INHERITANCE (JOSH 15-19)
GENEOLOGY OR OBEDIENCE?
YAHUSHA GAVE A SECTION OF THE PROMISED LAND TO A PERSON OF FOREIGN ORIGIN. CALEB WAS IN THE LINE OF KENAZ, A LINE FROM EDOM (ESAU). CALEB HAD BEEN BROUGHT INTO THE TRIBE OF JUDAH FOR SURE, AND WE KNOW THIS FROM THE BOOK OF NUMBERS AS WE HEAR THE STORY OF THE 12 SPIES WHO GO OUT TO SCOUT OUT THE LAND OF CANAAN FOR MOSES.
BUT WE SEE THAT THE ISSUE OF RECEIVING AN INHERITANCE FROM YAHUSHA THE ALAHIM OF YISHARAL WAS MUCH LESS ABOUT FAMILY AND GENEALOGY THAN IT WAS ABOUT OBEDIENCE TO HIM. CALEB WAS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THOSE WHO HAD RECEIVED THE LAND FROM YAHUSHA, BUT HE WOULD ALSO BE A REMINDER TO FUTURE GENERATIONS OF YISHARALITES WHO WOULD LOSE THE LAND BECAUSE THEY FOLLOWED THE WAYS OF SOLOMON (WHO WAS DISOBEDIENT TO YAHUSHA AND HAD GREAT LUSTS FOR PERSONAL WEALTH AND POWER AND SO HE LED THE LIFE OF AN INTERNATIONALIST; HE WENT TO FOREIGN LANDS, BROUGHT HOME FOREIGN WIVES, AND PERMITTED FOREIGN WAYS AND DEITIES TO BE BROUGHT INTO YISHARAL. THIS BEHAVIOR LIT THE PATHWAY TO YISHARAL’S FUTURE DESTRUCTION DUE TO THEIR REBELLION AGAINST YAHUSHA).
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JUDAH'S LAND
So Joshua told the Tribe of Judah the boundaries of their Promised Land Inheritance and they all lived within their borders. However the Jebusites lived in Jerusalem, and the people of Judah were unable to capture the city and get rid of them and that’s why Jebusites still live in Jerusalem along with the people of Judah. OBVIOUSLY WRITTEN BEFORE THE TIME OF KING DAVID. JUDAH WAS TO BE A LARGER TERRITORY BECAUSE IT WAS A LARGER TRIBE.
And Joshua gave Caleb some land among the people of Judah, as Yahusha had told him to do. Caleb’s share was Hebron, so Caleb attacked it and forced the three Anakim clans out. Then he started a war with the town of Debir, telling his men, “The man who captures this town can marry my daughter Achsah.”
And Caleb’s nephew Othniel captured Debir, and Caleb let him marry his daughter Achsah (PERFECTLY ETHICAL AND HELPED STRENGTHEN THE CLAN). Right after the wedding, Achsah started telling Othniel that he ought to ask her father for a field. So she went to see her father, and while she was getting down from her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What’s up my girl, something bothering you?” “I need your help” she said, “The land you gave me is in the Southern Desert, so I really need some spring-fed ponds for a water supply.” So Caleb gave her a couple of small ponds, named Higher Pond and Lower Pond.
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EPHRAIM'S LAND
Ephraim and Menassah are the two tribes descended from Joseph, and Joshua gave them a description of the land border that they were inheriting. And Ephraim lived within their territory and also had some towns and villages that were inside Menassah’s tribal land too. Ephraim could not force the Canaanites out of Gezer, so there are still some Canaanites who live there among the Yisharalites. But now these Canaanites have to work as slaves for the Yisharalites.
IF WE LOOK AT A MAP WE SEE THAT NOT ONLY DID MENASSAH GET ONE TERRITORY ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE JORDAN RIVER AND ANOTHER SEPARATE AND DISTINCT TERRITORY ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE JORDAN, BUT THAT BOTH THESE TERRITORIES WERE QUITE LARGE IN RELATION TO WHAT THE OTHER TRIBES RECEIVED. IN YAHUSHA’S AMAZING PROVISION MENASSAH STILL RECEIVED A DOUBLE-PORTION THAT A FIRSTBORN IS NORMALLY ENTITLED TO, EVEN THOUGH YAHUSHA (FOR HIS OWN SOVEREIGN REASONS) SUPERNATURALLY INSTRUCTED JACOB TO SWITCH THE BIRTHRIGHTS OF EPHRAIM AND MENASSAH.
THE TWO IMPORTANT TRIBES
(FIRSTBORN BIRTHRIGHT & BLESSING)
CHAPTERS 15 - 17 COVER THE GIVING OF LAND ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE JORDAN TO THE 2 MOST IMPORTANT OF THE 12 TRIBES: JUDAH AND THEN EPHRAIM (BUT ALSO MENASSAH). INFACT IN A MORE TECHNICAL SENSE THE TWO TRIBES OF MOST IMPORTANCE WERE JUDAH AND JOSEPH; BUT EPHRAIM AND MANESSAH (FOR SOME DIVINE REASON) WOULD TAKE THE PLACE OF THE TRIBE OF JOSEPH FOR A TIME.
Why Judah and Ephraim?
BECAUSE JACOB'S DEATHBED BLESSING UPON HIS SONS (THE 12 TRIBES OF YISHARAL) SPLIT THE TRADITIONAL FIRSTBORN BLESSING INTO TWO PARTS, ONE PART GOING TO EPHRAIM AND THE OTHER TO JUDAH. THE WAY THAT LEADERSHIP, CONTROL, POWER AND WEALTH WAS PASSED DOWN WITHIN THE TRIBES OF YISHARAL WAS BY MEANS OF A CEREMONY AND FORMAL LEGAL ACT CALLED THE FIRSTBORN BLESSING. THIS CONCEPT WAS NOT AT ALL UNIQUE FOR THE HEBREWS; IT WAS FAIRLY STANDARD WITHIN ALL TRIBAL SOCIETIES AND TO A LARGE DEGREE REMAINS SO TO THIS DAY. THE CONCEPT OF THE FIRSTBORN BLESSING WAS POWERFUL AND GENERALLY NOT ALTERABLE ONCE IT WAS MADE; IT WAS ALSO ACCEPTED AS FULLY ENFORCEABLE AS ANY OF THE BEST CONTRACTS THAT THE MOST EXPENSIVE OF TODAY’S ATTORNEYS COULD POSSIBLE FASHION.
THE FIRSTBORN BLESSING CONSISTED OF TWO BASIC PARTS:
1) THE DOUBLE-PORTION BLESSING
2) THE TRANSFERENCE OF RULING AUTHORITY
THE DOUBLE-PORTION BLESSING THEREFORE INVOLVED WEALTH AND MATERIAL BLESSING WHILE THE TRANSFERENCE OF RULING AUTHORITY DEALT WITH INHERITANCE OF TRIBAL LEADERSHIP. THE TWO BASIC PARTS OF THE FIRSTBORN BLESSING WERE INVARIABLY LINKED TOGETHER AND THE SAME PERSON RECEIVED BOTH.
BUT SOMETHING STRANGE AND IMPORTANT HAPPENED EARLY IN HEBREW HISTORY WHEN JACOB SPLIT THE FIRSTBORN BLESSING HE GAVE ONE PART TO JUDAH AND THE OTHER PART TO EPHRAIM. JACOB HANDED OVER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE TRIBE OF YISHARAL TO JUDAH AND THE DOUBLE-PORTION BLESSING OF WEALTH AND MATERIAL BLESSING TO EPHRAIM. THAT DOESN’T SOUND SO DIFFICULT TO COMPREHEND, DOES IT? BUT WAIT; IT GETS A LITTLE MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT. IN FACT EVEN THOUGH THE NAME EPHRAIM IS USED TO DESCRIBE THE PERSON WHO RECEIVED JACOB’S TRIBAL WEALTH, IN REALITY IT WAS JOSEPH WHO WAS THE INHERITOR. REMEMBER JOSEPH WAS EPHRAIM’S FATHER.
REMEMBER WEEKS BEFORE HIS DEATH WHEN JACOB WANTED TO BLESS JOSEPH'S BOYS? IN THIS BLESSING OF HIS GRANDCHILDREN JACOB NOT ONLY BESTOWED GREATER STATUS UPON EPHRAIM (THE YOUNGER), HE ALSO LEGALLY ADOPTED BOTH OF HIS GRANDCHILDREN AWAY FROM JOSEPH. HE CHANGED THE STATUS OF HIS GRANDCHILDREN TO SONS, AND IN DOING SO HE REMOVED JOSEPH AS A TRIBAL ANCESTOR BY NAME, AND REPLACED HIM WITH JOSEPH’S TWO SONS (WHO WERE NOW, LEGALLY, JOSEPH’S BROTHERS) EPHRAIM AND MENASSAH. WOW! SEE HOW BIZARRE THIS WAS!
NOW WHILE TO US THIS MAY ALMOST SOUND LIKE SOME KIND OF WEIRD ARCHAIC PUNISHMENT UPON JOSEPH, IN FACT IT WAS THE OPPOSITE - A BLESSING FOR HIM BECAUSE IN AN INSTANT JOSEPH BECAME NOT ONE BUT TWO TRIBES (THE NEWLY FORMED TRIBES OF EPHRAIM AND MENASSAH); JOSEPH DOUBLED. NOT ONLY THAT BUT THE SCRIPTURES EXPLAINED THAT THESE TWO NEW TRIBES WOULD GO FORWARD “IN THE NAME” OF JOSEPH. EFFECTIVELY EPHRAIM AND MENASSAH WOULD BE AS PLACEHOLDERS IN HISTORY FOR JOSEPH’S TRIBE UNTIL SOME UNDEFINED TIME FAR INTO THE FUTURE WHEN JOSEPH’S TRIBAL NAME WOULD RISE UP AGAIN AND TAKE PREEMINENCE.
BUT THERE WAS YET ANOTHER EFFECT IN THESE CEREMONIES: JOSEPH (BY MEANS OF EPHRAIM) WAS RECEIVING THE DOUBLE-PORTION PART OF THE FIRSTBORN BLESSING (THIS WOULD HAPPEN A FEW DAYS OR MONTHS LATER WHEN JACOB FORMALLY PRONOUNCED THE FIRSTBORN BLESSING WITH ALL OF HIS SONS PRESENT). BY JOSEPH BECOMING TWO TRIBES (EPHRAIM AND MENASSAH), THIS WAS THE DOUBLE-PORTION. WHEN JOSEPH’S TWO TRIBES ENTERED THE PROMISED LAND THEY WOULD EACH GET TERRITORY, THEY WOULD EACH ESTABLISH WEALTH, AND THIS WOULD ALL BE EVENTUALLY ASCRIBED TO JOSEPH. SO THE DOUBLE-PORTION BECAME DOUBLE IN THE MOST LITERAL POSSIBLE WAY.
SINCE EPHRAIM WAS ALSO PRONOUNCED AS THE FIRSTBORN BY JACOB (LEAVING POOR MENASSAH, THE OLDEST CHILD OF JOSEPH, TO LOSE HIS TRADITIONAL PLACE OF HONOR AS THE ACTUAL FIRSTBORN), THEN IT WAS EPHRAIM’S NAME WHO BECAME THE GREATER OF THE TWO BROTHERS AND SO WHEN THE SCRIPTURE SPEAKS IN SHORTHAND (AS IT OFTEN DOES, EXPECTING THE READER TO KNOW WHAT IT IS ABBREVIATING) IT WILL SAY THAT EPHRAIM CARRIES THE ROD OF AUTHORITY FOR THE TRIBE OF JOSEPH, AND SAYS LITTLE ABOUT MENASSAH.
SO WHAT WE MUST KEEP IN THE BACK OF OUR MINDS WHEN READING THE SCRIPTURES IS THAT EPHRAIM IS OPERATING UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE TRIBE OF JOSEPH AND THAT WHILE MANASSEH HAS BECOME LESSER IN STATUS THAN EPHRAIM, YAHUSHA HAS NOT FORGOTTEN ABOUT MENASSAH. THIS ESPECIALLY COMES BACK AROUND IN THE TRIBAL LISTINGS OF REVELATION THAT SPEAKS OF THE END TIMES AND THEREAFTER.
THUS WE'VE NOW COME FULL CIRCLE - JUDAH WAS GIVEN THE LEADERSHIP OF YISHARAL, WHILE EPHRAIM (IN THE NAME OF HIS FATHER JOSEPH) WAS GIVEN THE DOUBLE-PORTION. THIS MAKES THEM THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT TRIBES OF YISHARAL, AND SO THEY ARE THE FIRST TO RECEIVE THE BLESSING OF LAND INHERITANCE INSIDE THE PROMISED LAND - AND THIS IS THE SUBJECT OF JOSHUA CHAPTERS 15 –17 RIGHT HERE.
BUT ONE MORE INTERESTING THING IS: ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE JORDAN RIVER MENASSAH WAS ONE OF 3 TRIBES WHO TOOK LAND POSSESSION THERE. WHAT WE’RE ABOUT TO SEE IS IN THESE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS OF JOSHUA IS THAT MENASSAH WOULD ALSO GET ANOTHER PORTION OF LAND INSIDE THE PROMISED LAND. MANESSAH WOULD WIND UP WITH TWO PORTIONS OF LAND. THIS FULFILLED YAHUSHA’S PROMISE TO JACOB (WHO HAD APPARENTLY FOLLOWED YAHUSHA’S DIVINE INSTRUCTION TO HIM TO ELEVATE EPHRAIM TO FIRSTBORN STATUS ABOVE THE ELDER MENASSAH) OF STILL GIVING MIGHTY BLESSINGS AT A LATER DATE TO MENASSAH TO MAKE UP FOR THIS UNDESERVED REMOVAL OF HIS RIGHTFUL FIRSTBORN STATUS.
IN A WAY THAT ONLY YAHUSHA COULD ORCHESTRATE, MENASSAH ALSO RECEIVED A DOUBLE-PORTION; HE RECEIVED ONE PORTION OF LAND INHERITANCE ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE JORDAN AND A SECOND ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE JORDAN. AND WHEN WE LOOK BACK WE CAN NOW BETTER UNDERSTAND AT LEAST ONE PURPOSE FOR YAHUSHA PERMITTING 2½ OF YISHARAL’S TRIBES TO SETTLE ON LAND OUTSIDE THE PROMISED LAND. NOTHING IN THIS WORLD HAPPENS ACCIDENTALLY.
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MENASSAH’S LAND:
Menassah was Joseph’s oldest son, and Machir was Menassah’s oldest son. Machir had a son named Gilead, and some of his descendants had already received the regions of Gilead and Bashan because they were good warriors. The other clans of the Menassah tribe descended from Gilead’s sons Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida.
Hepher’s son Zelophehad didn’t have any sons, but he did have five daughters. So one day the clans that were descendants of Zelophehad’s five daughters went to the High Priest Eleazar, Joshua, and the leaders of Yisharal and said, “Yahuah our Alahim told Moses that we are entitled to land just as He gave to our relatives".
So Joshua followed Yahusha’s instructions and gave land to these five clans, as he had given land to the five clans that had descended from Hepher’s brothers. So Menassah’s land west of the Jordan River was divided into ten parts.
Menassah was supposed to have towns and villages inside the borders of Issachar’s and Asher’s tribal lands, but they couldn’t capture them, so the Canaanites kept on living there. When the Yisharalites grew stronger though, they made the Canaanites in these towns work as their slaves, but never forced them to leave.
UNDERSTAND THAT THE DIVVYING UP OF TERRITORY TO THE YISHARALITES WAS ANYTHING BUT CLEAN AND NEAT; FURTHER IT WAS A LONG PROCESS. BECAUSE THE SCRIPTURE MOVES ALONG AT A VERY RAPID PACE, TURNING A PAGE OR GOING TO THE NEXT CHAPTER CAN BE SCORES OF YEARS, OFTEN ONLY THE BAREST OF FACTS ARE GIVEN OR THE FINAL OUTCOMES ARE RECORDED IN THE SHORTEST FORM. THE REALITY IS THAT TRIBAL BOUNDARIES WERE CONSTANTLY DISPUTED, AND SOME TRIBES DIDN’T LIKE THE LAND THEY RECEIVED AND SO EASILY GAVE SOME OF IT UP AND TRIED TO ACQUIRE OTHER LAND. SOME TRIBES GOT UP AND MOVED ENTIRELY, AND IN OTHER CASES BOUNDARIES EXPANDED OR CONTRACTED FOR VARIOUS REASONS. THIS WENT ON FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS AND THE DETAILS ARE NOT ALL RECORDED.
One day the Tribe of Ephraim and half of Menassah (that lived east of the Jordan) came to Joshua and asked, “Why didn’t you give us more land? Yahuah has always been kind to us, and we have too many people for this small region.”
And Joshua replied, “If you have so many people and not enough room in the hill country of Ephraim, then go into the forest that belonged to the Perizzites and the Rephaim. Clear out the trees and make more room for yourselves there.”
“But Even if we do that there still won’t be enough land for us in the hill country. And we can’t move down into Jezreel Valley, because the Canaanites who live in Beth-Shan and in other parts of the valley have iron chariots.”
“Your tribes do have stacks of people,” Joshua admitted. “So I’ll give you some more land. Your tribes are powerful, so you can have the rest of the hill country, but it’s a forest, and you’ll have to cut down the trees and clear the land. You can also have Jezreel Valley. Even though the Canaanites there are strong and have iron chariots, you can force them to leave the valley.”
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A few years after Yisharal had captured the land, they met at Shiloh and set up the Tabernacle. UP TO THIS POINT, THE CENTER OF OPERATIONS FOR JOSHUA AND THE YISHARALITES HAD BEEN GILGAL, WHICH WOULD EVENTUALLY FALL INTO BENJAMIN’S TERRITORY. THERE THE WILDERNESS TABERNACLE HAD BEEN ERECTED; THE PRIESTS DWELLED AND OFFICIATED OVER THE SACRIFICIAL RITUALS AND SERVICED THE TABERNACLE. AND THERE THE ARK OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT WITNESS (WITH THE PORTAL OF YAHUSHA) RESIDED.
BUT NOW, FOR REASONS NOT GIVEN, SHILOH BECAME THE NEW HEADQUARTERS AND THUS THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT. THE LAND WAS UNDER SUFFICIENT CONTROL TO MOVE THE TABERNACLE TO ANOTHER PLACE THAT WAS MORE CENTRAL AND CONVENIENT TO THE 12 TRIBES OF YISHARAL. BUT NOTICE SOMETHING: SHILOH WAS LOCATED IN EPHRAIM’S TERRITORY. NO DOUBT THE JOSEPH TRIBES LOBBIED HARD TO HAVE THE CENTER OF YISHARAL IN THEIR FAMILY’S TERRITORY. FOR ALTHOUGH THE SITE WAS CENTRAL, THERE WERE MANY BETTER AND EASIER LOCATIONS IN THE SHEFELAH OR EVEN IN THE LOW FOOTHILLS.
SHILOH IS HILL COUNTRY, BEAUTIFUL, BUT ROCKY, CRAGGY AND NOT SO EASILY ACCESSIBLE. TODAY IT’S IN WHAT MANY CALL THE WEST BANK. IN SCRIPTURAL TERMS IT’S IN SAMARIA. THE VERY AREA THE TENT WAS ERECTED IS VISIBLE TO THIS DAY. THE EVIDENCE OF ITS PRESENCE IS OBVIOUS, EVEN THE HOLES BORED IN THE ROCK WHERE THE POSTS OF THE COURTYARD PERIMETER CURTAIN WERE SET CAN BE FOUND AND IT’S QUITE BREATHTAKING TO KNOW THAT YOU’RE STANDING WHERE THE ARK OF THE BLOOD-COVENANT ONCE WAS.
And after a few years there were still seven tribes without any land, so Joshua told the people: “The Tribe of Judah has already settled in the south, and the Tribes of Joseph have settled up in the north. The tribes of Gad, Reuben, and half of Menassah already have the land that Yahuah’s servant Moses gave them east of the Jordan River, and as you know, the people of Levi won’t get any large region of land like the other tribes. Instead, they will serve Yahuah as His set-apart priests.
So what’s the deal with the rest of you slack-arses? None of you have done a thing to take over any land! Yahuah Alahim who your ancestors served has given you your very own land as your promised inheritance, so go and settle in it! What’s the problem?
Seven of you Tribes still haven’t taken over your lands, so each of you seven Tribes should choose three men, and I’ll send them to explore the remaining land. They will divide it into seven regions, write a description of each and bring these descriptions back to me. Then I’ll find out from Yahuah our Alahim what region each Tribe should get”.
And just before the men left camp, Joshua repeated their orders: “Explore the land and write a description of it. Then come back to Shiloh, and I’ll find out from Yahuah how to divide the land.”
So the men left and went across the land, dividing it into seven regions, and writing a description of each, town by town, before returning to Joshua at the camp at Shiloh. And Joshua found out from Yahusha how to divide the land, and he told the tribes what Yahusha had decided.
THE CURRENT GENERATION OF YISHARALITES WERE MORE LIKE BEDOUINS; THEY HAD NO INTEREST IN TRYING TO MAKE LAND PRODUCE OR IN FIGHTING OVER TERRITORY. RATHER THEY WOULD JUST WANDER AROUND WITH THEIR FLOCKS AND HERDS FROM PLACE TO PLACE, SEEKING FRESH PASTURE AND GOOD WATER, LIVING IN TENTS, AND WOULD DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO AVOID CONFLICT. COMMITMENT WASN’T IN THEIR VOCABULARY. BOUNDARIES WERE TO BE CROSSED, NOT ENFORCED. PERMANENTLY SETTLING WAS NOT THEIR GOAL AND IT DIDN’T FIT THE LIFESTYLE THEY LEARNED DURING THEIR 40 YEARS OUT IN THE WILDERNESS.
BENJAMIN’S LAND
Benjamin was the first Tribe (OF THE LAST REMAINING 7) chosen to receive land. They were given their borders and that’s where their clans lived.
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SIMEON'S LAND
Simeon was the second Tribe (OF THE LAST REMAINING 7) chosen to receive land, and the region for its clans was inside Judah’s borders, because Judah had received too much land for the number of people in its tribe, so part of Judah’s land was given to Simeon.
WHILE JUDAH WOULD CERTAINLY HAVE BEEN UNHAPPY WITH THE GIVING UP OF SOME OF ITS TERRITORY TO SIMEON, IN REALITY THIS WAS MORE OF A SLAP IN THE FACE TO SIMEON. SURROUNDED COMPLETELY BY JUDAH PUT SIMEON IN A VERY DEPENDENT SITUATION. ESSENTIALLY THIS WAS THE FULFILMENT OF A CURSE PRONOUNCED ON SIMEON BY HIS OWN FATHER, JACOB.
“I curse both of you (SIMEON AND LEVI) for your wicked vendettas (THE BLOODBATH IN SHECKEM) and your fits of rage and both of you will be divided from Jacob and scattered throughout Yisharal”. GEN 49 BRS
HERE WE SEE THAT LEVI AND SIMEON WERE LUMPED TOGETHER AND GIVEN ESSENTIALLY THE SAME CURSED FUTURE: THEY WOULD BE DIVIDED AND SCATTERED IN THE PROMISED LAND. YET THE WAY THIS CAME ABOUT FOR THOSE TWO TRIBES WAS VERY DIFFERENT.
LEVI WENT ON TO BE COME A VERY PRESTIGIOUS TRIBE, THE PRIESTLY TRIBE. IN FACT THEY WERE ELEVATED IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY WERE NOT TO EVEN BE CONSIDERED A TRIBE OF YISHARAL ANY MORE; RATHER THEY WOULD BE SET APART FOR FULL-TIME SERVICE TO YAHUSHA ON YISHARAL’S BEHALF. INTERESTINGLY THE “SCATTERING” PROPHESY FOR LEVI WAS FULFILLED IN THAT THEY RECEIVED 48 CITIES WITH A MEAGER AMOUNT OF PASTURELAND IMMEDIATELY OUTSIDE OF EACH CITY. THESE 48 CITIES WERE NOT CLOSE TOGETHER OR CONNECTED IN SUCH A WAY AS TO FORM A “TERRITORY OF LEVI”. RATHER THEY WERE DISPERSED ALL OVER YISHARAL IN ALL THE TRIBAL TERRITORIES AND WHILE THE CITIES WERE TECHNICALLY OWNED BY THE LEVITES IN ANOTHER SENSE THEY WERE ONLY PERMITTED TO LIVE THERE AND CONTROL THE CITY AT THE CONSENT OF THE LOCAL TRIBE.
SIMEON, ON THE OTHER HAND, WAS NOT SCATTERED IN THE SAME WAY. AT FIRST GLANCE THERE APPEARS TO BE NO SCATTERING AT ALL. BUT WHEN WE LOOK IN THE ORIGINAL TEXTS WE SEE THAT SIMEON WERE GIVEN NO ACTUAL DESCRIBED BORDERS, ONLY A LIST OF CITIES AND VILLAGES THEY COULD HAVE. THOUGH THEY WERE ALL LOCATED IN A RATHER CONCENTRATED AREA WITHIN JUDAH’S TERRITORY, IT WAS TO BE A WEAK CONFEDERATION OF CITIES THAT CAUSED SIMEON TO DECREASE IN POWER AND POPULATION, AND EVENTUALLY THE TRIBE WENT INTO A STEADY DECLINE OVER THE CENTURIES, UNTIL THERE WAS NO TERRITORY OF SIMEON AT ALL. JUDAH TOOK IT OVER. YAHUSHA'S WORD ALWAYS COMES TO PASS!
ZEBULUN, ISSACHAR, ASHER AND DAN'S LAND
Then the Tribes of Zebulun, Issachar, Asher and Dan were given the borders of their Promised Inheritance and that’s where they lived. Later, when enemies forced Dan to leave their tribal land, they went to the town of Leshem, attacked the town, captured it, and killed the people who lived there, settling themselves and renaming the town Dan after their ancestor.
THE TRIBE OF DAN RECEIVED THE 7TH AND LAST LOT, A SURE SIGN OF ITS STATUS IN THE EYES OF YAHUSHA. AS QUICKLY AS THE TERRITORY IS DESCRIBED, WE ARE TOLD THAT THE TERRITORY WAS NOT LARGE ENOUGH FOR THEM; AND THIS FITS WELL WITH THE EARLIER CENSUS’ THAT SHOWED THAT DAN WAS AMONG THE LARGEST TRIBES OF YISHARAL. THEREFORE THEY LOOKED FOR MORE TERRITORY AND THUS WENT FAR TO THE NORTH OF CANAAN AND CONQUERED A PLACE CALLED LESHEM, CHANGING ITS NAME TO DAN.
DAN WAS HAVING IT TOUGH RIGHT AWAY AND THEY KNEW IT. JUDAH WAS FORCED TO GIVE UP SOME OF IT’S WESTERN MOST TOWNS, AND EPHRAIM SOME ITS SOUTHERN MOST TOWNS IN ORDER TO FORM THE TERRITORY OF DAN. NEITHER OF THE TWO MOST PRESTIGIOUS TRIBES OF YISHARAL WOULD HAVE LIKED THAT VERY MUCH. WORSE, THE MAJOR UNSPOKEN-FOR AREA DAN WAS GIVEN WAS THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MEDITERRANEAN SEA COAST, WHICH WAS CURRENTLY OCCUPIED BY THE FIERCE, FORMIDABLE, AND TECHNICALLY ADVANCED SEA PEOPLES (LATER CALLED THE PHILISTINES). MUCH OF THE TRIBE OF DAN ELECTED TO SWITCH RATHER THAN FIGHT AND THUS THE INTEREST OF MANY OF THEIR CLANS IN MOVING WELL NORTH.
THE CAPTURING OF LESHEM PROBABLY SEEMED LIKE A GREAT THING FOR DAN, BUT IT TURNED OUT TO BE A SLIPPERY SLOPE. PAGANS SURROUNDED THEM AND DAN QUICKLY ADOPTED THEIR WAYS. THE NORTHERN CITY/TERRITORY OF DAN BECAME A CENTER OF YISHARALITE IDOLATRY AND CALF-WORSHIP WAS MIXED IN WITH THE WORSHIP OF YAHUSHA. SO WE’LL SEE MENTION OF DAN IN THE SCRIPTURE REDUCED TO NEAR NOTHING OVER TIME (EXCEPT WHEN IT WAS INVOKED AS A CURSE), AND HE WON’T REALLY RE-ENTER YISHARAL’S WONDERFUL PROPHETIC FUTURE UNTIL LATE IN THE PROPHETIC PROCESS.
The Yisharalites were still gathered in Shiloh in front of the Tabernacle when Eleazar the priest, Joshua, and the family leaders of Yisharal finished giving out the land to the remaining Tribes. Yahusha had told the people to give Joshua whatever town he wanted, so Joshua chose Timnath-Serah in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people gave it to him. So Joshua went there, rebuilt it and lived there.
THERE ARE A COUPLE OF IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES BEING DEMONSTRATED IN THIS ARRANGEMENT: 1ST AND MOST IMPORTANT IS THAT YAHUSHA COMPLETED WHAT HE SAID HE’D DO TO ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB. AND WHAT HE’D DO IS GIVE YISHARAL A LAND OF IT’S OWN. 2ND IS THAT JOSHUA WAS OBEDIENT AND DID ALL THAT YAHUSHA INSTRUCTED.
COMING INTO OUR INHERITANCE
To behave a certain gift from Yahusha is a very different behaviour than behaving the 9 fruits because a gift is obviously from Yahusha and is impossible to refute, because it happens miraculously. This is the direction all of us should be aiming for in order to step into the inheritance Yahusha has for us. The 3 Rules will help cleanse, heal, and deliver a person, then catapult them into the spiritual realm, where the battle is being won.
Just like Joshua, we are called out to be trained to fight the set-apart war for the hearts and minds of Yahusha's chosen men and women, who are emerging from the filth and disgust of this worlds infested wickedness. Once we've been through the training of Hebrew 12 we start to experience peace with Yahusha, and are well equiped to bear the fruits of clean, obedient behaviour.
Astounding gifts will then manifest from the trained ones, and this is the warfare where Yahusha guides His chosen into victory. This situation is available to all believers, men and women of obedience. We are urging men and women of Yahusha to take up their staff and follow Yahusha's promptings, because the gallery of those surrounding us, (standing in the doorway trying to block our entrance) are just ridiculous, with no understanding, we just put the 2nd rule to their behaviour (let them have it), and pursue the Masters voice who we can actually hear and act on in obedience.
This is not religious behaviour, because we have direct access to Yahusha, through our circumcised portal. All gifts and fruits must be proven before any mantles are raised, WHAT YOU SAY MUST COME TO PASS, AND THIS IS YOUR PROOF !
Even though we're still in our flesh, did you know that YOU CAN COME INTO YOUR INHERITANCE (Yahusha) NOW, and not just wait in agony until He returns? His peace, His presence, the end of strife and disobedience . . . AN END OF WAR WITHIN, because your vessel (the promised land) has been sold over, conquered and all the evil has been driven out. And anyone who tries to move back in to your land (heart/life) take hold of just a small piece of that divine set-apart property (through conversation or confrontation), are politely (or maybe even boldly) driven away through using The 3 Rules, which keep our boundaries strong and defenses on high alert (because they reveal the evil in every situation through our clean behaviour).
SOUNDS LIKE THE BEGINNINGS OF YAHUSHA'S INHERITANCE TO ME . . .
Are you experiencing Him like this yet?