Heshbon and All Her Cities - Joshua 13:17

In the book of Joshua, we learned how, “Moses gave unto the tribe of the children of Reuben inheritance according to their families. And their coast was from Aroer, that is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain by Medeba”, and in chapter thirteen and verse seventeen of Joshua we learn how Moses also gave the children of Reuben, “Heshbon, and all her cities that are in the plain” where we read,

Heshbon, and all her cities that are in the plain; Dibon, and Bamothbaal, and Bethbaalmeon,

The verse reads, “Heshbon, and all her cities that are in the plain;” Joshua or the writer began with the word, “Heshbon” whose name means  “stronghold” and was the capital city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, located on the western border of the high plain and on the border line between the tribes of Reuben and Gad, “and all her cities” which means “and each, every and the whole of her, Heshbon’s, dwelling places and towns” “that are in the plain” or “that exist within the level place, table-land or concord”. Joshua or the writer shared how “Heshbon” and every one of the dwelling places which were located in the table-land were given to the tribe of “Reuben”. 

 

The verse goes on to say, “Dibon, and Bamothbaal, and Bethbaalmeon,” Joshua or the writer continued with the word, “Dibon” whose name means “wasting” and was a town in Moab on the east side of the Jordan which was taken over by the Israelites and rebuilt by the children of Gad, “and Bamothbaal” or “Bamoth” whose name means “high places or great high” and was a town on the river Arnon in Moab, “and Bethbaalmeon” whose name means “house of Baal” and was a city in the territory of Reuben. Joshua or the writer named the dwelling place which were part of “Heshbon” - “Dibon, and Bamothbaal, and Bethbaalmeon”.

When we consider the words in this verse, we learn more about the specific region which was distributed by “Moses” to the “tribe of Reuben”. “Heshbon” and every one of it’s dwelling places, “Dibon, and Bamothbaal, and Bethbaalmeon” were given to them. God helped the people of “Israel” before and after they entered the promise land, and because “Reuben, Gad and one-half of the tribe of Manasseh” wanted their inheritance to be on the eastern side of the Jordan river, “Reuben” was receiving his inheritance. God loves the people of “Israel”, and He loves us as well. He has an inheritance for us through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days so when we put our faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and empower us to live according to that truth in a manner that is pleasing to Him and which will receive an inheritance from Him for all eternity. 

Next time we learn how Jehovah God shares about, “Jahazah, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath”, 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".