Once Joshua had made settlement of the frontier areas, he moved into the center of the land and began the second stage of the distribution, which we have in chapters 18 and 19. There are seven tribes remaining. Because Benjamin was a very small tribe, he gave Benjamin a relatively small territory. Ephraim was to the north, and Judah was to the south.

Now you have to think about that geographically. Israel has three frontiers. They’re protected, of course, on the west by the Mediterranean. So the frontiers they have to defend are to the north, south, and east.  From the north is where most of the invasions of the land came later in Israel's history. That's the way the Assyrians and the Babylonians came. From the south is where anyone moving up from Egypt in that direction would attack. And from the eastern frontier often came the tribal people, the wandering Bedouin and marauders. This was the direction from which Israel came when they themselves attacked the land.

The book of Joshua is divided into two main parts. The first part, chapters 1 through 12, tells about the conquest of the land of Canaan. And the second section, chapters 13 through 24, deals with the settlement of the land. As we come now to chapter 13, we are beginning the chapters that tell about the settlement. Now we would think, as we have studied these preceding chapters, that this war of conquest must have taken a relatively short time. Everything we read about seems to indicate speed. And yet, when we come to this chapter, we are aware immediately that there has been a considerable passage of time. The chapter begins by saying, “It was when Joshua was old now and well advanced in years that the Lord gave him instructions for the dividing of the land.”