Joshua 16

God chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. From Jacob would come the tribes of Israel. The most prominent and favored son of Jacob in the book of Genesis was Joseph. He received a double portion of the inheritance. His father adopted two of his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, as if they were his own. These two sons of Joseph were treated as tribal leaders alongside their uncles.

Between the two, Jacob had prophesied that the younger brother, Ephraim, would be greater, that is more numerous and prominent, than the older brother Manasseh. Neither tribe would be the tribe of kings. The Messiah would come from Judah. But the tribe of Ephraim the son of Joseph would be so prominent, that all of the remaining northern territories forming Israel in the north would often be spoken of as Ephraim.

A brief account is given here of the border for Ephraim. Beyond the rough description of the tribal perimeter, Ephraim also had some towns that were within the territory of Manasseh. But the chapter ends with this disappointing note: “They did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer...” In other words, the job of the conquest was not fully accomplished, “... so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day...”

This was not the way that Israel was supposed to be. We wonder why the conquest was only partial. The result was that some of the Canaanites were “made to do forced labor” by the people of Ephraim. Is this what Ephraim settled upon? Did they decide that their own version of conquest, enslavement, was better than the Lord's commandment?

The rest of the story of Ephraim and the northern tribes would wait for later accounts of the history of Israel. There would be much compromise, disobedience, and misery as the centuries moved forward. But the prophets would record the Lord's determination that He would not abandon His plans for this tribe and for the northern people of Israel that they represented.

The Lord says in Hosea 11:8, “How can I give you up, O Ephraim?”

The Lord disciplined Ephraim greatly over the history of Israel, but we remember that the Lord disciplines those He loves. He will not give up on His children.

The cross is the only answer for any of the tribes of Israel, and it has become the only answer for all the people groups of the world. We rest our hopes not on our own righteousness, or on our tribal heritage, but on Jesus Christ. In Him we have an excellent inheritance.

We who have been saved by the work of our Redeemer would do well to hear our Savior's voice in the Scriptures today, and to follow fully in the path that He has given us. Why would our own ideas of obedience be better than His?