The people who keep up with such things used to tell us that the average British family moved approximately every three years. With interest rates, what they are now, I’m sure that could be just as true today.
We are a mobile society. And where that was said mainly of the younger generations in times past, more and more people in the golden years are travelling. Still, with all of our mobility, it’s nice to have a place where we can put down roots, a place we call home.
The Israelites had left their home in Egypt for the home God was to give them. Through unbelief, they could not have that home and had to wander for nearly forty years until the unbelieving generation died, Numbers 32:13.
The next generation could then go in and possess the land. Now, after battling the Canaanites for approximately seven years, the next generation begins to divide the land.
At last, they will be settled in so that they can put some roots down, or so it seems anyway. The Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there, which is the tabernacle, Joshua 18:1.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The tabernacle stood at Gilgal, Joshua 5:10 / Joshua 10:15 / Joshua 10:43, Shiloh, Joshua 18:1 / Joshua 18:9-10, Bethel, Judges 20:18-28 / Judges 21:1-4, Shiloh, 1 Samuel 1:3, Mizpah, 1 Samuel 7:5-6, Gilgal, 1 Samuel 10:8 / 1 Samuel 13:8-10 / 1 Samuel 15:10-15, Nob, 1 Samuel 21:1-9 / 1 Samuel 22:11 / 1 Samuel 22:19, and finally at Gibeon, 1 Chronicles 16:39-40 / 1 Chronicles 21:29 / 1 Kings 3:4 / 2 Chronicles 1:3. These may not be all the places where it stood, but these are the places that the text names. Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem then replaced it.’
Shiloh was which was north of Jericho and the name means ‘rest,’ Genesis 49:10. Here the tabernacle was set up, symbolic of God’s presence with the people, Deuteronomy 12:11.
This truly seems appropriate since God now grants rest to His people. In Deuteronomy 12:9, the people are told that they haven’t entered the land of rest yet. Deuteronomy 25:19 speaks of the rest to come.
Joshua 1:15 speaks of the rest as yet future, then we are told they had rest, Joshua 14:15 / Joshua 21:44 / Joshua 22:4 / Joshua 23:1. Similarly, today there is a rest that awaits us, Hebrews 4:1-11.
Yet, all the tribes had not taken possession of the land, and seven tribes hadn’t divided the inheritance, Joshua 18:1-2. Joshua questions them, how long will you put off entering to take possession, Joshua 18:3.
Joshua tells them to appoint three men from each tribe and he will send them out to make a survey of the land and to write a description of it, according to the inheritance of each and then they will return to him, Joshua 18:4. They are to divide the land into seven parts but Judah is to remain in its territory on the south and the tribes of Joseph in their territory on the north, Joshua 18:5.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Joshua 18:5, which mentions Judah on the south and the house of Joseph on the north, shows the wisdom of God in placing these two powerful groups in such a way as to protect all of Canaan.’
After they have written descriptions of the seven parts of the land, they are to take them to Joshua and he will cast lots for them in the presence of God, Joshua 18:6.
Joshua tells them that the Levites won’t get a portion among them, because the priestly service of God is their inheritance, Joshua 18:7 / Numbers 18:23-24 / Deuteronomy 10:9 / Joshua 13:33. Moses had already given Gad, Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan, Joshua 18:7 / Joshua 13:8.
As the men started on their way to map out the land, Joshua tells them to go and make a survey of the land and write a description of it and then return to him, and he will cast lots for them at Shiloh, Joshua 18:8 / Joshua 18:6.
The men do as Joshua commanded writing the description of the land on a scroll, town by town, in seven parts, and returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh, Joshua 18:9. As promised, Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh and he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their tribal divisions, Joshua 18:10 / Joshua 18:6.
Plummer, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This survey was undoubtedly a more careful one than that made by the spies, Numbers 13, and one result was that the undivided land was found to be too small for the needs of the seven tribes, while that apportioned to Judah was seen to be disproportionately large. To remedy this, a place was found for Benjamin between Judah and Ephraim, and the portion of Simeon was taken out of the southern portion of Judah, while both Judah and Ephraim had to give up some cities to Dan.’
Men from each tribe were commissioned by Joshua to go in and map out the land, and when the men returned, the land was then assigned by lot, Joshua 14:2 / Numbers 26:55. The first lot came to Benjamin, whose territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph, Joshua 18:11.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This allotment for Benjamin was providential. It fulfilled the prophecy of Deuteronomy 32:12 by placing the ultimate site of the Temple within Benjamin, and it also made Benjamin a kind of buffer state between the two powerful and mutually jealous tribes of Judah and Ephraim. This arrangement contributed to the unity and glory of the kingdom during the early phase of the monarchy.’
The northern boundary began at the Jordan, passed the northern slope of Jericho, and headed west into the hill country, coming out at the wilderness of Beth Aven and from there it crossed to the south slope of Luz, that is, Bethel, Genesis 28:19, and went down to Ataroth Addar on the hill south of Lower Beth Horon, Joshua 18:12-13.
The western side went from the hill facing Beth Horon on the south, the boundary turned south along the western side and came out at Kiriath Baal, that is, Kiriath Jearim, a town of the people of Judah, Joshua 18:14.
The southern side began at the outskirts of Kiriath Jearim on the west, and the boundary came out at the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, Joshua 15:5-9, and the boundary went down to the foot of the hill facing the Valley of Ben Hinnom, north of the Valley of Rephaim and it continued down the Hinnom Valley along the southern slope of the Jebusite city and so to En Rogel, Joshua 18:15-16.
Benjamin’s territory then curved north, went to En Shemesh, continued to Geliloth, which faces the Pass of Adummim, and ran down to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben, Joshua 18:17.
It continued to the northern slope of Beth Arabah and on down into the Arabah and then went to the northern slope of Beth Hoglah and came out at the northern bay of the Dead Sea, at the mouth of the Jordan in the south, Joshua 18:18-19.
The Jordan formed the boundary on the eastern side, and so, these were the boundaries that marked out the inheritance of the clans of Benjamin on all sides, Joshua 18:20.
The tribe of Benjamin had twelve towns and villages, they are Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, Kephar Ammoni, Ophni and Geba, Joshua 18:21-24.
They also received another fourteen towns and villages, they are Gibeon, Joshua 10:1-14, Ramah, 1 Samuel 1:19 / 1 Samuel 25:1, Beeroth, Joshua 9:3-15, Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, Zelah, 2 Samuel 21:14, Haeleph, the Jebusite city, that is, Jerusalem, Gibeah and Kiriath, Joshua 18:25-28.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following concerning Emek Keziz, Joshua 18:21.
‘The ‘Valley of Keziz,’ or ‘Emek-Keziz,’ is perhaps the ‘Wady El Keziz,’ at no great distance east of Jerusalem.’
Cook, in his commentary, says the following concerning Ophrah, Joshua 18:23.
‘This is a different ‘Ophrah’ from that in Judges 6:11. It is probably the ‘Ephraim’ of 2 Chronicles 13:19, and John 11:54.’
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following concerning Geba, Joshua 18:24.
‘Supposed to be the same as Gibeah of Saul, a place famous for having given birth to the first king of Israel; and infamous for the shocking act towards the Levite’s wife, mentioned, Judges 19:16-30, which was the cause of a war in which the tribe of Benjamin was nearly exterminated, Judges 20:29-48.’
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following concerning Mizpah, Joshua 18:26.
‘Here the people were accustomed to assemble often in the presence of the Lord, as in the deliberation concerning the punishment to be inflicted on the men of Gibeah, for the abuse of the Levite’s wife, Judges 20:1-3. Samuel assembled the people here to exhort them to renounce their idolatry, 1 Samuel 7:5-6. In this same place, Saul was chosen to be king, 1 Samuel 10:17.’
With the land now being distributed and God’s people receiving their land, we are reminded that God keeps His promises. The promise He gave to Abram, where God makes a covenant with him specifying the boundaries of the land, Genesis 17:8 / Genesis 15:18-21.
As Christians, we too are blessed with the promise of eternal life, 1 John 2:25, but in the meantime, we are also promised to have life to the full, John 10:10, while we wait for our eternal home.
As we go through life, we must never forget where our real citizenship is, and that is heaven, Philippians 3:20-21. We must never forget that our real inheritance is eternal life with Christ, Romans 6:23.