“The third lot came up for the descendants of Z’vulun according to their families. The border of their inheritance began at Sarid. Then their border went up westward to Mar‘alah, extended to Dabeshet and on to the vadi fronting Yokne‘am. Also from Sarid it turned toward the sunrise to the east to the border of Kislot-Tavor, went on to Dovrat and up to Yafia. From there it passed eastward to Gat-Hefer, on to ‘Et-Katzin, went out at Rimmon and reached to Ne‘ah. Then the border turned on the north side to Hanaton, ending in the Yiftach’el Valley. Also Katat, Nahalal, Shimron, Yid’alah and Beit-Lechem — twelve cities, together with their villages. This is the inheritance of the descendants of Z’vulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.”-Joshua 19:10-16
We’re going to be picking up the pace a bit today.
So let’s examine the land inheritances of the next 5 tribes as follows…
The 3rd Lot For Zebulun:
Zebulun inherited territory in the northern area of the Jezreel Valley which means they got instant access to some really fertile land that was perfect for raising an abundance of crops. Another point I don’t want you to overlook is to notice how the description of the land Zebulun received specifically informs us of boundary lines outlining their inheritance. Recall, this was different than Simeon’s territorial description which only contained the names of a bunch of cities, villages, and towns.
The 4th Lot For Issachar:
The same as Zebulun, Issachar received land in the northern regions of Canaan and their territorial holdings are described by crystal clear and unambiguous borderlines. It’s interesting to note that in Jewish tradition, the descendants of Issachar were viewed as being dominated by religious scholars and influential in proselytism.
The 5th Lot For Asher:
One thing I want you to notice about the pronouncement of the tribal territory of Asher is the little tidbit that says their land was assigned “according to families”. Why is this significant? Because that little phrase demonstrates this was NOT a situation whereby some power hungry tribal prince owned the land and just allowed the families to live on his property at his behest.
While it was the clans and families that made up a tribe, the tribal leader was not a king who owned and ruled over the land. How it was supposed to work is that the ownership of the city or village belong to the clan to whom it was given. Got it? This wasn’t a temporary land lease man! Of course, as well know in both the Scriptures and in life, more often than not, there is a gap between the way things are supposed to be and the way things actually turn out.
Onward, the territory Asher received was some enviable high valuable real estate that covered even the whole Mediterranean Sea coast! Wow! Can you just visualize busy sea ports teeming with tourists and a flourishing trade business? However, there was just one itsy bitsy teeny weeny little problem Asher faced. Joshua had conquered exactly ZERO areas of the seacoast.
It was still teeming with a bunch of aggressive Canaanites who come hell or high water had absolutely no intention to hand over their fertile sea shores to a bunch of Israelites who had just shown up on their doorsteps. Israel was gonna have to fight and drive ’em out if they were going to make their holiday seaport dreams a reality. Of course, this would be achieved in good time.
The 6th Lot For Naphtali:
The land Naphtali got was situated smack dab between the upper region of the Jordan River and Asher territory. It stretched up to the very northernmost boundaries of Canaan (the borders of Canaan as defined in the Biblical era, nowadays it’s different). On the south side, Naphtali territory shared a their border with the tribal territories of Zebulun and Issachar.
So what’s so significant about Naphtali?
Well, the southern part of their land (that bordered Zebulun and Issachar) would eventually be called Galil.
But perhaps, you know this area by the other name it would eventually come to be called: Galilee.
That’s right folks!
Our Savior and Messiah hailed from Naphtali territory.
We’ll continue on with the territories of the other tribes the next time we meet.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“When Yeshua heard that John had been put in prison,
he withdrew to Galilee.
Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum,
which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—
to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
‘Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”
From that time on Yeshua began to preach,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.'”
-Matthew 4:12-17
Leave a Reply