HOMESTEAD by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction:  Back in 1992, a movie came out titled “Far and Away,” starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. It was about a young couple who fell in love and came to America to take advantage of the Land Run of 1893. As early as 1862, the United States Congress passed “The Homestead Act” which gave every adult citizen, who had never taken up arms against the federal government, 160 acres of government surveyed land (See the National Archives for the original document). Even women and immigrants were eligible. But there were certain conditions: a person had to live on and improve the land for 5 years, then he/she could own the land for a small registration fee; a person could make small improvements on the property for only 6 months and pay the government $1.25 per acre, then he/she could get the land; a person who had served in the Union Army could deduct the time they served from the time required to live on the land and own the lander much sooner. As much as 500 million acres of land were dispersed between 1862-1904, but there were a couple of problems. Very few people could afford to cultivate the land (farm equipment, livestock, and seeds). Unfortunately, only 80 million acres was claimed by the homesteaders, but much went to speculators, cattle ranchers, miners, loggers, and the railroad. This was also tough on the indigenous people, the Native Americans. As you can imagine, it led to many conflicts. In our series on the Book of Judges, today’s message is titled “Homestead.” Just like the movie, there’s also a romantic relationship here, but unlike the movie, it has a much deeper message. Main Point: Marriage is a beautiful imagery of the love of Christ for his bride, the Church. He fought and won our love with his blood. Now we have direct access to the throne of God to ask for whatever we need. We come in humility and receive abundantly.

Judges 1      12 “Then Caleb said, ‘Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.’ 13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.”

Context: Right in the middle of Judges 1, we have a flash back about an odd arrangement that Caleb made for the marriage of his daughter Achsah. The reason we know that it is a flash back is because this exact account is found in Joshua 15     16 And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife.” 17 So Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. What is so special about this account that it had to be mentioned twice in the Word of God? Once again, we’re going to place the 2 filters on the Book of Judges: the filter of Christ and the filter of the Christian life. If you remember from last weekend: John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me”; 1 Corinthians 10:11 “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition…”

We are going to look at the 3 main characters in this account and understand the message and the deeper message:

1. Caleb – the Father

Caleb is the only remaining survivor of the original generation that had left Egypt. He doesn’t know how long he has before he too will join the others, and he wants to take care of some important unfinished business: Achsah, his daughter, is still single. Some have said that she may not have been much to look at. I think it’s probably because Caleb was a prince in Judah, and many wanted to marry his daughter but for the wrong reasons. So, he comes up with an amazing challenge – The city of Debir, also known as the Kiriath Sepher or the City of Books, is still not in his hands. Whoever takes Debir or Kiriath Sepher can marry Achsah. 

At first glance, it seems that Caleb was just a wheeler and a dealer who was willing to trade his own daughter for a piece of real estate. What kind of a father would do something like that! It seems as if he didn’t care as to how she felt. All that mattered to him was more real estate. We may be tempted to think that if we didn’t know anything about Caleb. Thankfully, we do know more about Caleb. If you remember last weekend, we learned that Caleb was one of the 12 spies that Moses had sent into the Promised Land. Numbers 13        1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.” The spies from each tribe could not be ordinary men. They were to be leaders, the best of the best. Numbers 13       3 “So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. 4 Now these were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; 6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh…” Caleb was a leader, someone who had distinguished himself by his exemplary life. 

This becomes even more important when you remember that he was the leader from the most prominent tribe of Israel. Even though Judah was not the firstborn, because Reuben and Simeon had disqualified themselves and the tribe of Levi had been chosen by God to be priests, the tribe of Judah had received the prerogative to rule. Jacob, their father, had blessed him in Genesis 49      10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people. 11Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine…” Remember the reference to the “donkey.” Judah also had the largest population when they left Egypt, about 74,600 military men (Numbers 2:3-9). Later, they also received the largest land allotment, one-third of the Promised Land. All that to say – to be picked as the leader from the tribe of Judah was no ordinary accomplishment.

But there’s more to Caleb – listen to Numbers 32       11 “Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.’ Joshua 14:6 “Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him…” Joshua 14:14 “Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.” Who is a Kenizzite? That’s not a Hebrew or even a West Semitic name. We find it mentioned in Genesis 15      18 “…the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— 19the Kenites, the Kenezzites…” The best we can say is that they were a non-Israelite ethnic group that presumably penetrated the Negev from the Southeast” (Anchor Bible Dict.). In fact, the name Caleb means “dog.” No Israelite would name their child a dog. It may have been a name among the Kenezzite or even a derogatory name. In other words, somehow, by God’s grace, his family was grafted into God’s people!

Here was an outsider who was the leader in the most important tribe of Israel! Is it any wonder that he was ready to charge the giants! As Jesus said about the woman who anointed his feet with fragrant oil and wiped it with her hair – Luke 7:47b “…But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” To say it another way – “He who is forgiven much, loves much.”

What kind of a man does he want for his daughter? He wants a man who loves God as much or more than he does. He wants a man of faith and courage. He wants a man who won’t be just talk but a man of action.

Application: Are you praying for such a man for your daughter? Are you raising such young men to be godly husbands one day? Are you such a man to your wife?

2. Othniel – the Bridegroom

As the text tells us, Othniel was Caleb’s nephew. A big reason that we are hearing this account here is because Othniel is going to be the first judge. In Judges 1 we are reading about his training. This is where he will prove himself for a greater task still to come. What is the greater task? Turn to Judges 3        7 “So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs. 8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years.” The name of this Mesopotamian king is very interesting – Cushan-Rishathaim = lit. The Cushite of Double Wickedness. He is the king of Aram-Naharaim, which means “The Land of the Two Rivers.” We are referring here to the Tigris and Euphrates in modern day Iraq. There is a play on words here – “The Cushan is not just the king of the land of the two rivers but the king of the double wickedness!” Later, when God’s people were taken into exile, the same land is referred to as Merathaim by Jeremiah the prophet in Jeremiah 50:21. Merathaim means “double bitterness.” 

Never forget – Because of sin, we have a double wound. As 1 Peter 2:24 says, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” The old hymn by Augustus Toplady reminds us —

“Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Save from wrath and make me pure.”

Judges 3:9 “When the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.” We miss something very important here – the word for “deliverer” is “moshia.” Isaiah 19:20 “And it will be for a sign and for a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of the oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them.”

Judges 3      10 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim. 11 So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Othniel was a type of Christ. He left his abode in glory and came down to give his life for his people, especially his Bride, the Church. He fought “double wickedness” for us. he drank the cup of “double bitterness” for us. While the land had rest only for 40 years under Othniel, we are promised an eternal rest through Christ.

Application: Do you know Jesus? Is he your Deliverer?

3. Achsah – the Bride

Judges 1      14 Now it happened, when she came to him, that she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?” 

This is quite strange. Achsah urged Othniel to ask her father for a field, but it doesn’t tell us that he ever did. Did Othniel feel that it was not his place to make such a request from her father? Could it be that something more is happening here? John 16:23 “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.”

Judges 1      14 “…And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?” What is so special about “dismounting from the donkey?” Sitting on a donkey is a representation of laying claim to what belongs to you as a king. When Jesus came on Palm Sunday riding into Jerusalem, he was fulfilling prophecy – Matthew 21      4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: 5 “Tell the daughter of Zion,‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ” Why donkey? Why not a horse? Riding on a horse means going to battle. No one goes to war or battle on a donkey. Riding on a donkey meant that you don’t have to fight. It’s already yours. You are the king. David had Solomon ride on a donkey – 1 Kings 1        32 And King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king. 33 The king also said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon. 34 There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; and blow the horn, and say, “Long live King Solomon!’

Dismounting off a donkey was Achsah’s way of saying to her dad that she is not coming demanding but in humility. Isn’t that a beautiful! 15 So she said to him, “Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water…” What is Caleb’s response? 15 “…And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.” In other words, he gave her a double portion. John 16:24 “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

So many applications:

• Are you truly grateful and obedient as Caleb?
• Have you met your deliverer, the true Othniel, who gave his life for you?
• Are you coming in humility and asking your heavenly for what you need?

Are you saved? Do you know Jesus as your Savior and King?Are you saved? Do you know Jesus as your Savior and King?