Introduction: Israel, under Joshua’s leadership, had conquered a great deal of Canaan, the Promised Land. Several years had gone by, and Joshua was nearing the end of his earthly journey. Israel, though, was not nearly done with reclaiming the land so the LORD commanded Joshua to divide the land among the tribes and encourage them to finish what they had started.
1 The Directive
Text: Joshua 13:1-6, KJV: 1 Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. 2 This is the land that yet remaineth: all the borders of the Philistines, and all Geshuri, 3 From Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites: 4 From the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that is beside the Sidonians, unto Aphek, to the borders of the Amorites: 5 And the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baalgad under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath. 6 All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto Misrephothmaim, and all the Sidonians, them will I drive out from before the children of Israel: only divide thou it by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee.
There are times when the LORD can be very direct and, one might say, blunt. This was one of these times: the LORD made it plain to Joshua he was “old and stricken in years”. And, truly, that made sense—no one could doubt it—Joshua and Caleb were two of the few who had actually experienced the slavery days of Egypt. These two were the only two of those aged 20 and up (see Numbers 32:10-14) to survive the wilderness journeys (well, wanderings might be a better word).
Then after all those years in the wilderness, Israel had come face to face with a whole catalog of enemies: Hittite, Amorite, all kinds of “ites”, all of them determined to keep Israel out of the land, and Israel determined to reclaim the land of promise. Even with the promise of “follow Me and I will give you victory”, I have a hunch that the average Israelite had to feel at least a twinge of uneasiness every time Israel went out against an enemy. Fear causes many to lose battles, it’s been said, but overconfidence or cockiness can lose just as many. The promise of the LORD to trust Him and do as He said to obtain victory was and is the balance between these extremes.
Joshua, to his credit, never argued with the LORD and seems to have accepted these facts as facts. He was old, and the years of slavery, wandering, and the recent constant warfare had to have taken a serious toll on him. Joshua knew what Israel had done, but he may not have really understood just how large, if not enormous, the directive from the LORD actually meant.
To illustrate this, the LORD gave broad descriptions of large areas which Israel had not yet reclaimed. The list started with land to the south and west, or the land of the Philistines. Oddly, the Philistines and Abraham (Isaac, too, later) seemed to live in relative peace. But sometime between the days of Abraham and Isaac, the Philistines seemed to become some of Israel’s worst enemies. The Books of Judges and I-II Samuel give details of many wars that took place between Israel and the Philistines.
There is some disagreement among several commentators as to the location of “Geshuri” and the “Sihor”. Geshur, according to an on-line Bible atlas, is located in about the middle of Israel (see https://bibleatlas.org/full/geshur.htm) but others believe Geshur is near the southern border, others, like the Cambridge Bible For Schools and Colleges believer Geshur was located between Arabia and the land of the Philistines (1 Samuel 27;. Also, refer to the on-line commentary at https://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/joshua/13.htm).
It’s possible that “from the south” in verse 4 leads to more unclaimed territory in the north, such as Mearah (bibleatlas.org locates it north of Sidon, https://bibleatlas.org/mearah.htm). Where Aphek was located is not known for certain but bibleatlas.org locates it far to the north of Canaan, about 10 miles or so east of Gebal (https://bibleatlas.org/full/aphek.htm). The other places were known to the Israelites and all they had to do was move in, finish the objectives the LORD had given to them, and then follow Him.
I mean, they had the LORD’s own guarantee of victory if they followed Him!
What part of “I will drive them out” did they not understand?
Apparently it wasn’t understanding, but disobedience that proved to be the problem. Oh, Israel had absolutely begun well, but they were not done. Now the LORD was going to give them some encouragement, if not motivation, to fulfill His commands.
2 The Distribution
Text, Joshua 13:7-14, KJV: 7 Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance unto the nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh, 8 With whom the Reubenites and the Gadites have received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond Jordan eastward, even as Moses the servant of the LORD gave them; 9 From Aroer, that is upon the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain of Medeba unto Dibon; 10 And all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, unto the border of the children of Ammon; 11 And Gilead, and the border of the Geshurites and Maachathites, and all mount Hermon, and all Bashan unto Salcah; 12 All the kingdom of Og in Bashan, which reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei, who remained of the remnant of the giants: for these did Moses smite, and cast them out. 13 Nevertheless the children of Israel expelled not the Geshurites, nor the Maachathites: but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day. 14 Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave none inheritance; the sacrifices of the LORD God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as he said unto them.
The LORD began the distribution of the land by starting with the two and a half tribes who had requested the eastern side of Jordan. Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh had found that part of the land was good for livestock so they wanted to live over there (see Numbers 32). Moses had agreed, and Joshua did not change this agreement in any way. Soon after this the other tribes began to receive their inheritance: Joshua 15-19 describe this and all the borders for each tribe.
So far, so good, one might say, and my hunch is that Israel thought so as well. But there was one significant problem and it was due to disobedience.
Israel never completely did away with the Canaanites. Now I know this seems harsh but, first this was the command of God to destroy them. Their religious and social practices, as recorded in sources unknown to us but specified in detail in the Law, were among the most evil in history. To give just a few examples, read Leviticus 18, especially the last few verses. The Canaanites were guilty of all this and Israel, years later, walked right into the same mess as what the Canaanites had practiced for many years.
The first few chapter of Judges, written some years later, amplify the problem Israel had with completing the LORD’s commands: Israel, for whatever reason, stopped fighting and tried to compromise (let’s call it what it is) with these Canaanites. Oh, Israel had begun well, all right, but they stopped short of total victory.
We can look back and see where they failed to finish up but let’s be careful not to let the same or a similar thing happen to us. Being totally committed to the LORD is never easy. Compromising with the world and/or world system is easy, but these steps towards them are steps away from the Lord’s best. We don’t need to make Israel’s mistakes so may each one of us resolve to finish the task/s our Lord has set before us.
I sure don’t want to risk losing out on the Lord’s best for my life!
Do you?
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
