Hey Bible Readers! I'm Tara-Leigh Cobble and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. [Music] We've been walking through the land allotments for the twelve tribes and today we start out with the land for the descendants of Joseph. If you recall, Joseph's dad Jacob formally adopted Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, so they essentially took over Joseph's place in the distribution of the inheritance. Then at some point the tribe of Manasseh split in half and became two half-tribes. One of them wanted to live east of the Jordan River as a part of the Transjordan tribes - we'll call them East Manasseh. And the other half inherited part of the original Promised Land across the Jordan, that we'll call West Manasseh. But during the division process for the land, the people who will become West Manasseh get lumped in with Ephraim and they complain about it. They want to be split off from each other and get land that reflects the size of each tribe. I'm picturing one of those scenes in the movies where the siblings share a bedroom and they put tape down the middle so they can mark their own spot. Joshua agrees to their request for division - he hands them the tape and tells them that they're responsible for clearing the land and driving out the people in it, even though they seem to be bigger and stronger than them. The land they get is west of the Jordan River, in the Promised Land. And just like we learned about the brothers in East Manasseh yesterday, they don't drive all the Canaanites out from their land. Since the Canaanites refused to leave, they make them do manual labor. We also encountered the five daughters of Zelophehad again today. The last time we saw them, they were marrying their cousins, which was part of the agreement in order for them to get part of the land for the inheritance, so the land could stay in the tribe. They approached Joshua and Eliezer about the land agreement - and maybe they're nervous because Moses was the one they originally talked to, and he's dead and gone now, and this new guy Joshua is in charge. Just as God had said, they were given the land they originally requested. Again, we've included a general map of the tribal allotments in today's description box if you want to see how this all lays out. In chapter 18, all the tribes gathered together at a place called Shiloh, where they set up the tabernacle. This is the first place the tabernacle is erected in the Promised Land. There are still seven tribes waiting to hear about what land they're getting, and they're probably getting antsy. Joshua sends three men from each of those tribes on a mission to check out all the remaining territory and report back to him. When they return, he divvies up the land accordingly. We end with a description of Benjamin's land allotment. It's far more detailed than the others in this list, with the exception of Judah's allotment. There's some special stuff going on with Judah, as you know, and there's also some special stuff going on with Benjamin. Benjamin gets the land that includes Jerusalem - and Judah borders it on the south as well. At the risk of spoiling things for you, I'll tell you that Jerusalem ends up being the capital, the place where God will establish His tabernacle permanently. You may have known this already, but that's part of why it's kind of a big deal that they haven't driven out the Jebusites, who currently live there. But Jerusalem is a hard city to take - it's a hill surrounded by three deep valleys surrounded by more hills. So the people in the city always have the military advantage. The description of Benjamin's allotment is where I saw my GOD SHOT today, but it takes a bit of explaining if you've never seen the city with your own eyes. There are three valleys outside the city that converge to form an interesting shape. It looks kind of like a sideways number 4, or if you're a Trekkie, it looks kind of like the Vulcan salute. In Hebrew, it's clearly the letter "shin", which is regarded as a sacred letter among the Jews. Why would they show honor to a letter? Shin is the first letter of the word "Shaddai", which means "God Almighty" - it's how God identifies Himself to Abraham in Genesis 17:1. So the Hebrew people regard this letter as God's initial. They stamp it on all their mezuzahs - which you may recall are the boxes they put on the doorposts of their homes, with scripture in them, according to the command in Deuteronomy 6. In Deuteronomy 12, God told the people three times - in verses 5, 11, and 21 - that His chosen place of worship when they entered the Promised Land, where the tabernacle would be located, is a place where He will put His name. And later, in 2 Chronicles 6:6, He says, "I have chosen Jerusalem that My name may be there." Could He have only been speaking figuratively and spiritually? Sure, that's totally possible. But given the topography of Jerusalem, there's reason to believe that He was also speaking literally. If you have a topographical view of the city of Jerusalem, It almost looks like God stamped His initial on it - monogrammed it, if you will - with the letter "shin". You monogram things you own, things you want to be identified with. If you want to see this visual for yourself, we'll link to an image in the show notes. And if you want to take this idea a step further, some people have even pointed out that the same shape is part of the design of the human heart. We'll include a visual for that as well, in case you're curious. Long before aerial photos existed, God chose a city marked with the letter His people would regard as His initial. He came down to dwell with them there - the people marked by His name in the city marked by His name. And here we are today, thousands of years later, marked by the same name, the people He has chosen to adopt into His family despite our sins and shortcomings. He's where the "shin" is, and He's where the joy is! Do you want to visit some of the places we've been reading about? Do you want to see scripture come alive in 3D? We want to take you there - to the Holy Land, the land of milk and honey! By the way, they don't call it that for nothing. The food is amazing! To find out more about our trips visit "israelux.com". That's i-s-r-a-e-l-u-x.com, and fill out the interest form. Then we'll send you details on our upcoming trips! You can also check for a link in today's description box. [Music]