Joshua Takes Lands, Hills and South Country - Joshua 11:16

In the book of Joshua, we learned, “as the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses”, and in chapter eleven and verse sixteen of the book of Joshua, we learn how, “Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country” where we read, 

So Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, 

and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of the same;

The verse reads, “So Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, …” Joshua or the writer began with the words, “so Joshua” which means “therefore, then, wherefore and on this account Joshua, whose name means Jehovah is salvation” “took all that land” or “seized, captured and occupied each, every and the whole of the territory, region and district”, “the hills” which means “the risings above the plains and mounds”, “and all the south country” or “and each, every and the whole of the territory, region and district belonging to the southern direction”,“and all the land” which means “and each, every and the whole of the territory, region and district” “of Goshen” or “belonging to Goshen whose name means ‘drawing near’ and was a district in southern Palestine between Gaza and Gibeon”. Joshua or the writer shared how “Joshua” seized every one of the territories including those within the risings above the plain, in the southern direction and belonging to “Goshen”. 

 

The verse continues, “… and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of the same;” Joshua or the writer added the words, “and the valley”  which means “and the lowland or low country”, “and the plain” or “and the desert or wilderness”, “and the mountain of Israel” which means “and the rising above the plain or hill country belonging to Israel whose name means ‘God prevails” and is the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob”, “and the valley” or “and the lowland or low country” “of the same” which means “belonging to Israel”. Joshua or the writer shared how “Joshua” also seized the lowlands, wilderness and risings above the plain and lowlands which belonged to “Israel”.

When we consider the words in this verse, we see how Joshua conquered a large area of territory which included the mountains, lowlands, wilderness and regions which belonged to “Israel”. God gave him and the people of “Israel” these lands, and because He was with them, they were victorious. This same God desires to have a personal relationship with us as well, and when He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and raised Him from the dead after three days, He made the way through belief and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord” to be forgiven of our sins, granted everlasting life and provided with His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and teach us how to inherit whatever He desires in this life and in the life to come. 

Next time we learn how Joshua also took, “from the mount Halak, that goes up to Seir, even unto Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".