Commentary - Joshua 19:40-48

Bird's-eye view

In this final section of the land allotments, we come to the portion assigned to the tribe of Dan. On the surface, this is another list of towns and boundaries, a divine real estate transaction recorded for posterity. But as with all Scripture, we must read this with gospel eyes. The distribution of the land of Canaan is a type, a physical picture, of our spiritual inheritance in Jesus Christ. The book of Joshua is the story of God giving His people a place of rest, but as the author of Hebrews tells us, the rest Joshua gave was temporary and incomplete (Heb. 4:8). It pointed forward to the true rest we enter by faith in the true Joshua, Jesus.

The inheritance of Dan is particularly instructive, and not just for what they were given, but for what they failed to take, and what they took instead. Their story contains a stark warning about covenant unfaithfulness and the failure to possess what God has promised. It is a miniature of Israel's larger history of failure, a failure that necessitated the coming of a better Mediator and a better inheritance. Here we see the goodness of God in providing a place for His people, but we also see the weakness of the flesh in taking hold of that provision, a weakness the law could not overcome.

Outline

Dan's Inheritance

40 The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the sons of Dan according to their families.

The lots were cast before the Lord at Shiloh (Josh. 18:1, 10). This was not a game of chance; this was divine appointment. The sovereignty of God is meticulous, extending to the roll of the dice, or in this case, the drawing of the lot (Prov. 16:33). God is the one who determines the boundaries of our habitation (Acts 17:26). For Dan, the seventh and final lot comes out. They are assigned their portion "according to their families." God deals with us covenantally, not just as isolated individuals, but as members of families and tribes. The inheritance is corporate. This is a picture of how God gives gifts to His church, distributing them as He sees fit for the good of the whole body.

41 And the territory of their inheritance was Zorah and Eshtaol and Ir-shemesh, 42 and Shaalabbin and Aijalon and Ithlah, 43 and Elon and Timnah and Ekron, 44 and Eltekeh and Gibbethon and Baalath, 45 and Jehud and Bene-berak and Gath-rimmon, 46 and Me-jarkon and Rakkon, with the territory over against Joppa.

Here we have the detailed list of the towns and lands assigned to Dan. This is God's good gift to them. The land was fertile and strategically located. Zorah and Eshtaol you might recognize as the area where Samson, a Danite, would later begin his ministry (Judges 13:25). This was a good inheritance, a gracious provision from a faithful God. God does not give junk. The places He prepares for His people are places of goodness and blessing. The problem is never with the quality of God's gifts, but rather with the faithfulness of our hearts in receiving and holding on to them. This list of names, which seems tedious to us, was a roll call of God's goodness, a tangible expression of His covenant promise to Abraham.

47 And the territory of the sons of Dan went out from them; for the sons of Dan went up and fought with Leshem and captured it. Then they struck it with the edge of the sword and possessed it and settled in it; and they called Leshem Dan after the name of Dan their father.

This is the pivot point of the passage, and one of the most sobering verses in the book of Joshua. "The territory...went out from them." Other translations say it was "too narrow" or that they "lost" it. The point is, they failed to possess what God had allotted to them. The Amorites were strong in that region and pushed the Danites into the hill country, not allowing them to occupy the plain (Judges 1:34). So what did they do? They looked for an easier inheritance. They went north, found a quiet and unsuspecting city, Leshem (also called Laish), and took it.

Notice the contrast. They failed to fight the enemy God told them to fight in the land He gave them, but they had no trouble fighting a different enemy for a land He did not give them. This is a classic picture of human nature. We shirk the difficult obedience God commands and substitute a self-directed, easier task that we then count as righteousness. They named the new city Dan, putting their own name on their disobedient achievement. This is the beginning of Dan's legacy of idolatry and self-will. In Judges 18, we read the sordid story of how they set up a graven image in that city. It is no surprise that in the listing of the tribes of Israel in Revelation 7, the tribe of Dan is conspicuously missing. They chose their own inheritance, and in the end, they lost their place in the symbolic roster of God's redeemed people. This is a solemn warning. We are to fight for the inheritance God gives us, not abandon it for something that looks easier.

48 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.

The chapter concludes by restating that this was their inheritance. But which inheritance? The one God allotted, or the one they seized? The verse refers back to the list in verses 41-46. It is a final, almost tragic, reminder of what God had intended for them. God's provision was good. His plan was perfect. The failure was not in the Giver, but in the recipients. Their lack of faith, their unwillingness to engage in the hard warfare of obedience, led them to forfeit the blessing God had laid out for them.

This whole episode shows us why the covenant made at Sinai was ultimately insufficient. It relied on the faithfulness of the people, and the people were consistently, tragically unfaithful. The land was a gift, but holding it required an obedience they could not produce. This is why we needed a new and better covenant. We needed a champion, a true Joshua, who would not fail in His obedience. Jesus Christ fought the true enemy, Satan, and won the victory. He secured for us an eternal inheritance, one that cannot be forfeited, because He holds it for us. Our inheritance is not a piece of land, but fellowship with God Himself, a place in His eternal kingdom. And our entrance into that rest is not based on our strength to fight, but on His finished work on the cross.