Day 18 ~ Land is divided among the tribes

This passage won't take long to cover tonight, as most of it is geographical references associated with the tribal land assignments. It's hard to picture them in your head, and this allowed my mind to focus on just trying to get through the difficult names.

You would think that the Israelites had a little experience under their belt in the area of war. They played a pretty good strategy against Ai with the backdoor manuever. But come on, were they not the least bit suspicious of the Hivites of Gibeon, who made themselves look as if they came from far outside the promised territory to appeal for a covenant with Israel? They lucked out with Rahab, and didn't do a reference check on this band who approached them. Honestly, I expected God to really let the Israelites pay for this one. Especially after verse 9:14 says that they didn't even ask council of the Lord. And what about the "no peace treaty" clause?

Anyway, they went ahead and made a pact with the Gibeonites, who must have been laughing all the way back to their (local) camp. Once found out, the Israelites are more concerned with what the Gibeonites will do with them if they break the covenant (made under false pretenses, by the way) than if they continue to break the covenant that they made with God. Once again, they seem to have their priorities backward.

Then, to make it a bit worse, they take the Gibeonites on as servants, and let them serve near the tabernacle (9:27). That seems like a really bad idea. Not only do the Israelites let them live, and serve near their holy tabernacle, they go to war for them instead of against them. When the Gibeonites are attacked by another king, the Israelites now have to back them up.

But God doesn't give the Israelites any grief for this mistake. In fact, God broke natural law to allow the day to be prolonged for their fighting, and the Israelite/Gibeonites defeated the attackers. We'll see if there will be consequences for not destroying the Gibeonites and falling for their trick without seeking God's council; but, at least through Joshua chapter 20, the punishment has been withheld.

• 9:13 - What is the book of Jasher?
• The kings of the several neighboring kingdoms band together hoping that they will be able to overcome the Israelites. The reputation of God and his hand guiding the Israelites has become well-known and feared.
• Weren't some of the kings mentioned to be killed in 10:39 already dead in 10:23 & 24?
• 11:18-19 states that Joshua was at war a long time and that all were utterly destroyed except the Hivites from Gibeon. This included God's top 5 hit list: Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizites, Jebusites.
• 11:22 - Anakim - aren't they the giants? They are destroyed within the promised land boundaries, but still survive outside the boundaries.
• Those not driven out completely include the Gesurites and Maachathites - they "did not" drive out completely (13:13). Jebusites in Jerusalem "could not" be driven out (15:63). It seems like there would be a big difference between "did not" and "could not." In chapter 17:12-13 "Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities, but the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. And it happened, when the children of Israel grew strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out." I thought concerning the Canaanites that "they attacked them until they left none of them remaining" 11:8, referencing 11:3. Perhaps these were from the portion of Manasseh that is to the east of the promise land where the Canaanites were still dwelling, not in the promised land over the Jordan.
• This isn't a welfare state - if you want more land, go clear some more, Manasseh and Ephraim. (7:14). Dan enlarged their territory beyond what they had been given (19:47).
• They set up the tabernacle at Shiloh. From there, surveyors are sent out and then the remaining tribes are portioned out land by lot, in the order of Benjamin, Simeon (who was given territory from the property assigned to Judah because it was too much for them), Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan. And finally, Joshua is given a city state for his leadership (19:49-50).