Today I read Joshua 17 where Ephraim and Manasseh are given the rest of their inheritance. At first they complain to Joshua that what they have been given is not enough, that they are too great a people for such a small amount of land. I often wonder when an entire people makes a statement like this, or in the Book of Mormon, just who is actually doing the complaining? Does the common man really care all that much about it? Or is it the leaders of the people that are doing the real complaining? Most likely the latter.
Joshua seems a little harsh with the people of Ephraim too. He basically tells them that if they want more land they can clear the forest and drive out the people living there. That's a little mean in my opinion but perhaps there is more to the story than we are told. Whatever the real situation, Joshua eventually agrees with them that they are indeed a mighty people and advises them to clear out the land so that they can grow and expand. It is interesting to me that what is probably the greatest number of people are seemingly given such a small amount of land. But this is probably another situation where the details are lost in history and will make a lot more sense when we know the whole story. Until tomorrow.
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