It Shall Be Yours
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May 03, 2015 |
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 "But the hill country shall be yours. For though it is a forest, you shall clear it, and to its farthest borders it shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, even though they have chariots of iron and though they are strong" (Joshua 17:18).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
The sons of Israel conquered the central part of Canaan including the cities of Jericho and Ai. And they also achieved great victories in the southern and northern parts. Though they did not drive out all the Canaanites, almost all parts of Canaan were put under the control of Israel.
So far, Joshua had conquered the cities, but had not yet completely subjugated all conquered land in Canaan and there were areas where the Canaanites had not yet been driven out. Now it was time to divide up and distribute all parts of Canaan among the tribes of Israel and for each of the tribes to completely annihilate or drive out the remaining inhabitants from the lands allotted to them and make the lands their own. To do so, they had to act in faith.
1. Nine and a half of tribes receiving inheritance to Canaan
With a couple of exceptions, each tribe of Israel went before God and received the land to the west of the Jordan River as their inheritance.
First, Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh had already received their inheritance before they crossed the Jordan. The lands to east of the Jordan were suitable to raise their livestock, and they asked Moses to give the land to them.
The tribe of Levites did not receive any inheritance for they were God's priests or served in the tabernacle, and the tribe of Joseph was so prosperous that the descendants of Joseph's two sons Ephraim and Manasseh received their individual inheritance respectively.
In conclusion, the Levites were excluded, two and a half tribes received their inheritances in the lands east of Jordan, and nine and a half tribes received their inheritances to the west of Jordan. About the method of allotting and distribution of the lands, God had already given the principle to Moses.
The area of the land given to each tribe was decided by the number of people, but they had to decide which part of the land to be given by lots (Numbers 26:54-56). It was the fairest method so that there wouldn't be any conflicts among the tribes.
2. Complaints and words of unbelief among the tribe of Joseph
But there was a problem while they were distributing the land by casting lots. The tribe of Joseph demanded that they should receive a greater inheritance than the other tribes for they became two tribes by the blessing of God (Joshua 17:14).
In fact the inheritance given to them was not small compared to the other tribes. It was a wide expanse of fertile land in the central part of Canaan. Still, they were complaining that they ought to receive more of an inheritance than they did.
Joshua said to them, "If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you" (Joshua 17:15). He told them that if they didn't have enough area to cultivate, they had to enlarge their area by clearing a larger place for themselves.
But again this time, the sons of Joseph did not obey. They said that even if they cleared the forest their inheritance was still too small for them. They demanded more of the good land.
They wanted to gain something good without working to earn it. They also wanted to be served because now they were such a great tribe. Furthermore, they made a profession of their lack of faith by saying the people living in the land they had to conquer had chariots of iron (Joshua 17:16).
Their conquests under Joshua's leadership were a series of miracles. They had been obeying in all kinds of dangerous situations, but suddenly they became afraid and spoke in a profession of unbelief when Joshua told them to conquer their inheritance on their own.
Joshua kept on asking them to show their faith while pointing out their wrong ideas. He advised them that they would be able to enlarge their inheritance by the blessing of God if they showed their faith (Joshua 17:17-18).
But the sons of Joseph would not obey Joshua's words. They were not able to completely drive out all the Canaanites living in their inheritance (Joshua 16:10, 17:12-13). As a result, they had to suffer continuously. Whenever Israel became weaker, the Gentiles soon attacked Israel.
But a bigger problem was that Israel came in contact with the Gentile culture that was prohibited by God and they committed sins that caused the anger of God to be aroused. They brought difficult situations repeatedly upon themselves because they did not obey the commands of God with sure faith.
3. The Inheritance of Joshua and Levites
All other tribes except the Levites had received the lands as their inheritance both west and east of the Jordan, but Joshua had not received any of his inheritance yet.
Though Joshua was a powerful servant of God and the leader of all Israel, he was the last to receive his inheritance. And, in particular, the inheritance that he received was near the Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. It had become so desolate a land that he even had to rebuild the city.
Here we can see his good heart. He was a man of brave and strong faith, and he was in a position to be served first. But he served others and made concessions instead. That is why he had been acknowledged by God and became the successor to Moses.
After all tribes received their inheritance, the Levites came before Joshua and received their portion. But unlike other tribes, they did not receive any land as their inheritance.
Numbers 18:20 reads, "Then the LORD said to Aaron, 'You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.'" God let them make their living through the tithes and various offerings that the people gave to God.
Levites had the duty of giving sacrifices to God and keeping the tabernacle of the LORD. They also had the duty to teach the ordinances and Law of God to the people (Deuteronomy 33:10). God Himself became their inheritance so that they would not stain their heart with the worldly things but concentrate on serving God.
Though Levites did not receive land as their inheritance, they still received various cities in which to dwell and use the fields to feed their livestock. They received cities among each tribe of Israel, and this way they lived among all tribes of Israel. As a result, in any of the allotted areas in Israel, they had a city of Levites. This means each tribe could listen to God's Word and learn it from the Levites who were in close proximity to them. In this way God had arranged for the people of the nation of Israel to stay close to God's commandments all the time.
Today God still wants His believers to stay close to Him. It means that He wants us to meditate on God's Word day and night, dwell in the Word, worship and pray in church, and have good fellowship with other believers. Then God also stays close to us and lets our souls prosper and everything go well with us.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, our God is God of all people in all nations. If they believe God, He will show the same powerful works and even more powerful works today. Even though you are faced with difficulties, like chariots of iron, I urge you to profess faith all the time and be brave. I pray in the name of the Lord that by doing so you will be able to reap the fruit of blessings.
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