All About Manasseh

Introduction

Me

We

This week we are continuing in our Journey through the book of Joshua. This particular series we are looking through the 12 tribes of Isreal. Joshua is going through and allocating or giving out the land assignments in the Land of Promise

As Joshua goes through each tribe I found this to be a perfect opportunity to look at the 12 tribes as a whole

We have talked about Reuben and Gad

Today we are talking about the split tribe. The tribe of Manasseh

and because it is split we find the land allocations in two different locations

Joshua 13:29; Joshua 17:1-13

Joshua 13:29 LEB

29 Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh; it was for the half-tribe of the descendants of Manasseh according to their families.

Joshua 17:1–13 LEB

1 Then the allotment was made for the tribe of Manasseh, because he was the firstborn of Joseph. To Makir, the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a warrior. 2 An allotment was made for the remaining descendants of Manasseh, according to their families: For the children of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida—these were the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph according to their families. 3 But Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Makir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 They came before Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders, saying, “Yahweh commanded Moses to give an inheritance to us among our kinsmen.” Therefore, according to the command of Yahweh he gave them an inheritance among the kinsmen of their father. 5 Thus ten shares fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is beyond the Jordan, 6 because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons. And the land of Gilead was allotted to the remaining descendants of Manasseh. 7 The border of Manasseh was from Asher to Micmethath, which is opposite Shechem; then the border goes to the south, to the inhabitants of En Tappuah. 8 The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tuppuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the descendants of Ephraim. 9 Then the border goes down to the wadi of Kanah to the south of the wadi. These cities belong to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh. The border of Manasseh is north of the wadi, and it ends at the sea. 10 The south is Ephraim’s, and the north is Manasseh’s; the sea is their border; Asher touches the north and on the east Issachar. 11 In Issachar and Asher, Manasseh had Beth-shean and its villages, Ibleam and its villages, the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, the inhabitants of Taanach and its villages, the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; the third is Napheth. 12 But the descendants of Manasseh were not able to take possession of these towns; the Canaanites were determined to live in this land. 13 And it happened, when the Israelites grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor but never drove them out completely.

The Man

Manasseh was the firstborn son of Joseph, older brother of Ephraim. Jacob had a famous son, if you read the end of Genesis there is a novella about a man named Joseph who was special. His sons were the leaders of the tribes. thats why there is no tribe of Joseph

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Etymology

The name “Manasseh,” chosen by Joseph, plays on the Hebrew word meaning “to forget”: “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house” (Gen 41:51 ESV).

The Bible says very little about the Man Manasseh. The most notable moment in the narrative comes when he loses his birthright to his younger brother in Gen 48:1-20 (this is a common them in the Bible)

The Tribe

The tribe of Manasseh is mentioned frequently in accounts of Israel’s wilderness wanderings, conquest, and settlement in the promised land

The tribe itself with both sections control the Largest section of Land

The tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim often are identified jointly as the tribe of Joseph and then the lines of who is what gets a little confused

The Blessing of of Joseph is in Genesis 49 is one of a Fruitful bough by a spring. what a blessing is that

A Mighty one. The Rock of Israel. What a blessing this would be to hear from A parent

What Can We Learn

What can we learn from this tribe with really so little about things

Free Will

Early on we learn that Manasseh is frequently Referred to as the half tribe

This shows the choices made by some of the tribe of reside east of the river Jordan

they believed that the Transjordan was more suitable land to raise their flocks The Rest of the tribe settled west of the Jordan, in Canaan, following Joshua’s command to enter and possess the promised land.

As is evident throughout Scripture, God endows His children with the freedom to choose. In this one tribe we have a wonderful example that we can choose

we can choose to follow into the promised land or to stay out

We have the choice to do what we feel is best. Even though we don’t always know what is best and often go against the Lord

He lets us because he wants to give us the choice. and it all comes down to Love. God is love, Love is not God, God is love and being love creating us in his image he gives us the opportunity to love. and that also means we can say to God I don’t love you

Leads to Sinners and Saints

Sinners - We Need More

Exercising free will can lead to undesirable or even disastrous results, Especially if we disobey God or make selfish choices

Manasseh learned this lesson painfully when they failed to obey God’s command to destroy the Canaanites.

Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered What Should We Learn from the Tribe of Manasseh?

Part of this failure was due to a lack of faith that God would give them strength to overcome a seemingly unconquerable foe

it also shows us things such as greed and covetousness. The half tribe of Manasseh desired more land because they were “a numerous people” They may have had teh numbers, but they were unwilling to follow Joshua’s exhortation to clear “the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaites”

Saints - Faithfulness

ON the other hand the tribe of Manasseh showed faithfulness to God

Guidon, who would later become one of Israel’s best Judges, questioned God when called to “save Isreal out of Midian’s hand”.

Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered What Should We Learn from the Tribe of Manasseh?

One of Gideon’s objections was that his “clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family” (Judges 6:15)

Gideon required proof from God twice before he acted. Once convinced of God’s will, Gideon moved forward with 32,000 troops to conquer the Midianites. But then God told Gideon that he had too many troops for the Job, and he reduced his corps to a mere 300 men. Following God’s lead, this paltry force routed the enemy. The battle proved God was with Gideon and the half-tribe

It was also a tribe that encouraged the idea that Women were not second hand citizens. The tribe is more important than those rules.

Next Steps

Your Choices matter. How are you using your choices today

Pray