Sermon Tone Analysis

Sometimes when you hear someone teach/preach through a passage, you'll discover that what he says reveals more about himself-- his biases, his presuppositions, his theology, what's important to him-- that it actually reveals about the Bible.

When you hear today's passage, I'm a little scared it's going to reveal more about me, than it does about the book of Joshua or about its relevance for our lives.

I say this, personally bothered by it, and embarrassed about it.

I also say this as a caution of sorts to you-- this will be a week when you are going to need, more than usual, to use discernment.

What I say/write, I'm writing as a male.

And as a father.

And as someone who has been at a church where women have not been particularly valued, or respected, or considered worth really listening to.

I have tried my best to recognize all of this, and avoid reading this passage poorly.

I've tried really hard to take what AJ has written seriously as Scripture apart from my preunderstanding, but it's quite possible I'm going to end up reading into the text, more than is actually there.

On an entirely different front, the other thing I really struggled with this week, was that I see myself, and my marriage, in this passage.

And by "struggled," I mean, I found myself amused, smirking, constantly, as I thought about the passage at work.

Sometimes when people write stories-- and biblical authors are no exception-- they deliberately leave gaps in their stories.

They don't explain everything.

And readers have to decide to what degree they are supposed to leave those gaps, because they aren't important and not the focus, and to what degree they are expected to fill them in.

This could be the most hilarious sermon of all time.

I could totally make it that, just by thinking about the gaps in the story.

And I'm not sure if I'm supposed to think about the gaps, or if I'm supposed to play this straight, and focus on what AJ focuses on-- or if I'm supposed to find some magical sweet spot between the two.

I enjoyed this story a great deal, is what I'm trying to say.

Meditating on it has given me a great deal of pleasure.1

But I'm not sure I'm reading it quite like I should, and I'm not sure I'm teaching it, or thinking about its relevance, quite like I should.

So.

Consider yourselves well and truly warned.

:)

Last week, we began reading the conclusion to Caleb's story in the Bible.

We saw that Caleb was truly a man of God-- a man of great faith.

I tried to challenge you to wholly follow after God, so long as you live.

I tried to challenge you to not let your age limit you.

You can serve God, no matter how old you are.

And if you aren't old, consider what it would look like, to honor and heed the wisdom of your elders.

I'd like to begin this morning by rereading Joshua 14:6-13.

Then, we'll skip down, and read the second half of Caleb's story--which, as it turns out, isn't really going to be about Caleb:

(14:6) And the sons of Israel drew near to Joshua at Gilgal,

and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him,

"You have known the word that Yahweh spoke to Moses, the man of God, with regard to me and with regard to you in Kadesh Barnea.

(7) 40 years old [was] I, when Moses the servant of Yahweh sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land,

and I returned him a word/report just as [was] with my heart,

while my brothers who went up with me caused the heart of the people to melt,2

while I wholly followed3 after Yahweh my God,

(9) and Moses swore on that day, saying,

"Surely, the land on which your foot has walked, to you it shall be as an inheritance and to your sons forever,

because you wholly followed after Yahweh your God,"

(10) And now then, LOOK!, Yahweh has kept me alive,

just as he spoke this forty five years from the time Yahweh spoke this word to Moses, when Israel was in the desert,

and now then, LOOK!, I, today, am 85 years old,

(11) and I am still today as strong as on the day Moses sent me.

As much strength was then, as my strength is now for war and for going out and for coming.

(12) and now then, give to me this hill country that Yahweh spoke on that day,

because you heard on that day that Anakim were there, and cities great and fortified.

Perhaps Yahweh is with me,

and I shall drive them out just as Yahweh spoke,

(13) And Joshua blessed him,

and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance.

(14) Thus, Hebron became to Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite as an inheritance until this day

because he followed wholeheartedly after Yahweh the God of Israel.

(15) Now, the name of Hebron before was Kiriath Arba.4

The greatest man among the Anakim [was] he (Arba),

while the land rested from war.

So Joshua does what Caleb requests.

He gives him Hebron, a land famously known for having the biggest, baddest Anakim of them all-- Arba.

Caleb had asked for this in faith.

Perhaps, Yahweh is with him.

Perhaps, Caleb will drive them out just as Yahweh had spoken.

Will his faith in Yahweh be justified?

We find our answer, when we skip down to today's passage, starting in 15:13:

(13) And to Caleb the son of Jephunneh5 he gave a portion in the midst of the sons of Judah, in accordance with Yahweh's word to Joshua-- Kiriath Arba, the father of the Anak.6

That is, Hebron7,

(14) And Caleb dispossessed/drove out from there three of the sons of the Anak-- Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the descendants of the Anak,

Let's pause here.

Caleb didn't kill these three Anakim.

He wanted to, no doubt.

But they ran.

They got away.

Someone else will actually have to kill them-- and we can read about that in Judges 1.

But I think this verse helps clarify the situation in Canaan in two ways: it helps us understand the Nephilim, and it has one of the key verbs for taking possession of the land.

(1) Nephilim:

There were Nephilim scattered all across Canaan.

But most people in the land of Canaan, probably, were just people.

There were so few Nephilim that they can be named.

So here in verse 7, we read about three of them: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.8

Nothing is said about Arba.

So we are left to wonder-- had he already died, and just left behind a few sons?

I don't know.

I would think, if Caleb had killed him, AJ would tell us.

(2) Dispossess

This verse says that Caleb "dispossessed", or drove out, these Anakim.9

This is the verb that was missing from the summaries of Israel's warfare.

Israel "struck," "took/captured," and "kheremed" kings, but they didn't "dispossess."

What Caleb does here is different.

Caleb took control of the land.

Continuing in verse 15:

(15) And he went up from there to the inhabitants of Debir.

Now, the name of Debir before was Kiriath Sepher,10

(16) and Caleb said,

"Whoever strikes Kiriath Sepher, and captures it, I shall give to him Acsah my daughter as a wife."

(17) And Othniel the son of Kenaz the brother of Caleb took/captured it,

and he gave to him Acsah his daughter as a wife,

Let's pause here.

Do Othniel's actions bother you?

When you read these verses, do you find yourselves thinking, "Do good fathers pass out their daughters as prizes for taking cities?"

We want to say people should be free to marry who they choose, based on true love.

Who I marry should be my choice, and my parents shouldn't get any input at all.