Sunday Morning Bible Study 5/2/2010

Allocation of the Promised Land (Part 1)

Joshua Chapter 13
I. Observation

A. Context
1. Who are the people or groups in this passage? What do we know about them?
a. Joshua: _________________________________________________________________
b. Reubenites: ______________________________________________________________
c. Gadites: ________________________________________________________________
d. Half-tribe of Manasseh: ____________________________________________________
e. Levites: _________________________________________________________________
2. When does this passage take place? Is there anything significant about when this passage occurs?
a. Near the end of Joshua’s life, after much of Canaan had been conquered; however, there
was still a significant amount of area still left to be conquered at this time.
3. Where do the events of this passage take place? What do we know about these places?
a. Aside from the first seven verses, the bulk of this passage refers to the land on the eastern
side of the Jordan River, which was conquered under Moses’ leadership.

B. Summary of Events
1. The Lord assesses the remaining lands to be conquered with Joshua (v. 1-7)
2. Review of all the land conquered on the east side of the Jordan (v. 8-13)
3. Mention of the Levites and their inheritance, not of land, but of the Lord Himself (v. 14)
4. Description of the lands allocated to the tribe of Reuben (v. 15-23)
5. Description of the lands allocated to the tribe of Gad (v. 24-28)
6. Description of the lands allocated to the half-tribe of Manasseh (v. 29-31)
7. Closing statement of the eastern lands and mention of the tribe of Levi (v. 32-33)

II. Discussion Questions

1. What do you think Joshua’s age has to do with this passage? Why did God point it out?
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Why do you think that Joshua was to begin allocating the land before it had all been conquered?
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Why do you think that this passage (and those to follow) regarding the allocation of the lands was
inspired by God to be included in this book? What might reading this account remind one of?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. What characteristics of God do we see illustrated in this passage?
______________________________________________________________________________
5. What principles and themes to you see in this passage?
______________________________________________________________________________

III. Application
1. God’s plan for our lives may extend beyond our time on earth. It’s interesting here that
Joshua is nearing the end of his life and quite possibly will not see all of the Promised Land
conquered before he dies. Yet Joshua’s perseverance is not based on the end result but on day-to-
day obedience to the Lord. He understood that God’s plan for Israel extended beyond his time on
earth and that ultimately he was a tool for God’s use in moving His plan forward.
2. Take care of what God gives you. Possibly one of the key reasons that the boundaries for each
tribe’s land is specified is to clearly define what areas each tribe was responsible for stewarding.
Instead of becoming greedy and seeking more and more land, like many of the great conquerors
of history, Joshua and Israel saw this not as a quest for riches and power, but as a pursuit of the
blessing God gave them. We need to be sure we care for what God gives us and not fix our eyes
on what he has given to others. The Promised Land was a blessing, just as our possessions are.
Teacher: Johnny Hughes (living2serve@gmail.com) MYA 2.0 is a ministry of Metropolitan Baptist Church, OKC, OK (http://www.mbcokc.org)