The Tribe of Asher

INTRO

I feel like all we’ve been talking about is real estate. Up until this point, the Israelites had not been given their land. They were finally given the Promised Land. Caleb and Joshua finally got to experience the Promised Land! There were seven tribes that had not taken possession of their lands. Today, we are going to talk about more of the Israelites’ inheritance, which was more than just the land. There were more components within the land. We are going to talk about the tribe of Asher today. Prophetically, this is an incredibly rich tribe.

TEACHING

Joshua 19:1–9: The first lot came out for the tribe of Benjamin and the second lot came out for the tribe of Simeon. When you start to understand the land inheritances, everything in the Old Testament makes more sense.

Joshua 19:10–16: The third lot came out for the tribe of Zebulun. Remember those 21 men who were told to go, survey, record, and come back? These men were experiencing the results of their work.

Joshua 19:17–23: The fourth lot came out for the tribe of Issachar. Their inheritance was located to the south of the Sea of Galilee.

Joshua 19:24–31: The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Asher (Ezekiel 47:21–23). The land of Asher was a long narrow strip along the Mediterranean Sea. Unlike most of the other tribes’ territories, Asher’s borders were not drawn from one border city to another. The New American Bible Commentarydescribes Asher’s territory as “‘a kaleidoscope totality,’ this ‘indiscriminate mingling of two sorts of materials’ shows that ‘from the standpoint of the national claim on territory, both boundary cities and interior cities serve same basic function.”¹Therefore the borders were hard to define (Judges 1:29–31). The borders seemed to be constantly moving. In Joshua 21:30–31, the Levitical cities are listed (1 Kings 9:11–13). This gives a picture of how difficult it is to define Asher’s borders:

• Asher was Jacob’s eighth son by Leah’s maidservant Zilpa. He was the second child Zilpa bore to Jacob. The name Asher meant “happiness.”

According to Deuteronomy 27:13–16, the representatives of Asher, along with five other tribes’ representatives, declared curses over the Israelites under Moses’s command. There were 12 curses these tribes released over the Israelites.

In Deuteronomy 33:24, Jacob proclaimed that Asher would be most blessed and favored (Genesis 49:20). One of the blessings Jacob bestowed to Asher was that he would dip his foot in olive oil to signify prosperity and blessing from the Lord.

The tribe of Asher couldn’t drive out the Canaanites (Judges 1:31-32). They didn’t do what God told them to do. Were they going to receive the blessings or the tension from their disobedience (Judges 5:17)?

Joshua 19:32–39: The sixth lot came out for Naphtali.

Joshua 19:40–48: The seventh lot came out for Dan.

CLOSING

I feel like many times, the people of Asher missed out on blessings because they did not do what God wanted them to do. As we walk with the Lord, He pours out His blessings. Are you doing what God wants you to?