And the fifth lot came forth for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families.
The fifth lot drawn for the land west of the Jordan falls to Asher, a tribe whose name means "happy" and whose land ran up the northern coast. Two questions sit behind the short verse: who decided where each tribe would live, and what did Asher do with what it received?
Israel divided the land west of the Jordan by lot. Commentators point out that the lot was not chance, and that it settled one thing while leaving another open:
The first subdivision gives the inheritance of the tribes by lot. The lot marked the way the land was shared out on the west side of Jordan. On the east side, as noted elsewhere, they shared it without the lot. The lot expressed the mind of God more clearly than any other way could: "its every decision is from the LORD," says the voice of inspiration itself (Prov. 16:33). But the lot seems only to have fixed the position of these possessions, not their extent. That left room to revise the boundary lines as individual tribes grew or shrank through faithfulness or unfaithfulness.
So Asher's address was God's choice. Asher's size was Asher's own responsibility.
That a tribe should be named for happiness struck one writer as surprising at first, until he weighed what Scripture makes of joy:
The fifth lot falls to Asher, "the happy" — if the meaning matches the name. It might seem a strange idea to give happiness its own place among the tribes of Israel. But deeper thought shows how important it is that the people of God should be known as a "happy" people. If "the joy of the LORD is your strength," then happiness must have a large spiritual value for the soul. As a testimony to God it is worth no less.
The same writer warns that this is not mere high spirits. Quick joy at hearing the gospel can be a sign of shallow soil rather than real fruit.
Another commentator reads Asher's name into the believer's present portion, and adds a rule about where joy comes from:
Asher means "happy," which surely implies that in our present inheritance "in the heavenly places in Christ" we have every reason for rejoicing... Paul tells us in Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." Joy is not to be an object. It is "in the Lord," and that makes the Lord the Object. Joy will be the spontaneous result of thinking about Him.
The verse counts the lot: Asher comes fifth. The same writer reads both the number and the map as part of the picture:
Notice that Asher takes the fifth place in this series, as he does in the wilderness in connection with Dan. There the meaning cannot be mistaken: testing of heart and conscience has much to do with keeping a happiness worth the name. Here we may well suppose the number repeats and emphasizes the same thought. Asher's territory runs up to the extreme north, between Naphtali and the sea, joining Zebulun and Manasseh on the south. Everything around it speaks of trial, testing and practical life. If Judah keeps guard at one end of the land, Asher does at the other. The territory God assigned it is a large one, but sadly it fails to fill its limits.
Judges records the gap between what God assigned and what Asher took. Sidon, an old and powerful coastal city, is the clearest case:
In the time of Joshua it had grown into a large and important place, known as "great Sidon" (Joshua 11:8; 19:28). Sidon belonged to the inheritance given to the tribe of Asher (Joshua 19:24-31), but the Asherites failed to take full possession of it. They did not drive out the inhabitants of Sidon, but lived among the Canaanites (Judges 1:31-32).
Asher's story as a tribe fades out. Yet the promise attached to it appears again, centuries later, in one person:
The blessing of Asher in Deuteronomy 33:24-25 ends with these lovely words: "as your days, so shall your strength be." Yet everything went to ruin, as the history of Israel unfolds. Yet at the first coming of Christ we find one of that same tribe. The godly remnant of the people were then "waiting for the consolation of Israel," and among them was "Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher... a widow until she was eighty-four... She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day." She lived in the enjoyment and power of that blessing of Moses: "so shall your strength be."
- Given. The lot was no gamble. It expressed the mind of God: "its every decision is from the LORD."
- Named. Asher means "happy." It matters greatly that God's people are known as a happy people, and that happiness is itself a testimony to God.
- Sourced. Joy is never the target. It is the spontaneous result of looking at the Lord, who is the Object.
- Unfilled. The lot fixed Asher's position, not its size. God gave the tribe a large territory, and it failed to fill it, living among the Canaanites of Sidon instead of driving them out.
- Recovered. What a whole tribe lost, one woman kept. Anna of Asher worshiped night and day, still living in the strength her tribe's blessing promised.
And their territory was Helkath, and Hali, and Beten, and Acshaph,
Joshua 19:25 lists four towns in the fifth lot, which fell to the tribe of Asher. Names like these are easy to skim past, yet commentators find a message in the care of the record itself.
The second half of Joshua slows down to measure fields and count towns. One writer treats that slowness as deliberate:
There is another part of Joshua: the actual inheritance, after the conflict is over. How wonderful that the last half of the book dwells on every city, every valley, every spring — everything — in such fine detail! Without doubt this tells us of the varied spiritual blessings that are ours.
One writer sees God's hand behind every boundary line:
Their borders were marked out, because the Spirit of God takes notice of everything when He gives out the spiritual inheritance. He gives to each according to the mind of God. There is nothing uncertain in God's arrangements.
The tribe's name shapes the whole section. One writer ties it to where Christian joy comes from:
Asher means "happy." That implies that in our present inheritance "in heavenly places in Christ" we have every reason for rejoicing... Paul tells us in Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." Joy is not to be an object, for it is "in the Lord," which makes the Lord the Object. But joy will be the spontaneous result of contemplating Him.
One writer traces the first name back to its root word.
Helkath, "portion, share," is the first of these. Halak, the word it comes from, means, according to Wilson, "to divide into parts, each receiving his portion; to part, distribute, especially by lot." So it implies that God has given all His people their portion of happiness, each his own. He has shut nobody out. He has not made it hard to reach either, the prize of great ability or great effort. All that is needed on our part is faith to receive it — giving God credit for what He has done, for what He has said, for what He is.
The second name points to what the gift cost the Giver.
Hali... means "an ornament carefully made with great labour and pains" (Parkhurst). The verb it comes from means "to grow faint with labour, to labour even to the point of fainting." The one who wears such an ornament is seldom the one who made it, and it is the same with the jewel we are speaking of. Christ has made it, at what personal cost and sacrifice, and made it ours forever. How natural and needful to be reminded of this here.
The third name says where happiness starts.
Beten, "belly," speaks of the inward realisation... Here we are reminded that happiness is within, in the innermost parts. No outside circumstances can produce it. For this we must receive Christ into the heart: we have only to drink, and the living water flows out. It is not effort, but we must first be filled ourselves, so that there may be a genuine overflow.
Achshaph was an enemy city before it was Asher's. Now it stands inside the tribe's border.
We understand Achshaph to mean "sorcery" — the use of natural things that magic formulas or prayers have given supernatural power, to enchant and captivate. In Israel's hands these cities lost their significance for evil... Faith in the soul will indeed exert a transforming power on the things around us... "All these things are against me," said Jacob long ago. But faith says, "For those who love God all things work together for good." What an enemy's hand may have done becomes in this way the fruit of unmistakable love.
What God gave and what Asher took were not the same:
Asher's portion in the land lay in the far north, reaching up from Mount Carmel. Naphtali bounded it on the east, and Zebulun on the south east. Their west border was no doubt meant to be the Great Sea. But we read that they did not drive out the inhabitants of Accho, Zidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik and Rehob; instead the Asherites lived among the Canaanites (Judges 1:31-32). This left a stretch of land on the sea coast that Asher never occupied.
- Portion. Helkath means a share handed out by lot: God has given every one of His people their own portion and shut nobody out.
- Price. Hali is an ornament made at the cost of exhausting labour: the wearer gets it free, but Christ paid for it.
- Place. Beten means "belly": you enjoy the portion inside first, and then it overflows to others.
- Power. Achshaph was a town of sorcery that became Asher's own — faith transforms what once came against us.
- Poverty. Asher's map was wide, but the tribe settled among the Canaanites and never filled its borders. The gift was complete; the taking was not.
and Allammelech, and Amead, and Mishal; and [the border] reached to Carmel westwards, and to Shihor-libnath,
This verse names three towns in Asher's inheritance, then runs the tribe's border west to Carmel and Shihor-libnath. Asher's name means "happy," and one commentator reads each name here for what it says about the happiness God gives His people.
Why should a whole tribe stand for happiness?
The fifth lot falls to Asher, "the happy." It might seem a strange idea for happiness to have a tribe of its own among the tribes of Israel. Think it through, and it becomes clear that it matters immensely that others know the people of God as a "happy" people. If "the joy of the Lord is your strength," then happiness must have great spiritual value for the soul. As a testimony to God it is worth no less. This happiness cannot be confused with mere high spirits, or even with the happiness that comes from hoping for salvation. Someone might have that last and yet in fact be unsaved. "Joy in God through Christ" is something completely distinct, and infinitely higher.
The names in this verse are read together as a short course in what that happiness rests on.
The Lord's people must be a happy people. A few of the cities and boundaries of Asher and their meaning will show what the happiness of God's people consists in. Helkath means "portion" — the Lord Himself is the portion of His people. Hali means "an ornament worked out with pain": we possess what Christ has worked out for us in His death. Ahamelech means "God is King." Amad, "an eternal people," speaks of our security. Misheal, "feeling after God," tells of the longing of the new nature, which finds happiness in God.
The first name in the verse makes a claim about God, not about us.
Allammelech: "God is King." This is the Old Testament version of the apostle's "Rejoice in the Lord," where the Lord is Christ. Christ is not only God, seated on the throne of God. It is Christ who has shown God to us, and who has given Him the glorious throne He now has in our hearts. To know who fills the throne is happiness indeed. This brings with it also the spirit of obedience; and such joy has in it stability and safety.
Next comes the matching truth from the human side — what we are to God.
Amad confirms this from the other side: it means "an eternal people." Brought to God, we are His forever. Sin and all its effects are defeated. Christ, a man, is the eternal link with men — a pledge that will never be taken back, a bond that will never be broken or unclasped.
The third name keeps the soul moving.
Mishal means "feeling after God." It gives us the energy of soul in someone who has God before him, and whose heart is won by Him. For that reason, and knowing how little he knows, he seeks for more. He presses on toward being with Him "face to face," the unimaginable joy waiting for us all. Who doubts the happiness of such a great attraction, when what draws us is not uncertain but absolutely certain to be reached? It is the happiness which is the power.
The border then runs west and touches Carmel.
Carmel, "vineyard of God," suggests the thought of concentration. A vineyard, above all, shows the need of pruning, and the word for vineyard here comes from a word with that meaning. To get the fruit that is sought, the vine needs the knife used without sparing. The lesson is concentration. Turn all our energy into what has profit in it, and spend none on what is merely harmless. This is not legalism or harsh self-denial. As the connection here shows, it makes for happiness as well as fruitfulness.
The name that follows guards the one before it.
Shihor-libnath means "diligent search after purity." Those who are working hardest for fruit need that reminder. Sadly, there will often be the danger of "doing evil," in some milder form, "that good may come." Too much anxiety about results can make someone badly misjudge the mind of God. God's seed may lie buried a long time before it springs up, and the shallower sowing springs up all the quicker. Results will speak truly at the end, but we need faith to leave things to the end. For that, the word of God must test every way and method, and guide our course in the meantime.
The measured border stands in painful contrast to what Asher later did with it. God gave a generous allotment, and the tribe never filled it.
Zidon — "called great Zidon" — was part of the promise to Abraham, and at the time of Joshua's conquest was actually allotted to Asher, but Asher never had enough faith and energy to root out the evils based there and take possession of the city. Let us not miss the lesson of Asher's failure. If we do not in faith get the mastery over evils within ourselves, they will gain terrible influence over us as the years pass.
- Happy by name. Asher means "happy." The tribe is a standing sign that God's people should be known as happy — and this joy is joy in God through Christ.
- Happy because God reigns. Allammelech, "God is King," roots joy in who fills the throne, and brings obedience and stability with it.
- Happy because held. Amad, "an eternal people," makes that joy secure — a bond never to be broken.
- Happy and still hungry. Mishal, "feeling after God," keeps the settled soul pressing on toward seeing Him face to face. That happiness is itself the power.
- Happy and fruitful. Carmel calls for the pruning knife, and Shihor-libnath for clean methods. Asher's half-empty border warns that land given is not yet land taken.
and turned towards the sun-rising to Beth-Dagon, and reached to Zebulun, and to the valley of Jiphthah-el northward [to] Beth-emek and Neiel, and went out to Cabul on the left,
This verse traces part of Asher's border in the far north of Israel: east to Beth-dagon, along Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtahel, then north to Beth-emek, Neiel and Cabul. The writers quoted below spell Iphtahel "Jiphtah-el." Commentators read these names as more than a survey line. Asher means "happy," and the towns on his border fill out what that happiness looks like.
One writer asks why a tribe named "happy" stands among the twelve at all:
The fifth lot falls to Asher, "the happy" — if the meaning matches the name. It might seem strange that happiness should have a tribe of its own in Israel. But a deeper look shows how important it is that God's people are known as a "happy" people. If "the joy of the LORD is your strength," then happiness must have a large spiritual value for the soul. As a testimony to God it must be of no less value.
That happiness has a direction. It is not something to chase for its own sake:
Asher means "happy." That surely means our present inheritance "in heavenly places in Christ" gives us every reason to rejoice... Paul tells us in Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." Joy itself is not the object. The rejoicing is "in the Lord," and that makes the Lord the Object. Joy follows on its own as we look at Him.
The border swings east to Beth-dagon. The name points to abundance:
"Beth-dagon," "house of the fish," named in Hebrew from how fruitful the fish is. That fruitfulness is remarkable — and who can measure the fruitfulness of a life given to God according to His will?
Asher's line meets Zebulun's at the valley of Iphtahel. Two names sit side by side here, and both speak of what God opens to His people:
The meaning of the valley of Jiphtah-el — "God opens" — is broad, and we may well take it in all its fullness. In God's presence He opens His word, and He opens our minds to understand it (Luke 24:45)... The boundary meets the valley of Jiphtah-el at Beth-emek, "the house of the depth." And "what God has prepared for those who love Him — these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God" (1 Cor. 2:9-10). What happiness to be made at home by the Spirit of God in the deep things of God!
The next name on the line means the opposite of Iphtahel:
Neiel, "the shutting of God," stands in contrast with Jiphtah-el, His "opening." It comes as a healthy warning, and heeding it matters to our happiness... It takes great and needed wisdom to know where we are free to ask questions with reverence, and where to accept the limit that belongs to us. But the whole range of what is revealed is ours: "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us" (Deut. 29:29). To stay unsure where God has really spoken is a shame. It dishonours the grace that has met us.
The last name in the verse has a plain meaning:
Cabul itself means simply "bound." It is a telling word at the start of the section that speaks of our walk through the world... The constraint of love and gratitude is a sweet yoke to bear, and a life inspired that way must be a happy life. Christ died for us, "that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised." That breaks the misery of self-bondage.
Centuries later Solomon gave cities in this region to Hiram, king of Tyre:
Hiram could not appreciate what had great value in the eyes of Solomon and of any Israelite. He called them "the land of Cabul," a name that amounts to nothing, and they keep it to this day (1 Kings 9:13). So it always is. The world may have the best intentions, as Hiram did. But when it merely has the use of those good things of Christianity that are our joy — that is, without faith — it finds no taste for them.
A Bible dictionary sets out where Asher's land lay, and where the tribe fell short:
Asher was the eighth son of Jacob. His tribe's portion lay in the far north, running north from Mount Carmel, with Naphtali to the east and Zebulun to the south east. Their west border was surely meant to be the Great Sea. But we read that they did not drive out the people of Accho, Zidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik and Rehob; the Asherites lived among the Canaanites (Judges 1:31-32). This left a strip of land on the sea coast unoccupied by Asher.
- Happy. Asher means "happy." A happy people is itself a testimony to God, so joy carries real spiritual value.
- Opened. At Iphtahel and Beth-emek God opens His word and our minds. The Spirit makes us at home in the deep things of God.
- Shut. Neiel, "the shutting of God," marks the limit. Wisdom knows where to ask and where to stop, and it claims all that God has revealed.
- Bound. Cabul means "bound." The constraint of love is the yoke that breaks self-bondage and makes the walk through the world a happy one.
- Unclaimed. The border God drew ran wider than Asher ever occupied — the gift was full, the possession was not.
and Ebron, and Rehob, and Hammon, and Kanah, as far as great Zidon;
This verse traces the first stretch of Asher's border to its northern end. It names four small towns, and then one famous city: Sidon the Great. Two questions follow. Why does Scripture record such obscure names? And did Asher ever hold the ground God gave them?
Scripture calls the last name on the line Sidon the Great. One dictionary traces where the city came from, whose lot it fell in, and what came of it.
Sidon was the eldest son of Canaan, son of Ham. His descendants founded the city of that name in Phoenicia... In Joshua 11:8 and Joshua 19:28 it is called 'great Zidon.' It fell to the lot of Asher. But they did not drive out the people living there, and this led to the Israelites serving the gods of the place.
Asher held the far north, at the opposite end of the land from Judah. The tribe's problem was never the size of the gift.
Asher's territory runs up to the extreme north, between Naphtali and the sea, connecting on the south with Zebulun and Manasseh. All its relations speak of trial, exercise, and practical life. If Judah keeps guard at one end of the land, Asher does at the other. God assigned it a large territory for its size, but it fails, alas, to fill its limits.
The first name in this verse is not certain. The manuscripts read either Ebron or Abdon, and the two words mean different things.
Ebron is related to Eber in the family line of Shem, and not to Hebron in Judah. It means "passing over." Abdon means "bond-service." Twenty manuscripts support Abdon. That name also occurs in Joshua 21:30 and in 1 Chronicles 6:74, while Ebron occurs nowhere else. The only difference between them is what our Lord calls a "tittle" (Matthew 5:18). It is a slight shoulder that separates the "d" in Hebrew from the "r."
The towns on this stretch of border form a series with a meaning. Kanah gives the reason behind it.
Kanah, "He has purchased," is the explanation of the whole series here; and it comes under the number which speaks of responsibility, or of God with man.
The last name on the line adds one more thought to the series.
Zidon, the end of this part of the line, adds to this the thought of "taking the prey," which is here, as its number shows, victory over the power of evil. So the first division of the border ends.
Asher's name means "happy." One writer asks what such a name is doing among the tribes.
The fifth lot falls to Asher, "the happy" — if the thought matches the name. It might seem a strange idea for happiness to have its own place like this among the tribes of Israel... But think more deeply, and you will see how important it is for the people of God to be known as a "happy" people. If "the joy of the Lord is your strength," then happiness must have a large spiritual value for the soul. As a testimony to God it is no less important.
On paper, Sidon was Asher's. Long after Joshua, trouble for Israel came out of that same city, and one writer draws a lesson from it.
Israel's disasters throughout Ahab's reign came mostly from Zidon. This is even more striking when we go back a little in Scripture. Zidon — "called great Zidon" — was part of the promise to Abraham. At the time of Joshua's conquest God allotted it to Asher. But Asher never had enough faith and energy to root out the evils settled there and take possession of the city... Let us not miss the lesson of Asher's failure. If we do not in faith get the mastery over evils within ourselves, they will gain terrible influence over us as the years pass.
What followed was worse than the enemy simply staying. One writer points to who ended up in charge.
Scripture lists seven cities whose people Asher failed to drive out (v. 31). And here it does not say that the Canaanites lived among Asher, but that the men of Asher lived among the Canaanites! So the Canaanites were the dominant ones. This tells us that material gain was stronger than spiritual prosperity.
- Purchased — Kanah means "He has purchased," and that explains the whole stretch. The land was Asher's because God purchased it.
- Granted — the lot ran to the far north and was generously large, yet Asher never filled the limits God drew.
- Named — God wrote Sidon the Great, the old city in Phoenicia, into that inheritance long before Asher had to face it.
- Neglected — Asher lacked the faith and energy to clear out the evil settled there, and the coastal cities were never subdued.
- Reversed — in the end Canaanites did not live among Asher; Asher lived among the Canaanites. In time Israel served the gods of that place.
and the border turned to Ramah, and as far as the fortified city of Tyre; and the border turned to Hosah; and ended at the sea by the tract of country of Achzib;
Asher's border swings north here to the fortified city of Tyre, then bends back to the sea near Achzib. Commentators read both the meaning of these names and Israel's later history with them.
One writer traces this border in stages on the map and finds Asher's whole story in it.
The boundary comes in three divisions of very unequal size. The first starts in the middle of the coastline. It goes down to below Carmel, then turns east, and soon northeast and north, until it reaches its northernmost point at Zidon. The second division runs along the sea, southward again, only as far as Tyre. The third runs down to where it began, somewhere near Accho or Acre. Few of the names can be traced so far, and Asher's cities are almost all lost to us. Asher's history matches this only too well: Asher has no great names to mark what was once a large and important tribe.
The city named here grew into one of the great trading ports of the ancient world.
The city of Tyre (which means rock) stood partly on an island off the mainland in the Mediterranean Sea. It was an ancient Phoenician city. Scripture names it for the first time in Joshua 19:29, where it is called "the strong city." It had a wonderful commerce... Seafaring men lived there. The prophet Isaiah describes this wealthy and influential city as "the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the honoured of the earth" (Isa. 23:8).
Ramah and Tyre are paired in this short stretch of the border, and one writer takes their names as a picture of Christ raised high and unassailable.
Tyre means "rock," and to this is added that it is a "fortified city." This comes under the number of salvation, and reminds us how Scripture links these thoughts together. A risen Christ is indeed the "Rock of our salvation," fortified against any possibility of successful attack. How important these two names are among the cities of Asher, and how they are all we need when joined together!
After Tyre the border turns to Hosah. That name carries the human side of the same picture.
Hosah means "trust," or "taking refuge." That matches what was just said of Christ as the rock of salvation. And we need the reminder that while "He remains faithful," our faith too must remain. We must use our privileges. We must make our own what is already ours. What a marvellous thing faith is! And what riches it brings to a poor and empty soul!
Asher was given these coastal cities. The tribe never took them.
Zidon — called "great Zidon" — was part of the promise to Abraham. At the time of Joshua's conquest it was allotted to Asher. But Asher never had enough faith and energy to root out the evils based there and take possession of the city. Judges 1 is a miserable chapter of laziness and indifference... Let us not miss the lesson of Asher's failure. If we do not in faith get the mastery over evils within ourselves, they will gain terrible influence over us as the years pass.
Judges 1 records the result for Asher.
Seven cities are listed whose people Asher failed to drive out (v. 31). And here it says, not that the Canaanites lived among Asher, but that the Asherites lived among the Canaanites! So the Canaanites were the dominant ones. This tells us that material gain won out over spiritual prosperity, a sad fact that has too often been repeated in Church history.
- Given — Asher's line ran north to Zidon and back down to Tyre. It marked out a large and important tribe.
- Rock — Tyre means "rock," and Scripture first names it here as the strong city. One writer reads it as a picture of a risen Christ, fortified against any successful attack.
- Refuge — Hosah means "trust," or "taking refuge." That is the human side: we must make our own what is already ours.
- Unpossessed — Asher lacked the faith and energy to take Zidon. The tribe ended up living among the Canaanites, not the Canaanites among them.
- Warning — evils we do not master by faith will master us in time. Material gain won out over spiritual prosperity, and Church history has repeated that too often.
and Ummah, and Aphek, and Rehob twenty-two cities and their hamlets.
Joshua 19:30 ends the list of Asher's towns with three names and a total. Two questions sit behind such a bare list: why does God record these names at all, and what became of the tribe that received them?
Whole chapters of Joshua are little more than names. One writer draws the lesson from the act of dividing rather than from each name:
The lesson, however, is that the Lord distributed the inheritance to His people and placed them as it pleased Him. He knew their faithfulness and their ability, and so they received their portion. And we, too, as members of His body, receive our portion and inheritance from Himself, who "apportions to each one individually as He wills" (1 Corinthians 12:11).
Where a tribe sat on the map said something about its life. A commentator who traces Asher's borders notes both the size of the gift and what became of it:
Asher's territory runs up to the extreme north, between Naphtali and the sea, connecting on the south with Zebulun and Manasseh. Everything about its setting speaks of trial, exercise, and practical life. If Judah keeps guard at one end of the land, Asher does at the other. The territory God assigned it is a large one, but sadly it fails to fill its limits.
The same writer reads the three names for their meanings — Ummah as "union," Aphek as "channel," Rehob as "breadth" — and finds one line of thought in that order:
These names put together yield a very consistent sense. United to Christ by the Spirit, we become channels for what the Lord Himself calls "rivers of living water." (John 7:38.) … These names seem to justify their place fully as part of the third section of the boundary. All four face the sea, where the border comes to an end. Do we not have here full ability to face the sea of trial with the abundant happiness of which Asher speaks?
These towns are hard to place on a modern map. The same writer admits the difficulty:
Aphek, some say, is the modern Afka, a good way to the north. Ummah, on the other hand, is thought to be the modern Alma, not far from Achzib. The same names come up again and again, so identifying them is often doubtful. … After all, it seems that our appeal must be to the spiritual meaning, which certainly governs all.
Count the towns named in Asher's section and you get more than the total the verse gives. Commentators have offered different solutions:
The number of the cities, twenty-two, seems too small here. The list appears to give twenty-three. Keil suggests the only explanation he can see: Neiel on the border may be the same as Neah in Zebulun, and belong to Zebulun. But may it not be possible that the two Rehobs are in fact the same? … If this suggestion be true, the number twenty-two is exactly right.
Asher was given cities it never took. One writer draws the lesson from Zidon, another city allotted to the tribe:
Zidon — called "great Zidon" — was part of the promise to Abraham. At the time of Joshua's conquest it fell to Asher's lot. But Asher never had enough faith and energy to root out the evils centred there and take possession of the city. … Let us not miss the lesson of Asher's failure. If we do not master the evils inside us by faith, they will gain terrible influence over us as the years pass.
The wording of Judges makes the reversal sharper still:
The record lists seven cities whose inhabitants Asher failed to drive out (v. 31). And here it does not say that the Canaanites lived among Asher, but that the Asherites lived among the Canaanites! So the Canaanites had the upper hand. This tells us that material gain had the upper hand over spiritual prosperity, a sad pattern that has repeated itself far too often.
- Given — the Lord divided the land as it pleased Him. He knew each tribe's faithfulness and ability. Our portion comes from Him the same way.
- Happy — Asher speaks of happiness. God gave the tribe a large share in the far north, where everything about the setting speaks of trial and practical life.
- Union — Ummah, Aphek and Rehob read as union, channel and breadth. Joined to Christ, we become channels for rivers of living water, with room to face the sea of trial.
- Uncertain — the sites are hard to identify, and the list seems to name twenty-three towns, not twenty-two. Commentators differ: some point to Neiel, others to a repeated Rehob.
- Ungrasped — God granted Asher these cities, but the tribe never cleared them. In the end the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, not the other way round. Evil left unmastered ends up mastering you.
This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families, these cities and their hamlets.
This verse closes the record of Asher's portion, the fifth lot in the division of the land. Asher means "happy," and commentators read this quiet land-record as a picture of joy God hands out — and of joy left unclaimed, since Asher never filled the space God measured for it.
One writer begins with the name itself.
The fifth lot falls to Asher, "the happy" — if the thought matches the name. It might seem a strange idea to give happiness its own place among the tribes of Israel. So far we have had no hint of any other. But think deeper, and it becomes clear how important it is that people should know the people of God as a "happy" people. If "the joy of the Lord is your strength," then happiness must have a large spiritual value for the soul. As a testimony to God it must have no less.
Asher's name also points to where joy comes from.
Asher means "happy." Surely this implies that in our present inheritance "in the heavenly places in Christ" we have every reason for rejoicing. So this is another lovely feature of Christian character, pictured by the tribes of Israel. Paul tells us in Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." Joy is not meant to be an object. It is "in the Lord," and that makes the Lord the Object. Joy will be the spontaneous result of contemplating Him.
One writer marks off what this joy is not.
The passages that speak of this happiness define it, so it is impossible to confuse it with mere high spirits, or even with the happiness that comes from the hope of salvation. One might have this last and still be unsaved. "Joy in God through Christ" is something perfectly distinct, and infinitely higher.
The list of Asher's towns opens with the name Helkath.
Helkath, "portion, share," is the first of these. It comes from halak, which means, according to Wilson, "to divide into parts, each receiving his portion; to part, distribute, especially by lot." This implies that God has given all His people their portion of happiness, each his own. He has shut none out. Nor has He made it hard to reach, the prize of great ability or great effort. Faith to receive, giving God credit for what He has done, for what He has said, for what He is, is all that is needed on our part.
A title on paper was one thing. Living in the land was another.
These nine and a half tribes had to make their own foothold in their inheritance. Jehovah Himself settled where their possessions lay. "Their inheritance was by lot," but their foothold in it depended on themselves — as it does for the Christian in spiritual things. Israel had now reached the point in Canaan where two roads met: slackness and earnestness.
God gave Asher a wide share in the north.
Asher's territory runs up to the far north, between Naphtali and the sea. On the south it joins Zebulon and Manasseh. If Judah keeps guard at one end of the land, Asher does at the other. God assigned it a large territory, but sadly it fails to fill its limits.
One city in Asher's list shows the cost.
Zidon — called "great Zidon" — was part of the promise to Abraham. At the time of Joshua's conquest Asher received it in the allotment. But Asher never had enough faith and energy to root out the evils centred there and take the city. Judges 1 is a miserable chapter of laziness and indifference. It singles out Asher in verses 31 and 32 for failing to drive the Amorites out of Zidon and other cities. Let us not miss the lesson of Asher's failure. If we do not by faith gain the mastery over evils within ourselves, they will gain terrible influence over us as the years pass.
- Happy by name — Asher means "happy." It matters greatly that people know God's people as happy people. Where the joy of the Lord is strength, happiness carries real spiritual value and real testimony.
- Happy in an Object — joy is "in the Lord." He is the Object, and joy is the by-product of contemplating Him, not a prize chased for its own sake.
- Happy by gift — God hands out the portion by lot. He has given every one of His people their own share, and shuts nobody out. Faith to receive is all that is needed on our part.
- Happy ground to be walked — God fixed the location; the foothold depended on the tribe. Israel stood where two roads met: slackness and earnestness.
- Happiness unclaimed — Asher's territory was large, yet the tribe never filled it. Evils left standing, like Zidon, gain power over the years.