Distribution of the Land in Canaan, a Land Flowing with Milk and Honey
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March 25, 2012 |
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The sons of Israel had almost finished conquering the land of Canaan and taking the land completely, but they still had to drive away the resistance forces that remained. Joshua was now old. Until this time, all tribes of Israel fought the battles as one, but from that time on each tribe of Israel had to conquer the land that was given to them. God let them distribute the land of inheritance according to how much spiritual faith they had shown and how diligently they obeyed. (Joshua chapter 13-21)
"By the lot of their inheritance, as the LORD commanded through Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe. For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe beyond the Jordan; but he did not give an inheritance to the Levites among them. For the sons of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim…" (Joshua 14:2-4)
* Caleb Received the Land of Hebron as His Inheritance
For the Israelites, the distribution of the land that was their inheritance had a very important meaning. They suffered slavery in Egypt for 400 years, wandered around in the wilderness for forty years, and then they went through seven years of difficult warfare. After all this they were receiving the fruits of it all.
Caleb said to Joshua as written in Joshua 14:12, "Now then, give me this hill country about which the LORD spoke on that day." He was one of the twelve spies and spoke a positive confession of faith together with Joshua.
God promised to give Caleb the land he had scouted as recorded in Numbers 14:24. Caleb never forgot the promise given to him while he was going through the forty years in the wilderness. He did not forget even as he was fighting the many battles in Canaan. He just prayed and waited for the promise to be fulfilled.
When the time came to distribute the lands of Canaan, Caleb asked Joshua to give him the land God had promised to give him. What he asked was not as though he wanted his contribution to be recognized nor did he want to gain something not deserved. It was rather a confession of his faith that had become firmer during the course of the trials. It was expression of his devotion that he would dedicate himself first.
Hebron, the land he asked to receive was still occupied by the Anakim who were the strongest people in Canaan. In such a poor situation, he voluntarily said he would take the land to ease the burden of Joshua. At last, he defeated the big Anakim just as he had believed and took the fertile land as his portion. This way he showed an example of faith before the people of Israel.
* Complaints and Words of Unbelief of the Tribe of Joseph
Beginning with Caleb, the Israelites started the distributions of the Canaan Land in earnest. When it came to the method of 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 26:54-55)
But there was a problem while the sons of Joseph were casting lots to receive their allotment land after the tribe of Judah as recorded in Joshua chapter 15. The tribe of Joseph demanded that they 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 told them that if they didn't have enough area to cultivate, they had to enlarge their area by clearing a larger place. They said that even if they cleared the forest their inheritance was still too small for them. 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). Not just their chariots of iron, but no matter what kinds of weapons their enemies had, they didn't have to be afraid at all if they believed the almighty God who had been with them making the impossible possible.
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.
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.
* 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. He was the leader of all Israel, but he received his inheritance last. Moreover, the inheritance that he received was near the Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. It was so desolate a land that he had to build the city again (Joshua 19:49-50). 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 inheritances, the Levites came before Joshua and received their portion. But unlike other tribes, they did not receive any land as their inheritance. As said in Numbers 18:20, the Levites' inheritance and portion was God Himself. 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. By letting Levites dwell in other tribes' allotted areas, God had arranged for the people of the nation of Israel to stay close to the commandments of God all the time.
Levites had the duty of giving sacrifices to God and keeping the tabernacle of the LORD. They also had the duty to teach the 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. In other words, rather than giving them the land to get a harvest from it, God let them make their living through the tithes and various offerings that the people gave to God.
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