The Metes and Bounds of Blessing Text: Joshua 19:24-31
Introduction: God's Glorious Geography
We live in a Gnostic age. Our culture, and sadly, much of the church, believes that what is "spiritual" is what is real, and what is physical is, at best, a temporary inconvenience and, at worst, an illusion or a trap. We are told to care about our souls, but not our soil. We are to pursue a disembodied heaven "up there," while abandoning the earth down here to the devil and his minions. This is a profound theological error, and it is the direct result of Christians refusing to read their Bibles with both eyes open. Specifically, it comes from skipping over passages like the one before us today.
These chapters in Joshua, with their long lists of unpronounceable towns and detailed boundary markers, are where many a "read through the Bible in a year" plan goes to die. They seem tedious. They seem irrelevant. They seem like ancient land deeds that have long since expired. But this is to read the Word of God with the assumptions of a Greek philosopher, not a Hebrew prophet. For the God of the Bible, geography matters. Place matters. Borders matter. Inheritance is not some floaty, ethereal concept; it is dirt and rocks and rivers and cities. God promised Abraham and his seed a particular piece of real estate, and the book of Joshua is the divine record of the deed transfer.
To treat this as boring filler is to insult the faithfulness of God. He is not a God of vague spiritual notions; He is the God who gets down into the glorious grit of His creation and draws lines. He is the one who separated the light from the darkness and the land from the sea. And here, He is separating the inheritance of Asher from the inheritance of Naphtali. These lists are a declaration that God keeps His specific promises in specific places at specific times. They are a frontal assault on all worldviews that want to spiritualize reality into meaninglessness. And they are the necessary foundation for understanding our own inheritance, which is nothing less than the entire earth. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Not a cloud. Not a mansion in the sky. The earth. And if we want to understand what that means, we must first pay attention to how God doled out this down payment to the sons of Israel.
The Text
Now the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the sons of Asher according to their families. And their territory was Helkath and Hali and Beten and Achshaph, and Allammelech and Amad and Mishal; and it reached to Carmel on the west and to Shihor-libnath. Then it turned east toward the sunrise to Beth-dagon and reached to Zebulun and to the valley of Iphtahel northward to Beth-emek and Neiel; then it went out to the north to Cabul, and Ebron and Rehob and Hammon and Kanah, as far as Great Sidon. Then the border turned to Ramah and to the fortified city of Tyre; then the border turned to Hosah, and it ended at the sea by the region of Achzib. Included also were Ummah and Aphek and Rehob; twenty-two cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.
(Joshua 19:24-31 LSB)
The Lot of the Blessed (v. 24)
We begin with the casting of the lot for the fifth tribe.
"Now the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the sons of Asher according to their families." (Joshua 19:24)
The division of the land is done by lot. This is not a game of chance. As the proverb tells us, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD" (Proverbs 16:33). This is a divinely superintended process to ensure that the division is according to God's will, not political maneuvering. God is the one drawing the property lines. This is His sovereign allocation of His own property.
And the lot falls to Asher. The name "Asher" means "happy" or "blessed." When he was born to Jacob through Zilpah, Leah declared, "Happy am I! For women will call me blessed" (Genesis 30:13). This name is prophetic. Both Jacob and Moses pronounce a particular blessing of abundance on this tribe. Jacob said, "Asher's food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties" (Genesis 49:20). Moses said, "Most blessed of sons be Asher; let him be favored by his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil" (Deuteronomy 33:24). The inheritance he is about to receive is a direct fulfillment of these specific, prophetic words. God's promises are not generic well-wishes; they are specific, and they come to pass.
Borders, Blessings, and Battlegrounds (v. 25-29)
The text then lays out the boundaries, and in these names we see the nature of their calling.
"And their territory was Helkath and Hali and Beten and Achshaph, and Allammelech and Amad and Mishal; and it reached to Carmel on the west and to Shihor-libnath... as far as Great Sidon. Then the border turned to Ramah and to the fortified city of Tyre..." (Joshua 19:25-29)
I will not belabor every single name, but we must notice the major landmarks. The territory runs along the Mediterranean coast, some of the most fertile land in the region. This is where the olives would grow in such abundance that Asher could metaphorically "dip his foot in oil." This is the land of rich food and royal dainties. God gives good gifts. The material world is a theater of His glory, and He delights in the prosperity of His people when that prosperity is received with gratitude and used for His kingdom.
But notice the bookends of this territory. On one side, it reaches "to Carmel on the west." Mount Carmel is not just a pretty mountain. It is a battleground of worldviews. It is the place where Elijah would later call down fire from heaven and expose the utter impotence of the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). Asher's inheritance includes the very stage upon which one of the greatest confrontations between Yahweh and paganism would take place. Their blessing was not a call to comfortable retirement. It was a commission to occupy a strategic front in a spiritual war.
And on the other side, the border runs "as far as Great Sidon" and includes "the fortified city of Tyre." These were the great pagan commercial powerhouses of the ancient world. They were centers of idolatry, immense wealth, and pride. The prophet Ezekiel would later pronounce a devastating judgment on the king of Tyre, whose heart was lifted up because of his beauty and his riches, who said in his heart, "I am a god" (Ezekiel 28). Asher's inheritance borders on, and is supposed to include, the very heart of pagan arrogance and materialism.
This is a profound lesson. God does not bless us by removing us from the world, but by planting us squarely in the middle of it as a witness against it. He gives us a rich inheritance that is right next door to the proudest centers of rebellion. He gives Asher the fertile ground right next to the fortified city. The blessing is not for hoarding; it is for dominion. The proximity to Carmel, Tyre, and Sidon was a perpetual reminder of their mission: to be a light to the nations, to demonstrate the goodness of Yahweh in the face of pagan emptiness, and to tear down the high places.
The Unfinished Task (v. 30-31)
The passage concludes with a summary of the inheritance.
"Included also were Ummah and Aphek and Rehob; twenty-two cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages." (Joshua 19:30-31)
Here is the gift, signed and sealed by God Himself. Twenty-two cities and their surrounding villages. A rich, fertile, strategically located inheritance. The blessing of Asher was real, tangible, and generous. But as we know from the book of Judges, there is a tragic postscript to this story. "Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob" (Judges 1:31).
They received the deed, but they failed to take full possession. They were given the title to the land that bordered the pagan strongholds, but they settled for a comfortable coexistence. They were content to dip their own feet in oil while leaving the idols of Tyre and Sidon standing. They enjoyed the blessing but shirked the battle. And as a result, those unconquered pagan enclaves became a snare to them for generations.
This is the constant temptation for the people of God in every age. We are given a glorious inheritance in Christ. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. We are seated with Christ, far above all rule and authority. And yet, how often do we fail to possess our possessions? How often do we settle for a truce with the little pocket of sin in our hearts, the pet idolatries in our homes, or the proud pagan assumptions in our culture? God gives us the victory in Christ, but He calls us to fight. He gives us the inheritance, but He commands us to drive out the inhabitants. Asher's failure is a solemn warning to us. Do not be content with the blessing while ignoring the commission.
Possessing Our True Inheritance
So what does this ancient property map have to do with us? Everything. This entire story is a type, a shadow, of a greater reality. Joshua, whose name in Hebrew is Yeshua, is a type of our Lord Jesus. The conquest of Canaan is a type of the Great Commission. And the tribal allotments are a type of our inheritance in the gospel.
Through the death and resurrection of the true Joshua, we have been given an inheritance. Peter tells us it is an "inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4). But this inheritance is not just a future reality. The promise to Abraham was that he would be the heir of the world (Romans 4:13). Through Christ, that promise is now ours. We are called to take dominion, to disciple the nations, to teach them to obey everything Christ has commanded. Our inheritance is the whole earth.
Like Asher, we have been given a rich and blessed portion. We have the royal dainties of the gospel, the oil of the Holy Spirit. And like Asher, our inheritance is set right on the front lines. Our faith is to be lived out on the Mount Carmels of our day, in direct confrontation with the Baals of secularism, statism, and sexual chaos. Our churches are to be outposts of the Kingdom planted right next to the modern Tyres and Sidons of worldly power, wealth, and pride.
The question for us is the same question that faced Asher. Will we be content to simply enjoy our blessings in private, to dip our feet in the oil of our comfortable Christian subculture, while leaving the pagan strongholds untouched? Or will we, by faith, rise up and take possession of what Christ has already won for us? Will we drive out the idols from our own hearts, our homes, and our communities? Will we press the crown rights of King Jesus into every sphere of life?
God has given us the lot. He has given us the title deed, signed in the blood of His Son. The territory is ours. The cities are ours. The victory is assured. But He calls us to get up, go in, and take it. Let us not be like Asher in their failure, but like Christ in His faithfulness, until every enemy is under His feet, and the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth, our inheritance, as the waters cover the sea.