Book of Joshua Part 3 – Dividing the Land | Bob's boy's Christianity blog

Joshua assigned territory to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh on the east side of the Jordan, where they had chosen to remain because of the wonderful livestock country.

This installment concludes our summary of the Book of Joshua in this series. Best estimates date the events of the book at about 1450-1425 BC. The book is important in several respects. Perhaps most importantly, it details the fulfillment of God’s promise to give Israel the land, and verification of that is given in Joshua 21:43-45. Verse 43 says “Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there.” Then verse 45 affirms: “Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.”

Secondly, it shows God’s expectation for man to perfectly obey his commandments (see Joshua 1:7-8, 23:1-6). Doing otherwise violates God’s sovereignty and authorization, and separates man from Him (Joshua 6:17-19, 7:10-13). Practices that were forbidden were to be viewed by God’s people as detestable (Deuteronomy 7:26). All of this applies today as well. Finally, the Book of Joshua teaches us not to be afraid of the things of this world. God commanded Israel to have no fear of man (Joshua 1:9; 10:8, 25). And Jesus said, “And be not afraid of them that kill the body , but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell ” (Matthew 10:28).

The events of this final section are as follows:

Before Joshua died, he spoke to the Israelites, urging them to be faithful to the Lord (Joshua 23).

The Northern Conquest of Canaan (Joshua 11:1–12:24)
- Jabin king of Hazor, Jobab king of Madon, the king of Shimron , the king of Achshaph, and the kings that were “on the north, in the hill country.” They captured all their kings and struck them and put them to death (Joshua 11:17).
Dividing the Land (Joshua 13:1–21:45)
- No land inheritance for the tribe of Levi (“to the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance. The offerings by fire to the Lord God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to him” Joshua 13:14)
- The Inheritance East of the Jordan – the other half of the tribe of Manasseh the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward (Joshua 13:8-32)
- The Inheritance West of the Jordan (Joshua 14:1-5)
- Caleb’s portion (Joshua 14:6-15)
- Judah’s inheritance (Joshua 15)
- Allotment for Ephraim and Manasseh (Joshua 16)
- Allotment of the Remaining Land
  - Inheritance for Benjamin (Joshua 18:11-28)
  - Inheritance for Simeon (Joshua 19:1-9)
  - Inheritance for Issachar (Joshua 19:17-23)
  - Allotment for Asher and Naphtali (Joshua 19:24-39)
  - Inheritance for Dan and for Joshua (Joshua 19:40-51)
  - The Cities of Refuge (Joshua 20)
  - Cities and Pasture lands Allotted to Levi (Joshua 21)
  - The Eastern Tribes Return Home (Joshua 22:1-9)
  - The Eastern Tribes’ Altar of Witness (Joshua 22:10-34)
- Joshua’s charge to Israel’s leaders (Joshua 23:1–16)
- Covenant renewal at Shechem (Joshua 24:1–33)
- Death of Joshua and Eleazor, and the burial of Joseph’s bones (Joshua 24:29-33)

/Bob’s boy

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image © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog. All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility. When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.