In the book of Joshua, we learned how, “the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one was an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel , and they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, thus says the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that you have builded you an altar, that you might rebel this day against the LORD?”, and in chapter twenty-two and verse seventeen of Joshua we learn how Phinehas and the priests ask, “is the iniquity of Peor too little for us?” where we read,
Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day,
although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,
The verse reads, “Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, …” Joshua or the writer began with the words, “is the iniquity of Peor” which means “exist the perversity, depravity, guilt and punishment pertaining to Peor whose name means ‘cleft’ and was a mountain peak in Moab belonging to the Abarim range and near Pisgah” “too little for us” or “too small, few and of hardly any worth”, “from which we are not cleansed” which means “separate and apart from the fact that we, the people of Israel, do not exist as pure or ceremonially clean and purged” “until this day” or “till the time of the current sunrise to sunset”. (See Numbers 25:3-9) Joshua or the writer shared how “Phinehas and the ten princes” asked whether the punishment for sin that occurred in “Baal-Peor” and continued unto the current sunrise to sunset was not sufficient for the people of Israel.
The verse continues, “… although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD, …” Joshua or the writer added the words, “although there was a plague” which means “even though there existed a blow, striking, stumbling and infliction” “in the congregation” or “within the assembly and gathering of the people”, “of the LORD” which means “belonging to Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name of the One True God”. Joshua or the writer said “Phinehas and the ten princes” recalled the affliction that was within “Israel” because they committed sin against God in “Peor”.
When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we discover how “Phinehas and the ten princes” remembered how there was a great price paid when the people of Israel sinned in “Peor”. (See Galatians 6:7-8) Although their reference was correct, their assessment concerning the present situation with the “Reubenites, Gadites and one-half tribe of Manasseh” was not. God loves people, and He knows our acts, deeds and motives. When we yield to His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was resurrected from the dead after three days, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and empower us to live in keeping with that truth so our ways are aligned with Him and not in opposition like was thought about the people of “Reuben, Gad and the one-half tribe of Manasseh”.
Next time we learn how the congregation continued their question, “that you must turn away this day from following the LORD?”, 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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