January 16- Joshua 17:1-18
January 16- Joshua 17:1-18
17 Then allotment was made
to the people of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph.
To Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, were
allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war. 2 And
allotments were made to the rest of the people of Manasseh by their clans,
Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were the male
descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph, by their clans.
3 Now Zelophehad the
son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, but
only daughters, and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah,
Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 They
approached Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the leaders
and said, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance
along with our brothers.” So according to the mouth of the Lord he
gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father. 5 Thus
there fell to Manasseh ten portions, besides the land of Gilead and
Bashan, which is on the other side of the Jordan, 6 because
the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance along with his sons. The land
of Gilead was allotted to the rest of the people of Manasseh.
7 The territory of Manasseh
reached from Asher to Michmethath, which is east of Shechem. Then the
boundary goes along southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah. 8 The
land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah on the
boundary of Manasseh belonged to the people of Ephraim. 9 Then
the boundary went down to the brook Kanah. These cities, to the south of the
brook, among the cities of Manasseh, belong to Ephraim. Then the boundary of
Manasseh goes on the north side of the brook and ends at the sea, 10 the
land to the south being Ephraim's and that to the north being Manasseh's, with
the sea forming its boundary. On the north Asher is reached, and on the east
Issachar. 11 Also in Issachar and in
Asher Manasseh had Beth-shean and its villages, and Ibleam and its
villages, and the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, and the inhabitants
of En-dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its villages,
and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; the third is
Naphath. 12 Yet the people of Manasseh could not
take possession of those cities, but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in
that land. 13 Now when the people of Israel grew
strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive
them out.
14 Then the people of
Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me but one lot and one
portion as an inheritance, although I am a numerous people, since all
along the Lord has blessed me?” 15 And
Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up by yourselves to the
forest, and there clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites
and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for
you.” 16 The people of Joseph said, “The hill
country is not enough for us. Yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain
have chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those
in the Valley of Jezreel.” 17 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, 18 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.”
There were tribes that received their inheritance but, because of
the size of the tribe, the members of the tribe did not feel their portion was
large enough. I love how Joshua solved the problem. He simply told the members
of the tribe to work together, clear the land and possess the land to the
farthest border. As I watch our church, I love how God blesses us when we work
together to accomplish His will. God has gifted all of us. May each of us use
our gift in a peaceful manner to accomplish his will. Is there unity in your
group of fellow believers? What can each of us do personally to bring about
unity and work for God’s will to be accomplished? Pray today that you are able
to work peaceably among you congregation.
Heavenly Father,
Unity….how much this word is used in
organizations. What does it truly mean,
Father? I looked in my dictionary and
found several definitions like the absence of diversity, oneness of mind,
harmony, but my favorite one is where it says a whole or totality as combining
all its parts into one. That to me is
what You want Your church to be. And I
don’t necessarily just mean the local church we are members of and attend each
week, but the church of believers. How
often we fight among ourselves over things that don’t matter in the realm of
eternity. Your word shares often about
the members of one body working together for one purpose and I totally believe
that is what we need to be. Working
together for the purpose of bringing people to know You, understand Your love,
and accepting Your love and Your Son as their Savior. That is it.
So why do we worry about the other things? I kn ow some of them impact that one goal,
but I so hope we as believers can keep that one goal in mind with every
decision we make. I know I am guilty of
not staying on track with that focus and I ask Your forgiveness and Your help
to keep my eyes on the prize of impacting people for You. Please give me the opportunity today to share
You with someone that needs to hear Your truth.
Help me be an example of unity and to help unity exist in the
church.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen!
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