In Joshua, chapter thirteen, verse seven, the dividing of the land among the twelve tribes was a deep and spiritual experience for the Israelites. God told Joshua to divide the land among the twelve tribes. However, the first nine tribes were to receive their portion of the inheritance because he was getting old. The tribes of Judah, Simeon, Benjamin, Dan, Ephraim, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, and Naphtali, in which order they are placed, when the Lord gave to Moses the names of the men that should divide the land under Eleazar and Joshua in Numbers thirty-four, sixteen through twenty-eight. It fulfilled God’s promise concerning the land and inspired hope for a greater fulfillment of the peace they now enjoyed.
The half-tribe of Manassah is the other half which had no inheritance on the other side of Jordan, and for which a prince of the children of Joseph was to divide as stated in Numbers thirty-four twenty-three. Both the nine tribes and the half tribe which to conquer and that which remained unconquered was to divide so that every tribe might know what belonged to them by God’s gift and be encouraged to attempt the conquest of it when they were able. To preserve from entering into any covenant or society with those who kept their inheritance from them. Likewise, to hinder the unconquered people from joining their forces together to recover their country. The Israelites were to take up residence in the cities and fields that lay between them.
The division of the land among the tribes is the will of God that every man should know his own and not take that which is another’s. The world must be governed, not by force, but by right. Wherever our habitation is placed, and in whatever honest way our portion comes, we should consider them as allotted of God. We should be thankful for it and use them as such, while every prudent method should use to prevent property disputes, both at present and in the future.