CHAPTER 19

(1444 B.C.)

THE INHERITANCE OF SIMEON

¹And the second lot came forth to Simeon, even for the Tribe of the Children of Simeon according to their families: and their inheritance was within the inheritance of the Children of Judah. (Simeon, because of his misconduct [Gen. 49:7], was under a curse. As a result, he was really to have no inheritance in the Promised Land. And so he didnt, and again, so he did!

Judah shared her inheritance with the outcast brother, and thus doubled her joy. Dividing Divine blessing with others doubles it. This is a great principle, and should motivate our actions at all times.

Thus it was that Simeon, justly doomed to wrath, was taken up in Grace the curse being turned into a blessing and given a seat among the sons at the Kings table; for the Lord sprang out of Judah [Heb. 7:14].

Simeon was saved by Grace, not by works; the name means hearing. The Holy Spirit in Galatians 3:2 contrasts salvation by doing and salvation by hearing, and teaches that only upon the latter principle can sinners be given a portion in the Heavenly Canaan Williams.

In truth, Simeon and Judah proclaim a type of the human race, and our Lord in His Grace. The whole of the human race is cursed. But our Heavenly Judah, by His Grace, and certainly not through any good thing that we have done, has made room for us in His Inheritance. And, to be sure, a place in Judahs Inheritance is the greatest position of all.)

²And they had in their inheritance Beer-sheba, and Sheba, and Moladah,

³And Hazar-shual, and Balah, and Azem,

⁴And Eltolad, and Bethul, and Hormah,

⁵And Ziklag, and Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susah,

⁶And Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities and their villages:

⁷Ain, Remmon, and Ether, and Ashan; four cities and their villages:

⁸And all the villages that were round about these cities to Baalath-beer, Ramath of the south. This is the inheritance of the Tribe of the Children of Simeon according to their families.

⁹Out of the portion of the Children of Judah was the inheritance of the Children of Simeon: for the part of the Children of Judah was too much for them: therefore the Children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of them.

THE INHERITANCE OF ZEBULUN

¹⁰And the third lot came up for the Children of Zebulun according to their families: and the border of their inheritance was unto Sarid:

¹¹And their border went up toward the sea, and Maralah, and reached to Dabbasheth, and reached to the river that is before Jokneam;

¹²And turned from Sarid eastward toward the sunrising unto the border of Chisloth-tabor, and then goes out to Daberath, and goes up to Japhia,

¹³And from thence passes on along on the east to Gittah-hepher, to Ittah-kazin, and goes out of Remmon-methoar to Neah;

¹⁴And the border compasses it on the north side to Hannathon: and the outgoings thereof are in the valley of Jiphthah-el:

¹⁵And Kattath, and Nahallal, and Shimron, and Idalah, and Beth-lehem: twelve cities with their villages.

¹⁶This is the inheritance of the Children of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.

THE INHERITANCE OF ISSACHAR

¹⁷And the fourth lot came out to Issachar, for the Children of Issachar according to their families.

¹⁸And their border was toward Jezreel, and Chesulloth, and Shunem,

¹⁹And Haphraim, and Shihon, and Anaharath,

²⁰And Rabbith, and Kishion, and Abez,

²¹And Remeth, and En-gannim, and En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez;

²²And the coast reaches to Tabor, and Shahazimah, and Beth-shemesh; and the outgoings of their border were at Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages.

²³This is the inheritance of the Tribe of the Children of Issachar according to their families, the cities and their villages.

THE INHERITANCE OF ASHER

²⁴And the fifth lot came out for the Tribe of the Children of Asher according to their families.

²⁵And their border was Helkath, and Hali, and Beten, and Achshaph,

²⁶And Alammelech, and Amad, and Misheal; and reaches to Carmel westward, and to Shihor-libnath;

²⁷And turns toward the sunrising to Beth-dagon, and reaches to Zebulun, and to the valley of Jiphthah-el toward the north side of Beth-emek, and Neiel, and goes out to Cabul on the left hand,

²⁸And Hebron, and Rehob, and Hammon, and Kanah, even unto great Zidon;

²⁹And then the coast turns to Ramah, and to the strong city Tyre; and the coast turns to Hosah; and the outgoings thereof are at the sea from the coast to Achzib:

³⁰Ummah also, and Aphek, and Rehob: twenty and two cities with their villages.

³¹This is the inheritance of the Tribe of the Children of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.

THE INHERITANCE OF NAPHTALI

³²The sixth lot came out to the Children of Naphtali, even for the Children of Naphtali according to their families.

³³And their coast was from Heleph, from Allon to Zaanannim, and Adami, Nekeb, and Jabneel, unto Lakum; and the outgoings thereof were at Jordan:

³⁴And then the coast turns westward to Aznoth-tabor, and goes out from thence to Hukkok, and reaches to Zebulun on the south side, and reaches to Asher on the west side, and to Judah upon Jordan toward the sunrising.

³⁵And the fenced cities are Ziddim, Zer, and Hammath, Rakkath, and Chinnereth,

³⁶And Adamah, and Ramah, and Hazor,

³⁷And Kedesh, and Edrei, and En-hazor,

³⁸And Iron, and Migdal-el, Horem, and Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh; nineteen cities with their villages.

³⁹This is the inheritance of the Tribe of the Children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities and their villages.

THE INHERITANCE OF DAN

⁴⁰And the seventh lot came out for the Tribe of the Children of Dan according to their families.

⁴¹And the coast of their inheritance was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh,

⁴²And Shaalabbin, and Ajalon, and Jethlah,

⁴³And Elon, and Thimnathah, and Ekron,

⁴⁴And Eltekeh, and Gibbethon, and Baalath,

⁴⁵And Jehud, and Bene-berak, and Gath-rimmon,

⁴⁶And Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the border before Japho.

⁴⁷And the coast of the Children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore the Children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.

⁴⁸This is the inheritance of the Tribe of the Children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.

JOSHUAS INHERITANCE

⁴⁹When they had made an end of dividing the land for inheritance by their coasts (borders), the Children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun among them:

⁵⁰According to the Word of the LORD they gave him the city which he asked, even Timnath-serah in Mount Ephraim: and he built the city, and dwelt therein. (First of all, Joshua did not ask for anything for himself until all the others had received their portions. He asked for a particular city, and the Lord said that he could have it. Timnath means the portion that remains, while Serah means city of the Sun. This could well be symbolic of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, i.e., the portion that remains. As well, Serah could typify the life that flows from the Spirit, as it flows from the Sun.)

⁵¹These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the Priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the Tribes of the Children of Israel, divided for an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the LORD, at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation. So they made an end of dividing the country. (Here the fact is emphasized that God distributed the land to Israel; He employed others to do such; however, it was all done with the decorum of proper proceedings. The fact that God decided the portion for each Tribe effectually prevented any challenge as to the justness of the distribution. From this, the lesson may be learned that the right way is to allow the Lord to choose for us, instead of us choosing for ourselves.)