Allotment of the Land, Joshua

God Honours His Promise of Land

So far we have seen that God has rescued the people of Israel from eygpt and brought them to the promised land under the leadership of Moses. Then under the leadership of Joshua the second Moses the people crossed the Jorden river into the promised land.

This is the story of Joshua

It is the story of how God’s promise to Abraham from Genisis 12 comes true, that God would make Abraham into a great nation, in the land and that he would be a blessing to the whole world.

The first half of the book (Ch 1-12) is about the conquest of the land and the second half of the book that we begin tonight shows this promise of land coming true. The second half of Joshua begining at ch 13 tells the story of how the land was allocated to the t ribes of Israel. Each tribe for the sons of Jacob who was later called israel. His sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin,

The main point of the second half of the book is Joshua 18:1-10. God has fulfilled His promises in giving the land to Israel. Now the land needs to be divided up for each tribe.

Joshua 18:1–10 NIV

1 The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The country was brought under their control, 2 but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had not yet received their inheritance. 3 So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you? 4 Appoint three men from each tribe. I will send them out to make a survey of the land and to write a description of it, according to the inheritance of each. Then they will return to me. 5 You are to divide the land into seven parts. Judah is to remain in its territory on the south and the tribes of Joseph in their territory on the north. 6 After you have written descriptions of the seven parts of the land, bring them here to me and I will cast lots for you in the presence of the Lord our God. 7 The Levites, however, do not get a portion among you, because the priestly service of the Lord is their inheritance. And Gad, Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan. Moses the servant of the Lord gave it to them.” 8 As the men started on their way to map out the land, Joshua instructed them, “Go and make a survey of the land and write a description of it. Then return to me, and I will cast lots for you here at Shiloh in the presence of the Lord.” 9 So the men left and went through the land. They wrote its description on a scroll, town by town, in seven parts, and returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. 10 Joshua then cast lots for them in Shiloh in the presence of the Lord, and there he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their tribal divisions.

The land was divided in three steps: the first part took place under Moses on the eastern side of the Jordan, the second and third under Joshua on the western side, first at Gilgal, then at Shiloh.

What do we learn about God and the people

The Recieve the Inheritance and Do Not Earn It

In Ch 13:1-7 God speaks again to Joshua as he did at the beggining of the Book giving him instructions. This time for the allocation of the land.

Joshua 13:1 NIV

1 When Joshua had grown old, the Lord said to him, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.

Joshua must finish his work and allocat the land before he dies.

At this point in the story there is still land that has not been taken from the Cannanites.

Joshua 13:6 NIV

6 “As for all the inhabitants of the mountain regions from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, that is, all the Sidonians, I myself will drive them out before the Israelites. Be sure to allocate this land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have instructed you,

God will drive out the Cannanites in Judgement.

God will achieve his ultimate purpose but this generation must obey God’s commands in faith for them to experience the gift of land in their generation.

This Inheritance is given to the people by the Lord through castig lots.

Joshua 14:2 NIV

2 Their inheritances were assigned by lot to the nine and a half tribes, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Lots is like throwing dice. Not chance but the idea was that the Lord would decide.

This is a prosses that also occurs in the New Testament. When the apostles wanted to appoint either Barnabas or Mathias to the 12 Apostles they cast lots to find out God’s will.

Acts 1:23–26 NIV

23 So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

Both men would go onto have prominent leadership in the early church however Mathtias became the first Mayter. This is not saying that casting lots is the only way to make decisions but it does show us the principle that in all our decisions in the church we should seek God’s will.

We Pray for discernment.

How is the Land Devided

Let’s look at what we can learn as the land is divided up.

The Levites

Joshua 13:14 NIV

14 But to the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance, since the food offerings presented to the Lord, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as he promised them.

The tithes or the giving of the people will be their inheritance as the priests of Israel.

Origionally they were sentenced to a landless existance because of their violent treatment of the Shechemites in Gen 49.

but later they redeemed themselves with the incident with the golden calf in Exodus 32 when the levites joined with Moses to bring order to the camp when it was out of control.

The levites had religious duties in Israel

Complete the sacrifices, maintain the Tabinacle and teach God’s word.

Caleb

Ch 14 says that Caleb will recieve his inhertance because he wholeheartly followed the Lord

Joshua 14:8–9 NIV

8 but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. 9 So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’

In verse 11 we see that he was true to the Lord right through his life attacking the Cannaites at the age of 85.

and in Ch 14 verse 15 we read that there was

Rest in the Land

For a brief and shining moment, there was a glimpse of God’s everlasting Sabbath: rest, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

It took seven years to get to this point since they crossed the Jordan.

Judah

in Joshua 15 we see Judah recieves their alloment first

Genesis 49:8–10 NIV

8 “Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you. 9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

See Genesis 49:8-12. Judah is the royal tribe and receives the biggest blessing

Judah receives the most land west of the Jordan and the attention devoted to its lands is the most detailed and extensive of all the tribes

Judah is not the eldest son (they are the fourth eldest

The older sons had set aside their place by sinning

o Reuben through having sex with his father’s concubine (Gen 35:22)

o Simeon and Levi through their violence (Gen 34) – they would both

be scattered ▪ But because of their repentance, Levi’s scattering would now

be a blessing as they served the Lord throughout Israel

Joshua 15:63 NIV

63 Judah could not dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the people of Judah.

But judah did not have faith and the cannanites they left in the land would trouble them greatly down the track.

Ephraim and Manasseh the Sons of Joseph

Again Gen shows why they were favoured

Genesis 49:22–26 NIV

22 “Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall. 23 With bitterness archers attacked him; they shot at him with hostility. 24 But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, 25 because of your father’s God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the skies above, blessings of the deep springs below, blessings of the breast and womb. 26 Your father’s blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than the bounty of the age-old hills. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.

However in Ch 17 we read how they complained and they were not strong and couragious.

allocation too small and they complain to Joshua

Joshua 15:63 NIV

63 Judah could not dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the people of Judah.

o The implication is that they have been allocated enough space, they just need to show energy to get it

o The land size was enough but their faith was not o Challenging the size of their allotment meant they were challenging

God (who gave them the allotment) o TheydistrustedGodtofulfilHispromises(theirfearisasignof

unbelief)

Deuteronomy 20:1 NIV

1 When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.

They forgot that they should be strong and courageous and had not driven out all the cannanites.

We can complain and yet live lives of timid faith.

Paul says to timothy not to be timid

2 Timothy 1:7 NIV

7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

How much more should we have courage as we have the Lord Jesus and his spirit living in us.

The City of Shilo

Joshua 18:1 NIV

1 The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The country was brought under their control,

tent of meting

peace and at rest and the prescence of God.

Joshuas capital

Joshua

Joshua 19:49–50 NIV

49 When they had finished dividing the land into its allotted portions, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance among them, 50 as the Lord had commanded. They gave him the town he asked for—Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he built up the town and settled there.

Why is this allocation important?

These lists are the heart of the book o TheyprovethatGodisfaithfultoHispromises

God fulfils His promises to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3)

It also shows the unity of Israel, as all the tribes equally participated in the

conquest

Lastly, Joshua receives his inheritance in 19:49-50.

Joshua 19:51 is a fitting conclusion to this section of Joshua.

Now all the tribes except for Levi had received their inheritances.

Rest for Christians

Where is the ‘rest’ for Christians? How is this similar and different to the Promised Land?

Leaders Notes

• Heaven o Heaven is better – no sin, no death, no suffering

• But the Promised Land foreshadows heaven o If Israel had lived in obedience to the Lord, the Promised Land would

• Although we live in a world corrupted by sin, living God’s way will give you the most abundant life now

Summary

God is faithful to His promises. He determines which tribe will get which part of the land. All Israel needs to do to receive the inheritance is take it. Sometimes they do, but most of the time they fail. nclusion