Joshua (12)—Seeking the Blessing - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2025

Caleb said, “He who attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife” … She answered, “Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.” So he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
Joshua 15:16, 19

Joshua (12)—Seeking the Blessing
After seven years of fighting, the land was now being divided for an inheritance to the tribes. Judah was first in line, and 85-year-old Caleb, that intrepid old warrior and former spy, stepped forward to claim the portion he had been promised by Moses 45 years earlier because he wholly followed Jehovah the God of Israel. Kirjath Arba—the city of Arba, the father of Anak, the father of the three dread giants the spies had seen, who were still there—became Caleb’s possession. The name of the city was changed to Hebron, meaning “communion.”

Caleb did not stop with this, but went up against the nearby city of Kirjath Sepher. Not only was he a tough old warrior, but he knew how to challenge others as well! He offered his daughter Achsah in marriage to whoever would attack Kirjath Sepher. His nephew Othniel rose to the challenge and took the city. Kirjath Sepher, the “city of the book” became Debir, the “Word” (of God).

Just like her father, Achsah valued the inheritance. She urged Othniel to ask for a field as a wedding present, and when Caleb granted them this, she jumped down from her donkey to ask for springs of water to water the field. “Ask and it will be given to you,” our Lord says. How wonderful not only when young men desire spiritual blessing, but when young women seek such blessing too!

Eugene P. Vedder, Jr.

Break Thou the Bread of Life, dear Lord, to me,
As Thou didst break the bread beside the sea;
Beyond the sacred page I seek Thee, Lord;
My spirit longs for Thee, Thou living Word.

Mary A. Lathbury