Joshua 19:1-9: a reflection

1The second lot came out for Simeon, even for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families. Their inheritance was in the middle of the inheritance of the children of Judah. 2They had for their inheritance Beersheba (or Sheba), Moladah, 3Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem, 4Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, 5Ziklag, Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susah, 6Beth Lebaoth, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities with their villages; 7Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan; four cities with their villages; 8and all the villages that were around these cities to Baalath Beer, Ramah of the South. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families. 9Out of the part of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the children of Simeon; for the portion of the children of Judah was too much for them. Therefore the children of Simeon had inheritance in the middle of their inheritance.

When the tribes receive their inheritance in the land, something notable happens with Simeon. Its portion is carved out of the territory of Judah, because, the passage explains, the portion of the children of Judah was too much for them. Judah had received more land than it needed, so Simeon's inheritance was drawn from Judah's surplus. What was more than Judah required became the inheritance of a tribe that would otherwise have had less.

Notice the quiet principle at work: abundance shared with those who have less. Judah had more than enough; rather than that surplus simply enriching Judah further, it became Simeon's portion, so that both tribes had an inheritance. The excess of the one supplied the need of the other. It is a small picture of how God's people are meant to relate, the abundance of some meeting the need of others.

That principle runs through Scripture and applies to us. When we have more than we need, God's design is not that our surplus simply pile up, but that it meet the needs of those who have less. Judah's excess became Simeon's inheritance; our abundance, likewise, is given in part so that we can supply what others lack. Consider what you have more than enough of, whether resources, time, or ability, and let your surplus become someone else's provision. God gives some an abundance, in part, so that it may meet the need of others. Do not let your excess merely pile up; let it be, like Judah's, an inheritance shared with those who have less.

Lord, when Judah's portion was more than it needed, Simeon's inheritance was drawn from that surplus, so that the abundance of one supplied the need of another. Teach me to hold my abundance that way. When I have more than I need, whether resources, time, or ability, keep me from letting my surplus simply pile up, and help me see it as provision for those who have less. You give some an abundance in part so that it may meet the need of others; make me a channel of that provision, not a hoarder of it. Let my excess, like Judah's, become an inheritance shared, and give me a generous heart that gladly supplies from my plenty what others lack.