Joshua 16:1-17:18


These chapters describe the borders of the land designated to the two tribes that came for Joseph: Ephraim and Manasseh.  We see clear details in the allotment that would allow one tribe to distinguish from another.  These borders were designed by God and were to be respected by Israel.  Every tribe had a portion of land according to its need and every tribe’s allotment had it own advantages as well as hardships associated with it.  We must recognize that God’s will for our life will have great blessings but that some of those blessings will come in the form of trials that are designed to make us stronger.  There are two details that stand out to me in this portion.
THE DAUGHTERS WERE GIVEN AN INHERITANCE: There was one of the families in Manasseh that had only daughters and no sons to inherit the land.  This possibility was foreseen in the Law that Moses had left and the solution was for the daughters to be given the land that they would have received as sons.  This was to preserve the livelihood of the family as well as the family name within Israel.  Normally the daughters would have inherited the land that their husbands had been allotted.  However, in this case their husbands would come to their land in order to preserve the property of the family.  God has made provision for every circumstance that might arrive.  His wisdom is perfect and we can rest assured that He is not taken by surprise with any of the circumstances we might face.
THE CANAANITES WERE GIVEN AS A CHALLENGE: The tribes of Joseph were unable to drive the Canaanites out of their land for they were a strong people with iron chariots.  The tribes were strong enough to make them servants but not strong enough to drive them completely out.  When the people came to Joshua to complain about the size of the land they had because of the number of people that were in the tribe; Joshua reminded them that they had a large piece of land that was theirs if they would drive out the Canaanites.  It would be a hard task, but it was possible in the strength of the Lord.  Unfortunately, they were not able to take them completely out and this would come back to hurt them repeatedly throughout their history.  We must recognize that there will be difficult trials in our walks with the Lord and that being victorious will require great faith and endurance on our part.  However, we must never give up that fight and make peace with sin in our lives. 

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