I know this was not a fascinating read but some parts were interesting. Here we are half way through the book of Joshua. After all the action in the previous passages, chapter twelve is a recap of all the kings and nations that Joshua and the Israelites conquered. Thirty-one kings in all were defeated and destroyed. At this point the Israelites had control of the land but there were still many areas that needed to be conquered. The Lord made a clear point in the beginning of chapter 13 that Joshua was old and there was still land to be taken over. God tells Joshua about the territory left to conquer; the land of the Philistines and Geshurites and the mountainous regions where the Sidonians live.
Next comes the division of the land among the twelve tribes. We are reminded about the land already allocated to the Reubenites, the Gadites and half of the tribe of Mannasseh which is East of the Jordan River. Hebron was given to Caleb. Caleb approached Joshua and reminded him about the promise of God made forty-five years before that he would inherit the land on which his feet walks. Hebron is actually a portion of the land that is alloted to the tribe of Judah. Chapter fifteen gives detail outlining the territory alloted to Judah. An interesting story about Caleb is that when he marched against the people (at 85 years old) living in his newly inherited land he said that whoever captures the land of Kiriath Sepher could have his daughter Acsah’s hand in marriage. Othniel, his brother, was the winner. Then Caleb gave Acsah and Othniel land and an additional field with springs of water after his daughter made the request.
The last verse of the reading tells us that the tribe of Judah could not get rid of the Jebusites from Jerusalem. I wonder what this means for the future? I am sure this means trouble for the Israelites...
