The Children of Gershon - Joshua 21:6

In the book of Joshua, we learned how, “the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, which were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities. And the rest of the children of Kohath had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities”, and in chapter twenty-one and verse six of Joshua we learn how, “the children of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar” where we read, 

And the children of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

The verse reads, “And the children of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, …” Joshua or the writer began with the words, “and the children of Gershon” which means “and the offspring and progeny belonging to Gershon or Gershom whose name means ‘exile’ and was firstborn son of Levi born before Jacob's family went to Egypt” “had by lot” or “owned and possessed through the portion, recompense and pebbles used for systematically making decisions” “out of the families” which means “from the kindred, kinsmen and relatives” “of the tribe of Issachar” or “pertaining to clan or people group belonging to Issachar whose name means ‘there is recompense’ and was the ninth son of Jacob and the fifth by Leah his first wife and the progenitor of a tribe by his name”, “and out of the tribe of Asher” which means “and from the clan or people group belonging to Asher whose name means ‘happy’ and was the son of Jacob and Zilpah and the name of the tribe that descended from Asher”. Joshua or the writer said the offspring belonging to “Levi’s” firstborn son “Gershon” was given dwelling places from the people groups of “Issachar and Asher”. 

 

The verse goes on to say, “… and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.” Joshua or the writer continued with the words, “and out of the tribe of Naphtali” which means “and from the clan and people group belonging to Naphtali whose name means ‘wrestling’ and was the sixth son of Jacob and the second by Bilhah the handmaid of Rachel”, “and out of the half tribe of Manasseh” or “and from the one-half clan or people group belonging to Manasseh whose name means ‘causing to forget’ and was the eldest son of Joseph and progenitor of the tribe of Manasseh and the tribe that descended from Manasseh” “in Bashan” which means “within Bashan whose name means ‘fruitful’ and was a district east of the Jordan known for its fertility which was given to the half-tribe of Manasseh” “thirteen cities” or “thirteen dwelling places or places of wakening”. Joshua or the writer shared how dwelling places were provided to the people of “Levi” from the “tribe of Naphtali and one-half of the tribe of Manasseh” which was called “Bashan”. 

When we meditate the words in this verse, we discover more of the dwelling places that were provided to “Gershon” from the “tribes of Issachar, Naphtali and the other one-half tribe of Manasseh”. God was fulfilling His promise to provide lands to the “Levites” who would represent and serve Him before the people of Israel. God’s desire is to have a personal relationship with all of 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. When we believe and trust in Him as our “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 we serve and represent Him like “Levites” in this world. (See Matthew 5:14; John 3:16; 8:12; 9:5; 16:13; Acts 1:8)

Next time we learn about, “the children of Merari by their families”, 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".