20140210 Monday, February 10 2014
Joshua 14: Caleb's Hebron

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed Me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it"

The Israelite nation, that had grown from nativity (see A Biography Of Jacob: The Jacobites Of Syria and Genesis 46: The First Census Of Israel) to nation (see Exodus 1: I Will There Make Of Thee A Great Nation and Numbers 1: The First Sinai Census) was led by Moses and Aaron during their time in the Sinai (see Israel In History and Prophecy: The Sinai Journey). It was Joshua, as the Prime Minister of Israel (the LORD was the King), and Aaron's son Eleazar, as the High Priest (see Leviticus 8: The Prophecy Of The Blood Upon The Anointed One and From Moses And Aaron To Joshua and Eleazar) who led them into the land promised by the LORD (Who was and is Jesus Christ - see Genesis 1: In The Beginning Was The Word and The Kingdom Of The LORD God) to Abraham (see A Biography Of Abraham: From Ur To Canaan).

"14:1 And these are the countries which the children of Israel [see A Biography Of Jacob: The Jacobites Of Syria and Genesis 32: The Origin Of Israel] inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them. 14:2 By lot was their inheritance, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half tribe [see Joshua 11: The Land Rested From War and Joshua 13: The Frontiers].

14:3 For Moses had given the inheritance of two tribes and an half tribe on the other side Jordan [see Numbers 32: The Israel Of East Jordan]: but unto the Levites he gave none inheritance among them [see Numbers 18: The Inheritance Of The Levites]. 14:4 For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim: therefore they gave no part unto the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in, with their suburbs for their cattle and for their substance. 14:5 As the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did, and they divided the land." (Joshua 14:1-5 KJV)

The Israelites had spent 40 years in the Sinai because they refused to enter the Promised Land when the LORD first gave them the opportunity to do so, only about 14 months after the Exodus (see Deuteronomy 1: Why A Book Of Deuteronomy In The Bible? and Deuteronomy 2: The Israelite Wanderland). Only Joshua and Caleb had proven themselves righteous and worthy from among the scouts sent ahead into the land.

"14:22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; 14:23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: 14:24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it." (Numbers 14:22-24 KJV)

"14:29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, 14:30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. 14:31 But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. 14:32 But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness." (Numbers 14:22-32 KJV)

As the LORD promised, Joshua and Caleb were given to enter the Promised Land. Caleb, who was of the tribe of Judah (see Genesis 38: The First Jews) was given the city of Hebron, where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel are entombed, as his inheritance. So then, "Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel."

"14:6 Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him,

Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadeshbarnea. 14:7 Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. 14:8 Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God. 14:9 And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God.

14:10 And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. 14:11 As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

14:12 Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.

14:13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.

14:14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel. 14:15 And the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba; which Arba was a great man among the Anakims.

And the land had rest from war." (Joshua 14:6-15 KJV)

Fact Finder: (a) How did Hebron become Abraham's home and burial place? (b) Was Hebron the capital city of King David during the Civil War with Saul?
(a) See Camped Out In Canaan and A Biography Of Abraham: Mamre in Hebron
(b) See Israel In History and Prophecy: The Civil War