“Moshe the servant of Adonai, with the people of Isra’el, defeated them; and Moshe the servant of Adonai gave it to the Re’uveni, the Gadi and the half-tribe of M’nasheh as their possession.Following are the kings of the land whom Y’hoshua, with the people of Isra’el, defeated in the area west of the Yarden, between Ba‘al-Gad in the L’vanon Valley and the bare mountain that goes up to Se‘ir. Y’hoshua gave this land, inhabited by the Hitti, Emori, Kena‘ani, P’rizi, Hivi and Y’vusi, to the tribes of Isra’el to possess, according to their divisions, in the hills, the Sh’felah, the ‘Aravah, the mountain slopes, the desert and the Negev”-Joshua 12:6-8
In verse 6, we’re told how Moses defeated the enemy people who were living in the Trans-Jordan (the area east of the Jordan River outside of the Promised Land).
The point being communicated in this verse is…
…just as Moses conquered and took territories for the people of Israel, Joshua was to do the same.
However, there are some interesting differences between what Moses and Joshua did.
FIRST, Joshua’s conquests were ALL inside Promised Land territory whereas Moses’ exploits were not.
Again, Moses conquered land east of the Jordan River that was NOT part of the Promised Land.
SECOND, Moses personally handed over the land in the Trans-Jordan to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and 1/2 of Manasseh.
Joshua, however, doled out the land according to the drawing of lots.
Onward.
In verses 7 and 8, we’re given a general explanation of the boundaries of the Promised Land.
We’re told the land extended from BA’AL GAD situated in the north where Lebanon is (that’s right! Lebanon belongs to Israel!) all the way down to Seir (also called Edom) in the southern area.
Next, the east-west borderlines are defined as being from the hills above the Jordan Valley (on the West Bank of the Jordan River) to the Mediterranean Coast (called SHEFELAH).
Now here’s something interesting to chew on.
If we were to take a pen and plot the cities that Joshua and his men conquered starting with Jericho, moving on to Ai and then finally down to the last city to be taken called TIRTZAH, do you wanna know what we would find?
We’d find that the foundational territory of the Promised Land lies dead center in that area the world calls the West Bank!
Now isn’t that ironic as all hell?
The very region that the Islamic Arabic nations absolutely insists belong to them (and that the Israeli government unwittingly agrees to) is actually the very same territory the Bible says is the heart of Israel and the future Messianic Kingdom of God.
Amazing!
Leave a Reply