The Appointed Boundaries of Canaan
“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance—the land of Canaan to its boundaries. Your southern border shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom; then your southern border shall extend eastward to the end of the Salt Sea; your border shall turn from the southern side of the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to Zin, and be on the south of Kadesh Barnea; then it shall go on to Hazar Addar, and continue to Azmon; the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the Sea.
‘As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea for a border; this shall be your western border.
‘And this shall be your northern border: From the Great Sea you shall mark out your border line to Mount Hor; from Mount Hor you shall mark out your border to the entrance of Hamath; then the direction of the border shall be toward Zedad; the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar Enan. This shall be your northern border.
‘You shall mark out your eastern border from Hazar Enan to Shepham; the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; the border shall go down and reach to the eastern side of the Sea of Chinnereth; the border shall go down along the Jordan, and it shall end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land with its surrounding boundaries.’ ”
Then Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying: “This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and the half-tribe of Manasseh has received its inheritance. The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance on this side of the Jordan, across from Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.”
The Leaders Appointed to Divide the Land
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land among you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. And you shall take one leader of every tribe to divide the land for the inheritance. These are the names of the men: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; from the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud; from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon; a leader from the tribe of the children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli; from the sons of Joseph: a leader from the tribe of the children of Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod, and a leader from the tribe of the children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan; a leader from the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach; a leader from the tribe of the children of Issachar, Paltiel the son of Azzan; a leader from the tribe of the children of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi; and a leader from the tribe of the children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.”
These are the ones the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance among the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.”
What would you do if you knew you were about to die, you had a large amount of work left to do, and you didn’t know the actual day of your death? Moses is trying to address all the problems before he dies so Joshua won’t face a mess. To that end, Moses is minutely describing the boundaries of the Promised Land and designating those who will be responsible for its division among the nine and a half tribes. The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh have already claimed land on the east side of the Jordan River, so they are no longer a factor. God also chooses leaders from each tribe who will represent the tribes during the casting of lots for the land to make these deliberations as fair as possible.
APPLICATION: Administration is a gift, and very few people actually possess it. Through the years, I have been forced into administrative roles in several different health facilities. The little knowledge I have gained has been earned in the school of hard knocks. I can only liken the process to attempting to cross a strange room in the dark and tripping over every piece of furniture! True administrators are passionate about solving problems thoroughly and ensuring that all the necessary resources will be available. Now consider Moses.
God has already informed Moses that as soon as Moses has helped defeat the Moabites, he will die. Moses is literally living on borrowed time, and he knows it. As Moses’ career winds down, he is most concerned about his successor, Joshua. Who is going to guide Joshua? Who is going to support him? The Israelites are infamous for criticizing, back biting, whining, and generally wimping out whenever things get tough. I am certain that Moses has begged God for clarity on these boundaries, and God has graciously answered. While this chapter might seem tedious to us, these descriptions undoubtedly helped prevent a number of boundary disputes once the Israelites crossed the Jordan and began dividing up the land.
One timeless lesson from this chapter is that God cares about all the minute details of our lives, where we live, what work we do, our means of transportation, etc. It is staggering to realize that when God was creating the Promised Land, He already knew those who would eventually live there.
In Deuteronomy 11:10-12, God tells the Israelites, “For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden; but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.” God is omniscient, all-knowing. He cares for each of us just as much as He cared for the ancient Israelites. God’s eyes are on us from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year. Why not trust Him?
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, let everyone who reads these words put their trust in You, their Creator and Sustainer. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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