CHAPTER 34

(1452 B.C.)

BORDERS OF CANAAN

¹And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

²Command the Children of Israel, and say unto them, When you come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan with the coasts (borders) thereof:) (The hand of love that guided the sons of Israel through the desert, in this Chapter, fixed the bounds of their habitation. It was only a very real and tender love that could occupy itself with such details. But the people were Jehovahs people the land, Emmanuels land and to love, nothing is small or unimportant Williams.)

³Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea (Dead Sea) eastward:

⁴And your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin: and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadesh-barnea, and shall go on to Hazar-addar, and pass on to Azmon:

⁵And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt (some conclude this River to be about halfway of Sinai, with others believing that it is the Suez), and the goings out of it shall be at the sea (Mediterranean).

⁶And as for the western border, you shall even have the great sea (Mediterranean) for a border: this shall be your west border.

⁷And this shall be your north border: from the great sea you shall point out for you Mount Hor:

⁸From Mount Hor you shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath; and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad:

⁹And the border shall go on to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazar-enan: this shall be your north border. (This took in most of modern Syria, actually going about 75 miles north of Damascus. It was occupied during the time of David, but was not held by the following kings. In the coming Kingdom Age, the borders of Israel will include all of this and much more.)

¹⁰And you shall point out your east border from Hazar-enan to Shepham:

¹¹And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward:

¹²And the border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea (Dead Sea): this shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about (the eastern border would have included most of modern Jordan, but, again, David alone conquered this particular territory; the kings which followed, by and large, lost it to heathen tribes).

¹³And Moses commanded the Children of Israel, saying, This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which the LORD commanded to give unto the nine Tribes, and to the half Tribe (as with Israel of old, presently, we fail to obtain all of our inheritance; we, regrettably, settle for half measures, or even less; such should not be! All that the Lord has promised us, even though it may not be easy to obtain, it most definitely can be obtained, because He has promised it to us; in other words, everything for which He paid such a price at the Cross, and I speak of the firstfruits which we can now have, we should make certain, in Christ, that we obtain it all [Rom. 8:23]):

¹⁴For the Tribe of the Children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the Tribe of the Children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and half the Tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance:

¹⁵The two Tribes and the half Tribe have received their inheritance on this side Jordan near Jericho eastward, toward the sunrising. (The two Tribes of Reuben and Gad received their inheritance on the eastern side of the Jordan River, in what is now modern day Jordan. As well, half of the Tribe of Manasseh also was on the eastern side of Jordan, with the other part on the western side. In fact, Manasseh had the largest portion, with the exception of Judah.)

THE LEADERS

¹⁶And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

¹⁷These are the names of the men which shall divide the land unto you: Eleazar the Priest, and Joshua the son of Nun.

¹⁸And you shall take one Prince of every Tribe, to divide the land by inheritance.

¹⁹And the names of the men are these: Of the Tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

²⁰And of the Tribe of the Children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud.

²¹Of the Tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon.

²²And the Prince of the Tribe of the Children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli.

²³The Prince of the Children of Joseph, for the Tribe of the Children of Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod.

²⁴And the Prince of the Tribe of the Children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan.

²⁵And the Prince of the Tribe of the Children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach.

²⁶And the Prince of the Tribe of the Children of Issachar, Paltiel the son of Azzan.

²⁷And the Prince of the Tribe of the Children of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi.

²⁸And the Prince of the Tribe of the Children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.

²⁹These are they whom the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance unto the Children of Israel in the land of Canaan. (If it is to be noticed, the Lord selected the men who were to head up the Tribes, a man from each Tribe, with Eleazar, the High Priest, and Joshua being in charge, thus, satisfying the ecclesiastical and military heads respectively of the theocracy.)