Joshua 15:13-19 | Episode #1234

July 9, 2026

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

Joshua 15:13-19

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 15, Joshua chapter 15, verses 13 through 19.

We are.

We're dealing with a very interesting story. It is a. It is a story that, you know, sometimes when you read through scripture, there's a story that you don't really get all the meaning out of you. And when you're reading it, you know, God's given you some insights, but you realize there's nowhere in this world to dig. You know, there's more that we could get out of this. And this is one of those stories. This is definitely one of those stories. And let me just give you, give you the background so that you understand the way Jewish culture worked is, is that the land was distributed by tribes and then by clans and then by families, and then the land was tied to. And this is how it worked. It was tied to me. And this is what the Book of Ruth is about. Will be in Ruth soon. So when, when the. The land was tied to the sun, and then, and then the women were tied to the land through their fathers and their husbands, and so the land passed through the male bloodlines. If, when. When our father died, it was split evenly among the sons, except the eldest son would get a double portion. So if there were three sons, the two youngest would get 1/4 and the oldest would get 2,4. If there were 10 sons, all the nine youngest sons would get 1/11 and the oldest son would get 2/11. So that's how it worked. That's how the land which represents the Promises of God were passed. Now that being said, oftentimes God puts in scripture something so that he you understand that there's more to it than that. And this is one of those times and so many times because of culture, because of society, because of different places we live, we don't understand the importance of the male and female role in church, in family and society. We get those things muddied. And especially in the culture that we live in, we get those things heavily muddied. And oftentimes when you move too far in one direction or the other, what ends up happening is you end up where you end up messing up what God's design is and missing out on God's plan. And what I'm saying about that is that historically women have not had any role to play in importance in

the

church or Judaism or places like that. And when I say not any big role to play, it's just been a mile. It really has been a small role. Now when we see Jesus, that's not the case. Sure he had 12 disciples, but there were at least a group of five or six women who were there with him, following him. They were disciples of his. He regularly dealt with them, he regularly taught them, they sat at his feet, they learned from him. That was not something that normally happened with a rabbi. And so the female role that was played by the women of Jesus's life was very important role. Now some aspects of the Christian faith have, have begun to try to deify, but that goes back to that opaque and culture deify a single female in Jesus's life as if she's a co. Equal in God. She's not. But she was a very important figure in Scripture and quite, quite, quite easily identified as a very important figure in the life of Jesus. And so his mother, Mary Magdalene, Mary and Martha, you just kind of go down the list and for, you know, it, there's just there, there is, is there is something about getting that proper balance and understanding the role that God has for women in the church. And, and, and really the defining role and, and oftentimes the best way for me to describe especially how first and second Timothy and, and some of the things that, that are in the New Testament. The best way for me to describe it in family and in the church is, is that if you don't have men, oftentimes you don't have, you don't have the structure and strength and if you don't have women, you don't have the abundance and the beauty. You just don't have those things. And so if. If. If women are actively involved in the family, if you have just a father, oftentimes that father, he recognizes that there's no abundance, there's no life, there's no love, there's no power. And if you have a mother and no father, women recognize that there's oftentimes a lack of structure, a lack of strength, a lack of foundation. And I use those terms because they're scriptural terms, but they're also just. It's easy to understand if. If I were to have a home without my wife, it would just have, you know, a few pieces of furniture and a bed and the necessities. There would be no. There would mean.

It would.

It would not. It would almost not be a home. And. And I know that. I understand that. And when we try to remove either sex, female or male, from its rightful role in the church and in society, we really mess ourselves up. And when we don't nurture those things, grow those things and encourage those things, we oftentimes ruin who we are as. As effective changers of the world that we live in. And so we see this story here, which would seem to indicate that Caleb is doing something that historically was not something that the. That. That the Jews did for the next thousand years. They didn't do this, but Caleb did. And, and so you go, well, okay, why. Why Caleb? Well, because Caleb is one. He's one of the two men of faith. He's. He's the. He's the. He was the spokesperson saying, go into the promised land. And so when God puts this in here, he's.

He's.

He's. He's saying, look, I'm. I'm giving you a peek into this. I want you. I don't want you. You cannot live. You cannot organize yourself in male dominance. And I'm just saying that outright. You cannot organize yourself in male dominance. Because I have a plan. And that plan especially involves females in their important role that they play in everything that I do. That would be in the family, in church, and in life. And you don't need to miss that out in the times we live in, that may be an issue for some people and not an issue for others. But I want you to just think about this. And I'm telling you, I don't know the fullness of what this means, but it means more than just Caleb gave his daughter or something. It's far more than that, and it's particular. In here, God makes sure that he talks about Caleb goes. Goes to something else, and it comes Back to Caleb so that you don't miss the story. He comes back to him to tell the story. It says now to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, he gave a share among the children of Judah according to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, namely Kirjath Arba, which is Hebron. We know that Caleb got Hebron. Arba was the father of Anak, and Anak is the father of the giants. Caleb drove out the three sons of Anakin from there, Shishai, Ahimon, and Talmai, the children of Anak. He defeated Caleb and his family defeated the giants. What the Israelites were worried about in not going in the promised land 45 years before, Caleb and his family do without them. Caleb defeats the. Defeats the giants himself by himself. The Israelites wouldn't go in because of the giants. Caleb handles the giants himself.

Why?

Because a man of faith can do mighty things, and it doesn't require that you have everybody else to go along. You and God are enough. And that's. That's how Caleb saw things. We should do what God says because, you know, me and God are the majority, okay? Because God is always the majority. And when I join him, I get to be a part of that majority. And Caleb said, he who attacks Kirjath Sephir and takes it to him, I will give Ash Sa, my daughter as wife. So he says to his clan, his family, anybody who grows up and takes this town, I'm going to give my daughter as wife. So Othniel, the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, so his nephew took it and he gave him Asa, his daughter, as wife. All right? Notice he's going through the process. This young man takes this. This town. So it's his. It's his inheritance. Okay? So you're not getting out of line with the, with the, with the way God's going to do it for the next thousand years. It's in line. It's rightly in line. Okay? The young man gets it, and he gets a bride, which is really a picture of Christ in the church. Okay? All right? Now notice what happens. And he gave him Ashley, his wife. Now, so when she came to him that she persuaded him to ask her father for a field. So she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, what do you wish? So she's. She's saying. She's saying, I run a field, and I'm asking you to ask my father for field. And he did. And, and. And she received a field. Then she goes on to say, what do you wish? And she answered, give me a blessing, since you have given me the land in the south, give me also a spring of water. And a spring of water is a picture of life. It's a picture of. It's a picture of. Of a. Digging wells is a picture of digging in and doing a new work in the kingdom of God. A spring is a picture of the overflow and the abundance of God's life that he gives us. In fact, he says he's going to create in us a well of living water that spring up to life. And so he says, she answered, give me. Give me this and notice what happens. So he gave her the upper spring and the lower spring. So Asha a c H S a a ashta, his daughter has a field and two springs. She possesses land and she possesses very important asset on those lands, a spring. Now, that is. Is going beyond how the system worked. And God clearly sits us in here separate so that you will look at it, recognize it, and think about it. All right, so this female daughter of his, who. Who he would be kind of the picture of, you know, God the father, his son goes and takes the land, which is a picture of Jesus taking the small scroll in Revelation, the title deed to the earth. And God gives her his. His. His daughter, the bride. And. And then God gives the bride land, a field and two springs. Now, that means a lot of stuff there. Two is the number of the faithful witness springs are or picture life. He gives her land, which means it's her land. She is the owner of that land. So that land doesn't pass through a male, it passes through a female. And you go, pastor, what does that mean? What that tells me is that there's more to women's role in kingdom work than the historic Christian role that we've given them. Okay? Now, many, many times people get all bent out of shape about this. And anybody who knows me and has dealt with me knows that I am heavily into discipling men and trying to get men where they should be. And you know, we started out, Pastor Terry and I, building the church, building and strengthening the men in the church. And since Pastor Terry's passed, I have. I have done my best to raise up a group of men who have callings on their life and to put them in a position so that we can begin to raise up many, many men to do the work of the kingdom. So I am heavily investing in men. That being said, women play a vital and important role in the church and in the kingdom. And I believe to miss that is to miss out on an important aspect of what God's doing in the kingdom. And when we do that and we miss out on it, we put ourselves in a position where, well, we're not getting the abundance and the wealth and the beauty that God has for us because we are using human systems and human thoughts and not allowing God to show us these things. And I always tell people when they're studying scripture, something seems kind of strangely put there. It's kind of doesn't seem like it's in the right place in the, in the book or in the chapter in the passage that you're dealing with. God's given you a heads up. That's, that's usually God saying, hey listen, this is something important. And I set it over here aside so it, so it kind of stand out like a sore thumb. It stick out like a sore thumb. Well, this story sticks out like a sore thumb. And it is one of those stories that says, hey, look over here. Ash saw she got a field in two springs when Caleb took his land. And who is Caleb? Well, he is the old man of faith. And so I should probably remember that. I should log that story in and make sure that I understand what it means. Down the road. 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.