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Opening Prayer
Thank God for the day and the blessing of reading his Word, and ask the Holy Spirit to teach and give understanding.
Read
Scripture Passage
The Land of Benjamin
11 Now the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot came out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. 12 Their border on the north side began at the Jordan, and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the mountains westward; it ended at the Wilderness of Beth Aven. 13 The border went over from there toward Luz, to the side of Luz (which is Bethel) southward; and the border descended to Ataroth Addar, near the hill that lies on the south side of Lower Beth Horon.
14 Then the border extended around the west side to the south, from the hill that lies before Beth Horon southward; and it ended at Kirjath Baal (which is Kirjath Jearim), a city of the children of Judah. This was the west side.
15 The south side began at the end of Kirjath Jearim, and the border extended on the west and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 16 Then the border came down to the end of the mountain that lies before the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is in the Valley of the Rephaim on the north, descended to the Valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite city on the south, and descended to En Rogel. 17 And it went around from the north, went out to En Shemesh, and extended toward Geliloth, which is before the Ascent of Adummim, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. 18 Then it passed along toward the north side of Arabah, and went down to Arabah. 19 And the border passed along to the north side of Beth Hoglah; then the border ended at the north bay at the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern boundary.
20 The Jordan was its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, according to its boundaries all around, according to their families.
21 Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, according to their families, were Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Chephar Haammoni, Ophni, and Gaba: twelve cities with their villages; 25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpah, Chephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah, Eleph, Jebus (which is Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kirjath: fourteen cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.
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The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Joshua 18:11-28.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
The lot assigns Benjamin a compact territory between Judah and Joseph, bounded by the Jordan, Salt Sea, mountain routes, and neighboring tribal lands, with named cities including Jebus, later Jerusalem. This is Benjamin's God-given inheritance according to its families.
B — Best Verse
Which Verse Best Summarizes the Passage?
Joshua 18:12
Bryan explicitly says he would underline verse 12 and calls it the heart of this boundary description.
C — Called or Christ
C — Christ Connection
Trust and cling to God's covenant promises. Benjamin's earthly lot points to the better inheritance kept in heaven through the new covenant; look forward to dwelling with God and seeing him face to face.
Additional Notes
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
Hey, good morning and welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we're at Joshua, I'm sorry, mine went blank for a second, Joshua chapter 18. We're going to look at verses 11 through the end of the chapter, verse 28, and we're going to talk about what did little brother Benjamin get?
So let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the blessing it is that we get to read your word. We pray that your Holy Spirit would please teach us, help us to understand it. Lord, in Jesus's name, Amen. All right, here we go, Joshua. chapter 18 beginning at verse 11.
Now the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families and the territory of their lot came out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. Their border on the north side actually here let me pull up our our map here right so so we're talking about this region here or sorry this reason here Benjamin so we're talking about Benjamin all right let's go I wonder let me pull that up I can we get that bigger let's get that a little bit bigger over here here we go benjamin there we go all right so so we're at benjamin there let's so if you're watching online that's where it's at so their border on the north side began at the jordan and the border went up to the side of jericho on the north side and went up through the mountains westward it ended at the wilderness of beth aven the border went over from the there toward luz to the side of Luz, which is Bethel, southward, and the border descended to Atorath Adar, near the hill that lies on the south side of lower Beth-Horon.
Then the border extended around the west side to the south from the hill that lies before Beth-Horon southward, and it ended at Kiriath Baal, which is Kiriath Jerim, a city of the children of Judah. This was the west side. The south side began at the end of Kir Jeth Yirim and the border extended on the west and went out to the spring of the waters of Netoa. Then the border came down to the end of the mountain that lies before the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is the valley of the Rephaim on the north, descended to the valley of Hinnom to the side of the Jebusite city on the south and descended to En Rogel. And it went around from the north, went out to In Shemesh, and extended toward Gileoth, which is before the ascent of Adumim, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. Then it passed along toward the north side of Arubba, and went down to Arubba. and the border passed along to the north side of Beth Hogle. Then the border ended at the North Bay at the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was a southern boundary. The Jordan was the boundary on the east side.
This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to its boundaries all around, according to their families. Now, the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, according to their families, Kefer, Hamonin, Ofni, and Gaba, 12 cities with their villages. Gibeon, Ramah, Beroth, Mizpah, Seferah, Moza, Rekem, Irpel, Tarala, Zela, Aleph, Jebus, which is Jerusalem, Gibeah, and Kirjeth, 14 cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, according to their families.
So, we gotta ask ourselves our three questions. A. What's this about?
B. What's the best verse to summarize this? And C. What are we called to do? So, on the picture there, I've shown you the region of Benjamin there. So now we got to ask ourselves, okay, so that's what this is about. This is the lot that God had given to the tribe of Benjamin. So just north of Judah, kind of south of Manasseh there, east border is the Jordan River, and it's kind of moving in that sliver towards the Mediterranean Sea. So that's what this is about.
What's the best verse to summarize this section? Well, I would probably underline verse 12, right? I think verse 12 is the heart of this. what's the best or what are we called to do though right see calling what are we called to do this is just another unfolding of the covenant faithfulness of God right so see sometimes called to do where do we find Christ what's the covenant of grace here I think this is God showing he had made a promise to Abraham and the promise was good he was making it happen that God it's faithful to his word he was doing what he said to do and so he It happened the same with us. I was just talking with a pastor in another country this morning and encouraging him, right? He asked me, Brian, what is a covenant?
And as I was talking about covenants with him, his face started to beam as he thought about God making promises and making good on those promises, especially as we got to the new covenant. See, because all this inheritance stuff, all the stuff with the land, it's pointing us to a better inheritance. An inheritance that Peter says is kept safe for us in heaven. one that we long for the full, full clasping, grabbing onto, right? We know that God is gonna make it good, that we are going to spend eternity with Him, that our citizenship is not here on earth, but it's in the kingdom of glory. And so we look forward to that day when we see Him face to face.
So look forward to Him. Know His promises are good. Cling to His promises. Let's pray. Father, we trust You. We trust You because You're our only hope. We trust You because You're our joy. You're the light of our salvation. So God, please, teach us to walk in Your ways. Teach us to follow after You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. May God bless you as you walk in the promises of God. I'll see you next time. Bye.