Joshua
17:17-18 Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph,
to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You
shall not have one allotment only, but the hill country shall be yours, for
though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest
borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of
iron, and though they are strong.”
Long lists of boundaries and cities make us want to skip
over the passages in Chapters 15-17. If we do this we will miss an important
message for us. In these chapters we find the final fulfillment of the command
to Joshua in 13:6-7.
The distribution of the land was equitable and detailed.
The easy part was dividing it between the tribes of Judah and Joseph. Joseph’s
share is further divided between Manasseh and Ephraim. The more difficult part
was accepting the responsibilities that ownership of the land required.
Joshua carries out the promises of Moses by making the
distribution. Those receiving the land were responsible to accept it as given.
The tribe’s leaders were responsible to solve any dissatisfaction among their
people. They had to accept to make a living space available for the Levites, a
tribe without ownership of land. Ownership involved the challenge to fight to
gain and retain the land allotted to them. They were to displace other peoples
to take full ownership.
Israel now experiences the blessings of God. Ownership of
the land brought continued challenges and responsibilities. This fact gives us
the problem that faced Israel for the rest of her history. Israel had to choose
to be obedient to God in facing these challenges of ownership.
Or they could choose
to avoid the challenges and responsibilities of the blessing. Failing to meet
them as God had instructed would cause them to one day lose the land and be
cast into exile.
