Joshua 17:1 – 17 “Now this was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh as Joseph’s firstborn son, namely for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh and father of the Gileadites, who had received Gilead and Bashan because Machir was a man of war. So this allotment was for the rest of the descendants of Manasseh—the clans of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the other male descendants of the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph.
But Zelophehad son of Hepher (the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh) had no sons but only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders, and said, “The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.”
So, Joshua gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers, in keeping with the command of the LORD. Thus ten shares fell to Manasseh, in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan beyond the Jordan, 6because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons. And the land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.
Now the border of Manasseh went from Asher to Michmethath near Shechem, then southward to include the inhabitants of En-tappuah. The region of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah itself, on the border of Manasseh, belonged to Ephraim. From there the border continued southward to the Brook of Kanah. There were cities belonging to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh, but the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook and ended at the Sea. Ephraim’s territory was to the south, and Manasseh’s was to the north, having the Sea as its border and adjoining Asher on the north and Issachar on the east.
Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.
But the descendants of Manasseh were unable to occupy these cities, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in this land. However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they put the Canaanites to forced labor; but they failed to drive them out completely.
Then the sons of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one portion as an inheritance? We have many people, because the LORD has blessed us abundantly.” Joshua answered them, “If you have so many people that the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go to the forest and clear for yourself an area in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim.”
“The hill country is not enough for us,” they replied, “and all the Canaanites who live in the valley have iron chariots, both in Beth-shean with its towns and in the valley of Jezreel. So Joshua said to the house of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—“You have many people and great strength. You shall not have just one allotment, because the hill country will be yours as well. It is a forest; clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours. Although the Canaanites have iron chariots, and although they are strong, you can drive them out.”
The daughters of Zelophehad are my kind of ladies! These five ladies had no brothers; however, they had already gone to Moses and demanded that they be given an inheritance along with their cousins so that their father’s name would not be wiped out in Israel. Joshua gave these ladies an inheritance among their father’s brothers. My hunch is that these ladies made sure to claim their inheritance and to keep it!
Contrast that with the tribe of Ephraim and the half – tribe of Manasseh. You remember the Ephraimites; they could have conquered Gezer, one of the most strategic locations in their inheritance. But the Ephraimites and the men of Manasseh were long on whining and short on courage. When these men encountered Canaanites with iron chariots, they retreated and whined about it to Joshua. By this point, Joshua must have been fed up! Certainly, Joshua’s answer is brief and to the point: Go up to the hills, clear out the forest, and go ahead and drive out the Canaanites, iron chariots and all!
APPLICATION: Many times, we want to settle for something easy rather than persist and win out over difficult situations. Physiotherapists know that someone with severe injuries who are willing to work may gain back more function than someone with a small injury who refuses to do the necessary exercise.
We have a friend B. who was already facing a number of health challenges when she became seriously ill several months ago. B. wound up in a nursing home where she suffered a great deal of neglect; blessedly, she developed enough health problems to require hospitalization. When hospital workers discovered the poor care our friend had suffered in the nursing home, they helped until she was admitted to a rehabilitation facility. But then a new problem developed; Medicare would only pay for a certain amount of supervised physiotherapy. Now our friend bravely goes to the Physiotherapy Department every morning and exercises by herself. Any time I am tempted to complain, I just think about our friend B. I am confident that one day B. is going to walk out of that rehab facility, even though she arrived on a stretcher.
God has far bigger plans and dreams for us than we do for ourselves. Read God’s original promises of land to the Israelites and you realize that they were supposed to occupy far more land than they eventually did. Sometimes we are tempted to behave like the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh and hope someone will give us something without our having to work hard for it. Let’s remember the daughters of Zelophehad, who were gutsy enough to claim the inheritance God had promised their father. Is God calling you to do something scary? Pray and then go for it!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for Your wonderful promises. Help us to trust that if You are calling us to do something amazing, You will also give us the strength and courage to accomplish it. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
Burunche's Blog 
March 6, 2022 at 12:32 am
Well done, sermon was great and the answer I have not been wanting was revealed. Now it is up to me, but I really needed that go for it at the end. Sometimes bad is a mental hurdle and sometimes it is a mountain, Go for it made it a bridge I can cross, thank you.
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