Judah's Inheritance

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Let's turn in our Bibles to Joshua chapter 15, Joshua chapter 15.

Prayer for Illumination

Before we read, let's pray. Father, we need your help this morning. Father, we need you to guide us. We need you by the power of your spirit to make these words alive to our hearts. Father, you know how frail and weak we are, how easily distracted. Holy Spirit, we pray now that this would be a time anointed by you that we might see, hear, understand, and believe. Give me words to speak, Lord. Let us love you more. In Jesus's name, amen. Joshua chapter 15, before we get into this passage, I just have to warn you, this is the longest of all the tribes' inheritance. Dozens and dozens and dozens of cities. There's a pattern.

Sermon

First, there's a list of boundaries. Secondly, there's going to be a list of cities.

And as we come to this passage, I'm gonna just say a couple things, right? Feel free to do a few things. Feel free to make fun of me after worship when I mispronounce half these words. Secondly, feel free to open up, keep one finger in Joshua chapter 15, and feel free to find a map in the back of your Bible if that would help you.

We're gonna go and chalk and talk and look at all these different regions and things. But I just wanna say, you know, we have a tendency to zone out when we read the Bible in two different places. when there's lists of names, the genealogies, and when there's lists of places, like the inheritance. And we might think, well, you know, we don't know these places, we don't know these names.

I'd venture to guess that a whole bunch of people just a few months ago had no clue where the country of Ukraine was. Or if I zeroed in on that and I said, do you know where the Donbass region is? Do you know where the borderline is between Ukraine and Russia? Could you tell me the cities along its border?

I bet some of you today might be able to hear some of those towns and say, oh, I've heard of that one in the news lately. These are important boundary markers. Wars are fought over boundary markers. God is the one giving them, these towns and cities. Wars today in Israel are fought over these boundary markers.

Let's turn now to God's Word. Joshua chapter 15, the land given to Judah. So this was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families. Remember it is now Joshua who is casting out the lot and the Lord is the one giving them these towns.

And so, in verses one through four, we see the southern boundaries. Verses one through four, let's read and we'll see the southern boundary of Judah. The border of Edom, at the wilderness of Zin, southward was the extreme southern boundary. And their southern border began at the shore of the Salt Sea, from the bay that faces southward. Then it went to the southern side of the ascent of Akrabim, passed along to Zin, ascended on the south side of Kadesh Barnea, passed along to Hezron, went up to Adar, and went around to Karka. From there it passed towards Asman, and went out to the brook of Egypt.

And the border ended at the sea. This shall be your southern border, the sea there being the Mediterranean Sea. And then from there, it goes on in verses 5 through 11, and we get the northern border. Look with me at verses 5 through 11. The east border was of the Salt Sea, as far as the mouth of the Jordan. And the border on the northern quarter began at the bay of the sea, at the mouth of the Jordan. The border went up to Bethogla, and passed north of Beth Arba. And the border went up to the stone of Bohan and the son of Reuben.

Then the border went up toward Debir from the Valley of Achor, and it turned northward toward Gilgal, which is before the ascent of Adamim, which is on the south side of the valley. The border continued towards the waters of En Shemesh and ended at En Rogel.

And the border went up by the valley of the sun of Hinnom to the southern slope of the Jebusite city, which is Jerusalem. The border went up to the top of the mountain that lies before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is the end of the valley of Rephaim northward. Then the border went around from the top of the hill to the fountain of the water of Nethtoa, and extended to the cities of Mount Ephron. And the border went around to Baalah, which is Kirjath Jireem. Then the border turned westward from Baala to Mount Seir, passed along the side of Mount Jerim on the north, which is Chelsalon, went down to Beth Shemesh and passed on to Timna. And the border went out to the side of Ekron northward.

Then the border went around to Sikaran. pass along to Mount Bala and extended to Jabneel and the border ended at the sea. The west border was the coastline of the great sea. This is the border of the children of Judah all around according to their families. This border, especially the northern border would become extremely important because in a few hundred years Israel would split in two. And this map was extremely important to figure out where the two kingdoms divided.

We read about Caleb and Othniel and Aksa last week, so let's drop down to verse 20. And in verse 20 through verse 62, we're going to read of the different cities and they're grouped by districts. So these different towns, let's look at them. First is verses 21 through 32.

These are the towns in the south near the Negev. So was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families. The cities at the limits of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the border of Edom in the south were Kabzil. Eder, Jagr, Kina, Dimona, Abdada, Keresh, Hazor, Itnan, Zif, Telim, Bealoth, Hazor, Hadathah, Kerioth, Hezron, which is Hazor, Amam, Shema, Molada, Hazorgada, Heshmon, Beth Pellet, Hazar Shual, Bersheba, Bizjotha, Bala, Ejim, Ezim, Etolad, Chesil, Horma, Ziklag, Madmana, Sansana, All these cities were 29 with their villages. It moves from those towns in the south of the Negev, and in verses 33 through 47 we start reading about the towns along the western foothills. So this is the area that would be called the, well, that word's gone, sorry. We're gonna forget that.

These are the Western foothills, and they're in four different districts. Notice it's going to name how many towns, how many towns, how many towns. So they're grouped together in geographic regions. And again, in chalk and talk, I'll show some maps where these things. But it goes from north, central to south, and then along the coast. So verse 33 through 36, this first district in the foothills is in the north. In the low land, speaking of low as in it's in the valley.

14 cities with their villages. Then in verse 37 and through 41, we're going to have the central district. Hadassah, Migdal, Gad, Delian, Mizpah, Jokthil, Lakish, Boskhta, Eglon, Kabon, Lamas, 16 cities with their villages. Now verse 42 through 44 we get to the southern district in that plentiful foothills. Nine cities and their villages. And then now in verse 45 through 47 we get to along the coastal cities.

Ekron with its towns and villages from Ekron to the sea all that lay near Ashdod with their villages Ashdod with its towns and villages Gaza with its towns and villages as far as the brook of Egypt and the great sea with its coastline Now in verse 48 through 60, we come to a new section, and this is kind of the central mountainous region of Israel. So no longer in the fertile lowlands, no longer in the valleys, but now up in the mountains, verses 60, or 48 through 60. These are broken up into five different districts. We'll work through them as we go.

First Point

First, we'll start in the south, verses 48 through 51.

And in the mountain country, Shamir, Jatir, Sokol, Dana, Kirjath Sana, which is the beer, Anab, Ashtamoth, Anim, Goshen, Holon, and Gilo. seven or eleven cities with their villages. The second southern district in the hills is 52 through 54. Arab, Duma, Eshion, Janum, Beth Tapua, Afeka, Humtha, Kirjath Arba, which is Hebron, and Zior, nine cities with their villages. Fifty-five through fifty-seven, we get to the last of the southern districts of the hill country. Ma'on, Carmel, Zif, Jata, Jezreel, Jokdim, Zanoa, Kane, Gibeah, and Timna, ten cities with their villages. Then we switch to the northern hill districts. The first of the northern hill districts, 58 and 59.

Halhul, Beth Zur, Gedor, Marath, Beth Anoth, and El Tekhon, six cities with their villages. And then the last of these districts, verse 60. Kirjath Baal, which is Kirjath Jareem, and Rabah, two cities with their villages. And then lastly, in verse 60 and 61, we have cities down in the deserts. In the wilderness, Beth Arba, Medin, Seqqaq, Nibshan, the city of salt, and in Gedi, six cities with their villages. And then in verse 63, as for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, The children of Judah could not drive them out, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.

You know, there's a real temptation. I'm gonna be honest with you. I didn't finish getting shock and talk ready until nine, I think it was 9.35. At about 9.20, Olivia walked in the room and she said, do you need help? And I said, I don't know how I could have help.

There's so much here. There's so many names, so many places that there are many pastors who just won't even preach this section. They'll skip over the genealogies, they'll skip over the places, but brothers and sisters, all of God's word is his word. And so I must be careful here to make sure that we read through every single word of God, because every single one of them are inspired by him. So thanks for bearing through this together, because we must declare the whole counsel of God.

But as I was sitting here, you know, struggling. It's not for any lack of time I spent translating or researching. I had 125 tabs open on my browser at one point trying to find stuff out. But sometimes you get so mucked looking at the trees that you forget kind of some big questions. Why is Judah listed first? He's not the firstborn. We're talking about these are the first people on the western side of the Jordan. Why is Judah getting the land first? Well, this is a long question. Why did God choose Judah first?

Well, we've got to go all the way back to Genesis chapter 49. And in Genesis chapter 49, Jacob is dying. The father of the whole Israelite nation is on his deathbed and he's going to talk to each of his sons. And as he talks to his sons, first he talks to Reuben. And what does he say? Reuben, Genesis chapter 49 verse 3. Reuben, you are my firstborn. my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency and dignity and excellency of power. All right, you can imagine Reuben's in there. He's the oldest son. Oh, he knows the custom of the day. He is the lion's share of the inheritance.

Verse four, you are unstable as water. You shall not excel because you went up to your father's bed. Then you defiled it. He went up to my couch. See, he had slept with one of his concubines. And he says, no, you're not going to get the inheritance. And then he goes, you might think, oh, OK, so then it should go to the second born, or maybe the third. But then he goes to them, Simon and Levi. For Simeon and Levi, verses 5-7, he says, Simeon and Levi, our brothers, instruments of cruelty, are in their dwelling place.

Let not my soul enter their council. Let not my honor be united to their assembly. For in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they hamstrung an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." See, they had seen this thing that had happened to their sister and they had created this huge lie that had, they tricked a whole city into thinking that there was a peace treaty. And even though there was a sin that had happened, they used that to unjustly murder an entire town. And so he says, I don't wanna be bedfellows with y'all. You're not getting it either. And then he comes to verse eight.

Judah. You can imagine the old man has a sparkle in his eyes. He looks towards the one who's actually going to get the inheritance. He says, Judah, You are he whom your brothers shall praise. Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he bows down as a lion. And as a lion, who shall rouse him?

The scepter shall not depart from Judah. nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be obedience of the people, binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey's coal to the choice vine. He has washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk."

He looks at his son, and he says, you're gonna be the ruler. Your brothers are gonna bow down to you. They're gonna come before you. And see, Judah was the one when Reuben thought, oh, we're in trouble because our brother is in prison. We gotta go take care of him. He says, well, I'll tell you what, Dad, if we go down and we don't come back, you can kill my firstborn son. That's real righteous of you, good job, buddy. But it was Judah who said, no, I swear on my own life, we will come down and we'll bring the boy back up.

Judah is the one who God, when he arranges the tabernacle, and he tells them, OK, the tabernacle is supposed to be in the middle. And I'm going to put four tribes on the north, three tribes on the east, three tribes on the south, or on the west, three tribes on the south. And the ones on the north are going to be the ones who march out first. Do you know which tribe was going to march out first? Judah. The tribe of Judah were the first ones to enter into Israel. The tribe of Judah were the first ones to go with boldness. And here it is, Judah the tribe who gets the first inheritance.

But there's a difficulty in their conquest, did you catch it? They're given all this land. They're given all this inheritance. All these towns, all these regions. But what is verse 63 saying? As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah, could not drive them out, but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day. They've tried. They try real hard to conquer all these cities, to conquer all this land, to go throughout all this area, but what do they find out? They can't take the Jebusite city, Jerusalem.

It wouldn't be until hundreds of years later that God would choose the runt of the litter, that he would look upon the youngest of a poor shepherd family. and he would call a rooty-headed little boy David, and he would anoint him as king. And it wouldn't be until that king rose up in 2 Samuel 5 that then finally they would overthrow the Jebusites.

This is why in Psalm 51, I remember reading a commentary on Psalm 51. This is David's prayer to God. It's a prayer of confession. And as I was reading a commentary one time on Psalm 51, they're like, you know, the last couple of verses of Psalm 51 just really don't make much sense. Why would David pray this? It says, do good in your good pleasure to Zion. Build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then you shall be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then they shall offer bulls on your altar.

And the commentator was saying, why would David need to pray that God would build up the walls of Jerusalem? Because he had just conquered Jerusalem. He had only had it under his control for a few decades. He had just taken care of the Jebusites who had remained there for hundreds of years.

And we might find ourselves, if we stepped into this scenario in Joshua chapter 15, and go, oh man, here they go again. You know, the people on the other side of the Jordan, they wouldn't get rid of the Geshurites, and here the people are in Judah, and they're not getting rid of the Jebusites. When are these people going to learn? What's wrong with them? Come on, just finish the job.

And I have to look at my own heart. And I think about how often God tells me, put to death therefore the sinful desires of your own life. Where's the Jebusite city in your heart? Where is that place in your life where you know it still needs conquered? Is it with your mouth?

Is it that stronghold of slander and gossip? Is it greed or covetousness? God calls it idolatry. It's no different than not conquering Beth Dagon. Is it lust? Are you going to the town of Asherah? Have you refused to conquer that city yet? This is what they're dealing with. They haven't conquered everything.

And we sit here, And this is gonna be a pattern. Spoiler alert, this is going to be a pattern all throughout the book of Joshua. It's like people are, people have this natural tendency, see? We get so close, so close, so close to righteousness. But then we just fall short a little bit. We get so close, so close, so close to holiness. And then you know what it's like, don't you? You fall back into old patterns, bad habits. You get so filled with zeal sometimes in your life. You know, you're like, I love you, Lord. I want to follow after you, Lord. I'm going to do it this time, Lord.

And then you know what it's like. You don't know what happened the next week. It's like the zeal turned off and everything else was more entertaining than God's holiness. We know what it's like to have an imperfect conquest in our own hearts. So we're left, in verse 63, longing. Is that really it? We'll see. We read all of those towns, all of those cities.

Did you notice one of them of Judah that wasn't mentioned? Bethlehem. If you can find Micah in the Minor Prophets, feel free to try to flip there. I have no clue what page it is in your Bibles. But Micah chapter five. Micah chapter five. This is a prophecy that comes from the Lord much later. Micah chapter five, verse two.

But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah. Do you notice? Bethlehem's a little hamlet. It's not there. It's not listed in the towns. It's not listed in the cities. It's not even big enough. It is smaller than morning sun. Can you believe that? So small that it's just a little, doesn't even get a blip on the map.

Yet out of you, I love that word in the Bible, yet. Yet out of you shall come forth the one to be ruler in Israel, whose going forth are from old, from everlasting to everlasting. So the angel had a scroll in his hand written on both sides, sealed with seven seals, and in heaven, for years upon years upon years, who is worthy to open the scroll and no one was found, and everybody weeps because no one is able to be found, but then who comes up, the lion of the tribe of Judah, who is worthy to open the scrolls, who is worthy to open its seven seals, who is worthy to sit upon the throne of God himself, who is going forth or from old, from everlasting, See, it is Jesus Christ who would come as the greater David. It is Jesus Christ who would come not just to bring us an inheritance of land, but would bring us to the heavenly Jerusalem. It is Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters.

Every time that we find ourselves in the book of Joshua, or the book of Judges, or the book of First and Second Chronicles, when we find ourselves like, really? Why do we get such messed up stories? Because they were all meant to point us to Christ. They were all meant to point us to what Micah is saying.

Someday a king's going to come, and that king is going to reign from everlasting. and he is going to have the scepter of Judah in his hand and all the world is going to bow down to him. This is why the book of Philippians says that at his name, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is why Judah gets the lion's share of the inheritance. This is why Judah gets the scepter. This is why Judah is listed first in the inheritance. This is why Judah, It is told to us the one city he couldn't conquer was Jerusalem.

But brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ has conquered Jerusalem. When we sing about communion, what do we sing? Oh, open wide the gates for me, the gates of righteousness, that the King of righteousness might enter in. It is Jesus Christ, our King, who has entered into Jerusalem triumphant as our King, and he fought the final fight. He took Satan and death on head to head, and he brought Hades under dominion. Brothers and sisters, you have an inheritance. And it's better than any of these dozens upon dozens upon dozens of cities listed.

We get Jesus Christ himself. We get to bow before the King in the heavenly Jerusalem forever. Forever. We were just talking. We finished the book of Hebrews yesterday at our Saturday morning Bible study down in Burlington. And as we were talking, we ended with this question of what is the purpose of life? The Westminster Confession has a fancy way of answering that, doesn't it?

The Shorter Catechism says the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. In Christ, our victor, our conqueror, our king, we get to enjoy Him forever. Because we don't inherit a kingdom of this world. But our king of the kingdom of heaven has come. And he's coming again. So I need to ask you, what kingdom are you longing for? What's your purpose in life? Are you working towards an inheritance that when you die is gonna go to someone else? Or do you have an inheritance that neither rust nor moth could ever eat away?

Closing Prayer

We have Christ, brothers and sisters. And if we have him, then keep all the towns. We got the King. Let's pray. Father, we confess to you the dullness of our hearts, but we pray that your spirit, Lord, I pray for each person in this room that your spirit might have been so working in their hearts that they would be filled with a love for Jesus Christ. Lord, that we would know where our inheritance lies. that we would always remember that we are full heirs of your covenant, that you have given us everything we need and have promised us eternity, an eternity with you. Thank you for our incorruptible inheritance. Let us cling to it, Lord, in the darkest hours of our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.

We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.