302.) Psalms 42 and 43

Ibex drinking in En Gedi, Israel.

Psalm 42 (New International Version)

¹ As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.

² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?

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Music:

“As the Deer.”  Lyrics and tune by Marty Nystrom in 1984.

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³ My tears have been my food
day and night,
while men say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

⁴ These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go with the multitude,
leading the procession to the house of God,
with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
among the festive throng.

from Daily Readings from Luther’s Writings,
edited by Barbara Owen

Now this multitude must have some kind of a room and its days or hours, which will be convenient for the listeners.  Therefore God very wisely arranged and appointed things, and instituted the holy sacraments to be administered in the congregation at a place where we can come together, pray, and give thanks to God.  Just as is done in worldly affairs when somethings which concerns the community must be dealt with, so much the more should this be done where we are to hear the Word of God.

And here the advantage is that when Christians thus come together their prayers are twice as strong as otherwise.  One can and one really should pray in every place and every hour; but prayer is nowhere so mighty and strong as when the whole multitude prays together.  Thus the dear patriarchs and matriarchs gathered with their families, and anybody else who happened to be with them, under a tree, or put up a tent, and erected an altar, and this was their temple and house of God, where they talked about Christ, the coming seed who was promised to them, sacrificed together, called upon God, and gave thanks to him.  And thus they were always glad to be with the multitude whenever they could, even though they also meditated upon God’s Word and promise and prayed by themselves in private.

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⁵ Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and ⁶ my God.
My  soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

Mount Hermon is the highest point in Israel and the only place in the country to snow ski in the winter.

⁷ Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.

⁸ By day the LORD directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹ I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”

from Morning and Evening, by Charles Spurgeon

“Why go I mourning?”
Psalm 42:9

Canst thou answer this, believer?  Canst thou find any reason why thou art so often mourning instead of rejoicing?  Why yield to gloomy anticipations?  Who told thee that the night would never end in day?  Who told thee that the sea of circumstances would ebb out till there should be nothing left but long leagues of the mud of horrible poverty?   Who told thee that the winter of thy discontent would proceed from frost to frost, from snow, and ice, and hail, to deeper snow, and yet more heavy tempest of despair?

Knowest thou not that day follows night, that flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed winter?  Hope thou then!  Hope thou ever!  For God fails thee not.  Dost thou not know that thy God loves thee in the midst of all this?  Mountains, when in darkness hidden, are as real as in day, and God’s love is as true to thee now as it was in thy brightest moments.  No father chastens always: thy Lord hates the rod as much as thou dost; he only cares to use it for that reason which should make thee willing to receive it, namely, that it works thy lasting good.

Thou shalt yet climb Jacob’s ladder with the angels, and behold him who sits at the top of it — thy covenant God.  Thou shalt yet, amidst the splendours of eternity, forget the trials of time, or only remember them to bless the God who led thee through them, and wrought thy lasting good by them.  Come, sing in the midst of tribulation.  Rejoice even while passing through the furnace.  Make the wilderness to blossom like the rose!  Cause the desert to ring with thine exulting joys, for these light afflictions will soon be over, and then “forever with the Lord,” thy bliss shall never wane.

“Faint not nor fear, His arms are near,
He changeth not, and thou art dear;
Only believe and thou shalt see
That Christ is all in all to thee.”

 

_________________________

¹⁰ My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

¹¹ Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

_________________________

In many Hebrew manuscripts, Psalms 42 and 43 constitute one psalm.

_________________________

Psalm 43

¹ Vindicate me, O God,
and plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
rescue me from deceitful and wicked men.

² You are God my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?

³ Send forth your light and your truth,
let them guide me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.

 

 

⁴ Then will I go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the harp,
O God, my God.

⁵ Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

_________________________

“Be kind.
Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

So be looking for opportunities to pass on a cheerful, encouraging word!

Proverbs 12:25 (New Living Translation)

Worry weighs a person down;
an encouraging word cheers a person up.

Psalm 94:19 (English Standard Version)

When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.

John 16:33 (King James Version)

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

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New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

42:1 and ibex at En Gedi.   http://www.bibleplaces.com/newsletter/hr/Ibex_drinking_in_Nahal_David,_tb100503600.JPG

praying together.    http://www.nscsv.org/Conference.JPG

Mount Hermon.    http://www.hermon.com/mt_hermon/16.jpg

red rose.    http://beautifulwallpapers.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/red-rose.jpg

43:3 and man on mountaintop.    http://www.4catholiceducators.com/graphics/Psalm43_3.jpg

Mount Zion.    http://www.concierge.com/images/destinations/destinationguide/africa+middleeast/israel/jerusalem/jerusalem/israel_002p.jpg

plant growing.    http://www.limelightdirect.co.uk/images/The%20story%20so%20far/plant%20growing.jpg

300.) Joshua 24

Joshua 24   (NRSV)

The Tribes Renew the Covenant

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God.

“Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem.” — by Israeli artist Nurit Tzarfati

²And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors—Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods. ³Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac; ⁴and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.

⁵“Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterwards I brought you out. ⁶When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.

Crossing the Red Sea — a Coptic icon

⁷When they cried out to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did to Egypt. Afterwards you lived in the wilderness a long time.

⁸“Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan; they fought with you, and I handed them over to you, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. ⁹Then King Balak son of Zippor of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent and invited Balaam son of Beor to curse you, ¹⁰but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you; so I rescued you out of his hand.

¹¹“When you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho,

the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I handed them over to you. ¹²I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove out before you the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. ¹³I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and towns that you had not built, and you live in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards that you did not plant.

¹⁴“Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

art by Kathleen Wilson

¹⁶Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; ¹⁷for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; ¹⁸and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

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Music:

“Today I Choose (As for Me and my House)”  by Brian Doerksen.

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¹⁹But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. ²⁰If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good.”

²¹And the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!”

²²Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.”

And they said, “We are witnesses.”

²³He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

²⁴The people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will obey.”

²⁵So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem. ²⁶Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak in the sanctuary of the Lord.

“Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak tree.” — by Israeli artist Nurit Tzarfati

²⁷Joshua said to all the people, “See, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us; therefore it shall be a witness against you, if you deal falsely with your God.” ²⁸So Joshua sent the people away to their inheritances.

_________________________

from This Day with the Master,
by Dennis F. Kinlaw

The closing chapters of the book of Joshua are Joshua’s final words to the people of Israel.  Israel is in the promised land, and Joshua wishes to renew the covenant between Israel and Yahweh before he dies.  He reviews the history of the covenant and speaks about God’s faithfulness to his people.  He calls them to choose whether or not they will serve Yahweh.  Joshua is very aware that after his death the temptation to compromise with the Canaanites will be strong, and a compromise would mean death for Israel’s culture and faith.  Joshua is anxious for the people of God to reaffirm their loyalty to the God of Abraham, Moses, Sinai, and the conquest, and so he calls them to do so.  The people acknowledge God’s actions for them, and they pledge their allegiance to Yahweh.

Joshua’s appeal to the people is based on God’s actions for Israel and not on Israel’s actions for God.  God has chosen and blessed Israel, and their motive for serving him must be his great mercy and grace to them.  The same is true today.  The important thing is not what we have done for God but what God has done for us.  The deliverance from Egypt, the provision in the wilderness, the crossing of the Jordan, and the conquest of the land are historical pictures of redemption provided for us in Christ.  He will provide for those who trust in him and will give them grace to overcome all foes.

The effectiveness of Joshua’s plea is indicated in the closing verses of his book.  “Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel” (verse 31).  It is necessary for every individual in every successive generation to see the work of God personally.  Each of us must come to a meeting with God in which we enter into a covenant relationship with Yahweh.  Therefore the word to us is still:  “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”

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Death of Joshua and Eleazar

Thank you for everything, Joshua!

²⁹After these things Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred ten years old. ³⁰They buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. ³¹Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel.

We will never forget you, Joseph!

³²The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the portion of ground that Jacob had bought from the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money; it became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.

Enjoy your eternal life, Eleazar!

³³Eleazar son of Aaron died; and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of his son Phinehas, which had been given him in the hill country of Ephraim.

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THE END OF THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

What did you learn?

Or what encouraged you?

Or what do you want to remember always?

Or for what specifically can you praise God on account of the book of Joshua?

Please leave a reply!

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

“As for me and my household”    http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3212/2995484697_9c24bb722f.jpg

Tzarfati.    http://www.biblical-art.com/artist_artwork.asp?id_artist=2096&alt=2&pagenum=1

crossing the Red Sea, a Coptic icon.    http://74.53.25.146/~copticon/images/Red%20Sea%20crossing.jpg

Jericho walls falling.     http://www.reformation.org/en-walls-of-jericho.jpg

Wilson.    http://www.katykadiddlehopper.com/html/assets/art_icons/art/Web/jsw_as-for-me-and-my-house.jpg

“Choose YOU this day”    http://cache0.bigcartel.com/product_images/10995341/Joshua_24.15_11.25x17_Green2_BC.jpg

R.I.P.    http://thor.he.net/~gludlow/rip.gif

Think.    http://geraldprinting.com/graphics/think_idea.jpg

299.) Joshua 23

— believing God’s promises are true for you!

Joshua 23   (NRSV)

Joshua Exhorts the People

A long time afterward, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their enemies all around, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years, ²Joshua summoned all Israel, their elders and heads, their judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years;

“I am old and well advanced in years.” — by Israeli artist Nurit Tzarfati

³and you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you. ⁴I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. ⁵The Lord your God will push them back before you, and drive them out of your sight; and you shall possess their land, as the Lord your God promised you.

2 Corinthians 1:20 (New International Version)

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.

_________________________

⁶“Therefore be very steadfast to observe and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right nor to the left, ⁷so that you may not be mixed with these nations left here among you, or make mention of the names of their gods, or swear by them, or serve them, or bow yourselves down to them, ⁸but hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.

Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand
I’m tired, I’m weak, I’m lone
Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light
Take my hand precious Lord,
lead me home

_________________________

⁹For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations; and as for you, no one has been able to withstand you to this day. ¹⁰One of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, as he promised you.

“God never made a promise
that was too good to be true.”
–Dwight L. Moody

_________________________

¹¹“Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God. ¹²For if you turn back, and join the survivors of these nations left here among you, and intermarry with them, so that you marry their women and they yours, ¹³know assuredly that the Lord your God will not continue to drive out these nations before you; but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a scourge on your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴“And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one thing has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you; all have come to pass for you, not one of them has failed.

Every promise in the Book is mine,
Every chapter, every verse, every line,
All the blessings of His love divine,
Every promise in the Book is mine.

_________________________

from Experiencing God Day-by-Day,
by Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby

Near the end of his life, Joshua took time with the Israelites to review all that God had done for them since they first began following Him.  God had given them an impossible assignment:  to conquer a foreign and hostile land with fortified cities and armies more powerful than their own.  The Israelites were to go forward with nothing more than God’s promise that He would go with them and take care of them.  Now Joshua looked back over their experience and reminded the Israelites that God had kept every promise.  They had experienced numerous victories and had enjoyed God’s provision for every need.

Sometimes hindsight gives us a clear picture of how faithful God has been.  We are tempted during a crisis to wonder if God will be faithful to His promises.  We focus on our problems, and our trust in God begins to waver.  Twenty-four years after God promised Abraham and Sarah a son, they were still waiting on God to fulfill His promise.  But in the twenty-fifth year, Abraham and Sarah could look back and see that God had been faithful.  As David was fleeing for his life, he may have been uncertain how God would keep His promise to make him a king.  But at the end of his long and prosperous reign, David could review how God had kept every promise.

You, too, can rely on God’s faithfulness.  Are you in a crisis?  Hold to the promises of the your Lord!  He will not forget His promises to you.  Look back over your Christian life and recount the many ways in which God has been faithful to His word.

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Music:

“Great Is Thy Faithfulness” — a new rendition to me, by Fernando Ortega.  I hope you enjoy it!

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¹⁵But just as all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the Lord will bring upon you all the bad things, until he has destroyed you from this good land that the Lord your God has given you. ¹⁶If you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which he enjoined on you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land that he has given to you.”

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Tzarfati.    http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/tanach/albom/pictures/54.htm

yes.    http://www.boston.com/ae/music/blog/yeslogo.jpg

holding hands, holding fast.    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Tb1tFS08G0/Sd5U6bUuYgI/AAAAAAAAKos/fDLElAAE6J4/s400/Father-and-child-holding-hands_Full.jpg

Bible.    http://bbs.backstage.com/evefiles/attachments/1/5/2/152103232/152103232_Bible.gif?ts=4C10004C&key=A09B0C2B7B893E39F93E2429D50A621B&referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fbbs.backstage.com%2Feve%2Fforums%2Fa%2Fga%2Ful%2F252103232%2Finlineimg%2FY%2FBible.gif

“Great is thy faithfulness” plate.    http://www.eden.co.uk/images/300/P1872.jpg

298.) Joshua 22

Perspective can be tricky! Sometimes we cannot trust our eyes — or our first impressions!  The Israelites have some issues with perspective today.  (By the way, the two trees are actually the same size.)

Joshua 22   (NRSV)

The Eastern Tribes Return to Their Territory

Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ²and said to them, “You have observed all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have obeyed me in all that I have commanded you; ³you have not forsaken your kindred these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God. ⁴And now the Lord your God has given rest to your kindred, as he promised them; therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan.

“Return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you.” — by Israeli artist Nurit Tzarfati

⁵Take good care to observe the commandment and instruction that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, and to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

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1.  to LOVE the Lord your God
2.  to WALK in all his ways
3.  to KEEP his commandments
4.  to HOLD FAST to him
5.  to SERVE him with all your heart and with all your soul

_________________________

⁶So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. ⁷Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan; but to the other half Joshua had given a possession beside their fellow Israelites in the land west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their tents and blessed them, ⁸he said to them, “Go back to your tents with much wealth, and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with a great quantity of clothing; divide the spoil of your enemies with your kindred.”

⁹So the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the Israelites at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had taken possession by command of the Lord through Moses.

A Memorial Altar East of the Jordan

“The Reubenites built an imposing altar there by the Jordan.” — by Israeli artist Nurit Tzarfati

¹⁰When they came to the region near the Jordan that lies in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of great size. ¹¹The Israelites heard that the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region near the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the Israelites. ¹²And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh, to make war against them.

¹³Then the Israelites sent the priest Phinehas son of Eleazar to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, ¹⁴and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel.

¹⁵They came to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, ¹⁶“Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this treachery that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away today from following the Lord, by building yourselves an altar today in rebellion against the Lord? ¹⁷Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which a plague came upon the congregation of the Lord, ¹⁸that you must turn away today from following the Lord!

If you rebel against the Lord today, he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow. ¹⁹But now, if your land is unclean, cross over into the Lord’s land where the Lord’s tabernacle now stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us; only do not rebel against the Lord, or rebel against us by building yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. ²⁰Did not Achan son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity!’”

²¹Then the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel, ²²“The Lord, God of gods! The Lord, God of gods! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith toward the Lord, do not spare us today ²³for building an altar to turn away from following the Lord; or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or offerings of well-being on it, may the Lord himself take vengeance.

²⁴“No! We did it from fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? ²⁵For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you Reubenites and Gadites; you have no portion in the Lord.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the Lord.

²⁶“Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, ²⁷but to be a witness between us and you, and between the generations after us, that we do perform the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and offerings of well-being; so that your children may never say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.”’

²⁸“And we thought, If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we could say, ‘Look at this copy of the altar of the Lord, which our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.’

²⁹“Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn away this day from following the Lord by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle!”

³⁰When the priest Phinehas and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the Reubenites and the Gadites and the Manassites spoke, they were satisfied.

³¹The priest Phinehas son of Eleazar said to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the Manassites, “Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord; now you have saved the Israelites from the hand of the Lord.”

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Music:

As the Israelites are now all settled and ready to dwell in their land, the prayer is that God will dwell with them.  “Dwell” by Vineyard.  Lyrics follow.

Dwell in the midst of us
Come and dwell in this place
Dwell in the midst of us
Come and have Your way

Dwell in the midst of us
Wipe all the tears from our faces
Dwell in the midst of us
You can have Your way

Not our will, but Yours be done
Come and change us
Not our will, but Yours be done
Come sustain us

_________________________

³²Then the priest Phinehas son of Eleazar and the chiefs returned from the Reubenites and the Gadites in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the Israelites, and brought back word to them. ³³The report pleased the Israelites; and the Israelites blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them, to destroy the land where the Reubenites and the Gadites were settled.

³⁴The Reubenites and the Gadites called the altar Witness; “For,” said they, “it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”

_________________________

from Whispers of His Power,
by Amy Carmichael:

Joshua 22:34 (King James Version)
And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.

When two people who love the Lord misunderstand each other and get into a tangle, there is generally a mistake which a few honest words will clear up.

Read Joshua 22.  A long time ago, two sets of people misunderstood each other.  Both had made a mistake, the Reubenites and Gadites by not consulting anybody before building a great altar beside the Jordan, and the Israelites by putting a wrong interpretation on it.

But a few words straightened things out.  The Reubenites, very much surprised that the Israelites could think anything so unkind and untrue, explained that they had acted “out of carefulness and of purpose.”  The Israelites accepted their explanation, and the matter ended with a word easy for us to remember, Ed.  The thing which had almost caused a furious quarrel was turned to Ed, which meant that God (who is the God of Peace) was  Witness.

If we have a misunderstanding with anyone, what about taking Ed as a little word of reminder to hurry up and make friends?

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As we saw in the story today — how different things can look when viewed from another perspective!

Isn’t it strange
how a 20 dollar bill seems like such a large amount
when you donate it to church,
but such a small amount when you go shopping?

Isn’t it strange
how 2 hours seem so long when you’re at church,
and so short when you’re watching a good movie?

Isn’t it strange
that you can’t find a word to say when you’re praying,
but you have no trouble thinking what to talk about with a friend?

Isn’t it strange
how difficult and boring it is to read one chapter of the Bible,
but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a popular novel?

Isn’t it strange
how everyone wants front-row-tickets to concerts or games,
but they always choose to sit at the last row in church?

Isn’t it strange
how we need to know about an event for church 2-3 weeks
before the day so we can include it in our agenda,
but we can easily adjust for other events at the last minute?

Isn’t it strange
how difficult it is to learn a fact about God to share it with others,
but how easy it is to learn and repeat gossip?

Isn’t it strange
how we believe what magazines and newspapers say,
but we question the words in the Bible?

Isn’t it strange
how everyone wants a place in heaven,
but they don’t want to do anything to get there?

(author unknown)

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

optical illusion.    http://www.visionjuice.com/resources/puzzles/illusion/ill007q.png

Tzarfati.     http://www.biblical-art.com/artist_artwork.asp?id_artist=2096&alt=2&pagenum=1

5.    http://www.azurs.net/photoblogv0/a/2005/06/cinq_dans_le_de.html

how could you do this?     http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71CX7WSYVDL._SL500_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-big,TopRight,35,-73_OU01_AA300_.gif

that’s not what I meant.    http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ABCYTN84L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU02_.jpg

OK.  Design by Steve Scott.    http://www.dhub.org/blog/wp-content/dhub/scott-ok.jpg

Witness.    http://www.witnesschange.org/WITNESS.NEWLOGO.jpg

twenty dollar bill.    http://www.workathometruth.com/artwork/magslotpix/20dollarbill.jpg

297.) Joshua 20 and 21

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” –Psalm 46:1

Joshua 20   (NRSV)

The Cities of Refuge

Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, ²“Say to the Israelites, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, ³so that anyone who kills a person without intent or by mistake may flee there; they shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood.

⁴“The slayer shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and explain the case to the elders of that city; then the fugitive shall be taken into the city, and given a place, and shall remain with them. ⁵And if the avenger of blood is in pursuit, they shall not give up the slayer, because the neighbor was killed by mistake, there having been no enmity between them before. ⁶The slayer shall remain in that city until there is a trial before the congregation, until the death of the one who is high priest at the time: then the slayer may return home, to the town in which the deed was done.’”

⁷So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. ⁸And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. ⁹These were the cities designated for all the Israelites, and for the aliens residing among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so as not to die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until there was a trial before the congregation.

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Note the even geographical distribution:  three cities east of the Jordan, and three west of the Jordan.  In both cases the cities were located in the northern, central, and southern regions.  The cities were places of refuge for those who had killed another person under such circumstances that the killing was not considered a capital crime (like modern day third degree murder, or manslaughter), to protect them from revenge by the victim’s relatives.

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Music:

“You Are My Refuge.”

The Maranatha! Singers is a 50-person-strong choir comprised mostly of University of Florida and Santa Fe Community College students.  Originally founded in 1970, the group is part of the University Methodist Church and Student Center, Gainesville, FL.

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Joshua 21

Cities Allotted to the Levites

Then the heads of the families of the Levites came to the priest Eleazar and to Joshua son of Nun and to the heads of the families of the tribes of the Israelites; ²they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, “The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given towns to live in, along with their pasture lands for our livestock.” ³So by command of the Lord the Israelites gave to the Levites the following towns and pasture lands out of their inheritance.

As a farm girl, I believe that God loves seeing his animals eating contentedly!  To accompany the assignment of pasture lands to the Levites, we will see pasture lands from around the world.  Here:  pasture land in Tasmania, Australia.

⁴The lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. ⁵The rest of the Kohathites received by lot ten towns from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁶The Gershonites received by lot thirteen towns from the families of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷The Merarites according to their families received twelve towns from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun.

⁸These towns and their pasture lands the Israelites gave by lot to the Levites, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Pasture land on St. Agnes Island, the Isles of Scilly, England.

⁹Out of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Simeon they gave the following towns mentioned by name, ¹⁰which went to the descendants of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites who belonged to the Levites, since the lot fell to them first.

¹¹They gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasture lands around it. ¹²But the fields of the town and its villages had been given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his holding.

¹³To the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasture lands, Libnah with its pasture lands, ¹⁴Jattir with its pasture lands, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands, ¹⁵Holon with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands, ¹⁶Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands—nine towns out of these two tribes.

Pasture land in Argentina.

¹⁷Out of the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands, ¹⁸Anathoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands—four towns. ¹⁹The towns of the descendants of Aaron—the priests—were thirteen in all, with their pasture lands.

²⁰As to the rest of the Kohathites belonging to the Kohathite families of the Levites, the towns allotted to them were out of the tribe of Ephraim.

²¹To them were given Shechem, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasture lands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasture lands, ²²Kibzaim with its pasture lands, and Beth-horon with its pasture lands—four towns.

²³Out of the tribe of Dan: Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands, ²⁴Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands—four towns.

²⁵Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Taanach with its pasture lands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands—two towns. ²⁶The towns of the families of the rest of the Kohathites were ten in all, with their pasture lands.

Pasture land along the Nile River.

²⁷To the Gershonites, one of the families of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, and Beeshterah with its pasture lands—two towns.

²⁸Out of the tribe of Issachar: Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands, ²⁹Jarmuth with its pasture lands, En-gannim with its pasture lands—four towns;

³⁰Out of the tribe of Asher: Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands, ³¹Helkath with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands—four towns.

³²Out of the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands—three towns. ³³The towns of the several families of the Gershonites were in all thirteen, with their pasture lands.

High pasture near Tungnath, India.

³⁴To the rest of the Levites—the Merarite families—were given out of the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands, ³⁵Dimnah with its pasture lands, Nahalal with its pasture lands—four towns.

³⁶Out of the tribe of Reuben: Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahzah with its pasture lands, ³⁷Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands—four towns.

³⁸Out of the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Mahanaim with its pasture lands, ³⁹Heshbon with its pasture lands, Jazer with its pasture lands—four towns in all.

Pasture land near Nanshan, China.

⁴⁰As for the towns of the several Merarite families, that is, the remainder of the families of the Levites, those allotted to them were twelve in all.

⁴¹The towns of the Levites within the holdings of the Israelites were in all forty-eight towns with their pasture lands. ⁴²Each of these towns had its pasture lands around it; so it was with all these towns.

⁴³Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to their ancestors that he would give them; and having taken possession of it, they settled there. ⁴⁴And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their ancestors; not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. ⁴⁵Not one of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

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7 Promises Made and 7 Promises Fulfilled!

Exodus 6:6-8 (New International Version)

“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.  I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.  And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.’ “

Galatians 4:28 (New Living Translation)

You, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

safety at a city of refuge (first published in 1901).    http://thebiblerevival.com/clipart/1902/joshua20.jpg

cities of refuge map.    http://oneyearbibleimages.com/refuge.gif

Pasture — Tasmania.    http://www.planbooktravel.com.au/region-images/TAS/flinders-island/flinders-island-400×272/pasture-land-near-whitemark.jpg/image_preview

Pasture — Scilly.    http://www.planetware.com/i/photo/st-agnes-island-isles-of-scilly-gb734.jpg

Pasture — Argentina.    http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3456/3199508520_04cbf04f75_b.jpg

Pasture — Nile River.    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-w3_mIQ6co/Szjixa4h1JI/AAAAAAAAAEU/BM8UlxAIcOY/S730/LAND+HAS+BEEN+CONSOLIDATED+AND+AGRICULTURE+MODERNISED+IN+RWANDA.jpg

Pasture — India.    http://www.sherwinbeach.com/india/india2/MtnPastureWebFull.jpg

Pasture — China.    http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2600/3674894017_ee76b9fc4b.jpg

296.) Joshua 18 and 19

The “Promised Land” is now reality! With the close of these chapters, all the tribes know which part of the Promised Land is theirs. Alongside ownership comes responsibility and privilege — how will it go for them?

Joshua 18   (NRSV)

The Territories of the Remaining Tribes

Then the whole congregation of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them.

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Music:

Beautiful music today!  As the Israelites move into their new land, we listen to Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, known as the New World Symphony, the first part of Movement 2, Largo.  His most popular symphony, it was composed in 1893 during his visit to the United States.  Played by the Dublin Philharmonic.

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²There remained among the Israelites seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. ³So Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you be slack about going in and taking possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you?

Joshua has had five other tribes step up to the plate, so to speak, and get going with the work that needed to be done to possess their portion of the land.  But these guys are just sitting on the bench!  What do they think will happen while they just wait around?!

Was the task too large?  Were they tired?  Was their vision clouded?  Was their enthusiasm gone?

And I cannot evade the next question:  What of God’s gifts to me am I reluctant, for any reason, to pursue?  Oh, Lord, let me not be slack in these things, but rather confident in Your grace, for “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

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⁴Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may begin to go throughout the land, writing a description of it with a view to their inheritances. Then come back to me. ⁵They shall divide it into seven portions, Judah continuing in its territory on the south, and the house of Joseph in their territory on the north. ⁶You shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. ⁷The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their heritage; and Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”

⁸So the men started on their way; and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go throughout the land and write a description of it, and come back to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.” ⁹So the men went and traversed the land and set down in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions; then they came back to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh, ¹⁰and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord; and there Joshua apportioned the land to the Israelites, to each a portion.

The Territory of Benjamin

The city of Jerusalem is located in the territory that was allotted to Benjamin.  This is a picture of a street in the Old city.

¹¹The lot of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families came up, and the territory allotted to it fell between the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Joseph.

¹²On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan; then the boundary goes up to the slope of Jericho on the north, then up through the hill country westward; and it ends at the wilderness of Beth-aven. ¹³From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the slope of Luz (that is, Bethel), then the boundary goes down to Ataroth-addar, on the mountain that lies south of Lower Beth-horon.

¹⁴Then the boundary goes in another direction, turning on the western side southward from the mountain that lies to the south, opposite Beth-horon, and it ends at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a town belonging to the tribe of Judah. This forms the western side.

¹⁵The southern side begins at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim; and the boundary goes from there to Ephron, to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah; ¹⁶then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the valley of Rephaim; and it then goes down the valley of Hinnom, south of the slope of the Jebusites, and downward to En-rogel; ¹⁷then it bends in a northerly direction going on to En-shemesh, and from there goes to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim; then it goes down to the Stone of Bohan, Reuben’s son; ¹⁸and passing on to the north of the slope of Beth-arabah it goes down to the Arabah; ¹⁹then the boundary passes on to the north of the slope of Beth-hoglah; and the boundary ends at the northern bay of the Dead Sea, at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border.

²⁰The Jordan forms its boundary on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, according to its families, boundary by boundary all around.

²¹Now the towns of the tribe of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, ²²Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve towns with their villages: ²⁵Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, ²⁷Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah and Kiriath-jearim—fourteen towns with their villages.

This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families.

Joshua 19

The Territory of Simeon

Simeon’s land is in the dry and rocky Negev desert.

The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of Simeon, according to its families; its inheritance lay within the inheritance of the tribe of Judah. ²It had for its inheritance Beer-sheba, Sheba, Moladah, ³Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, ⁴Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah, ⁶Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen towns with their villages; ⁷Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four towns with their villages; ⁸together with all the villages all around these towns as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon according to its families. ⁹The inheritance of the tribe of Simeon formed part of the territory of Judah; because the portion of the tribe of Judah was too large for them, the tribe of Simeon obtained an inheritance within their inheritance.

The Territory of Zebulun

Not this Bethlehem!  No, the birthday town is within the territory of Judah.

¹⁰The third lot came up for the tribe of Zebulun, according to its families. The boundary of its inheritance reached as far as Sarid; ¹¹then its boundary goes up westward, and on to Maralah, and touches Dabbesheth, then the wadi that is east of Jokneam; ¹²from Sarid it goes in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the boundary of Chisloth-tabor; from there it goes to Daberath, then up to Japhia; ¹³from there it passes along on the east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon it bends toward Neah; ¹⁴then on the north the boundary makes a turn to Hannathon, and it ends at the valley of Iphtah-el; ¹⁵and Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem—twelve towns with their villages.

¹⁶This is the inheritance of the tribe of Zebulun, according to its families—these towns with their villages.

The Territory of Issachar

Mt. Tabor rises abruptly some 1,600 feet above the surrounding plains, with no other mountains nearby.  It is a limestone mountain.

¹⁷The fourth lot came out for Issachar, for the tribe of Issachar, according to its families. ¹⁸Its territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem, ¹⁹Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, ²¹Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, Beth-pazzez; ²²the boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan—sixteen towns with their villages.

²³This is the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar, according to its families—the towns with their villages.

The Territory of Asher

Tyre is one of the world’s oldest cities, home to Phoenicians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans — above is the reconstructed ancient Roman Triumphal Arch — and is today a UNESCO World Heritage site in Lebanon.

²⁴The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Asher according to its families. ²⁵Its boundary included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, ²⁶Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal; on the west it touches Carmel and Shihor-libnath, ²⁷then it turns eastward, goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zebulun and the valley of Iphtah-el northward to Beth-emek and Neiel; then it continues in the north to Cabul, ²⁸Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as Sidon the Great; ²⁹then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre; then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab, Achzib, ³⁰Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob—twenty-two towns with their villages.

³¹This is the inheritance of the tribe of Asher according to its families—these towns with their villages.

The Territory of Naphtali

The archaeological findings at Tel Hazor are among the richest in all Israel.  Joshua burned Hazor to the ground (see chapter 11), but later it was rebuilt and became a significant city under Solomon.

³²The sixth lot came out for the tribe of Naphtali, for the tribe of Naphtali, according to its families. ³³And its boundary ran from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum; and it ended at the Jordan; ³⁴then the boundary turns westward to Aznoth-tabor, and goes from there to Hukkok, touching Zebulun at the south, and Asher on the west, and Judah on the east at the Jordan. ³⁵The fortified towns are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth, ³⁶Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, ³⁷Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor, ³⁸Iron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh—nineteen towns with their villages.

³⁹This is the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtali according to its families—the towns with their villages.

The Territory of Dan

Looking from the old city of Joppa to the modern city of Tel Aviv. Jonah sailed from Joppa, and Peter raised Dorcas from the dead here.

⁴⁰The seventh lot came out for the tribe of Dan, according to its families. ⁴¹The territory of its inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, ⁴²Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, ⁴³Elon, Timnah, Ekron, ⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, ⁴⁶Me-jarkon, and Rakkon at the border opposite Joppa. ⁴⁷When the territory of the Danites was lost to them, the Danites went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and putting it to the sword, they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after their ancestor Dan.

⁴⁸This is the inheritance of the tribe of Dan, according to their families—these towns with their villages.

Joshua’s Inheritance

⁴⁹When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the Israelites gave an inheritance among them to Joshua son of Nun. ⁵⁰By command of the Lord they gave him the town that he asked for, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim; he rebuilt the town, and settled in it.

⁵¹These are the inheritances that the priest Eleazar and Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the families of the tribes of the Israelites distributed by lot at Shiloh before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

Proverbs 16:33 (New American Standard Bible)

The lot is cast into the lap,
But its every decision is from the LORD.

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So they finished dividing the land.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

map.    http://www.jesuswalk.com/gideon/images/12tribes_map250x389.gif

baseball players on the bench.     http://www.marietta.edu/175/175_essentials/images/baseball_back_1024.jpg

Jerusalem.     http://yalepresslondon.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/jerusalem-for-blog3.jpg

sign for Beer-sheba.    http://www.snydertalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Sign-in-the-Arava-to-Beersheba-Beer-Sheva.jpg

Bethlehem.    http://www.bethanyroberts.com/images/CHBethlehem.gif

Mt. Tabor.    http://www.shawnthebaptist.org/images/2006/12/MtTabor.jpg

Arch in Tyre.    http://z.about.com/d/atheism/1/0/V/y/2/TyreTriumphalArch.jpg

Hazor.    http://israelapu08.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/hazor-37.jpg

Joppa and Tel Aviv.     http://ferrelljenkins.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/joppa_telaviv_sm1.jpg

Thy will be done.    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fu8wMNQvYbM/Shn8e2cNsLI/AAAAAAAACcA/HRQ-JOhTMHw/s400/thy+will+be+done-sunset+copy+%28web%29.jpg

295.) Joshua 16 and 17

“Although Joseph was one of Jacob’s 12 sons, he did not have a tribe named after him. This was because Joseph, as the oldest son of Jacob’s wife Rachel, received a double portion of the inheritance.  This double portion was given to Joseph’s two sons. Ephraim and Manasseh, whom Jacob considered as his own.” — from The Life Application Bible

Joshua 16   (NRSV)

The Territory of Ephraim

The allotment of the Josephites went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel; ²then going from Bethel to Luz, it passes along to Ataroth, the territory of the Archites; ³then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of Lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and it ends at the sea. ⁴The Josephites—Manasseh and Ephraim—received their inheritance.

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Music:

What a wonderful feeling, to look at a place and call it home!

Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger do  “This Land Is Your Land.”

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⁵The territory of the Ephraimites by their families was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was Ataroth-addar as far as Upper Beth-horon, ⁶and the boundary goes from there to the sea; on the north is Michmethath; then on the east the boundary makes a turn toward Taanath-shiloh, and passes along beyond it on the east to Janoah, ⁷then it goes down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah, and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan.

The Old Red Mill in Jericho, Vermont, dates back to the 1850′s.

⁸From Tappuah the boundary goes westward to the Wadi Kanah, and ends at the sea. Such is the inheritance of the tribe of the Ephraimites by their families, ⁹together with the towns that were set apart for the Ephraimites within the inheritance of the Manassites, all those towns with their villages. ¹⁰They did not, however, drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer: so the Canaanites have lived within Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor.

Ephraim, Wisconsin, is located in Door County on Lake Michigan.

Joshua 17

The Other Half-Tribe of Manasseh (West)

Then allotment was made to the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. To Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a warrior. ²And allotments were made to the rest of the tribe of Manasseh, by their families, Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida; these were the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, by their families.

“Five Sisters”  by Paula DiLeo

³Now Zelophehad son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh had no sons, but only daughters; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ⁴They came before the priest Eleazar and Joshua son of Nun and the leaders, and said, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance along with our male kin.” So according to the commandment of the Lord he gave them an inheritance among the kinsmen of their father. ⁵Thus there fell to Manasseh ten portions, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of the Jordan, ⁶because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance along with his sons. The land of Gilead was allotted to the rest of the Manassites.

⁷The territory of Manasseh reached from Asher to Michmethath, which is east of Shechem;

Modern Shechem and Mount Gerizim, with the ruins of ancient Shechem in the foreground.

then the boundary goes along southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah. ⁸The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah on the boundary of Manasseh belonged to the Ephraimites. ⁹Then the boundary went down to the Wadi Kanah. The towns here, to the south of the wadi, among the towns of Manasseh, belong to Ephraim. Then the boundary of Manasseh goes along the north side of the wadi and ends at the sea. ¹⁰The land to the south is Ephraim’s and that to the north is Manasseh’s, with the sea forming its boundary; on the north Asher is reached, and on the east Issachar.

¹¹Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh had Beth-shean and its villages, Ibleam and its villages, the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, the inhabitants of Taanach and its villages, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages (the third is Naphath). ¹²Yet the Manassites could not take possession of those towns; but the Canaanites continued to live in that land. ¹³But when the Israelites grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.

The Tribe of Joseph Protests

¹⁴The tribe of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me but one lot and one portion as an inheritance, since we are a numerous people, whom all along the Lord has blessed?”

¹⁵And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest, and clear ground there for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.”

¹⁶The tribe of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us; yet all the Canaanites who live in the plain have chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in the Valley of Jezreel.”

¹⁷Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are indeed a numerous people, and have great power; you shall not have one lot only, ¹⁸but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.”

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What a difference between Caleb’s attitude in the Promised Land — and these guys!  Caleb asked for a mountain, he asked to fight giants, he was confident God was able to make His promises come true.  The two tribes of Joseph’s sons, however, after being given rich land and a large amount of it, were not satisfied with their lot.  They whined about the work it would entail to take full possession of it.  Now, Self, be honest — which attitude is more often mine?

God of grace and God of glory,
On thy people pour thy power.
Crown thy ancient Church’s story,
Bring her bud to glorious power.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage
For the living of this hour,
For the living of this hour.

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

map of the land of the twelve tribes.    http://www.jesuswalk.com/gideon/images/12tribes_map250x389.gif

Jericho, VT.     http://www.jerichovt.gov/vertical/Sites/%7B0A48C719-28BA-4BAE-B0A4-76C55C17A32C%7D/uploads/%7B02B1D1E0-531A-4F40-B6DB-6A5A28A31312%7D.JPG

Ephraim, WI.     http://www.bing.com/travel/content/static/br-images/image-aHR0cDovL2JsdWJlZGJ1aWEwMTo4My9pLzlCLzdFMTFFMDc0NzFEMUQzRTFGNkVFMjA2NkRBRTI5LmpwZw.jpg

DiLeo.   http://www.pauladileo.com/images/faces_large/01.gif

Shechem.    http://www.bibleplaces.com/images/Mt_Gerizim_from_Shechem,_tbn011300l.jpg

Whine and cheese.     http://images.cafepress.com/image/32833087_400x400.jpg

Take courage.    http://http.cdnlayer.com/lisaleonardonline/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/take-courage.jpg

294.) Joshua 15

Revelation 5:1-5 (New Living Translation)

Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals.  And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?”  But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it.

Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it.  But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

____________________

Joshua 15   (NRSV)

The Territory of Judah

The lot for the tribe of the people of Judah according to their families reached southward to the boundary of Edom, to the wilderness of Zin at the farthest south.

²And their south boundary ran from the end of the Dead Sea, from the bay that faces southward; ³it goes out southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, passes along to Zin, and goes up south of Kadesh-barnea, along by Hezron, up to Addar, makes a turn to Karka, ⁴passes along to Azmon, goes out by the Wadi of Egypt, and comes to its end at the sea. This shall be your south boundary.

⁵And the east boundary is the Dead Sea, to the mouth of the Jordan.

“Visiting tourists covered with rejuvenating mineral mud relax during a hot summer day at the Dead Sea,” said the picture caption.  Do you suppose the ancient Israelites played around like this?

And the boundary on the north side runs from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan; ⁶and the boundary goes up to Beth-hoglah, and passes along north of Beth-arabah; and the boundary goes up to the Stone of Bohan, Reuben’s son; ⁷and the boundary goes up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, and so northward, turning toward Gilgal, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the valley; and the boundary passes along to the waters of En-shemesh, and ends at En-rogel; ⁸then the boundary goes up by the valley of the son of Hinnom at the southern slope of the Jebusites (that is, Jerusalem); and the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the valley of Rephaim; ⁹then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah, and from there to the towns of Mount Ephron; then the boundary bends around to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim); ¹⁰and the boundary circles west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passes along to the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), and goes down to Beth-shemesh, and passes along by Timnah; ¹¹the boundary goes out to the slope of the hill north of Ekron, then the boundary bends around to Shikkeron, and passes along to Mount Baalah, and goes out to Jabneel; then the boundary comes to an end at the sea.

¹²And the west boundary was the Mediterranean with its coast. This is the boundary surrounding the people of Judah according to their families.

“The Ashkelon Desalination Plant, which opened in 2005, converts more than 26 billion gallons of Mediterranean Sea water into fresh water for the State of Israel each year—5 to 6 percent of total demand. Ashkelon is not only the largest reverse-osmosis desalination plant in the world, it’s also one of the few public plants to recover waste heat to improve efficiency and reduce costs.”
– from Popular Science magazine

This plant is located on Mediterranean coastal land that was allotted to the tribe of Judah.

__________________________

Music:

“The Lion of Judah”  performed by Paul Wilbur.

You’re the Lion of Judah, the Lamb that was slain,
You ascended to heaven and ever more will reign;
At the end of the age when the earth You reclaim,
You will gather the nations before You.
And the eyes of all men will be fixed on the Lamb
Who was crucified,
For with wisdom and mercy and justice You’ll reign
At Your Father’s side.

And the angels will cry: ‘Hail the Lamb
Who was slain for the world, Rule in power.’
And the earth will reply: ‘You shall reign
As the King of all kings
And the Lord of all lords.’

There’s a shield in our hand and a sword at our side,
There’s a fire in our spirits that cannot be denied;
As the Father has told us for these You have died,
For the nations that gather before You.
And the ears of all men need to hear of the Lamb
Who was crucified,
Who descended to hell yet was raised up to reign
At the Father’s side.

_________________________

Caleb Occupies His Portion

¹³According to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, he gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, Kiriath-arba (Arba was the father of Anak), that is, Hebron .

_________________________

“The World’s Largest Porch Swing” is located in Hebron, Nebraska. It will seat 16 adults, or 24 children, or 128 babies.

Have you been to Hebron?

Hebron, Nebraska —was hit by a tornado in May 1953.  The storm wrecked two-thirds of the town’s buildings and injured 69 people.

Hebron, Connecticut — describes itself as “a quaint Connecticut town.”  It was formerly known for its apple orchards.

Hebron, New York — marketed their local “Beauty of Hebron” potato to London in the early 1880′s;  this potato helped restock the British Isles after the Irish Potato famine.

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¹⁴And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak. ¹⁵From there he went up against the inhabitants of Debir; now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher. ¹⁶And Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath-sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.” ¹⁷Othniel son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it; and he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.

¹⁸When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?”

“Since you gave me land in the desert, give me also springs of water.” — by Israeli artist Nurit Tzarfati

¹⁹She said to him, “Give me a present; since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me springs of water as well.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

The Towns of Judah

²⁰This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Judah according to their families:

²¹The towns belonging to the tribe of the people of Judah in the extreme South, toward the boundary of Edom, were Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, ²²Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, ²³Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, ²⁴Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, ²⁵Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor), ²⁶Amam, Shema, Moladah, ²⁷Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, ²⁸Hazar-shual, Beer-sheba, Biziothiah, ²⁹Baalah, Iim, Ezem, ³⁰Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, ³¹Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, ³²Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon: in all, twenty-nine towns, with their villages.

³³And in the Lowland, Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, ³⁴Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam, ³⁵Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, ³⁶Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, Gederothaim: fourteen towns with their villages. ³⁷Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad, ³⁸Dilan, Mizpeh, Jokthe-el, ³⁹Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, ⁴⁰Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish, ⁴¹Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah: sixteen towns with their villages. ⁴²Libnah, Ether, Ashan, ⁴³Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, ⁴⁴Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah: nine towns with their villages. ⁴⁵Ekron, with its dependencies and its villages; ⁴⁶from Ekron to the sea, all that were near Ashdod, with their villages. ⁴⁷Ashdod, its towns and its villages; Gaza, its towns and its villages; to the Wadi of Egypt, and the Great Sea with its coast.

⁴⁸And in the hill country, Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, ⁴⁹Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir), ⁵⁰Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, ⁵¹Goshen,

_________________________

Goshen College is a Mennonite liberal arts school. Pictured above are the members of their praise and worship team.

Goshen.   You know!

Goshen, Indiana — is home to Goshen College and to the Elkhart County 4-H Fair, the second-largest county fair in the United States.

Goshen, New Hampshire — has a tranquil lake known for its good canoeing and bird-watching.  Local residents call the lake “the Goshen Ocean.”

Goshen, Connecticut — was incorporated in 1739.  The town was a center for the manufacture of musket rifles during the Revolutionary War.

Goshen, Massachusetts — is a tiny rural town, population 921.

Goshen, Kentucky — is known for its thoroughbred breeding farms.

Goshen, New York — has a harness racing museum.

Goshen, Oregon — was originally a stage coach stop and now serves lumber mills in the area.

_________________________

Holon, and Giloh: eleven towns with their villages. ⁵²Arab, Dumah, Eshan, ⁵³Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah, ⁵⁴Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior: nine towns with their villages. ⁵⁵Maon, Carmel,

_________________________

“Beach View:  Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.”  Photography by George Oze.

And you remember Carmel!

Carmel, California — officially Carmel-by-the-Sea, is known for its natural beauty and rich artistic tradition.  It also has a law that prohibits the wearing of high heeled shoes unless the wearer has a permit, which can be obtained at no charge from City Hall.

Carmel, Indiana — had one of the first automatic traffic signals in the country installed at the intersection of Main Street and Range Line Road.  This was in 1924.

_________________________

Ziph, Juttah, ⁵⁶Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, ⁵⁷Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah: ten towns with their villages. ⁵⁸Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, ⁵⁹Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon: six towns with their villages. ⁶⁰Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah: two towns with their villages.

⁶¹In the wilderness, Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, ⁶²Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En-gedi: six towns with their villages. ⁶³But the people of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so the Jebusites live with the people of Judah in Jerusalem to this day.

_________________________

Whitetail deer in Jerusalem, Ohio.

O, Jerusalem!

I have read that there are towns named “Jerusalem” in 12 states.

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Lion of Judah (read his mane!).    http://teezine.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/lion-of-judah-detail.jpg

LIFE at the Dead Sea.    http://cache1.asset-cache.net/xc/75436251.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=77BFBA49EF878921A343B2C87A49D8F5E77BCFAC7E2B6B2926BF57DF5714C55BDAAD46A484DE7A5F

Ashkelon desalination plant.   http://www.water-technology.net/projects/israel/images/9-desalination-plant.jpg

world’s largest porch swing.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hebron_porch_swing.jpg

Tzarfati.     http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/tanach/albom/pictures/45.htm

Goshen College worship team.    http://www.goshen.edu/news/pressarchive/photos/08-parables.jpg

Oze.    http://fineartamerica.com/images-medium/beach-view-carmel-by-the-sea-california-george-oze.jpg

deer.    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bc3GmDzJFV0/SwsLBpHdfHI/AAAAAAAAAlk/gdgJd0xbNVk/s1600/deer+herd_00.jpg

293.) Joshua 13 and 14

“Promised Land” photography by Rolando Polo

Joshua 13   (NRSV)

The Parts of Canaan Still Unconquered

Now Joshua was old and advanced in years; and the Lord said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and very much of the land still remains to be possessed. ²This is the land that still remains: all the regions of the Philistines, and all those of the Geshurites ³(from the Shihor, which is east of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron, it is reckoned as Canaanite; there are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron), and those of the Avvim, ⁴in the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, to Aphek, to the boundary of the Amorites, ⁵and the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the east, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo-hamath, ⁶all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, even all the Sidonians. I will myself drive them out from before the Israelites; only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you.

⁷Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”

The Territory East of the Jordan

⁸With the other half-tribe of Manasseh the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses the servant of the Lord gave them: ⁹from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Wadi Arnon, and the town that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland from Medeba as far as Dibon; ¹⁰and all the cities of King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the boundary of the Ammonites; ¹¹and Gilead, and the region of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah; ¹²all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (he alone was left of the survivors of the Rephaim); these Moses had defeated and driven out. ¹³Yet the Israelites did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites; but Geshur and Maacath live within Israel to this day.

¹⁴To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance; the offerings by fire to the Lord God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to them.

The Levites are not being slighted here.  The time required to support their responsibilities at the Tabernacle and rendering service to God on behalf of the other tribes would preclude them from managing farms, fields, and livestock.  In chapter 21 we will see the towns, scattered throughout the land, that were assigned to the Levites.

_________________________

The Territory of Reuben

¹⁵Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of the Reubenites according to their clans. ¹⁶Their territory was from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Wadi Arnon, and the town that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland by Medeba; ¹⁷with Heshbon, and all its towns that are in the tableland; Dibon, and Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baal-meon, ¹⁸and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, ¹⁹and Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth-shahar on the hill of the valley, ²⁰and Beth-peor, and the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth, ²¹that is, all the towns of the tableland, and all the kingdom of King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses defeated with the leaders of Midian, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, as princes of Sihon, who lived in the land. ²²Along with the rest of those they put to death, the Israelites also put to the sword Balaam son of Beor, who practiced divination.

Balaam

I was on the wrong road
And in the wrong road the Angel took her stand
To stand in my way and right my journey
I would not see her though she stood before me

My friends opened their eyes and saw
Saw her flaming sword
And flaming eyes
And terrible countenance
And said Friend do not go that way for the Angel of the Lord
Is there and will smite you
For the path you walk is the wrong pathI was angry with my friends
And berated them
And pushed them aside
Saw them foolish
Struck those who would not move from my path
Struck them as many as three times

Why do you strike us, they asked
Are we not your friends who love you
Who have guided you rightly
If your eyes are closed
Can we not be your eyes for you

In rage I lifted my arm to strike them again
To strike them down to dust
And trample them
Dust to dust

The Lord’s Angel rose in fury
And shone before my eyes
So brightly that even my closed eyes burned with brightness
The Angel made a sound like a great wind
And the dust rose and cut my face
And filled my nose and parched my tongue

Then the wind stopped and my eyes opened
The Angel stood there still
Now without a sword
And opened her arms
Beckoned me to her bosom

I came to her and wept
Wept as she held me
Wept for my blindness
Wept for the blows laid on my friends
Wept for the wrong road and all the wrong roads
Wept for the wrong turns and all the wrong turns

Held in her bosom
I asked her to forgive
To forgive me my blows and blindness
She held me
No she said
Forgive yourself

Open your eyes
Signs are there to see
Open your heart
Signs are there to follow

Open your ears
For the Word that is before any word
For the Word that is after every word
For the Word that is within every word

For the silent Word heard over forty days and nights
In the desert
For the Word in the wind
For the Word before the wind and after the wind
For the sound of the Word spoken in silence
Before the beginning

by Forrest Hainline

_________________________

²³And the border of the Reubenites was the Jordan and its banks. This was the inheritance of the Reubenites, according to their families with their towns and villages.

The Territory of Gad

²⁴Moses gave an inheritance also to the tribe of the Gadites, according to their families. ²⁵Their territory was Jazer, and all the towns of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites, to Aroer, which is east of Rabbah, ²⁶and from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the territory of Debir, ²⁷and in the valley Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of King Sihon of Heshbon, the Jordan and its banks, as far as the lower end of the Sea of Chinnereth, eastward beyond the Jordan. ²⁸This is the inheritance of the Gadites according to their clans, with their towns and villages.

The Jordan River, south of the Sea of Galilee, was part of the territory given to the tribe of Gad.

The Territory of the Half-Tribe of Manasseh (East)

²⁹Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh; it was allotted to the half-tribe of the Manassites according to their families. ³⁰Their territory extended from Mahanaim, through all Bashan, the whole kingdom of King Og of Bashan, and all the settlements of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty towns, ³¹and half of Gilead,

Gilead is a hilly region, a good place for grazing animals.

Remember this place!

It will be the scene of the battle between Gideon and the Midianites.

It will be the home of the prophet Elijah.

It became famous for its spices and balm:

Jeremiah 8:22 –

Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people?

_________________________

and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the towns of the kingdom of Og in Bashan; these were allotted to the people of Machir son of Manasseh according to their clans—for half the Machirites. ³²These are the inheritances that Moses distributed in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan east of Jericho.

³³But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance; the Lord God of Israel is their inheritance, as he said to them.

Joshua 14

The Distribution of Territory West of the Jordan

These are the inheritances that the Israelites received in the land of Canaan, which the priest Eleazar, and Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families of the tribes of the Israelites distributed to them. ²Their inheritance was by lot, as the Lord had commanded Moses for the nine and one-half tribes. ³For Moses had given an inheritance to the two and one-half tribes beyond the Jordan; but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them. ⁴For the people of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim; and no portion was given to the Levites in the land, but only towns to live in, with their pasture lands for their flocks and herds. ⁵The Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses; they allotted the land.

Hebron Allotted to Caleb

Numbers 14:24 (English Standard Version)

“But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.”

_________________________

⁶Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal; and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. ⁷I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land; and I brought him an honest report. ⁸But my companions who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. ⁹And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.’

¹⁰“And now, as you see, the Lord has kept me alive, as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel was journeying through the wilderness; and here I am today, eighty-five years old. ¹¹I am still as strong today as I was on the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war, and for going and coming. ¹²So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day; for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; it may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out, as the Lord said.”

_________________________

from Experiencing God Day-by-Day,
by Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby

Caleb’s faith in God never wavered though everyone around him doubted.  God convinced Caleb that the children of Israel should enter the Promised Land, but the people were intimidated by giants and fortified cities (Numbers 13:28-33).  Their disbelief forced Caleb to wait forty years in the wilderness before he finally entered the Promised Land.  Even after all those years, Caleb was as confident as ever in God’s power.

When God was dividing the land among the Israelites, the people were asking for the lush valleys and grassy plains.  Caleb asked for a mountain.  The Israelites had driven their enemies into the mountains, where they had built fortresses.  This did not intimidate Caleb—he asked for a challenge!  He did not trust in his own strength but in God’s presence.  Caleb longed to see God work in power, and he knew he would be less likely to rely on God if he dwelt in the easy places.  He chose a situation in which he would have to trust in God.  Caleb knew his inheritance from God was on the mountain.  He refused to allow the difficulty of gaining it to stop him from enjoying all that God had promised him.

If you always choose the easy way, asking for the peaceful valleys, you will never see God’s power displayed to enable you to take a mountain.  Seek out the mountains, and you will witness God doing things through your life that can be explained only by His mighty presence.

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Music:

“Climb Every Mountain” by Norwegian soprano Sissel.

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¹³Then Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. ¹⁴So Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba; this Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim.

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Today:  The West Bank city of Hebron, a frequent flashpoint of tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, is home to about 400 religious Jewish settlers living in heavily guarded enclaves among some 160,000 Palestinians.  Clashes are common.

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And the land had rest from war.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Polo.    http://www.rolandopolo.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/promised-land.jpg

map.    http://www.easyenglish.info/bible-commentary/joshua13-21map.jpg

Balaam, the donkey, and the angel.     http://pistolpete.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/balaam.jpg

the Jordan River.    http://bibleencyclopedia.com/placesjpeg/Jordan_River_south_of_Sea_of_Galilee,_tb040300.jpg

Gilead goats.    http://www.bibleplaces.com/images/Gilead%20goats2,%20tb%20n031701.jpg

Caleb.     http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jsodkvOsdoI/S31j9zhtplI/AAAAAAAAAKc/GbiCDB8_GoQ/s320/old+testament+warriors.gif

mountain shopping.    http://www.gbcdecatur.org/files/MountainShopping.jpg

Hebron.    http://media.photobucket.com/image/hebron%20israel/travellersplus4/Hebron/HebronRuins1.jpg

292. Joshua 12

Many kings in our reading today!  Currently, 44 nations in the world have monarchs as heads of state.  Jesus is the King of Kings, over (for example) King Harald V of Norway.

Joshua 12   (NRSV)

The Kings Conquered by Moses

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Psalm 138:4-5 (New International Version)

May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth.

May they sing of the ways of the LORD,
for the glory of the LORD is great.

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Now these are the kings of the land, whom the Israelites defeated, whose land they occupied beyond the Jordan toward the east, from the Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon, with all the Arabah eastward:

²King Sihon of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Wadi Arnon, and from the middle of the valley as far as the river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites, that is, half of Gilead, ³and the Arabah to the Sea of Chinneroth eastward, and in the direction of Beth-jeshimoth, to the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, southward to the foot of the slopes of Pisgah;

Jesus is the King of Kings — King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

⁴and King Og of Bashan, one of the last of the Rephaim, who lived at Ashtaroth and at Edrei ⁵and ruled over Mount Hermon and Salecah and all Bashan to the boundary of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and over half of Gilead to the boundary of King Sihon of Heshbon.

⁶Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the Israelites defeated them; and Moses the servant of the Lord gave their land for a possession to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

The Kings Conquered by Joshua

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Psalm 33:16-19 (New International Version)

No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.

A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.

But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.

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⁷The following are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the Israelites defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir (and Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their allotments, ⁸in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negeb, the land of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites):

Jesus is the King of Kings — King Bhumibol of Thailand.

⁹the king of Jericho one

the king of Ai, which is next to Bethel one

¹⁰the king of Jerusalem one

the king of Hebron one

¹¹the king of Jarmuth one

the king of Lachish one

¹²the king of Eglon one

the king of Gezer one

Jesus is the King of Kings — King Letsie III of Lesotho.

¹³the king of Debir one

the king of Geder one

¹⁴the king of Hormah

one the king of Arad one

¹⁵the king of Libnah one

the king of Adullam one

¹⁶the king of Makkedah one

the king of Bethel one

Jesus is the King of Kings — the Sultan of Brunei.

¹⁷the king of Tappuah one

the king of Hepher one

¹⁸the king of Aphek one

the king of Lasharon one

¹⁹the king of Madon one

the king of Hazor one

²⁰the king of Shimron-meron one

the king of Achshaph one

Jesus is the King of Kings, even over Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll.

²¹the king of Taanach one

the king of Megiddo one

²²the king of Kedesh one

the king of Jokneam in Carmel one

²³the king of Dor in Naphath-dor one

the king of Goiim in Galilee, one

²⁴the king of Tirzah one

—thirty-one kings in all.

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“King of Kings and Lord of Lords” by Rex and Carlene Morache

Revelation 19:11-16 (New International Version)

The Rider on the White Horse

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True.  With justice he judges and makes war.  His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns.  He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.  He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.  The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.  Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.  “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”  He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.  On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

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Music:

“O Worship the King!”  I love this hymn for its many names of God, its vivid imagery, its listing of many of God’s attributes.

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With this portion, we finish the first half of Joshua.  It has been an account of action: of preparation (chapters 1-5) and of conquest (chapters 6-12).  Reading it as a military campaign, we can certainly see Joshua as a great commander.  But Scripture makes it clear that his wisdom came from God.  Joshua lived his life in the full obedience that Paul advised to Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:12 (New International Version)

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

King of Norway.    http://www.topnews.in/files/King-Harald-Norway301.jpg

King of Saudi Arabia.    http://www.tehrantimes.com/News/10533/01_KING.jpg

King of Thailand.    http://media.photobucket.com/image/king%20of%20Thailand/ashmorris/king.gif

King of Lesotho.    http://blog.summerhill.co.za/storage/mike_images/people_owners/King-Letsie-III.jpg

Sultan of Brunei.    http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/08/22/article-1047990-050066E50000044D-762_224x305.jpg

Elvis Presley.    http://irom.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/elvis-presley-poster-311708.jpg

Jesus on a white horse.   http://mark4.org/images/img_smallpaintings.jpg

sword and shield.    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LdY0FxZMAxY/SpwtJbcsJpI/AAAAAAAAASQ/OC0s9IGBrMM/S660/Logo3.GIF