“So Manasseh and Ephraim, the descendants of Joseph, received their inheritance.”
~ Joshua 16:4
Hi James and Ellen,
Are you looking forward to receiving an inheritance? When your dad’s Grandma Mattson died, your grandmaa received an inheritance. When your grandmaa’s Uncle Robert and Aunt Dottie died, your grandmaa received an inheritance. Do you know what an inheritance is? An inheritance are things and/or money that is willed to a child or children, a family member or members, a friend or friends, an acquaintance or acquaintances or an organization or organizations – such as colleges, non-profits, etc., to have after a parent, relative, friend or acquaintance dies. When your dad’s Grandma Mattson died, your grandmaa, your dad’s Uncle Dewy and Aunt Glo took turns dividing up the things that your grandmaa’s ma had. When it was your grandmaa’s turn to choose something, your grandmaa chose the wood safe, the hope chest that has poinsettias painted on its sides and top, the doeskin milk glass dishes and glasses, the glass corner cabinet, and . . . your grandmaa had to wait though until her little sis – who is your dad’s Aunt Wanda, was eighteen years old before the money that your grandmaa’s ma had in the bank could be divided equally among her four kids. Because your grandmaa’s ma did not have much money in the bank, your grandmaa’s money inheritance after her ma died was not very much. Your grandmaa’s ma died early in January of 1972 from colon cancer. Your grandmaa’s dad died in November of 1963 from a massive coronary attack – just a few days before John Kennedy was assassinated and the night after your grandpaa asked your grandmaa’s dad if he could his daughter. Your grandmaa’s dad was fine with your grandpaa marrying his daughter. Your grandmaa’s dad would call your grandmaa when your grandmaa was young ‘his Princess’. Your grandmaa’s Uncle Robert and Aunt Dottie were distant relatives of your grandmaa. Your grandmaa and grandpaa enjoyed going to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to visit with your grandmaa’s Uncle Robert and Aunt Dottie in their home. Your grandmaa’s Uncle Robert was for years the Pennsylvania Cumberland County sheriff and a justice of the peace. The inheritance that your grandmaa got from the estate of her Uncle Robert and Aunt Dottie was not that much – as all the money that they had when they died was divided up between your grandmaa’s bro and two sisters with the vast majority of the inheritance going to a gal who was raised by your grandmaa’s Uncle Robert and Aunt Dottie.
An inheritance sometimes can cause guys and gals to go really weird. Family members have become estranged because one of the family members got more than another family member or a family member received something that another family member had wanted or a family member was blamed for the death of a family member or an extended family member – such as a dad, ma, sibling, aunt, uncle or cousin. Sometimes a kid, guy or gal will expect a part of an inheritance only to find out as the deceased person’s will is being read that he or she is not inheriting anything which . . . God’s specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group guys and gals, were given an inheritance. The inheritance that God’s specially chosen guys and gals received from God was a land area called Palestine or Canaan that they would always be able to live in as their very own land. This land area that God was giving to His specially chosen guys and gals was the same land area where their people group patriarchs – who were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, had lived. The inheritance of a relatively small land area that God gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to always to have to live in as their very own land had a caveat attached to it. As God specially chosen guys, gals and kids were on their way to the land area that God had promised them would always be theirs to live in as their very own land, God passed on to Moses – when Moses met with Him on Mount Sinai, a new worship paradigm that God expected His specially chosen guys and gals to adopt and apply in their lives. God expected His specially chosen guys and gals to only worship Him. God made it very clear to His specially chosen guys and gals that if they opted to worship anything else but Him – such as handmade idol gods that were manmade from wood, stone, clay and metal that other nations or people groups of guys and gals were worshipping, that they would be facing His wrath big time. Once God’s specially chosen guys had purged most of the enemy people groups guys, gals and kids from out of the Palestine or Canaan land area, Joshua – using lots, divided the conquered Palestine or Canaan land area between twelve Israelite people group tribal clans. The Levi tribal clan – which God designated to be the spiritual leader tribal clan, was assigned swatches of land in each tribal clan area. The land areas that were allotted to the Joseph tribal clan is recounted in Joshua 16. Joseph was Jacob’s kid who got on the nerves of his bros resulting in some of his bros first putting him into an empty well and then selling him to some Midianite merchants who were traveling in a camel caravan who took Joseph to Egypt where he connected with the Egyptian Pharaoh and . . . Joseph had two kids – Manasseh and Ephraim. Verse 4 says “So Manasseh and Ephraim, the descendants of Joseph, received their inheritance.” Half of the Manasseh tribal clan and the Ephraim tribal clan would end up with large portions of land in the midsection of the land area that God said that His specially chosen guys and gals would always have to live in as their very own land if . . .
Your grandmaa and grandpaa – when they die, will probably not be leaving your dad much of anything. Your grandmaa and grandpaa hope that they will leave as an inheritance memories of lives that were lived as proactive servants of God – memories that your grandmaa and grandpaa hope that their grandkids will learn from and live by.
Joshua 16 (715)