P. The land
occupied by the children of Ephraim (chapter 16).
1. The
descendants of Joseph received double portions of possession (1-4).
a.
Joseph was one who feared God. When he was
young, the brothers envied and sold him to Egypt.
However, God raised him to become a prime minister of Egyptian Pharaoh. Later,
during a great famine, he received and provided livelihood to the whole
household of Jacob in Goshen. At
his old age, Jacob established the two sons of Joseph so that they could
inherit the possession together with the other children of Jacob.
b.
The descendants of Joseph received the land by
drawing lots (). Later the
southern land was given to the tribe of Ephraim and the northern land to the
tribe of Manasseh.
c.
The blessings of Jacob and Moses to Joseph (Gen
49:25, 26; Deut 33:13-16).
2.
The land occupied by the children of Ephraim.
a.
Ephraim was the second son of Joseph but Jacob
made him above Manasseh (Gen 48:12-20).
b.
The land for the children of Ephraim. The
various cities at the centre part of Canaan including
the holy city, Shiloh, which housed the tabernacle. It
was a religious centre as well as the centre of the life of the Israelites
(18:1).
c.
The Ephraimites were
not satisfied with the land.
(a)
The borders were too narrow. They were a great
people. The land was not sufficient for them (, 15).
(b)
Most parts were mountainous and they had to cut down
woods (, , 20:7, 24:33).
(c)
A good strategic place having advantages of
attacks and defends. However, in order to occupy the land, they had to pay a
great price by driving out the Canaanites ().
d.
In history, Ephraimites
received a lot of blessings. However, they lost them later (Ps 78:67-70). In
Revelation, the name of Ephraim was not listed (Rev 7:1-8).
(a)
The commander Joshua was a leader of Ephraimites. Gilgal and Shiloh
were the centre of politic and education. Ephraimites
were rejected due to their pride (Hos 7:8-11, 15-16).
(b)
During the period of Judges, Ephraimites
strived with Gideon and Jephthah. Many of them were
killed in battles.
(c)
They envied their brothers and killed each other
(Isa 9:21; 1 Kgs 11:25-33).
(d)
Idols worshipping (Micah—Judg
17:1-6; Jeroboam—1 Kgs ,
-33; Joel 13:1).
(e)
The description of Ephraimites
in the book Hosea: defiled harlots (Hosea 5:3), lack of goodness (6:4), hired
lovers (8:9), lies and deception (),
desolation (12:1), deceitful business (12:7, 8), and killing ().
·
*To treasure the promises and the blessings of
God (Rom ; Jer
28:8-10).
3.
Joshua’s encouragement to Ephraimites
(-18).
a.
If their people were too many and had
insufficient place for dwelling, they should go up to the land of the giants
and cut down the woods there to build houses for their dwelling.
b.
“Though the Canaanites had iron chariots and
they were strong, you shall be able to drive them out.”
(a)
The children of Manasseh and Ephraim shall help
each other to tackle their problems.
