Well please turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Joshua. If you’re using a church Bible, you’ll find it on page 191. We continue our studies in the book of Joshua. This morning we are considering the message of chapters 16 and 17. You will recall that for the most part, the people of Israel have now conquered the land of Canaan, and nevertheless, there remains yet very many Canaanite peoples dwelling in the land. But beginning in verse 13, Joshua has begun to assign territory to the various tribes of Israel as their promised inheritance. Last week, we looked at the allotment given to the tribe of Judah, and now this week we are looking at the inheritance given to the sons of Joseph, the two half tribes of Manasseah and Ephraim.
And as we do, and really just by way of preface, we’ll start by taking note of the sovereign grace of God displayed in the way the Lord arranges the inheritance for His people. And then with that context in place, I want to notice with you four responses in these two chapters to God’s extraordinary grace. Four responses that are often still mirrored in our own hearts also. First of all, we are going to notice the people’s compromise, their tragic compromise. In chapter 16 verse 10, chapter 17:12-13. Secondly, we’ll notice the claim, the bold claim of faith from the daughters of Zelophehad in chapter 17:3-6. So compromise, then claim. Thirdly, we’ll notice the complaint of the sons of Joseph, chapter 17:14-16. And then finally, the confidence of Joseph in chapter 17:17-18. Sorry – the confidence of Joshua, excuse me, in chapter 17:17-18. So there’s the outline – compromise, claim, complaint and confidence.
Before we read the text, let’s pause and pray and ask for the Lord to help us. Let us all pray.
O God, give us the light of Your Spirit now, we pray, to shine into our sin-darkened understanding. We would see Jesus, O God. Lead us, then, by this text to Him. Show us also ourselves in the mirror of holy Scripture that we may repent and flee back to our only Savior. For we ask it in Jesus’ name, amen.
We’re going to read various portions and then I’ll summarize some of the rest of the chapter as we go. So chapter 16, beginning at verse 1. This is the Word of God:
“The allotment of the people of Joseph went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel. Then going from Bethel to Luz, it passes along to Ataroth, the territory of the Archites. Then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of Lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and it ends at the sea.
The people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance.”
Then skip down to verse 10. We have, in the intervening verses, lists of the specific towns and boundary lines that fell to the half tribe of Ephraim. Then verse 10:
“However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor.
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. 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.
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. 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. Thus there fell to Manasseh ten portions, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of the Jordan, 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.”
And then we have details about the towns allocated to the half tribe of Manasseh and we pick up the reading again at verse 12:
“Yet the people of Manasseh could not take possession of those cities, but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.
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?’ 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.’ 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.’ 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, 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.’”
Amen, and we praise God that He has spoken in His holy and inerrant Word.
God’s Sovereign Grace
One of the hymns that we love to sing here at First Presbyterian Church is Isaac Watts’ “How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place.” In the second and third stanzas, Watts expresses in language that, I think, resonates with every earnest, believing heart something of the perplexity and wonder of God’s gracious ways with us. You remember how Watts puts it? “While all our hearts and all our songs join to admire the feast, each of us cries with thankful tongue, ‘Lord, why was I a guest? Why was I made to hear Your voice and enter while there’s room, while thousands make a wretched choice and rather starve than come?’”
“Why me?” Isn’t that the Christian’s question? We’ve become acquainted with our sin and our foolishness. We’ve been stripped of all grounds for boasting and self-confidence before God, and so we wonder, as we look at our hearts, what possible reason could God have to set His love upon us, to send His Son to obey to obey and bleed and die and rise for us? So unworthy are we of His grace. It’s inexplicable. And while it may not at first seem like it, Joshua 16 and 17 actually speak to this very mystery. To be sure, they do not offer an explanation. There is no explanation comprehensible to our little minds for why God should love us, except that He does. But these two chapters describe the mystery, so that while we may not fathom it, we might learn better to adore it.
So let me simply note with you first of all, that as the land is being assigned it takes place by the casting of lots. That may not be immediately apparent in our English translation, but the word used in chapter 16 verse 1, “The allotment of the people of Joseph went from Jordan by Jericho…” and so on, that word “allotment” could actually be translated “and the lot went out for the people of Joseph…” and so on. So the boundaries of the land given to the two half tribes who comprised the people of Joseph, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, that is ascertained and determined by the casting of lots. And that is not indicative of indifference of indecision on the part of Joshua and Eleazar and the leaders as they assign the land. They weren’t saying, “You know, since we can’t make up our minds, let’s toss a coin for it. Heads, this city is on this side of the border; tails, it’s on that side.” That’s not what’s going on. It’s not indifference or indecision. Rather, they are reflecting the principle articulated in Proverbs 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap, but it’s every decision is from the Lord.” Casting lots was actually an old covenant tool authorized by the Lord used in certain circumstances for discerning His will. It was a mechanism by which to surrender human determination and to bow before the governance of divine providence.
And so this whole question of the division of the inheritance of Canaan was shaped by an acknowledgement of the sovereignty of God. As the apostle Paul would put it in Acts 17:26, “God made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.” God governs all things, including who gets to live where and when. And now here is Israel, recognizing that principle in the way they determine the geographical arrangement in their new home of the land of Canaan. God is sovereign. He reigns over all, right down to the details of where the boundaries and the borderlines will fall.
And that principle of God’s absolute sovereignty over His people determines the apparent oddity in the order in which the tribes of Israel are assigned their allotments. I wonder if you noticed it. For example, last week we looked in Joshua chapter 15 at the allotment assigned to Judah. And we said then that the allotment, the description of the land given to them, is the most detailed and comprehensive of any of the tribes. Judah is being singled out for special prominence in the text. And if you knew anything about ancient near eastern culture and you were reading these chapters for the first time, you would naturally therefore assume Judah was obviously the firstborn. That’s why he’s first. That’s why he receives this great allotment of land and all this prominence and all this detail. But Judah was not firstborn. Reuben is the firstborn. Judah is fourth of the twelve sons of Jacob. And along the same lines in our passage today, we have the sons of Joseph. Joseph is next. But just like Judah is not the eldest, Joseph is not the second eldest. He’s actually eleventh of the twelve sons of Jacob. And then notice that of the two sons of Joseph, between whom his inheritance is divided, Manasseh is the firstborn and then Ephraim. Joshua 16:4 acknowledges the order of their birth carefully – Manasseh first and then Ephraim. But then, instead of honoring the order of their birth, which was normal in inheritance traditions both then and often still now, it’s the half tribe of Ephraim, the younger son, who receives its inheritance first in verses 5 through 10 and then Manasseh in chapter 17.
And that arrangement is entirely purposeful. It is intended to reflect the words of Jacob, their grandfather, who blessed them in that order back in Genesis 48. When Joseph, their father, attempted to correct his father, Jacob, by placing Manasseh, the elder, at Jacob’s right hand, and Ephraim, the younger, at the left so that the elder would inherit the blessing after all, Jacob then crossed his hands so that his right hand would still rest on Ephraim’s head and not on Manasseh’s. And when Joseph tried to fix it a second time, Jacob had to assure him, “No, this is all entirely intentional.” “And thus,” Genesis 48 says, “he put Ephraim before Manasseh.” So clearly, Joshua 16:4, the narrator knows which of the two sons of Joseph is the eldest, and yet he follows not the order of their birth or the expectations of culture and custom, but instead he follows the pattern of God’s covenant blessing established by Jacob.
You see, when God makes the determination of whom to bless and how, you can be confident he will not follow the expectations of mere human logic. The lines of our inheritance do not fall out according to any custom or calculation of ours, but only according to the election of grace. “While all our hearts and all our songs join to admire the feast, each of us cries with thankful voice, ‘Lord, why was I a guest?’” “Why me?” Who can say why God has shown mercy to my wicked heart or to yours, except that in His inscrutable purpose “the lines that have fallen for us in pleasant places” are all for the praise of His glorious grace. God’s ways are often beyond our ability to comprehend. They confound our expectations. They regularly thwart human design and upturn social convention. He loves the weakling and the weirdo and the outcast and the unclean. He loves the runt of the litter and the least likely to succeed. “God chooses what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. He chooses what is weak in the world to shame the strong. He chooses what is low and despised in the world, even the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are so that no human being might boast in the presence of God, but that as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord. The Lord has done it, and it is marvelous in our eyes.’” So this is a passage about the mysterious patterns of free, sovereign grace bestowed on who He wills.
Compromise
And as we see that now, we are in a position to notice the various responses in these two chapters to God’s marvelous grace. And the first of them, sadly, is not so good. It is a response, actually, of compromise. God was giving them the land. Yes, they had to conquer it. They had to destroy their enemies or drive them out, to be sure, but He had promised to enable them to do exactly that, although it may take them a long time to accomplish it. But look at the failure of Ephraim in chapter 16 verse 10. “They did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor.” Manasseh didn’t fare much better. Chapter 17 verses 12 and 13, “The people of Manasseh could not take possession of those cities, but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.”
Now it’s one thing to attempt to evict or destroy the Canaanites as God had commanded them and to be defeated on their first or second attempt. If they were to persevere, God had promised that eventually they would have the victory. But that’s not the problem here. It’s not that they tried and failed a few times and were keeping at it. No, it’s that they tried the first time and failed and decided instead to opt for a compromise. An accommodation is made. They adjust God’s decree to suit themselves. Notice carefully that both in 16:10 and in 17:13 we are told that Ephraim and Manasseh actually came to occupy a position of sufficient power. They grew strong so that they would, had then chosen to do so, have been able in fact to drive out the Canaanites. But instead, they forced them to work as indentured servants on their behalf. How generous God is with us, how extravagant are the gifts of His grace, and how quickly we settle for mediocrity and compromise.
When the hard graft of killing sin, of driving it from our hearts, gets just a little too hard, the ancient insinuation of the serpent in the garden already starts to sound remarkably reasonable. You remember what he said to Eve in the garden. “Did God really say, ‘You may not eat from any of the trees in the garden?’ Does God really want you to be this exacting, this absolute, this complete in your obedience? Surely He would be fine with an approximation of holiness, something close enough. Close enough, surely, will be good enough!” But brothers and sisters, almost obedience is no obedience at all. And as the subsequent history of Israel shows, the apparently reasonable compromise that they make here in these two chapters, these accommodations – they’ve been told to destroy or drive out the Canaanites, but instead they accommodate them – and their subsequent history will show that they were to become a major source of spiritual failure later on as the easy lure of Canaanite paganism, festering like a spiritual disease in their midst, drew them away from devotion to the Lord. And so there is a warning here. Do you see it? A little compromise today, so very reasonable, a little compromise today makes room for terrible, spiritual drift tomorrow. A little compromise today, makes room for terrible, spiritual drift tomorrow.
Claim
Thankfully not everyone asked the devil’s question, “Did God really say?” Some among Joseph’s children knew exactly what God had said and were resolved to take Him at His Word. Here is the second response to God’s grace that I want you to see in these two chapters. First, compromise. Now, claim – the claim of faith in the promises of God. Look down at chapter 17 verses 3 through 6. Zelophehad had five daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. But he had no sons. And as you might expect, the custom in the ancient near east at that time was for the inheritance to pass to the firstborn male son, the eldest male heir. And so there is a problem for Zelophehad. There is a real danger that his inheritance would be lost forever. And so he brought the matter to Moses back in Numbers chapter 27. Moses inquired of the Lord and the Lord, actually remarkably, given the social conventions of that time and place, the Lord said, “No, the inheritance will pass to Zelophehad’s daughters. And now here we are, all these years later, and the daughters of Zelophehad have come to Joshua and Eleazar and the leaders to plead this very promise from the Lord and to claim the inheritance that had been assigned to them. They are standing on the Word of God. And despite what I can only imagine would have been the raised eyebrows and shocked expressions of the patriarchs of Israel, they claim what God said is rightfully theirs.
Look, the Bible is not at all ambiguous about the roles of men and women in the church and in the family. Only called and qualified men are authorized to be elders or deacons in the church of Jesus Christ. And the husband and father is called to be a spiritual, servant leader in the home. All of that is true. And in our day we know, don’t we, that those historic, Biblical patterns are under sustained assault. They are routinely denounced as repressive and out of date. And in times like that, I think we have to be especially careful not to overreact. When the Biblical patterns are being rejected so pervasively, we who want to be faithful to the Word of God must be careful not to overreact in an effort to defend the Biblical pattern and actually constrict the fullness of God’s blessing and the dignity bestowed upon the women of the church in a way that goes beyond the clear teaching of the Word of God.
The daughters of Zelophehad knew their rights and their roles and they claimed the blessing that was theirs. And ladies, so too must you. Not to go beyond the Word of God, but to stand in the call and gifting and rest upon the promises of God who says He will use you for His glory in the home, in the church, and in the world. A.W. Pink, in his book on Joshua, quotes a lecture from 1918 on the virgin birth that he once heard, which displays the remarkable wisdom of God even in this relatively obscure little moment in the middle of the book of Joshua. “The lecturer,” Pink says, “pointed out that Jesus could not be the inheritor of the throne of David, either through Joseph, for He was not born of Joseph, or through Mary, because a woman could not inherit it. And but for one remarkable circumstance it would be impossible for Him to be King of the Jews.” And then the lecturer sites Numbers 27:8 – Moses’ ruling about the daughters of Zelophehad. “If a man dies and has no son, you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter.” Because of Zelophehad’s five daughters, Mary could inherit after all, and thus she could pass the inheritance to Jesus, “from which we may see,” remarks Pink, “that not only in the ceremonial law but in the civil law of Israel also, God ever had Christ before Him.”
Isn’t that beautiful? I think that’s lovely. Talk about the wisdom and the sovereignty of God. Here is a perfect illustration of it. The Lord was working through the five daughters of Zelophehad to prepare the way for His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Ladies, never neglect your rights and privileges as daughters of the King. He has made promises to you to use you for His glory amidst His people. Look what He did through these five women who stood their ground and claimed what was promised. What might He yet do through you as you take your stand on God’s holy Word?
Complaint
Compromise. Claim. Then thirdly, complaint. Look over at chapter 17:14-16. Complaint. This is now actually the third time a request has been lodged asking for land in this part of the book. Caleb, back in chapter 14, Caleb asked for his inheritance. Zelophehad’s five daughters do the same in chapter 17. In both cases, both in Caleb’s case and the daughters of Zelophehad’s case, the response has been very positive. They receive what they ask for. But this time, the request is not a claim based on a prior promise from God. This time, the request is a complaint based on dissatisfaction with the inheritance already given by God. See what the people of Joseph say? Look at chapter 17 verse 14. “Why have you given me but one lot and one portion as inheritance, although I am a numerous people, since all along the Lord has blessed me?” Did you notice, by the way, how they cloak their complaining in pious language? “The Lord has blessed me, and so we have grown and that’s why I can’t be satisfied with this little parcel of land, this measly little gift you have given me. We need more because the Lord has blessed us.”
The mask slips almost immediately of course, doesn’t it? This is a thinly veiled boast. They are implying their great numbers evidence some sort of favored status. “We are entitled to bigger and better than this, Joshua!” Maybe they felt free to talk to Joshua in this way because Joshua himself was an Ephraimite. Maybe they thought he would agree that his team should get special treatment. But Joshua is not an easy mark as it turns out. They receive no preferential treatment. Instead, he says to them in verse 15, “Well, okay, since you’re so blessed with such great numbers, you’ll have no trouble cleaning out the woods and dealing with the Perizzites and the Rephaim who live there. Right? If you need more space, go get that!”
And then all of a sudden, the sons of Joseph move from an entitled complaining to self-centered whining. Look at verse 16. Notice how they change their story. “The enemy” – all of a sudden “The enemy is too big and too scary and they have chariots and we can’t do it!” “Wait, wait, wait. Guys, you said a minute ago the Lord has blessed you and you have all these people and you are strong and numerous. Surely under such blessing you can fulfill your duty and drive out the enemy and take possession of the land as the Lord Himself had promised.” In the end, they sound like entitled, complaining teenagers, don’t they? And we sort of shake our heads at them, though we do need to be careful that our contempt of their complaining does not also condemn us. After all, how often have we enjoyed the blessing of God, all of grace, all free, all undeserved, only to complain, when by comparison, as it appears to us, the other guy gets more. How often have we found ourselves thinking quietly, “You know, look how strong and rich and influential we are. Look at our resources, our position, our heritage, our history, our pedigree. Look what we’ve been given. We deserve a better seat at the table. We ought to be given some prominence and position. People should defer to us. We are special!”
What a stench in the nostrils of God that attitude really is. First Corinthians 4:6, “Do not go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. For who sees anything different than you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” All that we have, all that we are, all that we enjoy, the material and the social and the spiritual, all of it is a gift of free, sovereign grace. We don’t deserve any of it! Not pardon, not position, not privilege. God has made us His children and given His Son to the cross for us, put His Spirit to dwell within us, daily comforting and guiding us through all the trials and challenges of life by His Word, and we say, “I deserve better than this.” This passage is a mirror, isn’t it, and it shows up all the warts and wrinkles of our discontentment that we try to hide under the mask of pretended piety.
Confidence
Compromise. Claim. Complaint. Finally, notice confidence. Look again at Joshua’s response to the children of Joseph. In verses 17 and 18, they want more space. Joshua tells them to clear out the Perizzites and the Rephaim. And in his speech in verses 17 and 18, verse 18 really, he uses a little Hebrew particle five times over that is intended to underscore his confidence in what he is telling them. The ESV, I think, tries to bring it out by repeating the word, “shall.” Do you see that in the text? “The hill country shall be yours. You shall clear it and possess it. You shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron.” The half tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim, they sounded pious when they asked for more land. “The Lord has blessed us!” But as soon as they think about the iron chariots of the Canaanites, that pretense crumbles and falls away.
Joshua’s faith is not nearly so easily overthrown, however. I think he remembers Deuteronomy 7:17 where God anticipates this very scenario. “If you say in your heart, ‘The nations are greater than I! How can I dispossess them?’ you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember what the Lord your God did to pharaoh and to all Egypt. The great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out, so will the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. You shall not be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God. The Lord your God will clear away all these nations before you, little by little.” Joshua understands grace is not an excuse for compromise, much less is it an occasion for complaint. But grace, rather, is grounds for great confidence. It’s grounds for confidence. “You shall not be afraid of them. Remember what the Lord your God did – His mighty hand, His outstretched arm by which the Lord brought you out.”
Remember what God has done for you, brothers and sisters – greater things, by far, than anything the children of Israel first saw. He came Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ. He obeyed and bled and died in your room and stead. He rose in victory from the dead. He has triumphed over sin and death and hell forever. He has secured pardon for you, adoption, justification. He is at work still, praying for you without ceasing, preserving you, sanctifying you, preparing a place for you, giving His Spirit to you, answering your prayers, comforting you in sorrow, sympathizing with you in all your weaknesses, guiding your steps, illuminating your mind, transforming your life.
So, you shall not be afraid of them. You shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron. There are no giants in the land too great for a child of God. Do you believe that? There are no giants in the land too great for a child of God, not because you are strong or numerous or mighty. Not at all. But simply because of free, sovereign grace. That was Joshua’s confidence. It must be ours. God has lavished mercy and favor upon us. Do you think that after all He has done in you and all He has done for you so far that He will for any reason stop His work in your life and somehow back away from fulfilling His promises? No! “He that began a good work in you shall carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Grace makes no room for compromise, certainly gives no ground for complaint, but I hope you see grace gives unassailable grounds for confidence. Look back. Look back and see what God has done in the Lord Jesus Christ – how He has poured out His mercy and grace and favor upon you. And then, clinging to His promises to finish what He started, then you can press on to take hold of that for which God in Christ has taken hold of you. Let’s pray together.
O Lord, we do confess our quickness to compromise, appealing to grace as an excuse – “God will understand.” Our proneness to complain no matter how generous You are; we still want things our own way. How entitled we can be. Please forgive our sins and have mercy on us. Help us, like the daughters of Zelophehad, like Joshua, to take our stand on the ancient promise of Your Word that You never fail to finish what You start, that all Your promises are “Yes” and “Amen” in Jesus Christ. And so whatever challenges may yet lie ahead of us, help us to press on, to fight on, to labor on in the strength that You provide. For we ask it in Jesus’ name, amen.