir was occupied by whom?

Giants, the Anakim. Big, strong men, and no matter how strong a man is, no matter how clever a man is, Caleb knew he would be of no match to a formidable enemy as the Anakims. Their power, their strength, their stature, whereby the people of Israel would stand before them and look like grasshoppers in front of them. Beloved, no matter what the prize was for these men and the challenge that Caleb had issued, no matter what the prize is, what good would a pursuit like that be, even if the prize is the likely very beautiful daughter of Caleb, Axa, if that pursuit will most definitely end in that person ending six feet under? Dead men don't make very good husbands.

Caleb wasn't looking for a strong man. Caleb was looking for a man with strong faith. He would accept nothing as a potential husband for his beloved daughter. And brothers out there who have daughters, you ought to accept nothing less for your daughters as well. So if the people from Debir, or the Debirians, as I would call them if that's such a thing, were going to be defeated, it must have been by the strength of the Lord and not the strength of man.

Man who will lead the people into battle will have to rely completely upon the Lord, humbly before Him. A man who recognizes the promises of God and apprehends the promises of God, promises such as spoken of in the first chapter of this book that says, wherever your land treads, that land I will give you. Will you apprehend that truth by faith, no matter how big and giant and no matter how big the stature of the enemy is? And will that man move in faith, not in the strength of his own muscles, not in the power of his own intellect, but in faith to the God of Israel, who if He fights for you, then no one can stand against you. No one.

Ofeniel is that man. You know his name means power, force, or strength of God. Some have translated his name to mean lion of God. He goes in faith, he defeats the enemy, the Debirians you might say. He wins the prize.

Aksa becomes his wife, the daughter of Caleb. And now with the eyes of Israel, no doubt, looking upon this young man, Othniel. And with Caleb's endorsement, he's given him his daughter that he loves. He earns the respect of the people, which is very important, because this Othniel will become Israel's first judge. So he and his chapters, beloved, are introduced to great men of Judah, Men of faith.

And so from verses 21 through to 62, we see what the Lord has accomplished through these men. And we see that those difficult names that I've tried to pronounce before, names of cities and all their villages, that the Lord had given the people of Judah as a result of faithful men going in the power and in the might of the Lord to conquer the enemy. And it is a glorious feat. Think about it. From my count, I counted 115 cities, not including the villages.

Your count may be different. But I think 115 is about where you'll find yourself. 115 cities, not including the villages, are the allotments that were given to the people of Judah. Now that's huge. It's cause to rejoice, isn't it?

Shouldn't the people of Judah be rejoicing at the amount of sins they've been given by the Lord? It's cause for rejoicing. Now, okay, there is that small detail that we find in the very last verse of our chapter. That small detail about the Canaanites, called the Jebusites, who are allowed to remain in Jerusalem. But 115 from 116 is not bad.

Sure, it'll be fine. One city amongst so many, over 100, one city is going to be inhabited by the enemy. It's okay. I mean, look at the vast amount of cities that we have conquered. We can rest.

99% is great. It's only one city. It's only one city. We've got 115. It's only one city that has our enemies still inhabiting.

They're among us, but we've got 115. It's only one city. The enemies only are residing in this one city. No, it's not okay. No, it's not cause for full and final rejoicing.

You know why? This is why. Because God said 100%, not 99. And He didn't say 99.9.

He said, I have called you to defeat, totally and utterly defeat the enemy. And going in the name and in the mind of the Lord, they had the power to do so, because they weren't fighting, it was God Himself who was fighting. 100% is what He required. And this is why it's not okay. Because when we fast forward into the book of Judges, it's precisely these people, the Jebusites, who are co-inhabiting with the people of Israel, their corrosive influence among them, and their pagan worships, and their false gods.

Before long, they were giving over their girls in marriage to the sons of Israel, who were taking them unlawful marriage, because God already has forbid that type of marriage. And then the hearts of those men were drawn to the people of the Jebusites, the gods of the Jebusites. And before long, they began to worship and serve the gods of the Jebusites. And the anger of the Lord burned against his own people. The judgment of the Lord burned against his own people to the point where he hands them over to the Mesopotamians for eight years to be ruled harshly under their king.

It wasn't before that, after eight years, they cried out to the Lord, cried out for mercy to the Lord. Forgive us, O Lord. And the Lord listens and sends them a deliverer, none other than Ophniel himself. And he delivers them from the hands of the enemy. Beloved, 99%, 99.

9% may sound like a victory. It's not. A little bit of leaven works through the whole clump. That's the nature of sin. My brothers and sisters, you know this.

You have a sin in your heart. You know this. It will work through, it will destroy you. If you're putting sin to death, no heartbeat. No breath.

That's the command of scripture, or that's sin. The Jebusites continued to be a thorn in the side of Israel. And despite the best efforts of godly men like Caleb and Atheniel, even acting in faith, it was not enough. Man can never accomplish the full and the final and the last thing, wrest from the enemy. He cannot.

He cannot completely eradicate the enemy. The efforts of men cannot do that, beloved. Because you cannot rest, you cannot be at ease completely until all your enemies are being taken care of. We read through the scripture that Israel did experience a time of rest, 40 years here and 40 years there. But then before long, the enemy poked its head and unrighteousness began to show itself.

And then once again, judgment. And it's not only the elusive Jebusites that I speak of. Because even though the great King David, once he was appointed as king, he went in and he took it to the Jebusites who were living in Jerusalem in that day. And he conquered, decisively having a victory over those people. And he called the place where they were, which was Jerusalem, the city of David.

But then centuries later, they poked their head back up. He couldn't even do it. It was post-exile. Here they are again, the Jebusites. A thorn in their side.

And they were up to no good. The same no good as we see here. Just look in the book of Ezra and you'll see what I'm talking about. But beloved, even when the Jebusites are actually no more, because the Old Testament speaks of them, they're no longer spoken of in the New. And when they're no more, in the final sense, this is the problem.

The enemy remains. The power of men, me men, cannot deal with the enemy of God's people. You know why? Because the enemy is in here. It's sin.

You can deal with the people and the tribes and the nations and the pagan idolatrous worship out there. But the problem is sin. The sinful nature. Only man can deal with this. The enemies require God himself to conquer.

The final, the finality and the complete destruction of the enemy of God's people, all of the enemies of God's people, must come from the hand of God. Men can't do it. All eyes were on Judah, and rightly so. God was going to produce from his tribe something glorious. And he did.

The true Lion of Judah. but he's also the lamb of God. Judah's greatest son, the greatest son of David, Jesus Christ himself, the son of God, became flesh to destroy the enemy of his people. And when he hung upon that cross and he cried out, it is finished, it wasn't finished for 99.9% of our enemies.

100% definitive defeat over all of God's enemies. Of all of God's people's enemies. Now it may take us time, beloved brothers and sisters, to see this roll out in our time. But when Christ cried out, it is finished. There's no more to be done.

But those who trust in Him, embrace Him by faith, they embrace His victory. His victory over sin. His victory over death. One day to fully and finally, fully and finally be rid of the presence of sin eternally. That's grace, beloved.

That's glorious. The rest, the longing, the heart of the people of Israel no doubt was rest. We just want to get this conquest over and done with and rest in our land. And there were small portions, but because there were enemies cropping up, there was no real lasting rest. But for the people of God who are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work, there is true and total rest.

It's not one day in seven. It's every single day for those who trust in Him.