John Calvin Commentary Joshua 18:9

"And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven portions in a book; and they came to Joshua unto the camp at Shiloh." — Joshua 18:9 (ASV)

And the men went and passed, etc. Here, not only is praise bestowed on the ready obedience by which their virtue shone forth conspicuously, but the Lord also gives a signal manifestation of His favor by deigning to bestow remarkable success on pious Joshua and the zeal of the people.

Had they crept along through subterranean burrows, they could scarcely have escaped innumerable dangers. But now, when they are taking notes of the cities and their sites, the fields, the varying features of the districts, and all the coasts, and return in safety to their countrymen without meeting any adverse occurrence, who can doubt that their life had been kept safe among a thousand deaths by a wonderful exertion of divine power?

It is therefore said emphatically that they returned to celebrate the grace of God, which is equivalent to saying that they were brought back by the hand of God. This made the people proceed more willingly to the casting of lots. For their minds would not yet have been thoroughly purged of their skepticism had they not perceived in that journey a signal display of divine favor, promising them that the final outcome would be according to their wish.

Therefore, Joshua is said to have divided according to the inheritance of each, as if he were sending them to enter into a peaceful possession, though the outcome depended on the divine presence, because it ought to have been enough for them that the entire undertaking was carried on by the authority of God, who never deceives His people, even when He seems to be leading them in perplexing ways. In what sense the ark of the covenant is called God, or the face of God, I have already explained in many passages.