(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Numbers 26:52–56, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. To many thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to few thou shalt give the less inheritance: to every one shall his inheritance be given according to those that were numbered of him. Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot: according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. According to the lot shall the possession thereof be divided between many and few.”
The allotment of the Land was to be equitable. The Lord had no intention of making one tribe better than another tribe. Of course, each individual would be responsible for their own behaviour (see Ezekiel 18:4, “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” and compare Jeremiah 31:29–30, “In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.”) The Land was to be divided by lot rather than one person being able to choose better land than another person. This was quite appropriate in their culture and ceremonial religion as the Lord provided the high priest a way of determining the Lord’s will. The high priest would use two stones called Urim and Thummim to determine the Lord’s will (compare Numbers 27:21, “And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.”) Once the Land was divided between the tribes and clans it was to belong to them forever, unless the Lord invoked the penalty clauses of the contract He made with Israel concerning possession of the Land and sent them into exile.
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