Joshua 19:40-20:6.  Three things happen in today’s reading.  Dan’s portion is aloted to him, Joshua gets his land, and Joshua starts the process of designating the Cities of Refuge.

In an earlier post (3/17/12) we looked at what a City of Refuge was.  As in today’s reading it was a place for a person who unintentionally killed another person to live and be protected.  They could not leave the city, though, until the high priest died.  In that post I suggested that death in general is a consequence of sin and that sin needs to be dealt with.  Jesus as our ultimate High Priest is the one who deals ultimately with sin (Hebrews 9:1-17).  I think that the Cities of Refuge were a picture of this.

In Genesis 49 the blessing or prophecy of Jacob concerning Dan is a little scary.  First is says that Dan will judge his people.  That word “judge” means to fight for or contend.  But when we read through Judges we saw Dan failing to fight for their own territory.   The Danites moved north to look for a new place to live because they did not want to late over the land given to them by Joshua.  Today’s reading also mentions their failure to take the land and that they took Laish (Called Leshem in our reading) (Joshua 19:47).  Ironically the Danites were the second largest tribe in the wilderness (see Numbers 2).  In Moses blessing of the tribes he calls Dan a Lion’s cub (Deuteronomy 33:22).  That is the same wording used by Jacob in his blessing of Judah.  The difference though is in Jacob’s blessing the cub (Judah) seems to grow up and takes down the prey.  The cub becomes a lion.  On the other hand in Moses’ blessing the cub (Dan) is just frolicking around in the hills of Bashan, the very area where Dan migrated to and took over a peaceful city so they could live without conflict.  Dan in other words stayed a puppy.  And ultimately they fought only for themselves (See also Judges 5:17).  So although the blessing tells of them being judges it wound up being selfish service even though they were still part of the whole group.  The blessing gets worse in the second part with Dan being compared to a snake biting the heel of a passer by.  Traditionally Jewish scholars see this prophecy being fulfilled by Samson who was a Danite.  If you read through Judges with us you might remember that Samson was very self-centered too.  It is interesting that in Revelation 7 Dan is not included in the list of tribes which represent God during the Tribulation period (See “The Twelve?”).  Many scholars see a parallel between the description of Dan in Genesis 49 and the description of the conflict between Satan and the promised offspring of Eve (Jesus, see “The Old Testament Connection”).  The blessing of Jacob concludes with a prayer for God to bring salvation.

I think that today’s reading is a contrast between maturity and immaturity.  Dan was immature and only looked out for themselves.  In Israel’s history they do have some high moments (They helped build the Tabernacle (Exodus 31:6) and they did defeat Canaanites at Laish) but they had many bad moments too.  In Leviticus 24:11 we see a Danite cursing God’s name.  Also in the story of Laish one of the first things the Danites did in that city was set up a false religion (Judges 18:30-31). Joshua on the other hand is a picture of a true leader.  I like it that he take his land last.  And the picture is one of conquest and construction.  He actually took his land and did something with it.  It is sad that the inheritance which God gave, at the very door to the Tabernacle, the place where the Israelites had seen His presence for the last 45 or more years, was not fully taken.  They had the presence of God and didn’t use it.  But we have the presence of God too, the Holy Spirit (if you are a believer).  The question is are we going to be a Dan or a Joshua?  Are we going to leap around on the hills for the rest of our lives or take the land and build something on it?  Lord help me build my life for you.  Let my life be a city on a hill.  Let my life be a testimony, a witness, of your presence.  You told your followers that there is no middle ground (Luke 9:50, 11:23) we are either for or against you.  Help me not think I can sit on the fence and selfishly serve myself.  Let me be whole heartedly for you. 

Joshua 19:24-39.  Again both of theses territories are in the north, north of the territories we looked at yesterday, Zebulun and Issachar, though Asher touches Manasseh along the south-western edge of the Jezreel valley.  Asher’s territory .  Was the costal plain from and including part of the Jezreel Valley to the city of Sidon.  Most maps of the tribal territories show Asher stopping about seven miles north of the city of Tyre at the Litani River.  Judges 1:31 tells us that at the time of the Judges that Asher had not driven the inhabitants of Sidon from that city.  Naphtali’s territory included most of the Galilee Hills east of Asher’s territory.  Their territory also included a strip of east of the Jordan River.  Naphtali’s allotment stopped at the northern border of Isachar .  both Asher’s and Naphtali’s common border splits around Zebulun along it’s lower 1/3.   split around Zebulun Zebulun’s territory was west of the Sea  of Galilee bud did not touch it.  Their territory included hill country from about the ridge line of the central hills down their west side to the coastal plain.  Their south-western border flowed into the Jezreel Valley (You might remember that valley from the book of Judges.  It’s the place where the battle of Gideon started.  Issachar’s territory was southeast of Zebulun’s and south of the Sea of Galilee.  It also included part of the Jezreel Valley (the wider eastern portion) and extended to the Jordan River in the east.

In Genesis 49 the blessings or prophecies of Jacob concerning both Asher and Naphtali are short and seemingly wonderful.  Most of us would like these sorts of blessings from our fathers.  They seem to be blessings of peace and an easy life.  Yesterday when we looked at the prophecy about Zebuln I said it was interesting because it said Zebulun shall dwell at the sea shore, it shall be a haven for ships, and his border shall be toward Sidon.  Now today we find that that is just where the territory of Asher is located.  Yesterday we alo noted tht Zebulun was a leader in the area.  According to Judges 5:17 Asher was a little too laid back and when Israel was invaded they “stayed by the seashore”.

The blessing for Asher may be one that we all want but we should be careful if we get something like this.  When life is too easy we get lazy.  Proverbs 12:27 tells us that a lazy person does not get to even cook the dinner he has hunted for.  It is interesting in Jacob’s blessing (Genesis 49:20) that it says Asher will have rich food fit for a king.  As we saw from Judges 1:31 Asher could not deal with the Phoenician presence (Tyre and Sidon were major Phoenician cities and notice in Joshua 19:29 the mention of Tyre being fortified).  It was common in those days for people to make peace with a stronger ruling group in a regin and to pay a tribute to their king(think taxes here).  The tribute would be things of value including food.  Later in Israel’s history Solomon buys material fro the temple from the king of Tyre.  So long after the division of the land Asher still had not taken possession of it.

Naphtali’s blessing is seems to indicate freedom and a peaceful life.  The wording in Hebrew is a little difficult and different translators translate it differently.  They mostly seem to agree that the first part of the blessing compares Naphtali to a female deer running free through the forest.  The second part of the blessing seems more obscure.  Some Change the metaphor and translate the second part as “give beautiful words” while other translate it “bear beautiful fawns”.  To us it seems like a big difference but in Hebrew the word for “word” is “imre” and the word for fawn (actually lamb) is “immar”.  You still might think “big difference”.  But ancient Hbrw ws wrttn wt ot vwls (Hebrew was written with out vowels), so the word were written “mr” and “mmr” (obviously in Hebrew letters though).  So the difference is very slight.  It seems to me that the better translation is fawns but in either case we get the picture of a peaceful life in the hills.  Don’t be fooled though according to Judges 5:17 Naphtali was right there when it cane time to fight.  It is interesting that there is no northern border described for Naphtali perhaps fitting the picture of a free doe running wild in the hills.  Also you might remember that when Dan could not take their territory in the south that they moved to the north and founded a city named after their tribe (Judges 18, see especially v. 7 and v. 29).  That city, Dan (formerly Laish) was in Naphtali’s territory.

For me the message today is to not be lazy, to not always look for the easy life.  Asher seemed to have it all they owned all the real estate from Newport Beach to Santa Monica.  Rich fertile farm land, beautiful beaches, and productive harbors.  But they were slave to their easy lives.  The good life made them accept the Phoenician presence in their midst.  Instead of helping the world wee God they kicked back and fit in.  Naphtali had an easy life too but they were willing to fight when the time came.  We need to be like that.  We need to stand up for God.  Lord hel me have a good balance in my life.  Let me enjoy the good things you have provided but help me remember that it is you who gave them to me.  As I live life let me honor you for the life you have provided.  Let me be careful not to focus on the stuff.  Let me remember the giver more than the gift.  Thank you for making life good.  Let remind those around me about who you are and what you have done for all of us.  You cause the rain to fall on all, those who are right with you and those who have turned their backs.  Help me help them see you.  Let me fight the fight and enjoy the times of rest.