«　WEEK 5　DAY 4　»

　　Num. 26:55 But the land shall be apportioned by lot; they shall inherit it according to the names of the tribes of their fathers.

　　Rom. 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to be sober-minded, as God has apportioned to each a measure of faith.

　　Within God’s economy there is such a thing as the allotment of the land. After Joshua took possession of the land, God commanded him to allot the land that had been possessed and even the land that had not yet been possessed, because in God’s eyes all the land was for Israel….We will [now] begin to consider the allotment of the land. In particular, we will endeavor to see the intrinsic significance of the allotment of the good land.

　　In His wisdom, God did not allot the good land as a whole to all the children of Israel. Rather, He allotted the land, that is, Christ, to the different tribes. All the tribes were not the same; they were different. (Life-study of Joshua, p. 65)

　　In Genesis 49 Jacob, the father of the twelve tribes, blessed each of his sons in the form of a prophecy….Jacob’s blessing of Judah reveals that God considered Judah a threefold lion: a young lion, a mature lion, and a lioness (v. 9). As a young lion he could grow and become strong, as a lion he could fight, and as a lioness he could produce. Benjamin was a ravenous wolf (v. 27), and Dan was a serpent in the way, biting the horse’s heels to frustrate God’s people from going on (v. 17). Zebulun was a shore for ships (v. 13), and Naphtali was a hind let loose (v. 21).

　　Because the tribes were different, God could not give the same land in the same way to every tribe. All the tribes were possessors of the land, but the tribes possessed particular portions of the land according to what they were. The top portion of the land was allotted to Judah. Dan was allotted a portion, but they did not dispossess the occupying Canaanites.

　　The fulfillment of this type of the allotment of the land is among us today. We all have the same Christ, but we experience Christ in different ways. The land (Christ) we possess is according to what we are.

　　In Leviticus 1 Christ is unveiled as burnt offerings in five types: a young bull, a sheep from the flock, a goat, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. These items typify just one Christ, but they were offered according to the offerer’s ability, indicating that our experiences of Christ differ in both size and kind. The size and kind do not depend on Christ but on our experience and enjoyment of Christ. Whereas the Christ experienced by Paul was typified by a young bull, the Christ experienced by many believers today is typified by a pigeon.

　　Christ is also unveiled by the three kinds of meal offerings in Leviticus 2: fine flour, a wafer, and grain that remains in the ears. If we are weak and cannot eat the wafer, we can eat the fine flour. As we grow we can experience Christ as the wafer. The apostle Paul was fully mature and full of energy. He was one who ate the grain. Once again we see that there is only one Christ—one Christ in many types and sizes—but we may experience Him in different ways and in different degrees as fine flour, a wafer, and grain.

　　The intrinsic significance of the allotment of the land is that the possessors of the land are different. This indicates that the experience of Christ among God’s people is not the same. In God’s ordination the good land is allotted to His people in different degrees. The New Testament clearly tells us that “God has apportioned to each a measure of faith” (Rom. 12:3). We are also told that “all the members do not have the same function” (v. 4). Therefore, God gives grace to each member according to its function in the Body (Eph. 4:7). This is God’s ordination and the divine allotment. (Life-study of Joshua, pp. 65-66)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Joshua, msg. 11