When the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land near Jericho, they were not entering as visitors. God commanded them to take possession of the land of Israel, in accordance with His Divine Plan, as revealed through the promise made to Abraham. (See Crossroads of the Earth.)

The division of the land is illustrated in the map above. As specified in Joshua chapters 13 to 22, the Israelites were allocated their lands from far south of Jerusalem, to far north of the Sea of Galilee, (the Levites were distributed among the lands of the other tribes). It is interesting to note that the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and part of Manasseh were given territory east of the Jordan River - very different than the political boundaries of today.