Give me that mountain

Joshua 13-14 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now Joshua was old and advanced in years when the Lord said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and a very large amount of the land remains to be possessed. ² This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and all those of the Geshurites; ³ from the Shihor which is east of Egypt, even as far as the border of Ekron to the north (it is counted as Canaanite); the five governors of the Philistines: the Gazite, the Ashdodite, the Ashkelonite, the Gittite, the Ekronite; and the Avvite ⁴ to the south, all the land of the Canaanite, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, as far as Aphek, to the border of the Amorite; ⁵ and the land of the Gebalite, and all of Lebanon, toward the east, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. ⁶ All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon as far as Misrephoth-maim, all the Sidonians, I will drive out from the sons of Israel; only allot it to Israel as an inheritance as I have commanded you. ⁷ Now therefore, apportion this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”

⁸ With the other half-tribe, the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance which Moses gave them beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses the servant of the Lord gave to them; ⁹ from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, with the city which is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain of Medeba, as far as Dibon; ¹⁰ and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the border of the sons of Ammon; ¹¹ and Gilead, and the territory of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan as far as Salecah; ¹² all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (he alone was left of the remnant of the Rephaim); for Moses struck them and drove them out. ¹³ But the sons of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites; instead, Geshur and Maacath live among Israel to this day. ¹⁴ Only to the tribe of Levi he did not give an inheritance; the offerings by fire to the Lord, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as He spoke to him.

¹⁵ So Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of the sons of Reuben according to their families. ¹⁶ Their territory was from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, with the city which is in the middle of the valley and all the plain by Medeba; ¹⁷ Heshbon and all its cities which are on the plain: Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon, ¹⁸ Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, ¹⁹ Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth-shahar on the hill of the valley, ²⁰ Beth-peor, the slopes of Pisgah, Beth-jeshimoth, ²¹ even all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck with the leaders of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the leaders of Sihon, who lived in the land. ²² The sons of Israel also killed Balaam the son of Beor, the diviner, with the sword among the rest of their dead. ²³ The border of the sons of Reuben was the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the sons of Reuben according to their families, the cities and their villages.

²⁴ Moses also gave an inheritance to the tribe of Gad, to the sons of Gad according to their families. ²⁵ Their territory was Jazer and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the sons of Ammon, as far as Aroer which is opposite Rabbah; ²⁶ and from Heshbon as far as Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim as far as the border of Debir; ²⁷ and in the valley, Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, with the Jordan as a border, as far as the lower end of the Sea of Chinnereth beyond the Jordan to the east. ²⁸ This is the inheritance of the sons of Gad according to their families, the cities and their villages.

²⁹ Moses also gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh; and it was for the half-tribe of the sons of Manasseh according to their families. ³⁰ Their territory was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities; ³¹ also half of Gilead, with Ashtaroth and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were for the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh, for half of the sons of Machir according to their families.

³² These are the territories which Moses apportioned as an inheritance in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan at Jericho to the east. ³³ But to the tribe of Levi, Moses did not give an inheritance; the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as He had promised to them.

14 Now these are the territories which the sons of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel apportioned to them as inheritances, ² by the lot of their inheritance, just as the Lord commanded through Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe. ³ For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe beyond the Jordan; but he did not give an inheritance to the Levites among them. ⁴ For the sons of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and they did not give a portion to the Levites in the land, except cities to live in, with their pasture lands for their livestock and for their property. ⁵ The sons of Israel did exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they divided the land.

⁶ Then the sons of Judah approached Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the word which the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God on account of you and me in Kadesh-barnea. 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 word back to him as it was in my heart. ⁸ Nevertheless my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the Lord my God fully. ⁹ So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘The land on which your foot has walked shall certainly be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God fully.’ ¹⁰ And now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. ¹¹ I am still as strong today as I was on the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. ¹² Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out just as the Lord has spoken.”

¹³ So Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. ¹⁴ Therefore, Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he followed the Lord God of Israel fully. ¹⁵ Now the name of Hebron was previously Kiriath-arba; for Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. Then the land was at rest from war.

The older I get, the more I appreciate the account of one of my favorite heroes of the faith, Caleb. In today’s text it says:   Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the word which the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God on account of you and me in Kadesh-barnea. 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 word back to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the Lord my God fully. So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘The land on which your foot has walked shall certainly be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God fully.’ And now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. I am still as strong today as I was on the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out just as the Lord has spoken.”   Although it was Caleb, along with Joshua, who had given a positive and accurate report when they spied out the land forty years earlier, he was made to wander in the wilderness with the nation of Israel for those forty years. Then, when they finally crossed over into the promised land, rather than being first to receive his inheritance, he was last. He fought the battles to help all the others receive their inheritance.  In Matthew 19:30 Jesus says:  “Many who are first will be last; and the last, first.”  Caleb is the example of how that is a blessing and not a curse. The best is saved for last. Then at eighty five, far beyond the age when most people are content to retire, he said:   “I am eighty-five years old today. I am still as strong today as I was on the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out just as the Lord has spoken.”  Even though he was confident in his own strength, Caleb’s faith and trust was in God. As he said and believed forty years earlier, he trusted that God would be faithful to fulfill His promise.      

Unlike Caleb, my own years of wandering were not the fault of others, but rather my own. Like Caleb though I have seen the promises of God. I know the greatness of what He has for others and for myself. My desire is to be like Caleb, to always be a faithful witness and testify of the greatness of God’s promises for His people; to fight for others to receive their inheritance; that they may be first. May it be that at eighty-five I, like Caleb will say, give me that mountain.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for giving me a vision of the great promises You have for others and for me. Thank You for being my guide and my strength. When it seems as though mountains stand in the way, may see your promise and say give me that mountain.   Amen.