God Draws the Property Lines Text: Joshua 16:1-4
Introduction: A Material Faith
We live in an age that is deeply uncomfortable with particularity. Our culture champions a kind of vague, spiritual goo, a religion of the heart that must never, ever touch the ground. Modern man wants a god who stays neatly in the "spiritual" category, a deity who is concerned with our private feelings and inner dispositions, but who would never be so rude as to draw a property line. He wants a salvation that saves his soul for a disembodied hereafter, but which has no claim on his business, his checkbook, his family, or his nation's foreign policy.
Into this Gnostic swamp, the book of Joshua marches with muddy boots. The God of the Bible is not the god of the philosophers, an abstract Prime Mover. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And He is the God of Bethel, Ataroth, and Gezer. He is a God who cares about real estate. The long, detailed, and, to our modern ears, tedious lists of boundaries and inheritances in this section of Joshua are a profound theological statement. They are a declaration that God's covenant promises are not ethereal platitudes. They are earthy. They have substance. God promised His people a real, physical land, with dirt you could till and rocks you could stub your toe on. And here, He is delivering on that promise with the meticulous precision of a master surveyor.
These chapters are a stumbling block to those who want a detached, spiritualized faith. They force us to confront the fact that our God claims authority over every square inch of His creation. He doesn't just save souls; He redeems creation. He doesn't just give us heavenly thoughts; He gives us earthly inheritances. This passage, describing the lot for the sons of Joseph, is therefore a direct assault on the sacred/secular divide that has neutered the modern church. It teaches us that God's sovereignty is not a general, abstract concept. It is concrete, specific, and it extends to the very boundaries of our lives.
The Text
Then the lot for the sons of Joseph went out from the Jordan at Jericho to the waters of Jericho on the east into the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel. And it went out from Bethel to Luz and passed on to the border of the Archites at Ataroth. Then it went down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of lower Beth-horon even to Gezer, and it ended at the sea. So the sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance.
(Joshua 16:1-4 LSB)
The Divine Lot (v. 1a)
We begin with the mechanism of distribution:
"Then the lot for the sons of Joseph went out..." (Joshua 16:1a)
The first thing to notice is how the inheritance is determined. It is by lot. In our modern, secular mindset, casting lots is synonymous with random chance, a roll of the dice. But in the biblical worldview, nothing could be further from the truth. The lot was a sanctified method of discerning the direct, sovereign will of God. Proverbs tells us plainly, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD" (Proverbs 16:33). This was not a gamble. It was an act of faith, a deliberate submission to the perfect providence of God.
This demolishes two opposing errors. The first is the error of fatalism, which sees all events as predetermined by an impersonal, cosmic force. The second is the error of autonomous humanism, which sees man as the master of his own fate, carving out his destiny by the sheer force of his will. The Bible presents a third way: the personal, sovereign rule of a good God. The lot falling for Joseph was not fate; it was the Father's good pleasure. It was not man's achievement; it was God's gift.
This has direct application for us. We are not creatures of blind chance, nor are we the architects of our own salvation. God has appointed the boundaries of our lives (Acts 17:26). Our inheritance in Christ was not won by our striving, nor did it fall to us by accident. It was predestined for us in Him before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:11). Just as the lot fell for Ephraim and Manasseh, so the decree of God secured for us a place in His family. Our security rests not in the whims of chance or the strength of our will, but in the unshakeable will of our sovereign God.
God's Meticulous Sovereignty (vv. 1b-3)
The text then launches into a detailed description of the borders. It is a journey on a divine map.
"...from the Jordan at Jericho to the waters of Jericho on the east into the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel. And it went out from Bethel to Luz and passed on to the border of the Archites at Ataroth. Then it went down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of lower Beth-horon even to Gezer, and it ended at the sea." (Joshua 16:1b-3 LSB)
Why all this detail? Why name these specific, long-forgotten towns and landmarks? Because God is the God of particulars. He is not a God of vague generalities and fuzzy sentiments. His decrees are not abstract; they are concrete. When He gives a gift, He defines its edges. He draws the property lines. This is the foundation of all law, all order, and all sanity. A thing is what it is, and not another thing. This territory belongs to Joseph's sons, and not to Judah or Benjamin.
This divine act of drawing boundaries is a fundamental aspect of creation and redemption. In the beginning, God created by separating: light from darkness, land from sea. Here, in this new beginning for Israel, He establishes their society by separating and defining their inheritances. This stands in stark opposition to the satanic impulse, which is always to blur, to confuse, and to erase distinctions. The rebellion of Babel was an attempt to create a globalized, undifferentiated human mass. The modern push for globalism, for the erasure of national borders, for the abolition of the distinction between male and female, is the same ancient rebellion. It is a hatred for God's created order, a hatred for the boundaries He sets.
But God loves boundaries. They are a gift. Clear property lines prevent conflict and promote stewardship. When a man knows what is his, he is responsible for it. This is the biblical basis for private property, and it is the only foundation for a prosperous and free society. The Marxist dream of a borderless world where all property is held in common is not a vision of heaven; it is a blueprint for hell on earth, a return to the formless and void. God, in His wisdom, gives Ephraim a specific plot of ground, and in so doing, He gives them a specific duty and a tangible blessing.
The Covenant Fulfilled (v. 4)
The section concludes with a summary statement that is pregnant with theological significance.
"So the sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance." (Joshua 16:4 LSB)
This is the language of covenant fulfillment. An inheritance is not something you earn; it is something you receive as a result of your relationship to the one who gives it. The Israelites were receiving this land not because they were mighty warriors or righteous saints. They were receiving it because they were the sons of the covenant, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom God had sworn an oath.
And notice who receives it: "the sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim." This is the outworking of Jacob's prophetic blessing in Genesis 48. On his deathbed, Jacob adopted Joseph's two sons as his own, elevating them to the status of tribal heads. And in that moment, he crossed his hands, giving the greater blessing to the younger son, Ephraim. He declared that Ephraim would become a "multitude of nations" (Genesis 48:19). This allotment of a large, central, and fertile portion of the Promised Land is the beginning of that prophecy's fulfillment.
This points us forward to the gospel. We, like Manasseh and Ephraim, are adopted sons. By nature, we were outsiders, strangers to the covenants of promise (Ephesians 2:12). But in Christ, God has adopted us into His family. And as sons, we are now heirs. We have received an inheritance. And what is that inheritance? It is not just a plot of land in the Middle East. It is the world. "The meek," Jesus said, "shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5). Paul tells us that the promise to Abraham was that he would be "heir of the world" (Romans 4:13).
Conclusion: Taking Possession
The sons of Joseph received their inheritance by lot. The boundaries were drawn by God Himself. But this was not the end of the story. It was the beginning of their responsibility. The land was theirs by divine grant, but they still had to go in and possess it. They had to drive out the remaining Canaanites, clear the forests, build the cities, and cultivate the fields. The gift of God did not negate their duty; it established it.
The same is true for us. In Christ, we have been given a glorious inheritance. We are seated with Him in the heavenly places. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him, and we are His body. The world is His, and the fullness thereof. The lot has been cast, and the decision is from the Lord. The title deed to the cosmos has been signed in the blood of the Son.
But we must now, in history, take possession of that inheritance. We are not to be passive recipients. We are called to be active agents of the kingdom. In our families, in our churches, in our communities, and in our nations, we are to work out the implications of Christ's victory. We are to apply His Word to every area of life, driving out the idols and establishing righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. God has drawn the lines. He has given us the gift. Our task is to believe His promise, pick up our tools, and get to work, possessing the land for the glory of our King.