Joshua 18:1-20.  While quite a bit of time was spent in Joshua detailing the division to Judah and Joseph the pace now picks up for the seven remaining tribes.  Remember two tribes (Gad and Reuben) and part of Manasseh received their part of the land east of the Jordan River and we have just seen Judah and the rest of Joseph (Manasseh with Ephraim) receiving their land.  That makes 4 so far.  Levi will not receive a large piece of land but will receive some cities with fields around them.  So we have seven of the twelve left.

In Joshua 14:6 at the beginning of the allotment of the land Caleb went to Gilgal to talk to Joshua about getting his land.  Gilgal was the place that the Israelites made camp when the originally crossed the Jordan River (Joshua 4:15-5:10).  It appears to have been both their religious (Joshua 5:10) and military center (Joshua 9:6; 10:6-15).  The priests with the ark went up there (Joshua 4:15-19) so it would ssem that the Tabernacle (a sort of portable church) was probably set up there.  Gilgal was in the south about 5 miles north of the northern tip of the Dead Sea and about two mile west of the river.  In today’s reading the people gathered together at a place called Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting (The Tabernacle).

Shiloh was about 15 miles north of Gilgal and a little west.   Remember that in those days there were no cars or buses, people mostly walked.  The Dead Sea is the lowest place on Earth at about 1400 feet below sea level.  The Jordan Rover flows south into the Dead Sea through a deep canyon called the Jordan River Rift.  To the west of this deep valley are the three groups of “hills”.  The Judean hills in the south, the Samarian hills in the central area, and the Galilee Hills in the north.  Further west is the costal plain.  Shiloh was in this central hill region at an elevation of maybe 2400 feet above sea level.  The total elevation difference between Gilgal and Shiloh would have been about 4000 feet.  To go from Gilgal to Shiloh would have been a pretty intense one day trip for a small group.  It probably would have taken several days to move the Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting there.

We do get some sense of time having passed during the events of the past few chapters though.  And in verses three Joshua seems to be a little upset with the other tribes for not having taken their land yet.  Now to be fair, the land hadn’t been divided yet, but remember that didn’t stop Caleb who pushed the matter with Joshua to get his land right away.  In the beginning of today’s reading Joshua has the tribes choose three men each to go out and survey the land.  They then returned to Shiloh where Joshua rolled the dice to see who got what (But remember that this was not considered random.  See the post on 3/16/12).  The first division was given to Benjamin who got a piece of land tucked between Judah on the south and Manasseh/Ephraim in the north.  Benjamin’s land bordered the Jordan River and ran up and over the central hill country stopping about the bottom of the hills to the west.

What I liked about today’s reading was that Joshua never seems to lose sight of his mission.  His job is to divide up the land.  Years go by and he keeps getting back to the same message.  He seems pretty focused.  I also like the fact that the actual division is in God’s hands and so is the conquest.  Notice how whenever Joshua is getting on to the people he says something like, “How long will you delay in taking the land the LORD has given you?”  It’s past tense like it’s a done deal.  They are like abunce of kids standing around looking at the most awesome Christmas present and mom and dad have to say, “Go on take that bike for a spin.”  A few weeks ago we started a series on Spiritual Gifts called Volleyballs and Waterfalls on Sunday mornings (See “Sunday Scripture Exploration” for more about this).  The series is really about ministry, about living the life God has designed for each of us. We each have a place in the body of Christ, the church, and we need to figure it out and then get in there and do whatever God has for us to do.  And we need to keep on doing it.  We need to be Joshua’s.  Lord help me be focused.  Help me be persistent.  Give me a clear vision of what you want me to do.  Thank you for having a place for me in your forever family.  Keep me focused and faithful.