N
U M B E R S
CHAP. XXXIV.
In
this chapter God directs Moses, and he is to direct
Israel,
I.
Concerning the bounds and
borders of the
land
of Canaan, ver. 1-15. II. Concerning the
division and distribution of it to the tribes of Israel, ver. 16, &c.
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The
Boundaries of
Canaan
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B.
C. 1452.
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1 And the LORD
spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Command the children of Israel, and
say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land
that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan
with the coasts thereof:) 3 Then your south quarter shall be from
the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall
be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward: 4 And your border
shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin: and
the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadesh-barnea, and shall go
on to Hazar-addar, and pass on to Azmon: 5 And the border shall
fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it
shall be at the sea. 6 And as for the western border, ye
shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west
border. 7 And this shall be your north border: from the great sea
ye shall point out for you mount Hor: 8 From mount Hor ye shall
point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath; and the goings forth
of the border shall be to Zedad: 9 And the border shall go on to
Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazar-enan: this shall be your
north border. 10 And ye shall point out your east border from
Hazar-enan to Shepham: 11 And the coast shall go down from Shepham
to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall descend, and shall
reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward: 12 And the
border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt
sea: this shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about.
13 And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land
which ye shall inherit by lot, which the LORD
commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe: 14
For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their
fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their
fathers, have received their inheritance; and half the tribe of
Manasseh have received their inheritance: 15 The two tribes and
the half tribe have received their inheritance on this side Jordan near
Jericho eastward, toward the sunrising.
We have here a particular draught of the line by which the land of Canaan was
meted, and bounded, on all sides. God directs Moses to settle it here, not as
a geographer in his map, merely to please the curious, but as a prince in his
grant, that it may be certainly known what passes, and is conveyed, by the
grant. There was a much larger possession promised them, which in due time
they would have possessed if they had been obedient, reaching even to the
river Euphrates, Deut. xi. 24. And even so far the dominion of Israel did
extend in David's time and Solomon's, 2 Chron. ix. 26. But this which is here
described is Canaan only, which was the lot of the nine tribes and a half, for
the other two and a half were already settled, v. 14, 15. Now
concerning the limits of Canaan observe,
I. That it was limited within certain bounds: for God appoints the bounds
of our habitation, Acts xvii. 26. The borders are set them, 1. That they
might know whom they were to dispossess, and how far the commission which was
given them extended (ch. xxxiii. 53), that they should drive out the
inhabitants. Those that lay within these borders, and those only, they
must destroy; hitherto their bloody sword must go, and no further. 2. That
they might know what to expect the possession of themselves. God would not
have his people to enlarge their desire of worldly possessions, but to know
when they have enough, and to rest satisfied with it. The Israelites
themselves must not be placed alone in the midst of the earth, but must
leave room for their neighbours to live by them. God sets bounds to our lot;
let us then set bounds to our desires, and bring our mind to our condition.
II. That it lay comparatively in a very little compass: as it is here bounded,
it is reckoned to be but about 160 miles in length and about fifty in breadth;
perhaps it did not contain more than half as much ground as England, and yet
this is the country which was promised to the father of the faithful and was
the possession of the seed of Israel. This was that little spot of ground in
which only, for many ages, God was known, and his name was great, Ps.
lxxvi. 1. This was the vineyard of the Lord, the garden enclosed; but, as it
is with gardens and vineyards, the narrowness of the extent was abundantly
compensated by the extraordinary fruitfulness of the soil, otherwise it could
not have subsisted so numerous a nation as did inhabit it. See here then, 1.
How small a part of the world God has for himself. Though the earth is his,
and the fullness thereof, yet few have the knowledge of him and serve him;
but those few are happy, very happy, because fruitful to God. 2. How small a
share of the world God often gives to his own people. Those that have their
portion in heaven have reason to be content with a small pittance of this
earth; but, as here, what is wanting in quantity is made up in quality; a
little that a righteous man has, having it from the love of God and with
his blessing, is far better and more comfortable than the riches of many
wicked, Ps. xxxvii. 16.
III. It is observable what the bounds and limits of it were. 1. Canaan was
itself a pleasant land (so it is called Dan. viii. 9), and yet it
bordered upon wilderness and seas, and was surrounded with divers melancholy
prospects. Thus the vineyard of the church is compassed on all hands with the
desert of this world, which serves as a foil to it, to make it appear the more
beautiful for situation. 2. Many of its borders were its defences and natural
fortifications, to render the access of enemies the more difficult, and to
intimate to Israel that the God of nature was their protector, and with his
favour would compass them as with a shield. 3. The border reached to
the river of Egypt (v. 5), that the sight of that country which
they could look into out of their own might remind them of their bondage
there, and their wonderful deliverance thence. 4. Their border is here made to
begin at the Salt Sea (v. 3), and there it ends, v. 12.
This was the remaining lasting monument of the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah. That pleasant fruitful vale in which these cities stood became a
lake, which was never stirred by any wind, bore no vessels, was replenished
with no fish, no living creature of any sort being found in it, therefore
called the Dead Sea. This was part of their border, that it might be a
constant warning to them to take heed of those sins which had been the ruin of
Sodom; yet the iniquity of Sodom was afterwards found in Israel (Ezek. xvi.
49), for which Canaan was made, though not a salt sea as Sodom, yet a barren
soil, and continues so to this day. 5. Their western border was the Great
Sea (v. 6), which is now called the Mediterranean. Some
consider this sea itself to have been a part of their possession, and that by
virtue of this grant, they had the dominion of it, and, if they had not
forfeited it by sin, might have rode masters of it.
16 And the LORD
spake unto Moses, saying, 17 These are the names of the men
which shall divide the land unto you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son
of Nun. 18 And ye shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide
the land by inheritance. 19 And the names of the men are
these: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 20 And
of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud.
21 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 22 And the
prince of the tribe of the children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli.
23 The prince of the children of Joseph, for the tribe of the children of
Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod. 24 And the prince of the tribe
of the children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 25 And the
prince of the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach.
26 And the prince of the tribe of the children of Issachar, Paltiel the son of
Azzan. 27 And the prince of the tribe of the children of Asher,
Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 28 And the prince of the tribe of the
children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud. 29 These are
they whom the LORD
commanded to divide the inheritance unto the children of Israel in the land of
Canaan.
God here appoints commissioners for the dividing of the land to them. The
conquest of it is taken for granted, though as yet there was never a stroke
struck towards it. Here is no nomination of the generals and
commanders-in-chief that should carry on the war; for they were to get the
land in possession, not by their own sword or bow, but by the power and
favour of God; and so confident must they be of victory and success while
God fought for them that the persons must now be named who should be entrusted
with the dividing of the land, that is, who should preside in casting the
lots, and determine controversies that might arise, and see that all was done
fairly. 1. The principal commissioners, who were of the quorum, were
Eleazar and Joshua (v. 17), typifying Christ, who, as priest and king,
divides the heavenly Canaan to the spiritual Israel; yet, as they were to go
by the lot, so Christ acknowledges the disposal must be by the will of the
Father, Matt. xx. 23. Compare, Eph. i. 11. 2. Besides these, that there might
be no suspicion of partiality, a prince of each tribe was appointed to inspect
this matter, and to see that the tribe he served for was in no respect
injured. Public affairs should be so managed as not only to give their right
to all, but, if possible, to give satisfaction to all that they have justice
done them., It is a happiness to a land to have the princes of their people
meet together, some out of every tribe, to concert the affairs that are of
common concern, a constitution which is the abundant honour, ease, and safety,
of the nation that is blessed with it. 3. Some observe that the order of the
tribes here very much differs from that in which they hitherto, upon all
occasions, been named, and agrees with the neighbourhood of their lots in the
division of the land. Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, the first three here named,
lay close together; the inheritance of Dan lay next them on one side, that of
Ephraim and Manasseh on another side; Zebulun and Issachar lay abreast more
northerly, and, lastly, Asher and Naphtali most northward of all, as is easy
to observe in looking over a map of Canaan; this (says bishop Patrick) is an
evidence that Moses was guided by a divine Spirit in his writings. Known unto
God are all his works beforehand, and what is new and surprising to us he
perfectly foresaw, without any confusion or uncertainty.
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