Jos. 18: The Division Ben

Joshua 18:3 "So Joshua said to the Israelites: "How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?"

For whatever reason, be it laziness or complacency or fear, the Israelites had still not taken possession of the land, even though it was all conquered and handed over by God Himself. God had this great gift for the people, and the people didn't want to accept it. How heartbreaking or angering it must have been for God to see this happen.

Joshua takes charge and says, "All right, this is how it's going to happen." He has his crew go out and survey and map the land, and then by lot the land will be divided among the seven remaining tribes. The casting of lots removed human meddling, and apparently put the division of land back into God's hands.

I wonder how often I do this myself. I look forward to something great, and then I have the chance to take it and I chicken out or back down. How often when someone offers us a gift out of the goodness of their heart, do we look at it and say, "I won't accept that. You don't have to do that." Has that happened to you? For Pete's sake, take the gift, and don't refuse someone's generosity.

Then Benjamin gets his land.