Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot; according to the names of the tribes of their fathers shall they inherit;
Numbers 26 ends the second counting of Israel, just before they enter Canaan. God turns that count into a rule: the size of a tribe sets the size of its share, but the lot decides which share it gets.
God Himself used this method first, and Israel used it to find out His mind.
Look at Joshua 7:14-18 and you will see how the lot showed the mind of the LORD among His people. The text does not say so in so many words, but this would be how they found out. It is striking that the LORD first used this way of choosing in Leviticus 16:8. It was the divine way of choosing between the two goats. Numbers 26:55, Joshua 13:6 and many other places show this is what it means.
The practical method was simple, and God stood behind the result.
God also commanded Israel to divide the land by lot (Numbers 26:55-56)... Among His people God controlled how the lot fell, as Proverbs 16:33 says: "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD." People marked the names, dates and other choices on pieces of wood or pottery. They then shook these 'lots' together in a container or in the fold of a garment until one came out.
So Israel had nothing to arrange and nothing to argue about — only a decision to trust.
None could choose what property he might have... The LORD decided this, and all were to be content with His decision. We are not told how the size was matched with the LORD's decision, but this would be no problem for Him.
The lot did not cover every part of Israel's land, and it did not settle everything about the parts it did cover.
Casting the lot marked how the land was shared out on the west side of the Jordan; the east side was divided without it. By the lot God made His mind plain, more clearly than any other way could. Scripture itself says, "its every decision is from the LORD" (Proverbs 16:33). But the lot appears to have fixed only the position of these possessions, not their size. That left room to redraw boundary lines as tribes grew larger or smaller through their faithfulness or unfaithfulness.
These numbers were not neutral statistics. They record how each tribe had fared on the way, and a warning sits inside them.
These numbers clearly stand for gains or losses the tribes were responsible for. As they had flourished, so they would inherit... The section holds a very solemn warning for us. The "lot" that governed the division makes the result come from the LORD even more directly (Proverbs 16:33).
One writer takes the count further: the journey shapes how much a person can hold.
Compare the numbers of the different tribes and you see many hints of how the journey through this world affects different people. This enumeration is, however, with reference to the coming inheritance. There is a solemn link between the walk through the wilderness and how much of the eternal inheritance a person can hold. Each one will inherit all that he is capable of enjoying, but this present world forms those capacities.
The verse also ties each portion to the tribe of the fathers, and one writer draws two lessons from that.
The inheritance was not to pass from tribe to tribe. Each one was to hold to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers... God's care that each of His people should keep the inheritance allotted to him teaches us the unchangeable character of His giving, for He decided it all by lot. It also teaches us that He means each person's own individuality to be kept in the inheritance. The person and his portion are so joined in His mind that nothing is to separate them. Individuality, distinctness and lasting character are all involved in this.
In Ephesians 1:11 the ESV says believers "have obtained an inheritance." One writer shows the word behind it.
In Ephesians 1:11 some have translated it "we were made a heritage."... The Greek means 'we have been placed by lot in possession of,' or 'have obtained a lot, or inheritance,' and the point is important. We are joint-heirs with Christ.
- Given — no one claimed or chose his land. It fell by lot, and all were "to be content with His decision."
- Placed — the lot fixed where each tribe sat. The count fixed how much land it got, and boundaries could move as tribes grew or shrank.
- Earned — the numbers stood for "gains or losses the tribes were responsible for." The wilderness record fed straight into the size of the portion.
- Formed — each one will inherit all he can enjoy, and "this present world forms those capacities."
- Kept — what God allots, He means to stand; His giving never changes. The same word says believers too "have been placed by lot in possession of" their inheritance with Christ.
according to lot shall his inheritance be divided to each, be they many or few in number.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.