3071.) Joshua 16

“Although Joseph was one of Jacob’s 12 sons, he did not have a tribe named after him. This was because Joseph, as the oldest son of Jacob’s wife Rachel, received a double portion of the inheritance.  This double portion was given to Joseph’s two sons. Ephraim and Manasseh, whom Jacob considered as his own.” — from The Life Application Bible

Joshua 16   (NRSV)

The Territory of Ephraim

The allotment of the Josephites went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel; ²then going from Bethel to Luz, it passes along to Ataroth, the territory of the Archites; ³then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of Lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and it ends at the sea. ⁴The Josephites—Manasseh and Ephraim—received their inheritance.

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Music:

What a wonderful feeling, to look at a place and call it home!

HERE  Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger sing  “This Land Is Your Land.”

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⁵The territory of the Ephraimites by their families was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was Ataroth-addar as far as Upper Beth-horon, ⁶and the boundary goes from there to the sea; on the north is Michmethath; then on the east the boundary makes a turn toward Taanath-shiloh, and passes along beyond it on the east to Janoah, ⁷then it goes down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah, and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan.

The Old Red Mill in Jericho, Vermont, dates back to the 1850’s.

⁸From Tappuah the boundary goes westward to the Wadi Kanah, and ends at the sea. Such is the inheritance of the tribe of the Ephraimites by their families, ⁹together with the towns that were set apart for the Ephraimites within the inheritance of the Manassites, all those towns with their villages. ¹⁰They did not, however, drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer:

Their failure to completely drive out the Canaanites is typical of all the tribes. Even within the Promised Land there remains important work to do and battles to fight.

–David Guzik

so the Canaanites have lived within Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor.

Ephraim, Wisconsin, is located in beautiful Door County.

The Israelites did not fully conquer for two reasons. First, they wanted peace at any cost. Second, they wanted wealth. For the sake of ease and money, they disobeyed God and fell short of what He had for them. Do we do the same thing today?

–David Guzik

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

map of the land of the twelve tribes.    http://www.jesuswalk.com/gideon/images/12tribes_map250x389.gif

Jericho, VT.     https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/16-jericho-vt.jpg

Ephraim, WI.     https://growlermag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/Ephraim-Fall1.jpg

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