Bird's-eye view
The book of Joshua is about our greater Joshua, the Lord Jesus Christ, leading His people into their promised rest. The conquest was the down payment, but the secure possession of that rest comes through the distribution of the land. This is not a mere real estate transaction; it is a theological declaration. God is the one who sets the boundaries, He is the one who determines the allotments, and our task is to receive our inheritance by faith and live in it obediently.
In this passage, the lot falls to the tribe of Issachar. As we know from elsewhere, the sons of Issachar were men who "had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do" (1 Chron. 12:32). It is therefore fitting that their inheritance is a collection of places that are themselves lessons in understanding the times. Their territory is a microcosm of Israel's history and future, a landscape filled with object lessons about God's judgment, His miraculous provision, His demand for holiness, and His ultimate victory. From the bloody ground of Jezreel to the heights of Tabor, Issachar's inheritance was a call to live wisely in the land God had given them, a land that would test and teach them at every turn.
Issachar's Inheritance (19:17-23)
17 The fourth lot came out for Issachar, for the sons of Issachar according to their families.
The lots were not random chance; they were the outworking of God's sovereign decree. Proverbs tells us that "the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD" (Prov. 16:33). God is not a distant observer of human affairs; He is intimately involved in the details, right down to the drawing of a lot that determines the boundaries of a tribe. This is for Issachar, "according to their families." God's covenant works through households and generations. The inheritance is not just for individuals in isolation but for families, clans, and tribes. This is foundational. We receive our inheritance in Christ not as disconnected atoms, but as those grafted into the family of God, the household of faith.
18 And their territory included Jezreel and Chesulloth and Shunem,
And what a territory it is. The first city mentioned is Jezreel. The name means "God sows," and it is a name pregnant with double meaning. This is the fertile valley where God would sow His people and provide for them. But it is also the place where God would sow judgment. It was in Jezreel that the house of Ahab, drenched in the innocent blood of Naboth, was violently overthrown by Jehu. The prophet Hosea was even told to name his son Jezreel as a sign of this coming judgment upon the house of Jehu for the bloodshed there (Hos. 1:4). So right at the head of their inheritance, Issachar is given a reminder: the land is a gift, but it comes with stipulations. God sows blessing, but He will also sow judgment for covenant infidelity. You cannot separate the gift from the Giver and His demands. Then there is Shunem. This is a place of profound gospel contrast. It was in Shunem that the Philistines camped before the battle where Saul, having rejected God, would meet his pathetic end (1 Sam. 28:4). It is a place associated with faithless fear and death. But it is also the home of the Shunammite woman, a picture of gracious hospitality and robust faith, who cared for the prophet Elisha and received her son back from the dead (2 Kings 4). So which will it be for Issachar? The way of Saul, or the way of the Shunammite? Faith that leads to life, or faithlessness that leads to death? Their own land preached this sermon to them daily.
19 and Hapharaim and Shion and Anaharath, 20 and Rabbith and Kishion and Ebez, 21 and Remeth and En-gannim and En-haddah and Beth-pazzez.
This is not just a list of ancient, dusty names. While the exact locations of some are lost to us, the names themselves often testify to the goodness of the land. En-gannim, for example, means "spring of gardens." This is a picture of the fruitfulness that God gives. This is what the Promised Land was meant to be, a well-watered garden, a foretaste of the New Jerusalem where the river of the water of life flows. The inheritance is not a barren wasteland; it is a place of life and abundance. God does not give His children stones when they ask for bread. He gives them springs and gardens. This detailed list also serves another purpose: it establishes clear boundaries. God is a God of order, not confusion. He draws lines. The command not to move an ancient landmark is a serious one (Deut. 19:14), because it is an attack on God's established order and a theft of a God-given inheritance. These names anchor the gift in real-world geography. This is not a spiritual abstraction; it is dirt, rocks, and springs. Our salvation in Christ is likewise not a floaty, ethereal concept. It is a real salvation with real effects in the real world.
22 And the border reached to Tabor and Shahazumah and Beth-shemesh, and their border ended at the Jordan; sixteen cities with their villages.
The border reaches Tabor. Mount Tabor is a place of glorious, divine victory. It was here that Deborah and Barak, trusting in the Lord, routed the superior forces of Sisera (Judges 4). It stands as a permanent monument to the fact that victory belongs to the Lord, and that He can save by many or by few. It is also the traditional site of the Transfiguration, where the glory of Christ was revealed to Peter, James, and John. So, within Issachar's inheritance is a mountain that preaches the triumph and glory of God. Then the border goes to Beth-shemesh, which means "house of the sun." This was likely a center of pagan worship before Israel arrived, a reminder of the darkness they were called to displace. It is also the place where the Ark of the Covenant was returned by the Philistines (1 Sam. 6). The people rejoiced, but then some looked into the Ark unlawfully, and God struck them down. Beth-shemesh is therefore a stark lesson in the holiness of God. God's presence is a blessing, but it is a holy blessing. You cannot treat the holy things of God with casual irreverence. He is a consuming fire. Their inheritance ends at the Jordan, the river of crossing over, the boundary between the wilderness and the promise. This whole territory is a schoolhouse for the sons of Issachar, teaching them to understand the times, the time for judgment, the time for faith, the time for victory, and the time for reverent worship.
23 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Issachar according to their families, the cities with their villages.
The verse concludes with this summary statement, reinforcing the point. This inheritance, with all its history and all its theological lessons embedded in the very landscape, was from God. It was for the tribe, for the families. This is how God works. He gives us our inheritance in Christ, our true Promised Land. And that inheritance is not an empty, abstract idea. It is full of places like Jezreel and Shunem, Tabor and Beth-shemesh. It is a landscape that teaches us about sin and grace, judgment and mercy, death and resurrection, holy fear and glorious victory. Our task is to be like the sons of Issachar, to have understanding of the times, and to know what we ought to do, which is to live by faith in our greater Joshua, Jesus Christ, and to take possession of every blessing He has secured for us.
Application
We are not the tribe of Issachar, and we are not looking for a plot of land in northern Israel. Our inheritance is far greater. We have been brought into the "commonwealth of Israel" (Eph. 2:12) and are heirs of the world through Christ (Rom. 4:13). The whole earth is our promised land, to be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. But the lessons from Issachar's plot of ground still apply directly to us.
First, we must recognize that our inheritance is a sovereign gift. You did not earn it or deserve it. The lot was cast, and by God's grace, your name was drawn. This should produce profound humility and gratitude. Second, our inheritance is a schoolhouse. The circumstances of your life, the places you live, the people you interact with, these are your Jezreel, your Shunem, your Tabor. God is using them to teach you to "understand the times." He is teaching you about the consequences of sin, the power of faith, the reality of His holiness, and the certainty of His victory. Don't despise the landscape of your life; learn from it.
Finally, we are to take possession of this inheritance by faith. This means living as though what God says is true. It means facing the enemy with the confidence of Barak at Tabor. It means showing hospitality to the prophets like the Shunammite woman. It means treating the holy things of God with reverence, unlike the men of Beth-shemesh. And it means recognizing that God sows both judgment and blessing, and living accordingly. We are called to be the sons and daughters of Issachar for our generation, understanding the times and knowing what the church ought to do, which is to proclaim the crown rights of King Jesus over every square inch of His creation.