Dividing Equally or Not

Have you ever looked at the maps in the back of your Bible? They're wonderful, aren't they? Helps me to get a better picture of how things were situated. But, I have to say the map displaying how the holy land was distributed between the tribes of Israel has me wondering, what they were thinking when the land was divided? I mean Simeon is an island in the midst of the territory belonging to Judah. That would be like putting Rhode Island in the middle of Texas. Awkward.

But according to several sources when Joshua assigned land parcels among the nation, he had to base it on the size of the tribe and the land features. So he looked at the rivers and valleys and hills making sure every tribe could meet their need for water, had a way to plant and harvest, and could graze their livestock. Not having a system to survey the land for boundaries they measured the split by cities. It would be like splitting up Texas into sections and telling one group you can have the area from San Antonio to Austin and over to Fredericksburg.

I find it interesting that centuries after Joseph provided food and shelter for his family from the infamous famine, the tribes of his two sons are granted the most fertile lands in the area. And like some families, they still grumbled that they didn't receive enough land. What were they thinking? They got the biggest portion and they still complained?

Also, curiously, the small tribe of Benjamin had to be placed between the two biggest tribes. The commentary, Bible Knowledge Commentary, explains it was to curb any rivalry between the two bigger tribes. Interestingly enough, that small tribe had no problem holding onto its humble track of land which became the site of several important cities years later. . .Bethel, Gibeon, Ramah, Jericho, and Jerusalem. They may have been small but they were entrusted with much.

I do like that Joshua and the nation put the tent of meeting in a central location for all the people to come and worship God. Of course, the Levites were sprinkled among the tribes to keep the people's focus on God. . . it's like having a church and pastor in every town. It's cool when you think about it. God placing spiritual leaders near communities for support and guidance; he still does.

While the map continues to look strange to me, at least now I can make sense of what happened back then that led to such an interesting arrangement. Just goes to show, there's always a reason for the way things were done.