Manasseh and Ephraim were larger tribes; their combined numbers were greater than any other single tribe. They complained to Joshua that they had not been allotted adequate land. It may be that they were appealing to Joshua as a fellow Ephraimite since he was also a descendant of Joseph. Joshua responded with godly wisdom and challenged them spiritually to press on. In reality, they had been given a very large territory right in the middle of the Promised Land, and in addition, half of the tribe of Manasseh had land east of the Jordan River. The problem was these 2 tribes had not even completely taken the mountain country in their existing allotment yet, because it was hard and dangerous work. Joshua was in essence saying, “Let’s see if you really are a great people. Go and possess the land you desire by fully occupying what the Lord has already given you.”<\/p>\n
They wanted easy land<\/em> to be given to them instead of having to take God’s promises and go out and possess what God had given them. If they were such a great people, then they should have been able to make room for themselves within the territory they’d already been given. Their attitude stands in sharp contrast to the attitude of Caleb and his adopted tribe, Judah, in Joshua 14. The spiritual principles found here apply just as strongly to us today. God was saying through Joshua that if we desire more of something, we must first be faithful right where we are. Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” Give it all you’ve got and then expect God to supply everything else you need to complete your mission.<\/p>\n “LORD, we desire to be faithful in the little things because they are just as important as the big things. Help us to keep a grateful heart and a positive attitude as we serve You this day.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joshua 17 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>the firstborn of Joseph;\u00a0to wit\u00a0<\/em>, for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0There was also\u00a0a lot\u00a0<\/em>for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their families; for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph by their families.\u00a03<\/sup> But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters: and these\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>the names of his daughters, Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The\u00a0LORD\u00a0commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore according to the commandment of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father.\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And there fell ten portions to Manasseh, beside the land of Gilead and Bashan, which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>on the other side Jordan;\u00a06<\/sup>Because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons: and the rest of Manasseh\u2019s sons had the land of Gilead. 7<\/sup>\u00a0And the coast of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethah, that\u00a0lieth\u00a0<\/em>before Shechem; and the border went along on the right hand unto the inhabitants of En-tappuah.\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0Now<\/em>Manasseh had the land of Tappuah: but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh\u00a0belonged\u00a0<\/em>to the children of Ephraim;\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0And the coast descended unto the river Kanah, southward of the river: these cities of Ephraim\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>among the cities of Manasseh: the coast of Manasseh also\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>on the north side of the river, and the outgoings of it were at the sea:\u00a0\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0Southward\u00a0it was<\/em>Ephraim\u2019s, and northward\u00a0it was\u00a0<\/em>Manasseh\u2019s, and the sea is his border; and they met together in Asher on the north, and in Issachar on the east.\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Beth-shean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>three countries.\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out\u00a0the inhabitants of\u00a0<\/em>those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out. 14<\/sup>\u00a0And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me\u00a0but\u00a0<\/em>one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I\u00a0am\u00a0<\/em>a great people, forasmuch as the\u00a0LORD\u00a0hath blessed me hitherto?\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0And Joshua answered them, If thou\u00a0be\u00a0<\/em>a great people,\u00a0then\u00a0<\/em>get thee up to the wood\u00a0country\u00a0<\/em>, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.\u00a0 16<\/sup>\u00a0And the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron,\u00a0both they\u00a0<\/em>who\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>of Beth-shean and her towns, and\u00a0they\u00a0<\/em>who are\u00a0<\/em>of the valley of Jezreel.\u00a017<\/sup>And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou\u00a0art\u00a0<\/em>a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot\u00a0only:\u00a0<\/em>18<\/sup>\u00a0But the mountain shall be thine; for it\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots,\u00a0and<\/em> though they\u00a0be\u00a0<\/em>strong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Manasseh and Ephraim were larger tribes; their combined numbers were greater than any other single tribe. They complained to Joshua that they had not been allotted adequate land. It may be that they were appealing to Joshua as a fellow Ephraimite since he was also a descendant of Joseph. Joshua responded with godly wisdom and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6191"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6191"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16065,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6191\/revisions\/16065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}