In Joshua 13 Jehovah says to Joshua, “Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.” He was jealous for His servant, and rouses him to the fulfillment of his commission. For the Israelites had been slothful; they were slow to act upon the full grant of Jehovah. They would have rested when they had acquired enough to sustain themselves; but not such is the mind of God for us any more than for them. He will have us care for the things of others, yea, for the things which are Jesus Christ's; for indeed all things are ours, and the more we make them our own in the power of the faith, the more is He glorified and the church blessed. For there is no better way to help on another saint than to win upon Satan and make progress ourselves.
Hence the land that remained is set out in detail: “All the borders of the Philistines, and all Geshuri, from Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites: from the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that is beside the Sidonians, unto Aphek, to the borders of the Amorites: and the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baal-gad under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath. All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto Misrephoth-maim, and all the Sidonians, them will I drive out from before the children of Israel: only divide thou it by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee. Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance unto the nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh.” Thus Joshua is commanded to divide by lot even what was not yet wrested from the hands of the inhabitants. What an encouragement to advance without fear! Is not Jehovah worthy of trust? Nevertheless He will have His people to fight for Canaan; not for redemption from Egypt, but for their inheritance in the promised land—to fight as those who are dead and risen with Christ, blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Him. And most minutely does Jehovah point out the borders of what He was giving them, and the enemies who must be dispossessed of their present hold, even as He deigns to mark out precisely what the two tribes and a half had already acquired under Moses, though it was short of the proper inheritance of His people.
We may note also how repeatedly, even in this chapter, attention is drawn to the tribe of Levi as without any such portion by the will of God (Josh. 13:14-3314Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave none inheritance; the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as he said unto them. 15And Moses gave unto the tribe of the children of Reuben inheritance according to their families. 16And their coast was from Aroer, that is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain by Medeba; 17Heshbon, and all her cities that are in the plain; Dibon, and Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baal-meon, 18And Jahazah, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, 19And Kirjathaim, and Sibmah, and Zareth-shahar in the mount of the valley, 20And Beth-peor, and Ashdoth-pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth, 21And all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses smote with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, which were dukes of Sihon, dwelling in the country. 22Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them. 23And the border of the children of Reuben was Jordan, and the border thereof. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben after their families, the cities and the villages thereof. 24And Moses gave inheritance unto the tribe of Gad, even unto the children of Gad according to their families. 25And their coast was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, unto Aroer that is before Rabbah; 26And from Heshbon unto Ramath-mizpeh, and Betonim; and from Mahanaim unto the border of Debir; 27And in the valley, Beth-aram, and Beth-nimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, Jordan and his border, even unto the edge of the sea of Chinnereth on the other side Jordan eastward. 28This is the inheritance of the children of Gad after their families, the cities, and their villages. 29And Moses gave inheritance unto the half tribe of Manasseh: and this was the possession of the half tribe of the children of Manasseh by their families. 30And their coast was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, threescore cities: 31And half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were pertaining unto the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, even to the one half of the children of Machir by their families. 32These are the countries which Moses did distribute for inheritance in the plains of Moab, on the other side Jordan, by Jericho, eastward. 33But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not any inheritance: the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance, as he said unto them. (Joshua 13:14‑33)). To the Levites was given no inheritance in the land. The sacrifices of Jehovah God of Israel made by fire, yea, Jehovah Himself, was their inheritance, as He said unto them. The workmen of the Lord stood on a different footing from the rest of His people, and were called to special confidence in His provision for them and His Word about them. If they failed in this, could they wonder that their words had little power?