How does Joshua 15:36 connect with God's faithfulness throughout the book of Joshua? Verse in Focus “Shaaraim, Adithaim, and Gederah (or Gederothaim)—fourteen cities with their villages.” (Joshua 15:36) Setting the Scene • Joshua 15 records Judah’s inheritance after the conquest • Verse 36 lists three towns in the Shephelah, part of fourteen settled places • Every name documents boots-on-the-ground occupation, showing the land promise moving from paper to reality A Thread of Promises Kept • Genesis 12:7: “To your offspring I will give this land.” • Genesis 15:18–21 defines the borders • Deuteronomy 1:8 urges Israel to go in and possess • Joshua 1:3 affirms that every footstep will match God’s gift • Joshua 21:45 seals it: “Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.” Snapshots of Faithfulness Through Joshua 1. Jordan dries up (Joshua 3–4) – God makes a way 2. Walls of Jericho fall (Joshua 6) – God fights for His people 3. Ai conquered and covenant renewed (Joshua 8) – God forgives and restores 4. Southern campaign, sun stands still (Joshua 10) – God controls creation for covenant purposes 5. Northern kings defeated (Joshua 11) – God ends organized resistance 6. Allotment chapters (Joshua 13–21) – God distributes the inheritance 7. Rest in the land (Joshua 21:43–45) – God provides security Why a List of Cities Preaches Faithfulness • God’s promises reach down to individual towns, not just broad borders • Every named village is a receipt stamped “promise fulfilled” • Shaaraim surfaces again in 1 Samuel 17:52, proving lasting possession across generations • Judah’s territory anchors the line through which the Messiah will come (Genesis 49:10), weaving the local details into the larger redemption story Faithfulness on the Ground • Shaaraim means “two gates,” hinting at security now experienced rather than merely hoped for • Adithaim (“double ornament”) and Gederah (“sheepfold”) paint a picture of settled prosperity—God turns battlefields into homesteads • The fourteen-city tally underlines completeness; nothing promised was missing Living Lessons for Believers • God keeps His word down to village-size details; He will keep His personal promises to His people today (Lamentations 3:23; 1 Thessalonians 5:24) • Scripture’s precision in geography and history invites confident trust in its spiritual claims • The God who secured Judah’s inheritance secures the eternal inheritance promised in Christ (1 Peter 1:4) |
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