In the book of Joshua, we learned how, “Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded”, and in chapter ten and verse forty-one of the book of Joshua, we learn how, “Joshua smote them from Kadeshbarnea even unto Gaza” where we read,
And Joshua smote them from Kadeshbarnea even unto Gaza,
and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon.
The verse reads, “And Joshua smote them from Kadeshbarnea even unto Gaza, …” Joshua or the writer began with the words, “and Joshua smote them” which means “and Joshua whose name means Jehovah is salvation struck, hit, beat and killed them, the cities within the promise land” “from Kadeshbarnea” whose name means “holy” and was “a city in the extreme south of Judah” “even unto Gaza” or “Assah” which means “as far as and up until Gaza whose name means ‘the strong’ and was a city of the Philistines located in the extreme southwest of Palestine close to the Mediterranean”. Joshua or the writer shared how “Joshua” struck, killed and destroyed the people within the promise land from the extreme southern city of Judah named “Kadeshbarnea” to the extreme southwest city of Palestine named “Gaza”.
The verse continues, “and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon.” Joshua or the writer added the words, “and all the country” which means “and each, every and the whole of the territory, region and district” “of Goshen” or “belonging to Goshen whose name means ‘drawing near’ and was a district in southern Palestine between Gaza and Gibeon”, “even unto Gibeon” which means “also and indeed to Gibeon whose name means ‘hill city’ and was a Levitical city of Benjamin, modern 'el-Jib', which lies five miles or eight km from Jerusalem”. Joshua or the writer shared how “Joshua” also seized every one of the territories belonging to “Goshen” to “Gibeon” as he and the people of “Israel” marched through the promise land.
When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we discover how wide the area was that “Joshua” and the people of “Israel” overtook in the promise land. Jehovah God gave them this land, and their mission was to destroy all the people and influences which were in these pagan cities. God desires to purify us in this manner, and when we receive His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days 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 in a manner that is pleasing to Him and eradicates every area of sin in our lives.
Next time we learn how, “all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time”, 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".
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