Mafunzo ya Kina ya Yoshua — Sehemu ya 8: Urithi WagawanywaJoshua Intensive — Unit 8: The Inheritance Allotted

Kitabu cha Yoshua sasa kinageuka kona. Sura kumi na mbili za kwanza zilihusu kuiteka nchi. Sura saba zinazofuata zinahusu urithi. Vitenzi vinabadilika. Kwenda, kuzunguka, kupigana, kutwaa vinakuwa kugawanya, kugawa kwa kura, kumiliki, kukaa. Makabila si tena jeshi moja lililo vitani; ni nyumba kumi na mbili zinazoingia katika vipande kumi na viwili vya ardhi. Mungu aliyewapigania Israeli kama taifa sasa anawagawia Israeli nchi kama familia. Sura saba za jiografia huenda hazina msisimko wa Yeriko au wa Siku Ndefu, lakini zina kitu ambacho sura zenye msisimko hazina: zina jina lako kwenye hati ya umiliki.The book of Joshua now turns a corner. The first twelve chapters were conquest. The next seven chapters are inheritance. The verbs change. March, surround, fight, take become divide, allot, possess, dwell. The tribes are no longer one army on a campaign; they are twelve households moving into twelve plots of land. The God who fought for Israel as a nation now distributes the land to Israel as families. Seven chapters of geography may not have the drama of Jericho or the Long Day, but they have something the dramatic chapters do not have: they have your name on a deed.

Nipe mlima huu.Give me this mountain.

Yoshua 13 inaanza kwa mojawapo ya sentensi za kichungaji zaidi ambazo BWANA amezinena katika kitabu chote: "Basi Yoshua alikuwa mzee, mwenye miaka mingi; BWANA akamwambia, Wewe umekuwa mzee, mwenye miaka mingi, kisha inasalia nchi nyingi sana bado kumilikiwa" (Yoshua 13:1). Si karipio. Ni mkono begani. Jemadari aliyetembea usiku kucha hadi Gibeoni na kusimama chini ya jua mpaka vita vilipomalizika sasa ni mzee, na BWANA analisema hilo kwa upole. Wewe ni mzee. Ndiyo. Na bado kuna nchi huko nje. Vita si hadithi yote. Urithi ndio sehemu iliyobaki ya hadithi. Yoshua atatumia miaka yake ya mwisho ya kazi si mbele ya jeshi, bali akiongoza kikundi cha wapima ardhi, akitembea mipakani pamoja na wazee na kuandika hati za umiliki kwa jina la BWANA.Joshua 13 opens with one of the most pastoral sentences the LORD has spoken in the entire book: "Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed" (Joshua 13:1). It is not a rebuke. It is a hand on the shoulder. The general who marched all night to Gibeon and stood under the sun until the battle was won is now an old man, and the LORD says it kindly. You are old. Yes. And there is still land out there. The campaign is not the whole story. The inheritance is the rest of the story. Joshua is going to spend his last working years not at the front of the army but at the head of a surveying team, walking the boundaries with the elders and writing the deeds in the LORD's name.

Mtu mmoja anayetawala sehemu hii ya kitabu si Yoshua mwenyewe. Ni Kalebu. Kalebu anaingia katika Yoshua 14 akiegemea miaka arobaini na mitano ya subira na kuuomba ule mlima uliokipooza kizazi chake katika Hesabu 13. Ana umri wa miaka themanini na mitano. Anasema, katika mojawapo ya sentensi zinazonukuliwa zaidi katika Agano la Kale, "Basi sasa nipe mlima huu, ambao BWANA aliunena siku ile" (Yoshua 14:12). Waanaki ambao Yoshua aliwakatilia mbali katika sura ya 11 walikuwa wamerudi nyuma, na mabaki yao bado waliishika Hebroni. Kalebu anaomba Hebroni. Kalebu anaitwaa Hebroni. Mtu aliyekataa akiwa na miaka arobaini kujiita panzi sasa, akiwa na miaka themanini na mitano, anakataa kujiita mzee mno. Alimfuata BWANA kwa moyo wote ndiyo maneno ambayo sura hiyo inamzungushia mara tatu.The single figure who dominates this section of the book is not Joshua himself. It is Caleb. Caleb walks into Joshua 14 leaning on forty-five years of patience and asks for the very mountain that paralyzed his generation in Numbers 13. He is eighty-five years old. He says, in one of the most quoted sentences in the Old Testament, "Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day" (Joshua 14:12). The Anakim that Joshua cut down in chapter 11 had retreated, and a remnant still held Hebron. Caleb asks for Hebron. Caleb takes Hebron. The man who refused at age forty to call himself a grasshopper now refuses at age eighty-five to call himself too old. Wholly followed the LORD is the phrase the chapter wraps around him three times.

Sehemu hii inapitia mkondo wa urithi katika vipande vinane. Kifungu I kinakaa na Yoshua kwenye ukumbusho mpole wa BWANA — nchi nyingi sana bado kumilikiwa. Kifungu II kinatembea mashariki ya Yordani pamoja na Reubeni, Gadi, na nusu ya Manase, ambako Musa alikuwa ameshatoa urithi, na kinalitaja kabila ambalo halikupokea ardhi yake lenyewe kwa sababu BWANA Mwenyewe alikuwa urithi wao: Lawi. Kifungu III kinasimama kando ya Kalebu huko Hebroni, pamoja na shahidi wa kanisa la kwanza Polikarpo, aliyewajibu wauaji wake kwa ujasiri wa aina ile ile ambao maisha ya Kalebu yanaudhihirisha. Kifungu IV kinamsikiliza Akisa, binti wa Kalebu, akiomba chemchemi za maji na kuzipokea. Kifungu V kinapitia kisa cha kushangaza cha binti za Selofehadi na kusikiliza jibu kali la Yoshua kwa manung'uniko ya Yusufu. Kifungu VI kinaisimamisha maskani huko Shilo na vikundi vya wapima ardhi vilivyomaliza mipaka ya makabila saba ya mwisho. Kifungu VII kinafunga ugawaji na kutaja jambo la ajabu kwa utulivu kuliko yote katika sehemu nzima: Yoshua mwenyewe anapokea urithi wake mwisho. Hitimisho linarudi kwenye maneno ambayo BWANA anayazungushia maisha ya Kalebu na kuyaomba juu ya maisha ya mwamini: alimfuata BWANA kwa moyo wote.This unit walks the inheritance arc in eight pieces. Section I sits with Joshua at the LORD's gentle reminder — much land yet to be possessed. Section II walks east of the Jordan with Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh, where Moses had already given the inheritance, and notes the tribe that received no land of its own because the LORD Himself was their inheritance: Levi. Section III stands beside Caleb at Hebron, alongside the early martyr Polycarp, who answered his executioners with the same kind of confidence Caleb's life embodies. Section IV listens to Achsah, Caleb's daughter, ask for the springs of water and receive them. Section V walks the surprising case of the daughters of Zelophehad and listens to Joshua's hard-edged answer to Joseph's complaint. Section VI sets up the tabernacle at Shiloh and the surveying teams that finished the boundaries for the last seven tribes. Section VII closes the allotment and notes the most quietly remarkable detail of the whole section: Joshua himself receives his inheritance last. The Closing returns to the phrase the LORD wraps around Caleb's life and prays it over the believer's life: wholly followed the LORD.

Mistari saba ya kwanza ya Yoshua 13 inaweka ajenda ya kitabu kilichobaki. BWANA anaorodhesha maeneo ambayo bado yako mikononi mwa adui — mikoa ya Wafilisti kando ya pwani ya kusini-magharibi, nchi za Wageshuri upande wa kusini, pwani ya Wasidoni upande wa kaskazini, mikoa ya Waavi, Wahivi chini ya Hermoni, uwanda mzima wa pwani. Orodha hiyo inashangaza. Israeli wameshinda vita, lakini nchi bado haijasafishwa kabisa. Sehemu kadhaa zimebaki. Miji kadhaa bado imesimama. Vita vililetea ushindi; urithi utaleta makazi, na kukaa katika nchi ni kazi ya aina nyingine.The first seven verses of Joshua 13 set the agenda for the rest of the book. The LORD lists the territories still in enemy hands — the regions of the Philistines along the southwest coast, the lands of the Geshurites in the south, the Sidonian coast in the north, the regions of the Avvim, the Hivites under Hermon, the entire coastal plain. The list is striking. Israel has won the war, but the land is not yet fully cleared. Some pockets remain. Some cities are still standing. The campaign produced victory; the inheritance will produce occupation, and occupation is a different kind of work.

Angalia jinsi BWANA anavyoieleza kazi hiyo katika mstari wa 6: "Wewe tu uigawe kwa kura kwa Israeli iwe urithi, kama nilivyokuagiza." Nchi iliyobaki haihitaji kutekwa upya kabla ya kugawanywa. Inapaswa kugawanywa sasa, ikiwa na hati kamili, na makabila yenyewe yataingia na kumiliki kile ambacho tayari ni chao kisheria. Hati inakuja kwanza; makao yanakuja baadaye. Ahadi imetolewa kikamilifu ingawa umiliki bado haujatimia kikamilifu. BWANA anataka Israeli waipokee nchi kwa mgawo, kwa kura, kwa urithi, si kwa vita vingine vya kitaifa.Notice how the LORD frames the assignment in verse 6: "Only divide thou it by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee." The remaining land does not need to be re-conquered before it is divided. It is to be divided now, with full title, and the tribes themselves will then move in and possess what is already legally theirs. The deed comes first; the dwelling comes second. The promise is fully given even though the possession is not yet fully realized. The LORD wants Israel to receive the land by allotment, by lot, by inheritance, not by additional national campaigns.

Hii ni picha ya kichungaji sana kwa maisha ya Kikristo. Sehemu fulani ya eneo ambalo BWANA amekupangia bado haijakaliwa. Kuna sehemu za mazoea ya zamani, vipande vya hofu, pembe za nafsi ambazo vita bado havijazisafisha. BWANA hakwambii, "Ngoja mpaka sehemu hizo zisafishwe, kisha nitakupa nchi." Anasema, "Nchi ni yako kwa ahadi. Sasa ingia ukamiliki kile ambacho nimeshakupa." Makabila hayaupati urithi kwa kumfukuza Mfilisti wa mwisho. Makabila yanapokea urithi kisha yanaingia na kusafisha pembe zao kadiri yanavyoendelea.This is a deeply pastoral picture for the Christian life. Some of the territory the LORD has assigned to you is not yet occupied. There are pockets of old habit, fragments of fear, corners of the soul that the campaigns have not yet cleared. The LORD does not say to you, "Wait until those pockets are cleared, and then I will give you the land." He says, "The land is yours by promise. Now go in and possess what I have already given." The tribes do not earn the inheritance by clearing the last Philistine. The tribes receive the inheritance and then walk in and clear out their corners as they go.

Kanuni ambayo Stedman aliiita "pumziko la imani" inakaa hapa hapa. Unapewa hati kabla hujatembea shambani. Yoshua 13:1 si mwisho wa hadithi; ni mwanzo wa urithi.The principle Stedman called "the rest of faith" sits exactly here. You are given the title before you have walked the field. Joshua 13:1 is not the end of the story; it is the beginning of inheritance.

Mistari ya 8 hadi 33 inaandika kile kilichokuwa kimeshaamuliwa kabla Yoshua hajashika uongozi: Reubeni, Gadi, na nusu ya kabila la Manase walikuwa wamemwomba Musa malisho mazuri mashariki ya Yordani kwa sababu mifugo yao ilikuwa mingi, na Musa alikuwa amewapa kwa sharti moja — kwamba wanaume wao wavuke na kupigana pamoja na ndugu zao mpaka makabila ya magharibi yapate makao (Hesabu 32; Yoshua 1:12–15). Sharti hilo limetimizwa. Wanaume wa Reubeni, Gadi, na Manase ya mashariki wamevuka Yordani, wamepigana katika miaka saba ya vita, na sasa tendo rasmi la kwanza la Yoshua katika urithi ni kuuthibitisha mgawo wa mashariki ambao Musa alikuwa amewapa. Mwandishi anatumia lugha sahihi ya kisheria: "Musa, mtumishi wa BWANA, aliwapa" (13:8). Ahadi ya awali inasimama. Kizazi kipya hakihitaji kujadiliana upya juu ya kile ambacho kizazi kilichotangulia kilikipokea kwa haki.Verses 8 through 33 record what was already settled before Joshua took command: Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had asked Moses for the rich pastureland east of the Jordan because their flocks were many, and Moses had granted it on one condition — that their men cross over and fight alongside their brothers until the western tribes were settled (Numbers 32; Joshua 1:12–15). The condition has been honored. The men of Reuben, Gad, and east-Manasseh have crossed the Jordan, fought the seven years of campaign, and now Joshua's first official act of inheritance is to confirm the eastern allotment Moses had given them. The author uses precise legal language: "Moses the servant of the LORD gave" (13:8). The earlier promise stands. The new generation does not have to renegotiate what the previous generation rightly received.

Lakini katikati ya sehemu hiyo hiyo kumefichwa mojawapo ya sentensi kuu tulivu za Agano la Kale lote. Mstari wa 14: "Ila kabila ya Lawi hakuwapa urithi wo wote; sadaka za BWANA, Mungu wa Israeli, zilizosongezwa kwa moto, ndizo urithi wake, kama alivyomwambia." Mstari wa 33 unarudia kweli hiyo hiyo kwa maneno mengine: "Lakini kabila ya Lawi Musa hakuwapa urithi wo wote; BWANA, Mungu wa Israeli, ndiye urithi wao, kama alivyowaambia." Walawi hawapati mashamba. Hawapati kiwanja. Wataishi katika miji arobaini na minane iliyotawanyika katika maeneo ya makabila mengine, nao watakula kutokana na sadaka za Israeli. Hati ya umiliki waliyonayo haiko juu ya udongo. BWANA, Mungu wa Israeli, ndiye urithi wao.But buried in the same section is one of the great quiet sentences of the entire Old Testament. Verse 14: "Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave none inheritance; the sacrifices of the LORD God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as he said unto them." Verse 33 repeats the same truth in different words: "But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not any inheritance: the LORD God of Israel was their inheritance, as he said unto them." The Levites get no farmland. They get no plot. They will live in forty-eight cities scattered through the other tribes' territories, and they will eat from the offerings of Israel. The land deed they hold is not on the soil. The LORD God of Israel was their inheritance.

Soma kilichotokea hivi punde. Makabila kumi na moja yalipokea nchi nzuri, mabonde yenye rutuba, miji yenye maboma, misitu ya mialoni, miteremko ya mizabibu. Kabila la kumi na mbili lilimpokea BWANA Mwenyewe. Hesabu hii haiwezi kupingwa. Walawi walipata zaidi. Makabila kumi na moja yanamiliki sehemu ya Kanaani; Walawi wanammiliki Yule anayetoa Kanaani. Wametawanyika katika maeneo ya ndugu zao kwa makusudi — ili popote Mwisraeli anapoishi, Mlawi awe karibu kufundisha Sheria na kuhudumu madhabahuni. Kabila lisilo na ardhi ndilo kabila linalowafikia watu wengi zaidi.Read what just happened. Eleven tribes received good land, fertile valleys, fortified cities, oak forests, vineyard slopes. The twelfth tribe received the LORD Himself. The math is impossible to argue with. The Levites came out ahead. Eleven tribes own a portion of Canaan; the Levites own the One who gives Canaan. They are scattered through their brothers' territories on purpose — so that wherever an Israelite lives, a Levite is near to teach the Law and serve at the altar. The tribe with no land is the tribe with the most reach.

Matumizi yake katika uanafunzi ni rahisi. Mwamini anayejifunza kusema pamoja na Mlawi, "BWANA ndiye urithi wangu," ndiye mwamini asiyeona njaa kamwe, haijalishi makabila mengine yalipata mabonde au miji gani. Kila urithi mwingine ni wa sehemu. Urithi wa Mlawi ni kamili.The discipleship application is simple. The believer who learns to say with the Levite, "the LORD is my inheritance," is the believer who never goes hungry no matter what valleys or cities the other tribes ended up with. Every other inheritance is partial. The Levite's is total.

Yoshua 14 ni ya Kalebu. Baada ya maandalizi ya kisheria ya sura ya 13, maandiko yanageukia tukio la kibinafsi linalostahili kichwa chake chenyewe katika kila Biblia. Kalebu mwana wa Yefune, Mkenizi, anamwendea Yoshua huko Gilgali na kudai ahadi ya miaka arobaini na mitano iliyopita. Anasema polepole, kwa utulivu wa mtu aliyengoja muda mrefu bila kusahau lolote.Joshua 14 belongs to Caleb. After the legal preliminaries of chapter 13, the text turns to a personal scene that deserves its own chapter heading in any Bible. Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite walks up to Joshua at Gilgal and cashes in a forty-five-year-old promise. He says it slowly, with the calm of a man who has waited a long time and forgotten nothing.

"Mimi nilikuwa mtu wa miaka arobaini hapo Musa, mtumishi wa BWANA, aliponituma kutoka Kadesh-barnea ili niipeleleze nchi… Na sasa, tazama, BWANA ameniweka hai, kama alivyosema, miaka hii arobaini na mitano… na sasa, tazama, mimi leo nimekuwa mtu wa miaka themanini na mitano. Lakini hata sasa nina nguvu leo kama nilivyokuwa siku ile Musa aliponituma… Basi sasa nipe mlima huu, ambao BWANA aliunena siku ile; kwa kuwa wewe ulisikia siku ile jinsi Waanaki walivyokuwamo, na miji mikubwa yenye maboma; yamkini BWANA atakuwa pamoja nami, nami nitawafukuza, kama BWANA alivyosema." (Yoshua 14:7, 10–12)"Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land… And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years… and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me… Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said." (Joshua 14:7, 10–12)

Mambo matatu yanajitokeza. Kwanza, Kalebu anafanya hesabu kwa sauti. Alikuwa na miaka arobaini Musa alipowatuma wapelelezi. Sasa ana miaka themanini na mitano. BWANA amemweka hai miaka hii arobaini na mitano katika jangwa lililokizika kizazi chake chote. Kalebu hapumziki tu katika uzee wake; anadai deni ambalo BWANA hamdai mtu yeyote, ila aliliahidi kwa hiari. Pili, anaomba sehemu mbaya zaidi ya nchi, si iliyo bora zaidi. Hebroni ni nchi ya vilima. Hebroni bado ina Waanaki ndani yake. Hebroni ndiyo hasa aina ya nchi ambayo mtu wa miaka themanini na mitano hapaswi kuiomba. Kalebu anaiomba kwa makusudi. Anaitaka nchi walimoishi majitu, kwa sababu majitu ndiyo yaliyokuwa sababu ya wapelelezi kumi wenzake kushindwa miaka arobaini na mitano iliyopita, na Kalebu anataka kulimaliza deni hilo yeye mwenyewe. Tatu, angalia theolojia ya ombi lake. "Yamkini BWANA atakuwa pamoja nami, nami nitawafukuza, kama BWANA alivyosema." Si bado nina nguvu za kutosha. Si nimestahili hili. Ila tu BWANA akiwa pamoja nami, ndipo nitaweza. Miaka arobaini na mitano ya kumfuata kwa moyo wote haijazaa Kalebu anayejiamini yeye mwenyewe. Imezaa Kalebu anayemwamini Mungu wake.Three things stand out. First, Caleb is doing the math out loud. He was forty when Moses sent the spies. He is now eighty-five. The LORD has kept him alive these forty-five years through a wilderness that buried his entire generation. Caleb is not coasting in his old age; he is calling in a debt the LORD owes no one but freely promised. Second, he is asking for the worst of the territory, not the best. Hebron is hill country. Hebron has Anakim still in it. Hebron is exactly the kind of land an eighty-five-year-old should not be requesting. Caleb requests it on purpose. He wants the land where the giants lived, because the giants were the reason ten of his fellow spies failed forty-five years ago, and Caleb wants to settle that account in person. Third, notice his theology of the request. "If so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said." Not I am still strong enough. Not I have earned this. Just if the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able. Forty-five years of wholehearted following has not produced a confident Caleb in himself. It has produced a confident Caleb in his God.

Maneno ambayo sura hiyo inamzungushia mara tatu ni "alimfuata BWANA, Mungu wa Israeli, kwa moyo wote" (14:8, 9, 14). Ni hukumu juu ya maisha yote. Ndiyo BWANA aliyosema juu yake huko Kadesh-barnea (Hesabu 14:24); ndiyo Musa aliyosema juu yake katika baraka yake (Kumbukumbu la Torati 1:36); ndiyo Yoshua anayoandika juu yake hapa mwishoni. Maisha ya mtu huyu yalikuwa na sentensi moja juu yake, na sentensi hiyo haikubadilika kamwe.The phrase the chapter wraps around him three times is "he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel" (14:8, 9, 14). It is the verdict on the whole life. It is what the LORD said about him at Kadesh-barnea (Numbers 14:24); it is what Moses said about him in his blessing (Deuteronomy 1:36); it is what Joshua records about him here at the end. The man's life had one sentence over it, and the sentence never changed.

Mwangwi kutoka kanisa la kwanza unastahili kuwa katika sehemu hii. Polikarpo, askofu wa Smirna na mwanafunzi wa mtume Yohana, alikamatwa katika uzee wake na kuletwa mbele ya liwali, aliyemwamuru amkane Kristo. Liwali alimtisha kwa wanyama wakali. Polikarpo alisimama imara. Liwali alimtisha kwa moto. Polikarpo alijibu kwa maneno yanayosimuliwa sana kuwa: "Miaka themanini na sita nimemtumikia, wala hajanitendea neno baya lolote; basi nawezaje kumkufuru Mfalme wangu na Mwokozi wangu?" Themanini na sita. Hesabu ile ile ya Kalebu. Utulivu ule ule. Hesabu ile ile ya maisha. Hukumu ile ile ya mwisho juu ya maisha marefu: Nimemtumikia muda mrefu, naye hajaniangusha. Polikarpo alikwenda motoni. Kalebu alikwenda mlimani. Wote wawili walikataa kuzeeka kuelekea upande usio sahihi.An echo from the early church belongs in this section. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna and a disciple of the apostle John, was arrested in old age and brought before the proconsul, who ordered him to renounce Christ. The proconsul threatened wild beasts. Polycarp stood firm. The proconsul threatened the fire. Polycarp answered with what is widely reported as: "Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He has done me no wrong; how then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?" Eighty-six. The same arithmetic as Caleb's. The same calm. The same accounting. The same finished judgment on a long life: I have served Him a long time, and He has not failed me. Polycarp went to the fire. Caleb went to the mountain. Both refused to grow old in the wrong direction.

Hivi ndivyo kumfuata kwa moyo wote kunavyoonekana mwishoni mwa utii wa muda mrefu. Hakustaafu kwa ombi dogo. Kunamwendea Yoshua na kuomba Hebroni.This is what wholehearted following looks like at the end of a long obedience. It does not retire to a small request. It walks up to Joshua and asks for Hebron.

Binti wa Kalebu, Akisa, anapata tukio lake fupi katikati ya sura ndefu ya kijiografia ya Yuda. Kalebu ametoka tu kuwafukuza kutoka Hebroni wale wana watatu wa Anaki (15:14). Kisha anatoa changamoto: yeyote atakayeutwaa mji wa Kiriath-seferi (Debiri) atampata binti yake Akisa kuwa mke. Othnieli, mpwa wa Kalebu, anautwaa mji, na Kalebu anampa Akisa kama alivyoahidi. Mpango wote unasomeka kama kampeni ya kuandikisha askari katika Enzi ya Chuma, lakini mistari miwili inayofuata inaligeuza tukio hilo bila kutarajiwa kumwelekea binti mwenyewe.Caleb's daughter Achsah gets her own short scene in the middle of the long geographical chapter for Judah. Caleb has just driven the three Anakim sons of Anak out of Hebron (15:14). Then he extends a challenge: whoever takes the city of Kiriath-sepher (Debir) will have his daughter Achsah in marriage. Othniel, Caleb's nephew, takes the city, and Caleb gives him Achsah as promised. The whole arrangement reads like an Iron Age recruiting drive, but the next two verses tilt the scene unexpectedly toward the daughter herself.

Akisa anamjia Othnieli na kumshawishi amwombe Kalebu shamba. Kisha anashuka kutoka juu ya punda wake, na Kalebu anasema, "Wataka nini?" Anajibu, "Nipe baraka; kwa kuwa umeniweka katika nchi ya Negebu, nipe na chemchemi za maji pia" (Yoshua 15:18–19). Kalebu anampa chemchemi za juu na chemchemi za chini. Mwisho wa tukio. Mistari mitano. Binti. Ombi. Chemchemi za maji.Achsah comes to Othniel and gets him to ask Caleb for a field. Then she dismounts from her donkey, and Caleb says, "What wouldest thou?" She answers, "Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water" (Joshua 15:18–19). Caleb gives her the upper springs and the nether springs. End of scene. Five verses. A daughter. A request. Springs of water.

Tukio hili linafanya mambo mawili kwa wakati mmoja. Kwanza, linahifadhi haki za urithi za wanawake katika Israeli. Eneo la Akisa lilikuwa nchi ya kusini — kavu, yenye joto, isiyo na rutuba. Bila maji isingezaa. Akisa hakubali nchi kavu kuwa urithi wake wa mwisho. Anamwomba baba yake chemchemi, naye baba anampa. Maandiko hayatoi maoni. Yanaonyesha tu binti akipata zaidi kwa sababu alikuwa na ujasiri wa kuomba. Pili, tukio hili linafundisha maombi. Mwamini anapewa sehemu. Sehemu hiyo inaweza kuwa kavu bila chemchemi za baraka ya Mungu. Mwamini anayemrudia Baba na kusema, "Nipe baraka; umenipa nchi ya kusini; nipe na chemchemi za maji pia," ndiye mwamini anayepata chemchemi. "Hamna kitu kwa sababu hamwombi" — Yakobo atalisema, lakini Akisa analionyesha kwanza. Binti wa Kalebu ni binti wa Kalebu kweli. Ujasiri ulikuwa katika familia.The scene is doing two things at once. First, it is preserving the inheritance rights of women in Israel. Achsah's territory was a south land — dry, hot, marginal. Without water it would not produce. Achsah does not accept the dry land as her final inheritance. She asks her father for the springs, and the father gives them. The text does not editorialize. It simply shows a daughter getting an upgrade because she had the courage to ask. Second, the scene is teaching prayer. The believer is given a portion. The portion may be dry without the springs of God's blessing. The believer who comes back to the Father and says, "Give me a blessing; you have given me a southland; give me also springs of water," is the believer who gets the springs. "Ye have not, because ye ask not" — James will say it, but Achsah models it first. Caleb's daughter is Caleb's daughter. The boldness ran in the family.

Matukio mengine mawili katika sehemu ya urithi yanastahili kuangaliwa. La kwanza ni kisa cha binti watano wa Selofehadi katika sura ya 17. Selofehadi wa kabila la Manase alikufa jangwani bila wana, ila binti watano tu — Mala, Nuhu, Hogla, Milka, na Tirsa. Walikuwa wamemwendea Musa miaka mingi kabla (Hesabu 27) na kuomba urithi, kwa kuwa baba yao hakuwa na mwana wa kuupokea. Musa alikuwa amelipeleka shauri hilo kwa BWANA, naye BWANA aliamua kwa faida yao: "Binti za Selofehadi wanena yaliyo haki; hakika utawapa milki ya urithi kati ya ndugu za baba yao." Sasa, katika Yoshua 17:3–6, binti hao wanamjia Eleazari kuhani, Yoshua, na wazee, nao wanarejea uamuzi ule wa awali: "BWANA alimwamuru Musa atupe sisi urithi kati ya ndugu zetu." Na Yoshua anauheshimu. "Basi kwa kuifuata amri ya BWANA akawapa urithi kati ya ndugu za baba yao" (17:4).Two more scenes from the inheritance section deserve attention. The first is the case of the five daughters of Zelophehad in chapter 17. Zelophehad of the tribe of Manasseh died in the wilderness with no sons, only five daughters — Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They had come to Moses years earlier (Numbers 27) and asked for an inheritance, since their father had no son to receive one. Moses had taken the case to the LORD, and the LORD ruled in their favor: "The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren." Now, in Joshua 17:3–6, the daughters come to Eleazar the priest, Joshua, and the elders, and they cite that earlier ruling: "The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren." And Joshua honors it. "Therefore according to the commandment of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father" (17:4).

Hili si tanbihi ndogo. Wanawake watano wanapokea urithi wa kikabila katika Israeli kwa sababu baba yao hakuwa na wana na imani yao ilikumbuka kile BWANA alichosema kupitia Musa. Kitabu cha Yoshua, katikati ya orodha zake za mipaka, kinasimama kwa muda wa kutosha kuandika majina yao na sehemu yao. Kumfuata Mungu kwa moyo wote kunahifadhi kile Mungu alichoahidi hata katika vizazi viwili na kifo cha kiongozi. Binti hao wanena yaliyo haki. Bwana anakumbuka. Nchi inatolewa.This is not a small footnote. Five women receive a tribal inheritance in Israel because their father had no sons and their faith remembered what the LORD had said through Moses. The book of Joshua, in the middle of its boundary lists, pauses long enough to record their names and their portion. Wholehearted following preserves what God has promised even across two generations and a leader's death. The daughters speak right. The Lord remembers. The land is given.

Tukio la pili liko katika 17:14–18. Wazao wa Yusufu — Efraimu na nusu ya magharibi ya Manase — wanamjia Yoshua na kunung'unika. "Mbona umenipa kura moja tu na sehemu moja kuwa urithi, kwa kuwa mimi ni watu wengi?" Hoja yao ni kwamba wao ni wengi mno kwa eneo walilopewa. Jibu la Yoshua ni la mkato kama linavyojulikana. "Ikiwa wewe u watu wengi, haya, kwea uende mwituni, ukajikatie mahali huko katika nchi ya Waperizi na ya Warefai; ikiwa nchi ya vilima vya Efraimu ni nyembamba kwako." Wanapinga tena: Wakanaani walio bondeni wana magari ya chuma. Yoshua analinoa jibu lake: "Wewe u watu wengi, nawe una uwezo mwingi; hutakuwa na kura moja tu; lakini nchi ya vilima itakuwa yako; ijapokuwa ni mwitu, wewe utaikata… kwa kuwa utawafukuza Wakanaani, ijapokuwa wana magari ya chuma, na ijapokuwa wana nguvu" (17:17–18).The second scene is in 17:14–18. The descendants of Joseph — Ephraim and the western half of Manasseh — come to Joshua and complain. "Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people?" Their argument is that they are too numerous for the territory they were given. Joshua's answer is famously brisk. "If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee." They protest again: the Canaanites in the valley have iron chariots. Joshua sharpens the answer: "Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only: but the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down… for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong" (17:17–18).

Majibu mawili, mafundisho mawili. Kwa binti za Selofehadi, waliokuja wakirejea ahadi ya Mungu, Yoshua anatoa urithi mara moja. Kwa makabila ya Yusufu, wanaokuja wakinung'unika juu ya ukubwa wa urithi waliopewa, Yoshua anawaambia waisafishe nchi ya misitu wao wenyewe. Imani inayoomba kwa msingi wa ahadi inapata chemchemi za maji. Makabila yanayonung'unika juu ya ukubwa wa kura yanapata shoka na msitu. BWANA hujibu maombi na kukemea manung'uniko, mara nyingi katika sura ile ile.Two responses, two lessons. To the daughters of Zelophehad, who came citing a promise of God, Joshua gives the inheritance immediately. To the Joseph tribes, who come complaining about the size of the inheritance they were given, Joshua tells them to clear the wood country themselves. Faith pleading a promise gets springs of water. Tribes complaining about lot size get an axe and a forest. The LORD answers prayer and rebukes complaint, often in the same chapter.

Yoshua 18:1 inaonyesha badiliko lenye uzito mkubwa kijiografia na kiroho: "Kisha mkutano wote wa wana wa Israeli wakakusanyika pamoja huko Shilo, wakaisimamisha hema ya kukutania huko." Maskani ilikuwa Gilgali — kambi iliyokuwa mashariki ya Yeriko — muda wote wa vita. Sasa Yoshua anaihamishia bara, huko Shilo katika eneo la Efraimu, karibu na katikati ya nchi kijiografia. Shilo inakuwa kituo cha ibada cha Israeli kwa takriban miaka mia tatu na hamsini iliyofuata, mpaka siku za Eli na Samweli. Mkondo huu una maana: vita vimekwisha, kambi inahama kutoka kando ya mto hadi moyo wa nchi, na hema iliyolishika sanduku katika siku za Musa sasa inatulia katikati ya urithi. Ibada si tena kambi inayohamahama; ni kituo kilichotulia.Joshua 18:1 marks a transition that is geographically and spiritually decisive: "And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there." The tabernacle has been at Gilgal — the campground east of Jericho — throughout the conquest. Now Joshua moves it inland, to Shiloh in the territory of Ephraim, near the geographical center of the country. Shiloh becomes the worship center of Israel for roughly the next three hundred and fifty years, until the days of Eli and Samuel. The arc is significant: the conquest is finished, the camp moves from the riverside to the heartland, and the tent that held the ark in the days of Moses now sits down in the middle of the inheritance. Worship is no longer a mobile camp; it is a settled center.

Lakini makabila saba bado hayajapokea sehemu yao. Yoshua anautazama mkutano na kuuliza swali ambalo karibu linatumika kama kauli kuu ya sura hiyo: "Je! Mtakawia hata lini, msiende kuimiliki nchi, ambayo BWANA, Mungu wa baba zenu, amewapa?" (18:3). Nchi imeshatolewa. Kusita si kwa Mungu; ni kwa makabila. Kwa hiyo Yoshua anaandaa msafara wa kupima ardhi. Anatuma watu watatu kutoka kila moja ya makabila saba yaliyobaki — watu ishirini na mmoja kwa jumla — kutembea katika nchi ambayo bado haijagawanywa, kuandika sura yake na miji yake katika kitabu, na kuleta ripoti ya upimaji Shilo. Huko Yoshua anapiga kura mbele za BWANA na kugawa nchi kabila kwa kabila (18:8–10).But seven tribes still have not received their portion. Joshua looks at the assembly and asks a question that almost serves as the chapter's epigraph: "How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?" (18:3). The land has been given. The reluctance is not God's; it is the tribes'. So Joshua organizes a surveying expedition. He sends three men from each of the seven remaining tribes — twenty-one men in all — to walk the still-unallotted land, write down its features and cities in a book, and bring the survey back to Shiloh. There Joshua casts lots before the LORD and assigns the land tribe by tribe (18:8–10).

Habari ya upimaji inastahili kutafakariwa. Nchi ilitolewa kwa ahadi; iligawanywa kwa kura; lakini kwanza ilitembewa, ikapimwa, na kuelezwa na watu ishirini na mmoja waliokanyaga ardhi kwa miguu yao. Muujiza wa zawadi ya BWANA haupiti kando ya kazi ya hatua za mpima ardhi. Israeli wanarithi nchi waliyoitembea kweli. Mtindo huo huo unapita katika maisha ya Kikristo: urithi umetolewa kwa neema, umegawanywa kwa hekima ya Roho, lakini unamilikiwa kwa kuuishi kwa vitendo. Kura haiangukii nchi ambayo Israeli hawakujisumbua kuikanyaga.The surveying detail is worth pausing on. The land was given by promise; it was distributed by lot; but it was first walked, measured, and described by twenty-one men with their feet on the ground. The miracle of the LORD's gift does not bypass the labor of the surveyor's stride. Israel inherits a land it has actually walked. The same pattern threads the Christian life: the inheritance is given by grace, distributed by the Spirit's wisdom, but possessed by walking it out. The lot does not fall on a land Israel has not bothered to step into.

Migawo iliyobaki katika 18:11–19:48 inagawa nchi kwa Benyamini, Simeoni (aliyewekwa ndani ya Yuda), Zabuloni, Isakari, Asheri, Naftali, na Dani. Kila mmoja anapokea kwa kura, kila mmoja anapokea kwa jina, kila mmoja ameandikwa pamoja na mipaka na miji. Jiografia si usomaji wa kusisimua, lakini ni utunzaji wa kumbukumbu unaosisimua. Kila kabila limetajwa. Kila kabila linapokea. Hakuna lililosahauliwa.The remaining allotments in 18:11–19:48 distribute the land to Benjamin, Simeon (clustered inside Judah), Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan. Each receives by lot, each receives by name, each is recorded with boundaries and cities. The geography is not exciting reading, but it is exciting bookkeeping. Every tribe is named. Every tribe receives. None is forgotten.

Jambo la mwisho katika ugawaji ndilo lenye nguvu zaidi kwa utulivu. "Basi walipokwisha kuigawanya nchi iwe urithi kwa mipaka yake, wana wa Israeli wakampa Yoshua, mwana wa Nuni, urithi kati yao; kwa kufuata neno la BWANA wakampa mji alioutaka, yaani, Timnath-sera katika nchi ya vilima vya Efraimu; naye akaujenga mji huo, akakaa ndani yake" (Yoshua 19:49–50).The last detail of the allotment is the most quietly powerful one. "When they had made an end of dividing the land for inheritance by their coasts, the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun among them: according to the word of the LORD they gave him the city which he asked, even Timnath-serah in mount Ephraim: and he built the city, and dwelt therein" (Joshua 19:49–50).

Soma vitenzi kwa mpangilio wake. Walipokwisha kuigawanya… wana wa Israeli wakampa Yoshua urithi… kati yao. Yoshua anapata sehemu yake mwisho. Jemadari aliyeongoza vita, aliyetembea usiku kucha hadi Gibeoni, aliyesimama chini ya jua lisilosogea, aliyewakatilia mbali Waanaki, aliyempa Kalebu Hebroni na binti za Selofehadi urithi wao na Yusufu nchi ya misitu ya kusafisha — Yoshua huyo anapata mji wake baada ya kila kabila jingine kupata makao. Hachagui kwanza. Hachagui kikubwa. Anaomba Timnath-sera katika nchi ya vilima vya Efraimu, anaujenga yeye mwenyewe, na kuishi humo.Read the verbs in order. They had made an end of dividing… the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua… among them. Joshua gets his portion last. The general who led the conquest, who marched all night to Gibeon, who stood under the unmoving sun, who cut down the Anakim, who gave Caleb Hebron and the daughters of Zelophehad their inheritance and Joseph the wood country to clear — that Joshua gets his city after every other tribe has been settled. He does not pick first. He does not pick big. He asks for Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, builds it himself, and lives there.

Tofauti kati yake na Kalebu ni ya upole lakini ni halisi. Kalebu, mtu mwenye imani iliyo sawa, anaomba mlima mgumu zaidi akiwa mbele ya mstari. Yoshua, kiongozi, anachukua mji mdogo zaidi akiwa nyuma ya mstari. Wote wawili wanamfuata kwa moyo wote. Kila mmoja anamfuata BWANA kwa namna tofauti. Moyo wote wa Kalebu unakwenda kwa shamba gumu zaidi. Moyo wote wa Yoshua unangoja mpaka kila mtu mwingine apate chakula. Uongozi wa kitumishi haupo katika Yoshua 19:49 kwa jina. Upo katika mistari hiyo kwa mfano. Mtu ambaye angeweza kutaja mji wowote katika Kanaani anaomba mji mmoja wa Efraimu, anaujenga, anakaa ndani yake, na kuiacha sura ifungwe.The contrast with Caleb is gentle but real. Caleb, the man of equal faith, asks for the toughest mountain at the front of the line. Joshua, the leader, takes the smallest city at the back. Both are wholehearted. Each follows the LORD differently. Caleb's wholeheartedness goes for the hardest field. Joshua's wholeheartedness waits until everyone else is fed. Servant leadership is not in Joshua 19:49 by name. It is in those verses by example. The man who could have named any city in Canaan asks for one Ephraimite town, builds it, dwells in it, and lets the chapter close.

Jina la mji huo pia linastahili kuangaliwa. Timnath-sera lina maana takriban ya "sehemu ya kilichobaki" au "sehemu ya ziada" — jina linalomfaa mtu aliyewangoja wengine wote. Yoshua hahitaji urithi mkubwa kwa sababu maisha ya Yoshua yamekuwa na anwani moja tu tangu mwanzo: BWANA amekuwa pamoja naye. Nchi ya vilima vya Efraimu inatosha. Jemadari anarudi nyumbani.The town's name is also worth noticing. Timnath-serah means roughly "the portion of the leftover" or "the extra portion" — a name that fits a man who waited for everyone else. Joshua does not need a great inheritance because Joshua's life has had only one address from the beginning: the LORD has been with him. The hill country of Ephraim is fine. The general goes home.

Maneno ambayo sehemu ya urithi inaendelea kuyarudia ni maneno ambayo BWANA aliyanena juu ya Kalebu huko Kadesh-barnea miaka arobaini na mitano kabla: "Amemfuata BWANA kwa moyo wote." Yanarudiwa mara tatu katika Yoshua 14 peke yake (mst. 8, 9, 14). Yanakaa kama sahihi juu ya sura za urithi, kama vile "BWANA aliwapigania Israeli" yalivyokaa juu ya sura za vita. Vita vilikuwa vya mkono wa kuume wa BWANA. Urithi ni wa moyo unaomfuata kwa moyo wote.The phrase that the inheritance section keeps coming back to is the phrase the LORD spoke over Caleb at Kadesh-barnea forty-five years earlier: "He hath wholly followed the LORD." It is repeated three times in Joshua 14 alone (vv. 8, 9, 14). It sits like a signature over the inheritance chapters, the way "the LORD fought for Israel" sat over the conquest chapters. The conquest belonged to the LORD's right arm. The inheritance belongs to the heart that wholly follows.

Mafundisho mawili yanaifunga sehemu hii. Kwanza, maisha ya Kikristo hatimaye yanahama kutoka vitani hadi urithini. Kuna msimu wa kwenda, kuzunguka, kupigana, kutwaa. Pia kuna msimu wa kugawanya, kugawa kwa kura, kumiliki, kukaa. Msimu wa kwanza una kelele; msimu wa pili umetulia. Yote mawili ni kazi ya Mungu. Mwamini anayejifunza kufanya la kwanza tu hatimaye huchoka kabisa. Mwamini anayejifunza kufanya la pili tu hatimaye hupotea njia. Kitabu cha Yoshua kinayashika yote mawili pamoja. Iteke nchi kisha uishi ndani yake.Two takeaways close the unit. First, the Christian life eventually moves from campaign to inheritance. There is a season of march, surround, fight, take. There is also a season of divide, allot, possess, dwell. The first season is loud; the second season is settled. Both are the work of God. The believer who learns to do only the first eventually burns out. The believer who learns to do only the second eventually drifts. The book of Joshua holds them together. Conquer the land and then live in it.

Na pili, kiini cha urithi si kipande cha udongo. Ni maneno yale yale ambayo Walawi walikuwa nayo tayari: "BWANA, Mungu wa Israeli, ndiye urithi wao." Makabila kumi na moja yalipokea sehemu. Walawi walimpokea BWANA. Yote mawili ni mema. Yote mawili ni halisi. Lakini ni moja tu linalodumu baada ya kifo, na ni moja tu linalopatikana sasa hivi kwa yeyote ambaye, kama Kalebu, anamfuata kwa moyo wote. Nipe mlima huu mwishoni mwa utii wa muda mrefu ni ombi la mtu aliyegundua kwamba mlima haukuwa jambo kuu kamwe. BWANA ndiye aliyekuwa jambo kuu. Mlima ulikuwa tu mahali ambapo alitaka kuendelea kulisema hilo.And second, the heart of the inheritance is not a plot of dirt. It is the same phrase the Levites already had: "the LORD God of Israel was their inheritance." Eleven tribes received a portion. The Levites received the LORD. Both are good. Both are real. But only one of them lasts past death, and only one of them is available right now to anyone who, like Caleb, wholly follows. Give me this mountain at the end of a long obedience is the prayer of someone who has discovered that the mountain was never the point. The LORD was the point. The mountain was just the place where he wanted to keep saying so.