Joshua 16: Boundary Lines

You may think that this section of Joshua does not make for the most scintillating reading.  Old place names and boundary markers sound like rather dry and dusty stuff.  Yet try to imagine this in a contemporary context.  If someone were to come to you and ask where your property lines are, I would imagine you'd be able to tell them!  Even today, boundary disputes are issues that can lead to conflict and skirmishes and wars (see Russia/Ukraine, North Korea/South Korea, China/Taiwan, the porous southern border of the United States, etc.)  Boundary lines are always a relevant issue, even more so for the Ancient Near East where land is a central focus of life and God has staked the Promised Land to Israel.  The people needed to know where the boundaries for their tribe lay, and they devoted a lot of time and attention to such matters (as we still do today.)