Numbers 34: 1 – 29
Do I need to draw you a map
34 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance—the land of Canaan to its boundaries. 3 Your southern border shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom; then your southern border shall extend eastward to the end of the Salt Sea; 4 your border shall turn from the southern side of the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to Zin, and be on the south of Kadesh Barnea; then it shall go on to Hazar Addar, and continue to Azmon; 5 the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the Sea. 6 ‘As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea for a border; this shall be your western border. 7 ‘And this shall be your northern border: From the Great Sea you shall mark out your border line to Mount Hor; 8 from Mount Hor you shall mark out your border to the entrance of Hamath; then the direction of the border shall be toward Zedad; 9 the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar Enan. This shall be your northern border. 10 ‘You shall mark out your eastern border from Hazar Enan to Shepham; 11 the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; the border shall go down and reach to the eastern side of the Sea of Chinnereth; 12 the border shall go down along the Jordan, and it shall end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land with its surrounding boundaries.’ ” 13 Then Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying: “This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. 14 For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and the half-tribe of Manasseh has received its inheritance. 15 The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance on this side of the Jordan, across from Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.” 16 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land among you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 And you shall take one leader of every tribe to divide the land for the inheritance. 19 These are the names of the men: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 20 from the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud; 21 from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon; 22 a leader from the tribe of the children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli; 23 from the sons of Joseph: a leader from the tribe of the children of Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod, 24 and a leader from the tribe of the children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan; 25 a leader from the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach; 26 a leader from the tribe of the children of Issachar, Paltiel the son of Azzan; 27 a leader from the tribe of the children of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi; 28 and a leader from the tribe of the children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” 29 These are the ones the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance among the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.
Have you ever faced a person who is so hard headed that whatever you say the other person can’t accept? If so, you might have said to the other person, ‘what do you want me to do, draw you a map?’
We all want to be heard. It’s gratifying, empowering, and makes us feel valued. And in a difference of opinion, we want our side to be represented. We want others to get who we are and to hear our valid arguments, even if they don’t agree with us—though, of course, we’d like that as well.
What we may not realize is that the best way to get our point across is often counter-intuitive. To be successful we have to try less and listen more.
Have you ever left a bathroom at work when someone else is coming in exactly at the same time? Have you ever pushed (or watched someone push) on that door when another body is trying to get through from the other direction? What happens? You push, they push, and nobody gets through.
The same push-pushback phenomenon occurs when two people want to get their differing viewpoints across at the same time. It usually sounds something like: “Yes, but you’re wrong because …” or “No, you weren’t listening. What I’m trying to say is …” and so on. If you want to get through to the other side and they’re not creating an opening, you either let them talk first or push hard enough to get them to hear you. If we extend the metaphor, they’re probably not listening. The more you force, the more they resist.
When you push for your way, you virtually guarantee failure, because the harder you try to persuade, the harder the opposition will do the same. He wants to be heard, too—just like you.
If you want to get your point across, don’t make getting your point across the goal. Make understanding the goal. When you try to understand your conflict partner’s view, you create an opening for him to do the same. The door swings toward you as you receive his energy, beliefs, and vision, and benefit from a peek at an alternate reality. You’re able to see both views simultaneously while you reflect on how differently this person perceives the world from his side of the door.
Don’t give in; give way. There’s a difference. Giving someone the freedom to deliver his message is a gift and a model. You’re not saying you agree with the message; you’re saying you’re willing to entertain an alternative view to facilitate solving the problem.
Sensing a receptive audience, the speaker relaxes. His energy and ideas have an outlet. His need for you to understand him is less critical than your willingness to try.
Psychologists have found that we are each more interested in knowing that the other person is trying to empathize with us … than we are in believing that they have actually accomplished that goal. Good listening … is profoundly communicative. And struggling to understand communicates the most positive message of all.
Eventually he has nothing left to say, and now he is opening the door for you. In fact, he’s eager to hear your reflections. He’s thinking, “Wow, I just made some great points. I can’t wait to hear what she has to say about them!”
So don’t start with, “You are really out of line, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” or “your reasoning is full of holes!”
If you want to get your point across, start by acknowledging his argument and appreciating his position. Specifically:
Summarize his thoughts for him.
Compliment his reasoning.
Speak first to his positive intentions.
Look for one thing you can agree with.
By listening and acknowledging, you’ve let your associate come through the door, and it’s starting to swing in the other direction. Here’s the place where you might get your point across. But one more admonition: change your thinking from getting your point across to offering information that might be of value to him. He may take advantage and he may not. He’s more likely to receive your offer favorably if it helps him achieve his goals, look good, or save face.
Do You Want to Win or Solve the Problem?
In the end, you may find that “getting your point across” is language that presumes a contest of wills and that there are more efficient ways to achieve your objective. You are less likely to create defensiveness in the listener when you disclose your thinking, acknowledge his, maintain respect and safety, and establish consequences.
Keep in mind there’s a problem on the table to be solved. He’s offered his view. And now you will present yours. As you do this, keep the door open. The following steps will help you.
Five Steps for Creating A Willing Listener:
1. Understand Your Story and Their Story.
2. Educate, don’t sell, blame, or accuse. When it’s time to tell my story, I have to teach the listener what things look like from my perspective.
3. Communicate your hopes and goals. If I’m disappointed, it helps to let others in on my hopes (for the relationship, the workplace, or the task at hand).
4. Stay interested. Remain curious and childlike. Look at each situation with new eyes. Don’t forget that everything you experience is filtered through your perception, your lens.
5. Center yourself and extend positive energy.
Our Great and Gracious Holy Yahweh is now going to speak about the inheritance of land apportionment. Some tribes will receive in their opinion better and more land than other tribes. How do you think this will come off in the minds of the Israelites? Our Lord isn’t going to get caught up with any of these potential complaints. He Is just going to tell His people this is the land you all will be getting from so and so point to so and so point. He Is giving them a verbal drawing of their new land and it is all good.
Having commanded the purifying of the land by the driving out of its inhabitants and their gods, the land in mind is now delineated. This was not just some vague notion, it was a grand plan.
The land of Canaan was in general a recognized entity in the ancient world. For long periods it came under the control of Egypt to the south who considered that they had rights over it. When they were strong those rights were exercised.
34 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance—the land of Canaan to its boundaries.
When they came into the land of Canaan the land that they were to possess was clearly specified. The delineations are much larger than was actually achieved, but that was due to disobedience. Because they failed Yahweh the Canaanites survived in much of the land mentioned.
3 Your southern border shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom; then your southern border shall extend eastward to the end of the Salt Sea; 4 your border shall turn from the southern side of the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to Zin, and be on the south of Kadesh Barnea; then it shall go on to Hazar Addar, and continue to Azmon; 5 the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the Sea.
The Israelites were not to possess any of the land of Edom. The boundary then goes from the bottom of the Salt Sea (the Dead Sea) across to the Great Sea, (the Mediterranean Sea), passing to the south of Kadesh Barnea. The Negeb provided good pasture land, and by judicious use of groundwater could be, and regularly was at times, irrigated.
6 ‘As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea for a border; this shall be your western border.
The Western border was the Great Sea, the Mediterranean itself.
7 ‘And this shall be your northern border: From the Great Sea you shall mark out your border line to Mount Hor; 8 from Mount Hor you shall mark out your border to the entrance of Hamath; then the direction of the border shall be toward Zedad; 9 the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar Enan. This shall be your northern border.
The northern border was from the Mediterranean seas to Mount Hor
10 ‘You shall mark out your eastern border from Hazar Enan to Shepham; 11 the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; the border shall go down and reach to the eastern side of the Sea of Chinnereth; 12 the border shall go down along the Jordan, and it shall end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land with its surrounding boundaries.’ ”
The first part of the eastern border included the Jordan valley, alongside the Sea of Galilee and down the Arabah to the Dead Sea. Transjordan was thus outside the delineated land, as Moses now explains.
13 Then Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying: “This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. 14 For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and the half-tribe of Manasseh has received its inheritance. 15 The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance on this side of the Jordan, across from Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.”
What he has described was to be seen as the land which was to be divided among them by lot. It was the land which Yahweh had commanded should be given to the nine and a half tribes. The other two and a half tribes have received theirs in Transjordan, east of Jordan.
So the land that they were to possess was marked out before them. It remained for them to take possession in the name of Yahweh, and with His powerful assistance. He had brought them safely from Egypt (33.1-49), now He would take them safely into the Promised Land (33.51-53).
During our lifetimes we have seen the world try to claim that certain parts of the land of Israel did not belong to them. If you were in an honest court you could just present this chapter as evidence exactly what land was Israel’s.
The picture is further enhanced by naming the leaders who will see to the dividing up of the land, which are now given. This was a guarantee that within their lifetime the land would be possessed. This was to be no future dream, it was a present hope. They could look to their leader’s tents and see where the one who would actually do this was dwelling. Here was certainty and encouragement sufficient for all. Those mainly responsible for the division would be Joshua and Eleazar.
16 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land among you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun.
The two men mainly responsible for dividing the land would be Eleazar the Priest and Joshua. Eleazar was named first out of deference to his present position. Joshua was still simply the heir elect.
18 And you shall take one leader of every tribe to divide the land for the inheritance.
And they were to act through the named chieftains of the tribe. The names of these chieftains are now given. The list is very pointed. The only chieftain remaining of the old chieftains was Caleb. All the others had passed way to be replaced by the new generation. Joshua was the only other exception, but he was no longer available having been made commander-in-chief.
19 These are the names of the men: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 20 from the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud; 21 from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon; 22 a leader from the tribe of the children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli; 23 from the sons of Joseph: a leader from the tribe of the children of Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod, 24 and a leader from the tribe of the children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan; 25 a leader from the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach; 26 a leader from the tribe of the children of Issachar, Paltiel the son of Azzan; 27 a leader from the tribe of the children of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi; 28 and a leader from the tribe of the children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” 29 These are the ones the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance among the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.
These chieftains are the ones whom Yahweh has commanded should divide up the inheritance of the children of Israel in the land of Canaan. This was Yahweh’s inheritance, given to the children of Israel. It was to be theirs and would be divided up by their chieftains alive at this day.
