Joshua · chapter 18 of 24
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Joshua 18 tells that Israel sets up the tabernacle at Shiloh and that seven tribes have not yet received their inheritance. Joshua asks how long they will put off taking the land and sends three men from each tribe to survey it and describe it in writing. Then he casts lots at Shiloh before the Lord, and the first to receive its portion is the tribe of Benjamin.
Up to now Judah, Ephraim and Manasseh had received land, but the distribution had stalled. Joshua 18 shows a people who, after the conquest, grow comfortable and postpone the task. The chapter also marks a change: the tabernacle is established at Shiloh, which will be the center of worship for the next centuries, and from there the distribution is completed.
The whole congregation of Israel gathers at Shiloh and sets up the tent of meeting there. The land is subdued before them. But seven tribes still have not received their inheritance. Joshua tells them to stop delaying in going to possess the land that the Lord, the God of their fathers, has given them.
Joshua proposes that each tribe choose three men, to rise up, walk through the land and describe it in writing according to their inheritance, and return to him. They are to divide it into seven portions. Judah will remain in its territory in the south, and the sons of Joseph in theirs in the north. The men go and survey the land, describe it by cities in seven portions in a book and return to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. There Joshua casts lots before the Lord.
The first lot falls to the tribe of Benjamin, by its clans. Its territory lies between those of Judah and the sons of Joseph. The text describes its northern border, from the Jordan, by the side of Jericho, toward Bethel, to Ataroth-addar and Lower Beth-horon, and its southern border, from Kiriath-jearim to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah and the Valley of Hinnom, to the Jordan. The cities of Benjamin are listed, among them Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Bethel, Gibeon, Ramah, Mizpeh, Jebus, that is Jerusalem, and Gibeah. This is the territory of Benjamin, by its clans.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The whole congregation of Israel gathers at Shiloh and sets up the tent of meeting there. The center of worship settles in a fixed place, and the land is already subdued before them.
Joshua asks the seven tribes how long they will be slack about going to possess the land the Lord has given them. Victory is not enough; one must take possession diligently.
Joshua asks for a written description of the land in seven parts and promises to cast lots before the Lord. The fairness of the distribution is entrusted to God and done in writing, before everyone.
Joshua casts lots at Shiloh before the Lord and distributes the land to the sons of Israel according to their divisions. The land is received as a gift from God, not as plunder for the strongest.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: At Shiloh, where they set up the tent of meeting. — Joshua 18:1
Answer: Seven tribes. — Joshua 18:2
Answer: He asked how long they would be slack about going to possess the land the Lord had given them. — Joshua 18:3
Answer: Three men per tribe. — Joshua 18:4
Answer: At Shiloh, before the Lord. — Joshua 18:10
Answer: The tribe of Benjamin. — Joshua 18:11
Joshua's question is still uncomfortable: how long will you be slack? After great victories, it is easy to settle in and leave undone what remains. In a class or small group you can identify which promises of God or callings we have left unpossessed out of comfort, and take one concrete step this week.
Joshua's solution is practical: divide the work, describe what is there, plan in writing and put everything before the Lord. Faith does not exclude organization; the two complement each other. God often works with those who set out with courage and order.
Joshua 18 ends with Benjamin settled between Judah and the sons of Joseph. In Joshua 19 the remaining lots are distributed: Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and Dan, and finally Joshua's own inheritance.
The tabernacle was the tent of meeting where Israel worshiped the Lord and where the ark of the covenant was kept. Shiloh, in the hill country of Ephraim, was the place where it was established during the period of the judges, and it is the center from which the distribution of the land is completed.
Lots were a way of leaving the decision to the Lord, avoiding favoritism or disputes among the tribes. It was a method provided for in the law of Moses. The text stresses that they were cast before the Lord, and that the outcome was accepted as his will.