Joshua 15:20-63

²⁰This is the inheritance of the tribe of Judah, according to its clans:
^21-32The southernmost towns of the tribe of Judah in the Negev toward the boundary of Edom… a total of 29 towns and their villages.
^33-47In the western foothills… with its surrounding settlements and villa ges… as far as the Wadi of Egypt and the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea… a total of 39 towns and their villages.
^48-60In the hill country… 38 towns and their villages.
^61-62In the wilderness… 6 towns and their villages. (85 towns and villages in all).
⁶³Judah could not dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the people of Judah.

Introduction

What can we learn from the narratives of the inheritance of Judah? The land of Judah has been given to them by the Lord as their inheritance. With the help of the Lord, they drove out the Canaanites very easily. They divided and distributed the land according to the number of their clans.

1. Distribute

²⁰This is the inheritance of the tribe of Judah, according to its clans:
^21-32The southernmost towns of the tribe of Judah in the Negev toward the boundary of Edom… a total of 29 towns and their villages.
^33-47In the western foothills… with its surrounding settlements and villages… as far as the Wadi of Egypt and the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea… a total of 39 towns and their villages.
^48-60In the hill country… 38 towns and their villages.
^61-62In the wilderness… 6 towns and their villages. (112 towns and villages in all).

The allotment of Judah was randomly distributed by raffle or lottery. There were parched lands or land needing much irrigation, valleys or foothills, near the great sea, top of the hills, and open fields or pasture land were distributed not according to one’s personal choice but by a game of chance or lottery.
It was not mentioned if they subdivided the land first before they raffled it but nobody complained of what has been given to them. Judah had the widest area of inheritance because they have the largest number. Except for Caleb and Joshua, everyone received an inheritance by lot or raffle draw just as the Lord commanded Moses.

It says in Numbers 33:50-54, ⁵⁰ On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the Lord said to Moses, ⁵¹ “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, ⁵² drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. ⁵³ Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. 5⁴ Distribute the land by lot, according to your clans. To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one. Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes.

There was no objection in what they have received. Those who love to go fishing might have wished they were given land near the sea. Those who loved hunting might have wished to be in the wilderness. Those who were satisfied with farming might have wished for the prairies, plain, or lowlands. One may have wished particular place, and by lots, God might have even granted their wishes.
No one complained. The generation that Joshua led to enter the land have learned their lesson from their parents who used to complain and grumble against Moses. When one is obedient to God, there’s no grumbling and complaining.
Grumbling and complains are not behavior from the Lord. They are human sinful natures. Obedience is an attitude that Christ exemplified for Christian lifestyle. When we learn to obey without complain, (no ifs, no buts) it is when God’s grace is at work in our heart through Christ’s Spirit. When God’s grace is at work in us, obedience becomes spontaneous. When obedience is spontaneous, there’s joy and peace in our hearts.
We normally feel obligated to obey God when we hear sermons challenging us to be involved in the ministry. Our response should motivated by our love for God. Still we cannot stop people who would serve in the ministry out of envy. It happened in the first century, and it sure happens in our generation.
It says in Philippians 1:15-18, ¹⁵ It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. ¹⁶ The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷ The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. ¹⁸ But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

With different opinions, resistance is not absent. One is entitled to an opinion. People will call and persuade people to join their cause, we cannot control that. We feel sorry for those who were deceived. God deals with them according to righteous grace.
In the first century, there were confusions of who they would listen to. We cannot expect differently in our generation. God allows confusion among us to separate faithful believers He wanted to stay from those personalities He wanted to dislodge or remove.

2. Dislodge

⁶³Judah could not dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the people of Judah.

The term “Jerusalem” means foundation of peace. The people of Judah cannot dislodge the Jebusites in Jerusalem, and there was not record of much effort to dislodge them. The Jebusites stayed in Jerusalem until the time of King David. In 2 Samuel 5:4-7, ⁴ David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.  ⁵In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years. ⁶ The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” ⁷ Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David.

King David did not occupy Jerusalem in the first seven and a half year of his reign as king of Israel. The Jebusites were confident that they can’t be dislodged but God allowed King David to conquer their city. Jerusalem is a very strategic sanctuary that was why it was name Jerusalem. The residents of Jerusalem experienced peace, and did not worry about those who would attack them.

God has strictly commanded the Israelites to annihilate all the Canaanites but the Israelites failed to drive them out. Some Canaanites aside from the Jebusites survived.
It says in Numbers 33:55-56, 55 “‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. 56 And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.’”

In the time of Joshua until the time of King Saul, the Israelites tried to drive the Jebusite out but they cannot dislodge or defeat them. King Saul, Samuel, the Judges even Joshua or Caleb had not dislodged the Jebusites. But God allowed King David to conquer them and take over Jerusalem, why?
In 2 Samuel 5:9-10, ⁹ David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces inward. ¹⁰ And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.

Taking over Jerusalem was very symbolic of God’s presence in the life of King David. Not because God was not pleased with the former leaders of Israel but God has chosen David to name Jerusalem as city of David. David was humbled when the Lord has shown His grace to him. In 2 Samuel 7:8-22, ⁸ “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. ⁹ I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. ¹⁰ And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning ¹¹ and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies.
“‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: ¹² When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ¹⁴ I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. ¹⁵ But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. ¹⁶ Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”
¹⁷ Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation. ¹⁸ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: “Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? ¹⁹ And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant—and this decree, Sovereign Lord, is for a mere human!
20 “What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, Sovereign Lord. ²¹ For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant. ²² “How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.

How God distributed the inheritance of Judah and how God allowed David to dislodge the inhabitants of Jerusalem are testaments of God faithfulness to His promises.
We continue to pray because we trust that God is with us. The Spirit of Christ lives in our life and we are confident that we will share in Christ’s inheritance. We may not understand everything about eternal inheritance but we trust that it would be joyful one.

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