Context No. 3669 of 4322 · Joshua

Joshua 15:1-12: in context

1The lot for the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families was to the border of Edom, even to the wilderness of Zin southward, at the uttermost part of the south. 2Their south border was from the uttermost part of the Salt Sea, from the bay that looks southward; 3and it went out southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and passed along to Zin, and went up by the south of Kadesh Barnea, and passed along by Hezron, went up to Addar, and turned toward Karka; 4and it passed along to Azmon, went out at the brook of Egypt; and the border ended at the sea. This shall be your south border. 5The east border was the Salt Sea, even to the end of the Jordan. The border of the north quarter was from the bay of the sea at the end of the Jordan. 6The border went up to Beth Hoglah, and passed along by the north of Beth Arabah; and the border went up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. 7The border went up to Debir from the valley of Achor, and so northward, looking toward Gilgal, that faces the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the river. The border passed along to the waters of En Shemesh, and ended at En Rogel. 8The border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom to the side of the Jebusite (also called Jerusalem) southward; and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lies before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the farthest part of the valley of Rephaim northward. 9The border extended from the top of the mountain to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, and went out to the cities of Mount Ephron; and the border extended to Baalah (also called Kiriath Jearim); 10and the border turned about from Baalah westward to Mount Seir, and passed along to the side of Mount Jearim (also called Chesalon) on the north, and went down to Beth Shemesh, and passed along by Timnah; 11and the border went out to the side of Ekron northward; and the border extended to Shikkeron, and passed along to Mount Baalah, and went out at Jabneel; and the goings out of the border were at the sea. 12The west border was to the shore of the great sea. This is the border of the children of Judah according to their families.

This describes in careful detail the borders of the tribe of Judah's inheritance, a large portion of the land, traced from the south all the way to the sea. To us it reads as a dry survey of boundaries, but to Israel it was the concrete record of God's promise kept.

Judah received its portion, marked out precisely, exactly as God had appointed. And within these very borders, we notice, lies Jerusalem, still held by the Jebusites, a reminder that the inheritance was given but not yet fully possessed. There is a picture here of the Christian life. God has given us a great inheritance in Christ, sure and marked out, and yet there remain Jebusites still to be driven out, ground still to be claimed in daily living. What God has promised is certain; the working out of it in our lives is a process. We hold a sure inheritance, and we press on to possess fully what has already, in Christ, been given to us.

Do I trust that God has given me a sure inheritance in Christ, while pressing on to possess fully in daily life what he has already promised and secured?

Sources

Joshua 15:1: "The lot for the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families was to the border of Edom... southward."
Joshua 15:12: "The west border was to the shore of the great sea. This is the border of the children of Judah according to their families."
Joshua 15:63: "As for the Jebusites... the children of Judah couldn't drive them out."