J18-3: The Reason Why Seven Tribes Still Resisted Receiving Their Promised Land Inheritance

“There still remained among the people of Israel seven tribes that had not yet received their inheritance.  Y’hoshua said to the people of Isra’el, ‘How long will you delay going in to take possession of the land which Adonai the God of your ancestors has given you?'”-Joshua 18:2-3

Verse 2 lets us know that all was not well in Israel at the moment.

A total of 7 of the 12 tribes had yet to receive their promised land inheritance and it was all their fault.

An aging Joshua was starting to lose patience with them.

He let them know in no uncertain terms he wasn’t pleased with the situation.

“How long are you guys gonna just sit on your butts and delay in doing what the Lord has commanded you to do?”...

…Joshua asks them.

Why were these 7 tribes so reluctant to move forward and take what was rightfully theirs?

Well, I’ve already mentioned this before but it’s not like all the tribes had to do was waltz into their assigned Promised Land territory, set up residence, and then just kick back and enjoy life.

Part and parcel of inheriting their land was that they’d have to wage a war against the Canaanites who were living there and that seemed to be too much of a daunting challenge at the moment.

Keep in mind the Israelites at this time were anything but trained soldiers.

They were more like Bedouins.

Do you know what a Bedouin is?

They are nomadic desert dwellers who could care less about working the land for produce or fighting over territorial rights in some region.

Why?

Because their whole lifestyle consisted in just wandering around from place to place to seek fresh water and pasture for their animals.

Their whole life strategy was based on the AVOIDANCE of conflict, not seeking it out.

The idea of committing to a goal over a sustained period of time was as foreign to them as the idea of peace is to the Hamas terrorist organization.

The idea of firmly established land boundaries that had to be respected no matter what didn’t exist in their minds.

And let’s not forget this was exactly the kind of lifestyle the Israelites had lived out in the desert wilderness for 40 years.

The Lord was now calling them to a radically new way of life…one that involved combat and direct violent confrontation.

Either way, Joshua was not about to give up.

In response to their resistance, he ordered the 7 tribes to immediately appoint 3 men who were to go up and scout out the territory that had been assigned to them.

They were to come back with a full report.

Based on that report, proper adjustments would be made in accordance with a tribe’s population size and where they were located at the moment.

And then Joshua would die knowing he had accomplished the mission God had sent him out to do…

…which was to get the children of Israel settled in their Promised Land and have it divided up among them.