You may not have been much of a landowner down here, but wait till the Lord divvies up the universe!
“Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him: ‘You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed’” (Jos 13:1). God was certainly keeping track of His servant. At this time, Joshua must have been approaching one hundred years of age. He had spent about seven years in the conquest of the land. Then he took some time in dividing up the tribal allotments. He died about ten years after that, aged one hundred and ten (24:29). But the Lord was also keeping track of the land that had—and had not—been taken. It was evident Joshua could not continue extending the time until Israelite families could begin to settle down. So the Lord laid out the territory still needing to be cleared (in vv 2-6), then extended His promise to these conquests as well: “them I will drive out from before the children of Israel” (v 6). Now Joshua’s task changed from commander to administrator: “Now therefore, divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh” (v 7), said the Lord. Of course, two-and-a-half tribes had requested their allotments east of the Jordan, and had already received theirs. The rest of the chapter describes these territories. Reuben settled furthest south, and is mentioned first (vv 15-23). Although born first, he was bypassed as Jacob’s firstborn for serious indiscretion. Yet God lists his portion first. Where sin abounds, grace superabounds, and the man who was told by his father that he would not excel still has a gate named for him in the Eternal City. Poor, discouraged, failing believer, because grace dispenses it, your inheritance is also secure, “incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Pet 1:4).