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Joshua 15:20-18:120This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families. 21And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the coast of Edom southward were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur, 22And Kinah, and Dimonah, and Adadah, 23And Kedesh, and Hazor, and Ithnan, 24Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth, 25And Hazor, Hadattah, and Kerioth, and Hezron, which is Hazor, 26Amam, and Shema, and Moladah, 27And Hazar-gaddah, and Heshmon, and Beth-palet, 28And Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Bizjothjah, 29Baalah, and Iim, and Azem, 30And Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah, 31And Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah, 32And Lebaoth, and Shilhim, and Ain, and Rimmon: all the cities are twenty and nine, with their villages: 33And in the valley, Eshtaol, and Zoreah, and Ashnah, 34And Zanoah, and En-gannim, Tappuah, and Enam, 35Jarmuth, and Adullam, Socoh, and Azekah, 36And Sharaim, and Adithaim, and Gederah, and Gederothaim; fourteen cities with their villages: 37Zenan, and Hadashah, and Migdal-gad, 38And Dilean, and Mizpeh, and Joktheel, 39Lachish, and Bozkath, and Eglon, 40And Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish, 41And Gederoth, Beth-dagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen cities with their villages: 42Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan, 43And Jiphtah, and Ashnah, and Nezib, 44And Keilah, and Achzib, and Mareshah; nine cities with their villages: 45Ekron, with her towns and her villages: 46From Ekron even unto the sea, all that lay near Ashdod, with their villages: 47Ashdod with her towns and her villages, Gaza with her towns and her villages, unto the river of Egypt, and the great sea, and the border thereof: 48And in the mountains, Shamir, and Jattir, and Socoh, 49And Dannah, and Kirjath-sannah, which is Debir, 50And Anab, and Eshtemoh, and Anim, 51And Goshen, and Holon, and Giloh; eleven cities with their villages: 52Arab, and Dumah, and Eshean, 53And Janum, and Beth-tappuah, and Aphekah, 54And Humtah, and Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, and Zior; nine cities with their villages: 55Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Juttah, 56And Jezreel, and Jokdeam, and Zanoah, 57Cain, Gibeah, and Timnah; ten cities with their villages: 58Halhul, Beth-zur, and Gedor, 59And Maarath, and Beth-anoth, and Eltekon; six cities with their villages: 60Kirjath-baal, which is Kirjath-jearim, and Rabbah; two cities with their villages: 61In the wilderness, Beth-arabah, Middin, and Secacah, 62And Nibshan, and the city of Salt, and En-gedi; six cities with their villages. 63As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day. 1And the lot of the children of Joseph fell from Jordan by Jericho, unto the water of Jericho on the east, to the wilderness that goeth up from Jericho throughout mount Beth-el, 2And goeth out from Beth-el to Luz, and passeth along unto the borders of Archi to Ataroth, 3And goeth down westward to the coast of Japhleti, unto the coast of Beth-horon the nether, and to Gezer: and the goings out thereof are at the sea. 4So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance. 5And the border of the children of Ephraim according to their families was thus: even the border of their inheritance on the east side was Ataroth-addar, unto Beth-horon the upper; 6And the border went out toward the sea to Michmethah on the north side; and the border went about eastward unto Taanath-shiloh, and passed by it on the east to Janohah; 7And it went down from Janohah to Ataroth, and to Naarath, and came to Jericho, and went out at Jordan. 8The border went out from Tappuah westward unto the river Kanah; and the goings out thereof were at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim by their families. 9And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages. 10And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day, and serve under tribute. 1There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he was the firstborn of Joseph; to wit, for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan. 2There was also a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their families; for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph by their families. 3But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters: and these are the names of his daughters, Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore according to the commandment of the Lord he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father. 5And there fell ten portions to Manasseh, beside the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side Jordan; 6Because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons: and the rest of Manasseh's sons had the land of Gilead. 7And the coast of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethah, that lieth before Shechem; and the border went along on the right hand unto the inhabitants of En-tappuah. 8Now Manasseh had the land of Tappuah: but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim; 9And the coast descended unto the river Kanah, southward of the river: these cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh: the coast of Manasseh also was on the north side of the river, and the outgoings of it were at the sea: 10Southward it was Ephraim's, and northward it was Manasseh's, and the sea is his border; and they met together in Asher on the north, and in Issachar on the east. 11And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Beth-shean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even three countries. 12Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 13Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out. 14And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as the Lord hath blessed me hitherto? 15And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee. 16And the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Beth-shean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel. 17And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only: 18But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong. 1And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them. (Joshua 15:20‑18:1)
As we go through these chapters, outlining to us the possessions of each tribe, how often we read words like these, “The children of Judah could not drive them out,” and “they drove not out the Canaanites.” These are sad reminders that, although God had given them large possessions, they did not dwell in the full extent of them. And how often we have to confess that a similar remark could be made about us, as to our spiritual possessions. We have not had the energy of faith to get rid of some of those little things in our lives that are a hindrance to blessing, and so we, like the children of Israel, have settled down in our self-limited circle. But we cannot stand still, for if there is not spiritual progress we soon begin to lose what we have. This is exactly what happened with the children of Israel, for as soon as the fresh energy which was first seen, began to wane, then the enemy began to narrow down their portion still more.
The Lord delights to record the devotedness manifested in the lives of His people, and it is touching to find the daughters of Zelophehad brought before us again, as they were on two occasions in the book of Numbers. Not having any brothers, they valued the inheritance of their father, and asked that it might be given to them. One feels this brings before us the devotedness of many young women today, who would rather suffer than give up their spiritual inheritance. They value it, and God has been pleased to show us that He values their desire after His things.
When the children of Joseph received their portion, they were not satisfied. They said that since they were such a great people they ought to have more land, and so Joshua told them that since they were so great they could go up to the wood country and clear the land. The children of Joseph then said that the Canaanites who dwelt in the valley had chariots of iron, but Joshua told them that if they wished more, they could have it, but they would have to clear more land and drive out more iron chariots. No doubt there is a lesson here for us. Sometimes we feel that if we only had the portion in life of some other person we would be much better off, and much happier, but this is a great mistake. The Lord has put us where He wants us, and where we can honor Him the most. There may be many “trees” to cut down, and a great deal of land to be “cleared” in the place He has put us, but He will give us the strength for this. He will help us to drive out the “chariots of iron,” and enlarge our coast abundantly, if we look to Him, but let us not seek an easy path through this world. Our blessed Lord and Master did not have an easy path, and should we expect one? Let us remember the exhortation to Timothy, “Be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God.” 2 Timothy 1:88Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; (2 Timothy 1:8).
We now come to a very important point in connection with the possession of the land. The Lord had told the people that He would choose a place out of all their tribes where He would place His Name, and that this was to be the place where they were to offer their sacrifices and rejoice before Him. (Deut. 12: 11-14.) This place was Shiloh at the first (Jeremiah 7: 12), and so the whole congregation, in the freshness of their energy for the Lord, assembled there and set up the tabernacle.
ML 05/24/1953