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Joshua Chapter 18 (ESV)

Allotment of the Remaining Land

¹ Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them.

² There remained among the people of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. ³ So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? ⁴ Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may set out and go up and down the land. They shall write a description of it with a view to their inheritances, and then come to me. ⁵ They shall divide it into seven portions. Judah shall continue in his territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall continue in their territory on the north. ⁶ And you shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me. And I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. ⁷ The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their heritage. And Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”

⁸ So the men arose and went, and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go up and down in the land and write a description and return to me. And I will cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.” ⁹ So the men went and passed up and down in the land and wrote in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions. Then they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh, ¹⁰ and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord. And there Joshua apportioned the land to the people of Israel, to each his portion.

REFLECTION:

Read this passage slowly understanding the progress of the takeover of the Promised Land by the Israelites.

Joshua has led the people of a series of successful conquest. Each tribe was then responsible to conquer and colonize its designated territory.

Five tribes have been settled on land on either side of the Jordan River. Joshua in this passage rebuked the remaining tribes for their procrastination in failing to act as they had been instructed (v3).

What in your life have you begun but never finished? What will it take to get you going?

PRAYER:

God, I will keep my eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race I’m in. God who started this great work in me would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. (cf. Heb 12:2, Phil 1:6)