Boundries of the tribes
February 17, 2019
Commentary
God had already given the eastern bank of Jordan to the two and one-half tribes. In those days there were no survey crews with scientific instruments for determining the property lines. People cited towns and geographical features when they wanted to determine boundaries. The Jews changed the names of many of the cities and they also established forty-eight cities for the Levites to dwell in.
In this chapter He shows Moses the boundaries of the remainder of Canaan to be distributed among the nine and one-half tribes. The land was given by God; no tribe was to claim its own land. The southern border stretched from the southern tip of the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean Sea (vv. 3-5). The western border (v. 6) was the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. The northern border (vv. 7-9) included the area of Mount Hermon. The eastern border (v. 10) is the Jordan Valley from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. The size of the land portrays God s generosity. He always gives us more than we could ever ask or think.
The land was to be divided by the casting of lots, as supervised by fourteen appointed individuals (vv, 16-29). God Himself chose the committee which was to function here. In addition to Eleazar the priest and Joshua, one prince from every tribe was named. In God’s plan for dividing the land he explained what to do. No plan is complete until each job is assigned and everyone understands his or her responsibilities. When you have a job to do, determine what must be done, give clear instructions, and put people in charge of each part.
Application
We serve a God who is so generous and always provides more than we deserve. That is so true of my life beginning with the country and family that I was born into, with the wonderful wife He has given me and the healthy and Christ honoring children he placed in our family. Just as in the illustration, copper coins would have been more than adequate but He has provided the gold.
Numbers 34:1– 29 (NET)
1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Give these instructions to the Israelites, and tell them: ‘When you enter Canaan, the land that has been assigned to you as an inheritance, the land of Canaan with its borders, 3 your southern border will extend from the wilderness of Zin along the Edomite border, and your southern border will run eastward to the extremity of the Salt Sea, 4 and then the border will turn from the south to the Scorpion Ascent, continue to Zin, and then its direction will be from the south to Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go to Hazar Addar and pass over to Azmon. 5 There the border will turn from Azmon to the Stream of Egypt, and then its direction is to the sea.
6 “‘And for a western border you will have the Great Sea. This will be your western border.
7 “‘And this will be your northern border: From the Great Sea you will draw a line to Mount Hor; 8 from Mount Hor you will draw a line to Lebo Hamath, and the direction of the border will be to Zedad. 9 The border will continue to Ziphron, and its direction will be to Hazar Enan. This will be your northern border.
10 “‘For your eastern border you will draw a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 11 The border will run down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain, and the border will descend and reach the eastern side of the Sea of Kinnereth. 12 Then the border will continue down the Jordan River and its direction will be to the Salt Sea. This will be your land by its borders that surround it.’”
13 Then Moses commanded the Israelites: “This is the land that you will inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to be given to the nine-and-a-half tribes, 14 because the tribe of the Reubenites by their families, the tribe of the Gadites by their families, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance. 15 The two-and-a-half tribes have received their inheritance on this side of the Jordan, east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.”
16 The Lord said to Moses: 17 “These are the names of the men who are to allocate the land to you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun. 18 You must take one leader from every tribe to assist in allocating the land as an inheritance. 19 These are the names of the men: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; 20 from the tribe of the Simeonites, Shemuel son of Ammihud; 21 from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad son of Kislon; 22 and from the tribe of the Danites, a leader, Bukki son of Jogli. 23 From the Josephites, Hanniel son of Ephod, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh; 24 from the tribe of the Ephraimites, a leader, Kemuel son of Shiphtan; 25 from the tribe of the Zebulunites, a leader, Elizaphan son of Parnach; 26 from the tribe of the Issacharites, a leader, Paltiel son of Azzan; 27 from the tribe of the Asherites, a leader, Ahihud son of Shelomi; 28 and from the tribe of the Naphtalites, a leader, Pedahel son of Ammihud.” 29 These are the ones whom the Lord commanded to divide up the inheritance among the Israelites in the land of Canaan.