Bible 911 – Joshua

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Joshua 9:11 Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us. (KJV)

The 9th chapter of Joshua is about the Gibeonites. If I may, I would like to view the Book of Joshua with the idea of NEW. New leader, new land, new year, new problems, and new chances to see God move for them and through them. The “new” associated with the Gibeonites is the con/trick they pulled on Joshua and Israel. Up to this point in their history, people have held them in slavery and lied to them, attacked or threatened them, and caused them to sin. This con was because the Gibeonites feared them and did not want to fight this horde of people. This new problem came from an old curse.

The Hivites of Gibeon, Descendants of Ham

Genesis 10:6-20, 1 Chronicles 1, Joshua 3:10, and 1 Kings 9:20 all list the family groups that descended from Ham and Cannan. They settled in this land and they are the ones under the curse of Noah. That curse was they would serve the descendants of the Shem, who is the progenitor of Abram. The list will look like this – Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and the Jebusites. Joshua 9:7 calls the Gibeonites Hivites.

Hivite | The amazing name Hivite: meaning and etymology (abarim-publications.com)   

Biblical Canaanite descendants are still living in Lebanon, say geneticists (christiantoday.com)

 A fun side note here is Job is in the land of Uz. Uz is in Genesis 10:23 and is a descendant of Shem. 

Because of the Treaty

The first notable thing in 9:18 is that Israel grumbled. In the exodus under Moses, they grumbled when they had no bread, then they grumbled when they got tired of the bread (manna), and here Israel is grumbling because of dry, moldy bread. There is a pattern in all of that, I just do not know what it is. Another side note, Jesus our Bread of Life was born in the House of Bread. We need to remember that at this time the manna had stopped, and they were getting their own food.

Did they grumble because of Exodus 34:12 where God said to not make a treaty with anyone in the land? It could be that grumblers just like to grumble.

Joshua and the leaders did not do well in this treaty/league. Treaty and league are nice sounding terms, but they made a H1285 or covenant with these people. For them to break it would have been bad news, King Saul did, and a drought plagued the land under David’s rule.

So, they made them wood choppers and water carriers. Deuteronomy 29:11 states that there were foreigners in the exodus that had the job during the forty years of wandering. Joshua assigned the Gibeonites these chores for the Tabernacle and Gibeon was given to the Levites as one of their cities.  

A clause in the covenant must have been about mutual defense if attacked. Because when Adoni-Zedek, the king of Jerusalem attacked, the Gibeonites called for help. (Joshua 10:2) In 10:12 Joshua asks for a miracle and gets it, the sun “stands still” until he has beaten the Amorites. This miracle is mentioned in Isaiah 28:21.

To show how far the area had slipped into sin let’s look at the name Adoni-Zedek. Melchizedek was also the king of Jerusalem (Salem) and he was the priest of the Most High God in Genesis 14. Adoni-Zedek means lord of righteousness, he did not come out with bread and wine. Like Balaam, he did not keep the memo about listening to and believing the Most High God.

King Saul and the Gibeonites

2 Samuel 21 is a story that involves the Gibeonites, King Saul, Rizpah, and King David. Gibeon was in the area that was given to the tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 21:17). 1 Chronicles 9:35, Saul’s genealogy, says he had family from that city. Saul had relatives who lived by the Gibeonites, so his zeal may have had a monetary base. Anyway, he had tried to destroy them, which broke the covenant that Joshua had made with them. They must have cried out to God and He answered by stopping the rain for three years. Rizpah was Saul’s concubine who had two sons given to the Gibeonites, she kept scavengers from disturbing the bodies. No, I do not comprehend all of the “legal” aspects of this tale but it is plain that God was serious about that covenant.

Gibeon the City

This city and region are mentioned many times in the history of Israel and Judah.

  • There was a pool there. 2 Samuel 2:13 and Jeremiah 41:12 are fights that happened near this pool.
  • David moved Moses’ Tabernacle and the altar of offerings to a hill there when he took the Ark to Jerusalem, see 1 Chronicles 16:39, 21:29, 1 Kings 3:4, 2 Chronicles 1:3.

People of Gibeon

These may be Benjaminites or native Hivites.

  • 1 Chronicles 12:4 mentions a member of David’s elite bodyguard, Ishmaiah, who led the Thirty.
  • Hananiah, a false prophet, who opposed Jeremiah was from Gibeon. He was probably a priest or Levite.
  • Nehemiah mentions it twice – 3:7 and 7:25.

Joshua

Joshua was a great leader. How would you like to follow in the steps of Moses? He and Caleb were the oldest people in the camp and had watched their families all pass. He did the job he had been raised up for and with just one recorded mistake, not bad.

Numbers 27:18 and Deuteronomy 34:9 both speak of Joshua having the Spirit. The OJB uses the term Ruach HaKodesh which means spirit of wisdom or Holy Spirit.

Hebrew Names for God – Ruach HaKodesh (hebrew4christians.com)

Other posts I have done on Joshua – Joshua by the Books, and Joshua and Encouragement

The Gift Came Twice

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Father’s gift came wrapped in love.

He heard her heart, knew her warmth.

She used cloth for special lambs.

One seamless robe. The kingdom is near.

With grief Jo and Nick bound with stripes, cold, dark, silent.

Stone rolled away, Father’s gift came with power and light.

Ephesians 1:9

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Ephesians 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: (KJV)

God bless translators who seek to help us understand His Word better. This will help further why we should study the Bible and for the assignment in 1:8. The last word in the Greek text of verse nine is auto. “Himself” would be a good rendering, but newer versions have Christ. Christ is a title that shows the God of the man Jesus: Christ = God, Jesus = man. My Vine’s Dictionary suggests that the order is important to the meaning of the text.

  • Having made known, gnorisas G 1107. Luke has the shepherds using this word after the angels sang to them, Luke 2: 15, 17.
  • Mystery, mysterion G3466. Paul speaks of the Gentiles being saved as a mystery; he uses the idea of a mystery twenty times in his letters. He talks about mysteries six times in Ephesians.
  • Will, thelematos, G2307. See verses 1:1, and 1:5.
  • According to, kata G2596. See verse 1:5.
  • Pleasure, eudokian G2107. The angels sang this at Jesus’ birth, Luke 2:14.
  • He purposed, proetheto G4388. See Romans 3: 25.

Use the links below to explore all of the words in the passage in Ephesians.

Ephesians 1 MOUNCE – Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the – Bible Gateway

Ephesians 1 Interlinear Bible (biblehub.com)

Ephesians 1:8

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Ephesians 1:8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; (KJV)

This is a good place to remind you that a French printer added the chapter and verse numbers. I give credit to modern translators for the punctuation, sentences, and paragraphs. So, remember to read the complete thought as it was written, which in this case is probably 1:7 and 8.

  • Abounded, eperisseusen G 4052. More than enough, overflow, to have an excessive amount. Used only once in Ephesians, but 39 times in the New Testament.
  • All, paz or pase G 3956.
  • Wisdom, Sophia G 4678.
  • Prudence, phronesei G 5428. Understanding – This word is used only twice in the New Testament. The time is in Luke 1:17, which is Gabriel’s prophecy about John.

I will do this again at the end of verse 10 because no one likes a last-minute assignment. Start at verse 1:3 and go to 1:10 and underline what the Father is doing and has done. I am trying to get us to see the Father’s actions and how Jesus was part of that plan. The He, Him, titles, and names can run together and we lose track of who is doing what.

Use the links below to explore all of the words in the passage in Ephesians.

Ephesians 1 MOUNCE – Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the – Bible Gateway

Ephesians 1 Interlinear Bible (biblehub.com)

Seven Spirits

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Revelations 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. (KJV)

The phrase in this verse “the seven Spirits of God” has caused several Bible studies in the past, but I never found them explained or listed until now. I tried combing through the New Testament for seven distinct spirits or attributes of the Holy Spirit and even wrote a series on Him from the Old Testament. To be fair there are seven times “seven spirits” appear in the New Testament.

Seven – Because of Genesis 2:2 seven is associated with completeness or wholeness. That makes the eighth day a new beginning or another starting point. I keep those ideas in my mind as I read every verse or time 7 or 8 is used in Scripture. For this study, they work very well, so keep them in mind.

Ruach and Pneuma

These two words are translated into spirit in the Bible; ruach is Hebrew and pneuma is Greek. A confusing thing is that it is the same for good or evil spirits. Adjectives and context will determine if translators give it a capital letter for the Spirit of God. In both languages, they carry the idea of breath or wind. It will be pointed out that they come from the idea of something being immaterial in nature. If you use the Strong’s pneuma is G 4151 and ruach or ruah is H 7307.  

The evil ones – Matthew 12:45 and Luke 11:26 are Jesus’ teachings about when an evil spirit leaves a man. This block of teaching, in Matthew starts, in verse 22 where the Pharisees claim he drives demons out by the prince of demons. It actually reads that one leaves and brings back seven others making it a total of eight. The person is really bad off now. Jesus applies that concept to the entire generation; no wonder people are crazier now. Luke 8:2 tells of Mary Magdalene’s deliverance from seven demons or spirits. They did not come back.

The Good Ones

The “seven good ones” are in Revelations 1:4, 3:1, 4:5, and 5:6. Revelations 1:4 may refer to the spirits assigned to those particular seven churches, but the other three are “the seven spirits of God”.

  • 3:1 This is in the letter to the Church in Sardis. Jesus is holding the seven spirits and seven stars.
  • 4:5 In front of the throne, seven lamps are burning and these are referred to as the seven spirits of God.
  • 5:6 The Lamb’s seven horns and eyes are the seven spirits of God that have been sent out into the world.

Before this goes weird, I serve a triune God. There is one Holy Spirit. Some commentators use the term sevenfold nature of God. That is fine and if you look through the corpus on the Holy Spirit, I believe it is correct. Jesus said He would send the Comforter to be with us, the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. The term sevenfold is not used very much, but the King James and Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition had the most sevenfold entries listed for the ones I checked.

What I Found

Isaiah 11:1-4 is the text where I found seven attributes of the Spirit. In verse four “the breath of His mouth/lips” is ruach. I always stopped at the six listed in verse two. My study on wind is what did the trick for me. This chapter is a Christmas Connection as verse one is about Jesus (See the Root, Branch, and Fruit). Yes, it would also fit at His baptism.

The Seven Spirits of God or Yahweh in Isaiah 11:1-4 

  1. Wisdom H2451 chokmah, skill, wisdom
  2. Understanding H 998 binah, consideration, discernment, clearly, truth
  3. Counsel H 6098 etsah, advice, consultation
  4. Might H 1369 geburah, courage, strength, might  
  5. Knowledge H 1847 daath,  
  6. Fear of the Lord H 3374 yirah, awesome, fear, reverence  
  7. Judgment from His breath, shaphat or judgment is H8199, breath is H7307

Note – Elisha, the prophet, is the son of Shaphat (1 Kings 19:16).  

Ruach HaKodesh or Holy Spirit

The term “Holy Spirit” or Ruach Hakodesh appears three times in the Old Testament. In the Christian Bible, there are many Ruach’s that are capitalized. The three times are Isaiah 63: 10 and 11 and Psalm 51. The Christian concept of the Holy Spirit is different than the Jewish one, so you may see that if you continue this study. I used these references; may they serve you well.

Hebrew Names for God – Ruach HaKodesh (hebrew4christians.com)

Ruach HaKodesh: The Holy Spirit | Living Word Discovery (livingwordin3d.com)

Hebrew Bible – Wikipedia

The four Hebrew letters for Hakodesh each have a separate symbolic meaning. You will find them on the websites. Holy Spirit in Judaism – Wikipedia   

Psalm 51

This psalm has three different uses of rauch.  One of them is “holy”. The translation is the Orthodox Jewish Bible by way of Bible Gateway.

10 (12) Create in me a lev tahor, O Elohim; and renew a ruach nekhon (steadfast spirit [i.e., regeneration Ezek 36:26; Yn 3:3,6]) within me.

11 (13) Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Ruach Hakodesh from me.

12 (14) Restore unto me the sasson of Thy salvation; and uphold me with a ruach nedivah (a willing spirit; see Jer 31:31-34).

Psalm 51 – Wikipedia