In the book of Joshua, we learned how, “the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel”, and in chapter twenty-two and verse twelve of Joshua we learn what happened, “when the children of Israel heard of it” where we read,
And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.
The verse reads, “And when the children of Israel heard of it, …” Joshua or the writer began with the words, “and when the children of Israel” which means “and at the time and moment the offspring and progeny belonging to Israel whose name means ‘God prevails’ and was the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob” “heard of it” or “were given the faculty for hearing, perceiving and understanding it, that the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the one-half tribe of Manasseh built an altar” the following happened.. Joshua or the writer shared how the following occurred at the time they perceived that an altar was erected by the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the one-half tribe of Manasseh.
The verse goes on to say, “… the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.” Joshua or the writer continued with the words, “the whole congregation” which means “the complete and entire assembly, crowd and gathering” “of the children of Israel” or “pertaining to the offspring and progeny belonging to Israel whose name means ‘God prevails’ and was the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob” “gathered themselves together” which means “assembled and summoned an assembly” “at Shiloh” or “in the location of Shiloh whose name means ‘place of rest’ and was a city in Ephraim and temporary home of the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle, the place where Samuel grew up”, “to go up to war” which means “to ascend, spring forth and depart as a armed force, organized army and soldiers equipped for battle” “against them” or “in opposition to them, the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the one-half tribe of Manasseh”. Joshua or the writer said the entire offspring of “Israel” assembled as soldiers ready for battle in the location of “Shiloh”.
When we consider the words in this verse, we discover how passionate the “children of Israel” were about the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the one-half tribe of Manasseh erecting an altar. They not only assembled to talk about it, but they also prepared for battle against them. Their assumption was that this was a place of sacrifice constructed to give honor and worship to another god, and no one but Jehovah God was to be worshiped. God desires to be the first and only God in our lives, (See Matthew 6:33) and because that is to our benefit, He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for all mankind and to be raised from the dead after three days. When we surrender to 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 (See John 16:13) and to help us keep Him and Him alone as the priority of our lives. (See John 3:16; Acts 1:8)
Next time we learn how, “the children of Israel sent”, 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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