Azmon and the River of Egypt - Joshua 15:4

In the book of Joshua, we learned, “This then was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah by their families; even to the border of Edom the wilderness of Zin southward was the uttermost part of the south coast. And their south border was from the shore of the salt sea, from the bay that looks southward. And it went out to the south side to Maalehacrabbim, and passed along to Zin, and ascended up on the south side unto Kadeshbarnea, and passed along to Hezron, and went up to Adar, and fetched a compass to Karkaa”, and in chapter fifteen and verse four of Joshua we learn about, “Azmon” and “the river of Egypt" where we read,

From there it passed toward Azmon, and went out unto the river of Egypt; 

and the goings out of that coast were at the sea: this shall be your south coast.

The verse reads, “From there it passed toward Azmon, and went out unto the river of Egypt;” Joshua or the writer began with the words, “from there it passed” which means “separate and apart from Karkaa it, the border or boundary traversed and made an advance” “toward  Azmon” or “to Azmon whose name means ‘strong’ and was a place on the extreme southern border of Canaan”, “and went out” which means “and exited, departed and proceeded” “unto the river of Egypt” or “to the flowing waters belonging to Egypt whose name means ‘land of the Copts’ and was a country at the northeastern section of Africa, adjacent to Palestine, and through which the Nile flows”. Joshua or the writer shared how the boundary for the “tribe of Judah” traversed toward “Azmon” and proceeded to the flowing waters belonging to “Egypt”. 

 

The verse continues, “and the goings out of that coast were at the sea: this shall be your south coast.” Joshua or the writer added the words, “and the goings out” which means “and the extremity and border” “of that coast” or “belonging to that border, territory and region” “were at the sea” which means “existed at the large body of water”: “this shall be your south coast” or “this, the above mentioned boundaries, will exist as your, the tribe of Judah’s, edge, border and boundary in the southern direction”. Joshua or the writer shared how the extremity of the borders of the land given to the “tribe of Judah” was at the border of the large body of water which existed as their southern edge. 

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn how the boundary of the territory given to the “tribe of Judah” traversed toward “Azmon” and proceeded to the edge of the flowing waters belonging to ”Egypt”, and the extremity pertaining to that region was the border of the large body of water or “sea”. God provided this promise land to the “tribe of Judah”, and although He used Joshua to carry out His desire, God actually provided it. God wants everyone to receive His gift of salvation from sins through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days. When we yield to Him as our personal “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and equip us with His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and empower us to live according to that truth so that our lives are pleasing to Him. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8)

Next time Joshua or the writer says, “the east border was the salt sea, even unto the end of Jordan”, 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".