BOUNDARIES OF THE PROMISED LAND

Passage: Numbers 33:50-34:29

Key verse: 34:1,2

NIV

50 On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho(A) the Lord said to Moses, 51 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,(B) 52 drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places.(C) 53 Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess.(D) 54 Distribute the land by lot,(E) according to your clans.(F) To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one.(G) Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes.(H)

55 “‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns(I) in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. 56 And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.(J)’”

Boundaries of Canaan

34 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter Canaan,(K) the land that will be allotted to you as an inheritance(L) is to have these boundaries:(M)

3 “‘Your southern side will include some of the Desert of Zin(N) along the border of Edom. Your southern boundary will start in the east from the southern end of the Dead Sea,(O) 4 cross south of Scorpion Pass,(P) continue on to Zin and go south of Kadesh Barnea.(Q) Then it will go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon,(R) 5 where it will turn, join the Wadi of Egypt(S) and end at the Mediterranean Sea.

6 “‘Your western boundary will be the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.(T) This will be your boundary on the west.(U)

7 “‘For your northern boundary,(V) run a line from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor(W) 8 and from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath.(X) Then the boundary will go to Zedad, 9 continue to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your boundary on the north.

10 “‘For your eastern boundary,(Y) run a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 11 The boundary will go down from Shepham to Riblah(Z) on the east side of Ain(AA) and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Galilee.[a](AB) 12 Then the boundary will go down along the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea.

“‘This will be your land, with its boundaries on every side.’”

13 Moses commanded the Israelites: “Assign this land by lot(AC) as an inheritance.(AD) The Lord has ordered that it be given to the nine and a half tribes, 14 because the families of the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance.(AE) 15 These two and a half tribes have received their inheritance east of the Jordan across from Jericho, toward the sunrise.”

16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “These are the names of the men who are to assign the land for you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua(AF) son of Nun. 18 And appoint one leader from each tribe to help(AG) assign the land.(AH) 19 These are their names:(AI)

Caleb(AJ) son of Jephunneh,

from the tribe of Judah;(AK)

20 Shemuel son of Ammihud,

from the tribe of Simeon;(AL)

21 Elidad son of Kislon,

from the tribe of Benjamin;(AM)

22 Bukki son of Jogli,

the leader from the tribe of Dan;

23 Hanniel son of Ephod,

the leader from the tribe of Manasseh(AN) son of Joseph;

24 Kemuel son of Shiphtan,

the leader from the tribe of Ephraim(AO) son of Joseph;

25 Elizaphan son of Parnak,

the leader from the tribe of Zebulun;(AP)

26 Paltiel son of Azzan,

the leader from the tribe of Issachar;

27 Ahihud son of Shelomi,

the leader from the tribe of Asher;(AQ)

28 Pedahel son of Ammihud,

the leader from the tribe of Naphtali.”

29 These are the men the Lord commanded to assign the inheritance to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.(AR)

Footnotes
  1. Numbers 34:11 Hebrew Kinnereth
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

Drive Out the Inhabitants

50 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, (A)When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then (B)you shall drive out (C)all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their (D)figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. 53 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. 54 (E)You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. (F)To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as (G)barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. 56 And I will do to you (H)as I thought to do to them.”

Boundaries of the Land

34 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter (I)the land of Canaan (J)(this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders), 3 (K)your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of (L)the Salt Sea on the east. 4 And your border shall turn south of (M)the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to (N)Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon. 5 And the border shall turn (O)from Azmon to (P)the Brook of Egypt, and its limit shall be at the sea.

6 “For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its[a] coast. This shall be your western border.

7 “This shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line to (Q)Mount Hor. 8 From Mount Hor you shall draw a line (R)to Lebo-hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at (S)Zedad. 9 Then the border shall extend to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at (T)Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern border.

10 “You shall draw a line for your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. 11 And the border shall go down from Shepham to (U)Riblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and reach to the shoulder of (V)the Sea of Chinnereth on the east. 12 And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its limit shall be at (W)the Salt Sea. This shall be your land as defined by its borders all around.”

13 Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, (X)“This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. 14 (Y)For the tribe of the people of Reuben by fathers' houses and the tribe of the people of Gad by their fathers' houses have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manasseh. 15 The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.”

List of Tribal Chiefs

16 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: (Z)Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 You shall take one (AA)chief from every tribe to divide the land for inheritance. 19 These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 20 Of the tribe of the people of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. 21 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 22 Of the tribe of the people of Dan a chief, Bukki the son of Jogli. 23 Of the people of Joseph: of the tribe of the people of Manasseh a chief, Hanniel the son of Ephod. 24 And of the tribe of the people of Ephraim a chief, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 25 Of the tribe of the people of Zebulun a chief, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 26 Of the tribe of the people of Issachar a chief, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 27 And of the tribe of the people of Asher a chief, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 28 Of the tribe of the people of Naphtali a chief, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” 29 These are the men whom the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance for the people of Israel in the land of Canaan.

Footnotes
  1. Numbers 34:6 Syriac; Hebrew lacks its
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

God commanded Israel to drive out the Canaanites and to destroy their idols. God wanted them to love and worship Him only as God’s people by rooting idolatry out of Canaan. We are by nature worshipping beings. If we don’t worship God, we worship something else. As the Creator, God does not want to share His glory and attention with idols or other things. To keep the right relationship with Him, we must first root out false gods and idols from our hearts.

Before Israel crossed into Canaan, God set the boundaries of the land for Israel. He also appointed leaders to assign the land. In so doing, God planted faith in them that the battle for the land, which God prepared, was already won. These set boundaries helped them know who to fight against and who not to fight. Moreover, they would know when to stop the war and to rest. Yet, the land was given to them by God as an inheritance. Inheritance is given freely, not earned. Still, the recipient should claim it. Through Christ Jesus, we have an eternal inheritance which is kept in heaven for us (1Pe 1:4). Although this inheritance in heaven is given freely, we are to claim it by faith in Jesus and by fighting against sin and Satan.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving me an inheritance in your kingdom. Help me to fight the spiritual battle.

One Word: Heaven is our inheritance