Joshua 15 Devotional
By Pastor Lawrence

This is the first of many chapters recounting how Joshua divided the land amongst the remaining tribes west of the Jordan River. Judah is the first tribe to receive her inheritance in the southernmost region of the Promised Land. With the natural boundary of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea in the east, and the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the region of Judah lay just south of the land belonging to the tribe of Benjamin and just north of the lands belonging to the Edomites.

Some of the more prominent cities within their allotment included Hebron, the city that Caleb claimed as his own after conquering the giants as an octogenarian, Beersheba, and what would later become Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

In this chapter, Joshua pointedly recounts how Caleb of the tribe of Judah acquired the culturally important city of Kiriath-Sepher, which literally means “city of books,” and had it renamed Debir, or “the sanctuary.” He put out a challenge to the men of his tribe that anyone who could take the town would win the hand of his daughter Achsah, and it was his nephew Othniel who won the honors. He was also the first and best judge in the book of Judges, one who obeyed God’s commands just as Caleb did and conquered in God’s strength, which is what the name Othniel means. Later on in the narrative history, we find that King David would be a descendant of Othniel, and so too would Jesus.

Charles Spurgeon in his sermon “Achsah’s Asking,” shares this young woman’s requests of her father to model how we should approach our heavenly father in asking for our own needs. She came boldly before Caleb asking very specifically for the things that she wanted, for fields and springs of water, and she was granted those particular requests as a result. We too ought not to be shy in asking God for what we want and need, boldly coming before his throne because we are his sons and daughters, laying out before him our specific requests and expecting that he will provide for us.

It’s interesting that Caleb and his clan could not overpower the Jebusites who still lived in their stronghold within the territory of Judah. It would not be until the days of David that finally Jerusalem would be conquered and the King of Israel would sit upon his throne. This fact too causes us to look to our Savior alone to gain the victory over the strongholds in our lives, understanding that some kinds of evil can only be driven out by prayer.