The Land of the Seven Tribes

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Will you turn over in your Bibles with me and meet me at Joshua chapter 18 Joshua chapter 18 Joshua chapter 18 and we'll be looking at actually chapter 18 and 19 today so just a warning buckle up we got a lot of ground to cover and not much time to get through it so Joshua chapter 18 you can find that on page 209 of your Bibles Joshua chapter 18 And instead of reading this at one time, we're going to read it as we go through it together.

Prayer for Illumination

So let's pray before we get into the Lord's Word. Father, we pray that as we read your Word, that you would be our teacher. We pray, Father, that as we read your Word, your Holy Spirit would be working in our hearts. God, give us eyes to see. Give us hearts to believe. Give us minds to understand. Lord, we know only your Spirit can do this, and we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Sermon

I'm going to give you a totally hypothetical scenario. I'm sure none of you have ever experienced this before, but imagine if you would, that you left a teenager at home. You left that teenager at home and you said before you left, hey, if you're hungry, there's food in the fridge and in the pantry. And then you go, you leave. And when you come home, the first thing that comes out of your teenager's mouth is, I'm hungry. And you say, what do you mean you're hungry? I told you there was food in the fridge and in the cupboard. All you had to do was make something and it was yours. I said, well, yeah, but I'm hungry.

I'd like to suggest to you that's what we find here in Joshua chapter 18 and 19. God has made all the promises and all the provisions. But the people have not put their hands to the work. And so first, let's look with us as we look at God's faithfulness in Joshua chapter 18. Let's look at what happens in verses 1 and 2.

Now the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh and set up the tabernacle of meeting there. And the land was subdued before them, but that remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance."

See, this was the end of an era, and the day was pregnant with possibilities. Think about it, for 40 years, They had camped around the tabernacle. For 40 years they had torn down the tabernacle, pitched the tabernacle, torn down the tabernacle, pitched the tabernacle, torn down the tabernacle, marched ahead of it, set up the tabernacle, set up their camps around it. And now for the last time, in verse 1, this is the last time for over 300 years the tabernacle will come down. It's the end of an era. They take that tabernacle from Gilgal where it has been this entire time and they march it up the hill. They go for over 15 miles and there they stop at Shiloh. And it's there that they set up the tabernacle of meeting.

For 40 years, God had been faithful to them. God was faithful to them when he brought them out of the Red Sea. God was faithful to them when they were in the wilderness. God was faithful to them when they came to the Jordan River. God was faithful with them this whole time. And now he has finally accomplished what he promised in Deuteronomy chapter 12, that he was going to set a place for the tabernacle and there it would stand. God was faithful and God is faithful and God will be faithful and there the tabernacle will stay until Eli. When the Ark of the Covenant is captured by the Philistines.

So it's the end of an era. They're no longer wilderness travelers. Now they're settled people. The tabernacle isn't going anywhere. Why? Because the tabernacle is in the central part of this promised land. And there it's meant to stay. It's not going to be taken over again for over 300 more years when Solomon would finally build the temple. And so this is a day that's both the end of an era, but it's also pregnant with possibilities, isn't it? The days come. Everybody's there. The whole congregation is camped around Shiloh. What's God going to do now? Is He going to continue to be faithful? Is He going to continue the work? Well, we find out that there's a problem there isn't there, in verse 2. But there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance." And so there's this issue of seven tribes.

Right? The two and a half tribes on the other side of the Jordan River, they had received their inheritance. Joshua or Judah had received theirs in the south. Ephraim and Manasseh had gotten theirs. Levi doesn't get one because Their inheritance is the service at the temple, or at the tabernacle. So, what about the other seven tribes? Oh, verse 3.

Then Joshua said to the children of Israel, How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you? Pick out from among you three men for each tribe, and I will send them. And they shall rise and go through the land, survey it according to their inheritance, and come back to me. And they shall divide it into seven parts. Judah shall remain in their territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain in their territory on the north. You shall therefore survey the land in seven parts and bring the survey to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God.

But the Levites have no part among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance. And Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan on the east, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded them."

See, he gives them a challenge, doesn't he? What does Joshua say? What are you guys doing? You conquered everyone. That happened in chapters 9 through 11. The back of the Canaanites has been broken, why are you just sitting around here? Or as Jim Pilling would say, his dad used to say, why are you standing there with teeth in your mouth?

Go do something! God's given you the land, you got work to do, go do it, come on! See, this is an optimal time. They have an opportunity right now. But this is... What happens when our hearts are lulled? Why haven't they done it? Well, they're living pretty high on the hog right now, aren't they?

They've defeated all these enemies, they have all this loot, they have all their cattle, they have all this stuff from these battles that they've been fighting, and so they're feeling pretty good. Maybe they're just used to camping around together. You know, for their entire lives. Well, I've always pitched my tent next to Shlomo. Well, I mean, Asher's one of my best friends. He and I have been living together tent to tent for years. What do you mean? Now we got to leave? Well, yeah. That's the beginning of a new era. God is faithful. Are you going to be faithful following his promises?

Maybe some of them, if we're a little bit more sympathetic, maybe some of them are just weary from the battle. They've been fighting and fighting and fighting, and now they have to go dispossess people from the land. Maybe they've seen so much bloodshed, maybe they've seen so many tears, maybe they've seen so many unspeakable things that they just, I don't want to do it anymore. Maybe they're paralyzed by fear. Matthew Henry, when he's commenting on this part, he says, note, many are diverted from real duties. and debarred from real comforts by seeming difficulties.

God, by his grace, has given us a title to a good land, the heavenly Canaan. But we are slack to take possession. We enter not into that rest as we might by faith and hope and holy joy, We live not in heaven as we might by settling, by setting our affections on things above and having our conversation there. How long shall it be thus with us? How long shall we thus stand in our own light and forsake our own mercies for lying vanities? What's Matthew Henry getting at there? We do the same thing, don't we?

Things are going well. And what happens? Exactly what the proverb has said. Lord, make me not poor that I might steal, nor rich that I might forget about you. Here they are in their prosperity. Here they are and they're ready to take the land of Canaan and they're not doing it because they're satisfied. How often do we get satisfied with the things in this life rather than storming the gates of heaven? So the old man Joshua gives them this challenge, right?

Hold on here. Here's the plan. You guys aren't just going to sit around all day. What you're going to do is I'm going to get 21 different surveyors. Right? Three from each tribe. No partiality, no difference. Each of you get three and what you're going to do, you're going to go into that land that you're afraid to go into or too lazy to go into and you're going to go survey all that land. Now this is going to take courage from the surveyors. Don't think that the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Jebusites, any of those ites, ites, and enes want them in their land.

But they're going to go, and they're going to survey it, and that's what they do. In verses 8 and 9, they're to write down everything, and in 8 and 9 they do it. Then the men arose to go away, and Joshua charged those who were to survey the land, saying, Go, walk through the land, survey, and come back to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh. So the men went out through the land and wrote the survey in a book in 70 parts by cities. And they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh. So they do it. They act with great courage. Okay, we're going to do this. We're going to survey the land.

We're going to write it down just to let you know this means that we can't understand this passage if we don't think that the Israelites could actually write things down. There are silly people who say things like, oh, the Israelites were too illiterate. There's no way they could have a language and people know how to write and read this early. That was for really educated folk. No. Now here it's clear, even by the time they're just outside of Egypt, people are reading and writing and keeping their own records. We can trust the Word of God.

And so they do this courageous act, they go and they survey the land. And notice what is said in verses 9 and 10. So the men went, passed through the land, and wrote the survey in a book in seven parts by cities. And they came to Joshua, where? At the camp in Shiloh. Why bring it to him there? Well, verse 10. Then Joshua cast the lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord. And there Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions. The place was Shiloh.

But it wasn't the place that was important, it was who was in that place. The lot was to be cast before the Lord. The Lord was still present with his people. See, it's not like God had disappeared when they walked through the Red Sea. It's not as if God had vanished as soon as they crossed over the Jordan River. No, God was still present with his people. God was still faithful to his people.

God was there and Joshua knew, I need to go before the presence of God Almighty because it's God who's giving the land. And so we're going to cast a lot before God because it is God who has made these promises to our fathers. And so they cast the lot before the Lord.

They don't do it in an alleyway, they don't do it in secret, they don't go survey the land and then decide with each other, you know, hey, we really like the woods and these people like, but, you know, I'm kind of a more Mediterranean guy, so can we get the sea, I like the coast land, you know, maybe get some prime beach property.

Fourth Point

No, none of that. It's the Lord who's going to choose this. And that's the second part here, or now we're at point four. This is God's provision. This is God's provision. Now, I'm going to do something that I'm going to ask you to be like a chameleon and use two eyes on two different pages.

We're going to have the Bible in front of us. in one side, and I have a map for you on the other side. I don't know about you, but all these boundaries and cities would mean nothing to me if I didn't have a clue where they were. So on the back of your outline, feel free. You're able to look at that, or flip to the back of your Bible. There might be a map there.

We're going to go through these boundaries together, because this is God's providence and provision. It's God who chose these towns. It's God who chose these borders. It's God who is provident over the lot. and who is being gracious in his provision. He's so faithful.

Let's look first at verses 11 through 28, Benjamin's land. Now the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families and the tribe and the territory of their lot came out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. 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-Avon. The border went over from there toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Beth-El, southward. And the border descended to Atharoth 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 lied before Bethphor on southward, and it ended at Kirjath Baal, which is Kirjath Yerim, a city of the children of Judah. This was the west side. The south side began at the end of Kirjath Yerim, and the border extended on the west and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephetah. Then, the border came down to the end of the mountain that lies before the valley of the sun of Hinnom, which is in the valley of Rethim, on the north, descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite city on the south, and descended to Enrogel.

And it went around from the north, went out to Enshemesh, 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 Araba and went down to Araba. And the border passed along to the north side of Beth Pogla.

Then the border ended at the north bay at the Salt Sea. At the south end of the Jordan, this was the southern boundary. 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. So that was the border. It started from over by Jericho and it went in a counterclockwise motion up and around and down and over. So a sandwich between Judah to the south and Joseph to the north. And then in verses 21 through 28, what do we find?

We find the cities listed there, 14 of them. Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, according to their families, were, and get ready for some real name botching here, feel free to correct me after church if you'd like. Beth-Hogla, Emek-Teziz, Beth-Arabah, Zemarim, Bethel, Avim, Parah, Ophrah, Shephar, Hamonim, Ophni and Gaba, twelve cities with their villages, Gibeon, Ramah, Be'eroth, Mizpah, Shepharia, Moza, Rekem, Iphel, Tarala, Zela, Elef, Jebus, which is Jerusalem, Gibiath and Kirgith, 14 cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their cities.

So 12 and 14, 26 all together. This is the most of any of the tribes that's going to be listed. And then God's faithfulness and his providence continues in verses 1 through 9 with Simeon's inheritance. The second lot came out for Simeon. For the tribe of the children of Simeon, according to their families and their inheritance, was within the inheritance of the children of Judah.

They had in their inheritance Bersheba, Moladah, Hazar-shuol, Bala, Ezzim, Etolad, Bethul, Hormah, Ziklag, Beth-markaboth, Hazar, Sushah, Beth-labaoth, and 13 cities and their villages. Ein, Riman, Ether, and Ashen. Four cities and their villages. And all the villages that were around these cities as far as Balath-bi-ir, Ramah, of the south. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their fathers. Now interestingly, there were no borders mentioned there. All cities. Why? Look with me at verse 9.

The inheritance of the children of Simeon was included in the share of the children of Judah. For the share of the children of Judah was too much for them. Therefore, the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of that people. So, Simeon finds their inheritance within the land of Judah. Why? This is God's blessing and providence for them. Judah has more than enough, and so Simeon gets part of it. Oh Lord's providence and provision continues in verses 10-16 with Zebulun's inheritance.

The third law came out for the children of Zebulun according to their families and the border of their inheritance was as far as Sarid. Their border went toward the west and to Marala, went to Daabasef and extended along the brook that is east of Joknim. Then from Sarid it went eastward toward the sunrise along the border of Shisloth-Tabor, and went out toward Dab-erath, bypassing Japhthah. And from there it passed along on the east of Gath-hepher toward Ethkazim and extended to Ramon, which borders on Naab. Then the border went around it on the north side of Hananthon and it ended in the valley of Jephthah El. Included were Ketath, Nahalal, Shimron, Iddalah, and Bethlehem. Not to be mixed with the Bethlehem down in Judah. Don't you hate that when there's two different towns like Manhattan, Kansas and Manhattan, New York? Why do people do that? I don't know.

Twelve cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the children of Zebulun according to their families. These cities with their villages. So, we have the inheritance that Zebulun gets, this is kind of to the west, and then the inheritance of Issachar is going to be just to their east. This is what's called the Netopha Valley, or the Galilean Lowlands. So, what does Issachar get? Well, they get the Jezreel Valley. Look with me at verses 17 through 23.

The fourth lot came out to Issachar, of the children of Issachar, according to their families. And their territory went to Jezreel, including Chesuloth, Shinim, Hathrim, Sion, Anarahoth, Ribeth, Kishion, Abez, Remeth, Inganim, Inhada, and Bethpazeh. And the border reached to Tabor, Shahazima, and Beth Shemesh. Their border ended at the Jordan, 16 cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities, and all their villages.

Then the Lord decides to give Asher some prime real estate along the coast. So if you look right by the Mediterranean Sea, you'll find Asher there. This is a land that God had promised to Abraham years and years ago, and now his faithfulness is coming true. Let's look at Asher verses 24 through 31. The fifth law came out for the tribe of the children of Asher, according to their families.

And their territory included Helkath, Hali, Betin, Aksath, Alamelech, Amad, and Mishal. It reached to Mount Caramel westward along the brook Syhor-Libnath. By the way, if you're a child, it's not actually made of caramel like I used to imagine, but I always thought that was an interesting name. Verse 27, it turned toward the sunrise to Beth Dagon. And it reached to Zebulun and to the valley of Jiphthah El, then northward beyond Beth Emek and Niel, bypassing Kabul which was on the left. including Ebran, Rahab, Haman, and Qana, as far as greater Sidon. And the border turned to Ramah and to the fortified city of Tyre. Then the border turned to Hosa and ended by the sea, by the region of Aqzib. Also, Uma, Athek, and Rahab were included, 22 cities with their villages.

This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher, according to their families, these cities with their villages." That's some pretty prime real estate in the Akko Valley there in the north. The Lord is so faithful and good to the people of Asher, but that's not it.

The sixth tribe gets their portion too. Let's look at Naphtali. Naphtali gets the eastern part of Galilee, the highlands, near the basin of the Hula Lake. The sixth lot came out to the children of Naphtali, for the children of Naphtali, according to their families.

And their border began at Heleth, enclosing the territory from the Terebinth tree, and Zanaim, Adim, Nakib, and Jabneel, as far as Lakum. It ended at the Jordan. From Haleph the border extended westward to Aznath-Tabor and went out from there towards Hukok. It adjoined Zebulun on the south side and Asher on the west side and ended at Judah by the Jordan toward the sunrise. And the fortified cities were Zadzin, Zer, Hamath, Rakath, Chinareth, Adma, Ramah, Hazor, Kedesh, Edrin, Inhazor, Iron, Migdal El, Horin, Beth Anath, and Beth Shemesh. 19 cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities, and their villages.

Dan must have wondered, well what about me? Last but not least, we come to Dan. Dan also gets a little bit of the coastline. Let's look at verses 41 through 45, or 40 through 45. The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, and the territory of their inheritance was Zorah, Eshtol, Ir, Shemesh, Sha'alabim, Ajalon, Jethla, Alon, Timnah, Ekron, Eltecha, Gibethon, Baalath, Jahud, Ben-e-Barak, Gath, Rimon, Medjarqon, and Raqqon, with the region near Joppa. Now interestingly there's no borders listed there, likewise that's all cities, but there's a problem. Some of the cities are Philistine cities we know that the Israelites would later not be able to take. If you're interested, later I would encourage you to read Judges chapter 1 and 2 and see if they actually were able to conquer this land. But what happens in verse 47?

And the border of the children of Dan went beyond these, because the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshim and took it. And they struck it with the edge of the sword, took possession of it. and dwelt in it. They called Leshem, Dan. After the name of Dan, their father, this is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan, according to their families, these cities with their villages. By the way, if you look on your map, there's the city of Dan way up in the north. But notice their territory allotment was down just north of Judah.

North and West. God has been faithful. Remember, hundreds of years before, He had appeared to Abraham, and He had said, the land that you're standing on, look around, all of it's going to be yours. Now it's hundreds and hundreds of years later. And as Dale Davey says in his commentary on this, he said, that's a lot of lots. And it is. And to us, our eyes might glaze over, thus why I provided you a map. But the reality is that this is God's faithfulness displayed. He had brought his people out. He had given them this land. He had given them, split it up by his providence. He was faithful to them.

But there's one person left. See, in chapter 14, we had Caleb, and he received his inheritance. But now the oldest member of the entire congregation is standing there. The one who God himself had said to be strong and of good courage. And as this model of good leadership, he waits until very last to receive his inheritance. Look with me at verse 49.

Then they made an end of dividing the land as an inheritance according to their borders. The children of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua, the son of Nun. According to the word of the Lord, they gave him the city, which he asked for, Timnath, Sarah, and the mountains of Ephraim. And he built the city and dwelt in it. These were the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribe of the children of Israel divided as an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting."

So they made an ending of the, they made an end of dividing the country. There is Joshua old and advanced in years. Remember it was God who had told Joshua, you're old. And now in his humility, he waits. He's waited for the two and a half tribes. They got their inheritance. He saw Judah get their inheritance. He saw Ephraim and Manasseh get their inheritance. He even saw Gad, Dan, Reuben, Naphtali, Asher, all of them get their inheritance. And then at the very end, The humble servant of the Lord receives his. God had commanded it.

And now notice, what does it say in verse 49? Did he just say, all right, now it's my turn. Give me what's due my own. No. What does it say in verse 49? The children of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua, the son of Nun. Joshua is not so bold as to say, I'm going to demand what's mine. He asks for it, the Lord blesses it, and the people give it.

Do you notice the relationship that happens here? It's chosen from his own people. Joshua doesn't take the biggest and the best. He doesn't go and say, I want the best city with the best land and the best houses that are already built on it with the best vineyards. No, they gave him a humble piece of land. Notice what it says. Everybody else gets a place with a vineyard they didn't plant, an orchard they didn't tend to, crops and fields they didn't hoe.

But here in verse 50, and he built the city and dwelt in it. He builds the city. Joshua sets this example for us. as a type of Christ. As one who had the right in and of himself as a leader of God's people to take the best, the cream of the crop, even possibly lord it over his people. But what does Joshua do? He humbles himself. He sees others greater than himself. Yes, he prods them on towards holiness. Yes, he tells them to walk in righteousness, but it's a walk he's willing to go in front He's a servant leader, he leads by example, and he even challenges people to walk in the ways of God.

It's indeed Jesus Christ who has given us our inheritance. It is Jesus Christ who has secured for us, as Matthew Henry said, a heavenly Canaan. See, every single one of us would be like those Israelites. We just like to sit around Shiloh and have a party. You know, alright God, you've been so good to us.

But it's Jesus Christ who went out and conquered the land. Who took hold of the promise. And it's Jesus Christ who challenges us to walk by faith. I'm going to leave you with Dale Davies' words on this. He says, there's much tension Believing in experience. Ancient Israel and contemporary Christians.

Yahweh has promised the land and yet it must be possessed. It is God's gift and yet that does not cancel human responsibility. The Lord's promises are intended not as sedatives, but as stimulants. God does not want us to swallow his promise, but to seize them.

Such is the apostles' theologic in 2 Peter 1.3. Peter explains that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, and that he has granted to us his precious and magnificent promises. Then he concludes this. Now, for this very reason also, applying all diligence in your faith, supply moral excellence. And in your moral excellence, knowledge. And so on.

God's gifts are not meant to tame us, but to arouse God's people. Christian, heaven is right before you. Will you seize it? Holiness is within grasp. Will you reach for it? God has told you there's food in the fridge and the pantry is full. Righteousness is there for you. Go get it. The promises are there. The question is, has it become to you a sedative or a stimulant? Is Jesus driving you towards holiness? Or are you asleep at the real? God's always been faithful. Will we abide in Christ and bear much good fruit?

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. God, we thank you for your faithfulness and goodness. Lord, we pray that by the power of your Holy Spirit, we would do the good works that you have prepared in advance for us to do them. God, we can't do this by ourselves. We cannot make this a moralistic sermon where we think that we can just have the gumption to do it. God, we pray, we plead for your Holy Spirit that you would give us power and strength by your Spirit to seize the covenant, to cling to your promises. We thank you that our champion Jesus Christ has made everything for us. Yes and amen. Please God, work these truths in our hearts. In Jesus' name.

Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.