Joshua 14 | Episode #1232

July 7, 2026

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

Joshua 14

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for over 25 years. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word verse-by-verse and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

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Transcript

This is Hope Alive, where we apply

God's Word to our daily life. My name is Chad Harrison. I'm first a husband, a father and a grandfather. I'm also the teaching pastor at Lake Community Church in Dadeville, Alabama on beautiful Lake Martin. I've been serving as a pastor for over 30 years. I also serve as the Tallapoosa County District Judge. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word verse by verse through the Bible and to find his purpose and will for your daily life. If you would like sponsor this podcast, go to the Show Notes where there's a link where you can make a donation. I pray in the name of Jesus that God would open his word to you, allow you to see him and to know him, so that you would know his will and his way for your life that you might walk in faith and power each and every day, especially today.

Word of God, please speak to the

hearers of your voice today in the name of Jesus.

Amen. Foreign.

Welcome to Lake Community Church's morning Bible study. We are in Joshua, chapter 14. Joshua, chapter 14 contains a story about probably the second most important figure as far as entering into the Promised Land that we see. He is a figure that dates back to before Moses even sent spies into the Promised Land. And he was one of those spies. He was the second spy who, who said we ought to go into the Promised Land. In fact, in the conversations and in the in the speaking with the people, the person who took on the speaking role and the leadership role in encouraging God's people to enter into the Promised Land was not Joshua. It was Caleb. Caleb is the one who urged them to do it. And likely because he took on that role and the people did not enter into the Promised Land, he likely was treated pretty poorly over the 40 years of entering into the Promised Land by the general population because they were being punished. But he was not going to be punished. He was being punished in the sense that he had to live with them, but he was not being punished that way. And so you see in this chapter, the first part of the chapter kind of just deals with Moses distribution of land to his two tribes. And you're going to see that later on. You're going to see that these tribes, the tribes that make up the sons of Moses. And after that, you're going to see that those tribes actually are two tribes and one of the tribes is lost. But we'll deal with that in the future. Let me read that section to you. It says, these are the heirs which children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar, the priest, Joshua, the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes, of the children of Israel distributed as an inheritance to them. Their inheritance was by lot, meaning that God, they. They picked all the lands and then they pulled out their. Their land by lots. And so it wasn't. It wasn't planned and organized. It was by chance. It says their inheritance was by lot, as literally commanded by the hand of Moses for the nine tribes and the half tribe. For Moses had given the inheritance of two tribes and the half tribe on the other side of the Jordan. But the Levites had given no inheritance among them for the children of Jo. I said children of Moses, but children of Joseph, Manasseh, and Ephraim. So Joseph, who was the one who had the coat of many colors back way back when we were going through Exodus, he had two sons. And his two sons are actually going to be two of the tribes, okay? And then one of these sons is actually. And the list of tribes does change as you're going throughout Scripture, all the way through the book of the Revelation. And so that's a point of interest, but I don't want to get sidetracked today on that. And so it says for the children of Joseph, the two tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim, and they gave no part to the Levites in the land except cities to dwell in and the common lands for their livestock and their property. And as the Lord had commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did, and they divided the land. So now you've got all this division of land. But there's an outstanding promise out here that's gotta be dealt with. So the passage kind of sums up and finishes up all the division of the land. And then you get to Caleb, and that's what this real passage is about. That's what this chapter is about. It's about Caleb. And Caleb comes up and he acts like. Well, he acts like the Promised Land

was the place he was always meant to be.

And, you know, that's what makes him so attractive as a figure in scripture. He acts as if the Promised Land is where he should always have been. He should always have been there. He should have always lived there. He should have always walked there. It was his own. And he acts that way. And that's something not only to be admired, but it's something that to be desired. It's something that we should seek after. We should seek after a mindset that is Promised Land mindset. We should seek after A mindset that is entering into God's peace and rest, entering into his fullness. We should seek that mindset. And as we read through, we're just going to comment on it, comment on the things that happened, things he said. Notice the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb, son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, said to him, you know the word which the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea. Notice he is. He is. He starts out with referencing the promises of God. And what he's saying is, God made a promise. God made a made it. God issued a decree. When we came back to Kadesh Barnea and gave our report, God issued a decree and I am here to take hold, to come into fullness on that promise. He Sundays, I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord sent me to Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. And I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. Notice he said, I was sent to spy out the land. And I didn't do what everybody else said. I brought back the word that was in my heart. Now I want you to hear me. That's promised land thinking. Because see, he's not acting on what everybody else thinks. He is doing what God has told him to do. And without that mindset, you don't have a Caleb. And by the way, without that mindset,

you don't have promised land living.

And so a lifestyle of God's best, a lifestyle of, well, the power of God resonating in your life first of all starts with you and God dealing with each other on your own. He says. He says, I told, I said what was in my heart. Nevertheless, my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt. But I wholly followed the Lord, my God. Notice he said it didn't matter what everybody else said. And by the way, I don't follow the crowd. I follow what God says and I do exactly what God says do. And so when we follow after God, when we chase after God,

we get

individualized treatment, kingdom treatment. And that's really what's so cool about the promised land and walking in God's promises is that you get treated individually, you're not a part of. Even though we are the church, even though we do affect each other's lives, you get your promises. Other people don't affect that. He says. So Moses swear on that day saying, surely the land where your foot is trodden shall be your inheritance. And your children forever because you have holy followed by the Lord my God. What he's saying is Moses said, listen, I'm going to get everywhere I put my feet when I went there the first time. How many places have you placed your feet that you didn't know you were placing your feet there? And now God's prepared to give it to you. How many times have you asked God for something and you've walked through it

and you haven't received it yet, but the day's coming. You will?

I think that's a powerful message to be sent. So many times we think that the desires of our heart and the things that we know God has set us out to accomplish and to experience and to actually take as our own haven't come to its realization yet. And yet God says it will. Days are coming when that's going to happen, and days are coming when that's

going to be fully completed.

And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive. And he said, these 45 years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandering in the wilderness. And now here I am this day, 85 years old. What he's saying is, I've waited for this promise for 45 years.

Now, if.

If I said the same, it would have to be a promise when I was 8 years old. I find that fascinating that Caleb has been living a life of faith, living a life of.

Of.

Of loyalty, living a life of godless godliness. He's been doing this for 45 years, not getting his promises, not getting God's best, not. Not experiencing all that God had for him. And yet he's. He's. He kept walking it out. Everybody else messed it up, but he's walking it out.

What a powerful testimony this is. I mean, what a powerful story this is.

He says, I'm 85 as yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me. Just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and coming in. What he's saying is, I'm as strong as I've ever been.

I think there's a country music song like that.

Maybe I'm not as strong as I've

always been, but one time I am.

And he's not saying that. He's saying, I'm strong as I've ever been. I'm strong as I've ever been. Why? Because faith has made him healthy. Faith has made him whole. And he's walked in faith for 45 years. They were wandering in the wilderness he moved where he was going because he'd been there. It says, now therefore, give me this mountain on which the Lord spoke in that day. For you heard in that day how the Anakim, remember those are the giants were there and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be with the Lord. It may be that the Lord will be with me and I shall be able to drive out as the Lord said. He said, it may be that God gives me a chance to drive them out and I'm ready to. I don't care if they are giants. Notice he never cared if they were giants in the first place. And so his heart, because his heart was always turned toward God's word and God's promises, has never changed. And therefore God has sustained him, and it's not going to change. And Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, as his inheritance.

Hebron's a pretty neat place to get in Israel.

It's a mountainous region.

It's north of Jerusalem.

You'll hear a lot of talk about Hebron, and Hebron is a special place in Israel. It says, Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb, son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite to this day, because the whole.

Because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. What a great testimony the Bible gives of Caleb. He wholly followed the Lord God of Israel.

That's a. That's a.

That's a.

That's a testimony.

That's a. That's a story that every one of us should desire to be told of us that we wholly followed the Lord God of Israel.

And the name of Hebron formerly was Kirjath Arba. Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. What he's saying is it used to be called after. It used to be named after the greatest giant, and now it's named after

the greatest man of faith. And Hebron is.

Is known as Caleb's inheritance. And so if, if you had anything

that you would like said of you at the end,

45 years of waiting.

He wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. By the way, he did take the land, and he took it by himself. He didn't need their help. And so he went up and took it on his own because him and his family were always going to serve the Lord. And so what a good story on a Monday morning when, when you're having to trudge through life and, and maybe go through some of the machinations of the day and, and the things that you've been doing for years and years and you don't see any, any chance

of God really blessing it.

Blessings are right around the corner. And some people waited 45 years to get it, but they got it. And you will too, if you wholly follow after the Lord God of Israel. If you wholly follow after the Lord God, Jesus Christ,

As you go today, I pray that the Lord will bless

you and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you, and that he will give you hope and peace today in Jesus name.