Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The Alarm (Josh. 22:11-14)


11/6/2009 8:20 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                 Focus:  The alarm

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Joshua 22:11-14

 

            Message of the verses:  “11  And the sons of Israel heard it said, "Behold, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the sons of Israel." 12  When the sons of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered themselves at Shiloh to go up against them in war. 13  Then the sons of Israel sent to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, 14  and with him ten chiefs, one chief for each father’s household from each of the tribes of Israel; and each one of them was the head of his father’s household among the thousands of Israel.”

            I am not sure how fast word traveled at this time of history, but word did get to the tribes on the west side of the Jordan River that the two and a half tribes on the east side of the Jordan River had built an altar, and now they were ready to go to war over this because the Lord had told the nation of Israel that there was only to be one altar in Israel and when they came into the land they were to tear down all of the heathen altars and not built them up again.  To the credit of the people they did not go down for war until they sent a delegation in order to find out what really happened:  “Pr. 18:13 ¶  He who gives an answer before he hears, It is folly and shame to him.”

            Phinehas, who was the son of the high priest, led the delegation along with the leader of the ten tribes, and so it was done in an orderly manner and not done in a hasty manner without putting much thought into it.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There are two things that I can take from this section.  The first is what is found in Proverbs 18:13, for there are times when I act before getting all of the facts and this is not right.  The second thing I see here that is good is that the ten tribes were zealous for the things of the Lord and for the Lord too and this is something that is good to have in my life, being zealous for the Lord and for His Word.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

  1. Be zealous for the Word of the Lord and the Lord of the Word.
  2. Think before acting.
  3. Take off the old and put on the new.
  4. Put on the spiritual armor:  The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and take up the Sword of the Spirit.
  5. Continue to learn contentment.
  6.  Put on Christ’s yoke in order to be yoked with Him to find rest because of the inheritance that I already have in Him.
  7. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service for today.
  8. Trust the Lord to guide my path today.

 

11/6/2009 8:55 AM

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