Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

Yesterday, the Israelites won a lot of wars and took a lot of land, so today we open with a summary of what land they've acquired, with lots of boundaries that are

probably unfamiliar to you and that seem unimportant. Rest assured that these boundaries were

very important to the people at the time, and not only that, but these lists have also served

our faith historically and archaeologically. So hang in there when we're in these dry patches,

know that they serve a purpose greater than you. We started out with the land they conquered when Moses was still alive,

all the stuff east of the Jordan River where the 2.5 Transjordan tribes live, Gad, Ruben, and East

Manasseh. Then we cross the Jordan River heading west into the promised land and read about

the areas conquered by Joshua. After all this conquering, Joshua is pretty old, but God says

he's not done with him. There's still more land to take, so he's not allowed to die yet. But God

will do the heavy lifting for them and drive out the inhabitants himself. then Joshua will give the land to the remaining

9.5 tribes. And the Levites, of course, have God himself as their inheritance, and they're divvied

up to live among each of the tribes. One of the problems with the 2.5 Transjordan tribes to the east

is that they didn't drive out all the people who live there, which is not okay, according to God. We'll continue to see how this act of disobedience causes

them trouble through the years. Then we have an encounter with Caleb. He was the other spy who,

along with Joshua, believed God 45 years earlier when they spied out this very land. He's talking to Joshua about

what they endured then and what God promised to them. He recalls following God in the face of fear,

and he's ready to do it again. Even at the age of 85, he wants to go personally fight against

the Anacom, the giants in the land. And he succeeds under Joshua's

blessing in God's direction. Chapter 15 tells us all about Judah's inheritance. They were the largest

tribe by far, so they get the largest plot of land. Almost everything Judah got was desert. But it does

edge in on Jerusalem, so that's a plus.

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