Entry into the Promised Land

The Book of Joshua deals with the entry of the people of Israel into the Promised Land. Some of the tribes [Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh] were already settled on the far side of the Jordan, but all the tribes were to take part in the conquest of the land given to them by God.

When the time came for the remaining tribes to receive their inheritance, Joshua sent men to survey the country. "The men left, went all over the country and surveyed it by towns, in seven sections, writing down their findings in a book, and then went back to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. Joshua cast lots for them in Yahweh's presence at Shiloh, and there Joshua divided the country between the Israelites, share by share" [Josh 18:9-10]. This is a very short summary of the apportioning of the Promised Land and we can take it for granted that it was much more complicated than that. However, what comes across is that Yahweh had sovereign dominion over all the land and so assigned to the tribe, the clan and the family the land they possessed. This is put very simply in Lev 25:23 -- "the land is mine". The casting of lots was simply a way of making known what Yahweh had already decided.