Knowing the Living God is Among You - Joshua 3:10

In the book of Joshua, we learned how, “the LORD said unto Joshua, … you shall command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When you are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, you shall stand still in Jordan. And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God”, and in chapter three and verse ten of the book of Joshua, we learn how Joshua said, “hereby you shall know that the living God is among you” where we read,

And Joshua said, Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

The verse reads, “And Joshua said, Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, …” Joshua or the writer began with the words, “and Joshua” which means “and Joshua whose name mean Jehovah is salvation” “said unto the children of Israel” or “uttered, declared and proclaimed to the offspring and progeny belonging to Israel whose name means God prevails and is the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob”, “hereby you shall know” which means “by this you, the offspring of Israel, will perceive, discern, distinguish and understand” “that the living God” or “that the alive and active Supreme Deity” “is among you” which means “exists in the midst and middle of you, the children of Israel”. Joshua told the offspring of “Israel” that they would perceive that Jehovah God who is the Supreme Deity at the time the following event occurs. 

 

The verse continues, “…and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.” Joshua or the writer added the words, “and that he will without fail” or “and that he, the Supreme Deity Jehovah God shall seize, dispossess, take possession of and occupy and” “drive out before you” which means “seize, dispossess, take possession of and occupy in front and in the presence of you, the children of Israel” “the Canaanites” or “the people from Canaan whose name means zealous”, “and the Hittites” which means “and the people who were descendants of Heth which was the second son of Canaan and were once inhabitants of central Anatolia (modern Turkey) and later in north Lebanon”, “and the Hivites” or “and the people known as villagers and were the sixth generation of descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham, who were living in northern Canaan near Mount Hermon at the time of the conquest”, “and the Perizzites” which means “and the people known as ‘belonging to a village’ who inhabited southern Canaan prior to the conquest” “and the Girgashites” or “and the people who were also known as the Girgasites whose name means dwelling on a clayey soil and were descendants of Canaan and one of the nations living east of the sea of Galilee when the Israelites entered the promised land”, “and the Amorites” whose name means “a sayer and were one of the peoples of east Canaan and beyond the Jordan dispossessed by the Israelite incursion from Egypt”, “and the Jebusites” who were  “the descendants of Jebus and were descendants of the third son of Canaan who lived in or around the site of Jebus which was the early name for Jerusalem”. Joshua told the “children of Israel” that Jehovah God would dispossess and seize the territory which belonged to the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and the Jebusites.

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn how Joshua began to share with the “children of Israel” how Jehovah God would work on their behalf. All these pagan territories were to be “driven out” and seized by the power of Almighty God, and each of these regions would become “Israel’s” promised land. God works in the lives of people who surrender to His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the grave after three days. When we submit to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and defeat our foes and enemies in keeping with His Divine purpose and plan. (See Ephesians 6:12)

Next time Joshua says, “the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".