August 20, 2024 — Jerusalem Dwellers

A questioner asked a street preacher, “If God is our Father, who is our mother?” Jerusalem (Gal 4:26)!  In the original subdividing of the land, Jerusalem was allotted to Benjamin. But that area remained under the Jebusites. Saul reigned from his hometown of Gibeah, a few miles north, but, after David’s 7.5-year rulership in Hebron, […]

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August 19, 2024 — Saul’s Dead End Genealogy

We don’t choose our families, but we do choose if they are focused on God and founded on love.  Just before we turn our attention to the dwellers in Jerusalem and God’s king who reigns there, we are called on to follow the lineage of Saul (1 Chron 8:1-40). We won’t linger on Saul’s end, […]

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August 16, 2024 — Manasseh West, Ephraim, & Asher

We are now visiting the land of Samaria, Joseph’s territory, and the coastal region near modern Haifa.  There are just three more tribal genealogies recorded (1 Chron 7:14-40) before we focus on two competing power centers—the rejection of Saul’s line and the selection of David’s house. First, however, we notice that not only Dan, but […]

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August 15, 2024 — Issachar, Benjamin, & Naphtali

Imagine going into battle with a donkey, a wolf, and a deer (Gen 49). Sounds like an Aesop’s fable!  The Chronicler continues with his outline of the next three tribal families (1 Chron 7:1-13), listing Issachar, Benjamin, and Naphtali. Not once but twice we are told that the sons of Tola, Issachar’s firstborn, were “mighty men […]

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August 14, 2024 — Levitical Cities

“What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God” (2 Cor 6:16).  It was the Lord’s desire to infiltrate the whole land of Israel with His Word through His witnesses, the priests. Thus among all 12 tribes they were given cities with their “common-lands”—a ring of 1000 cubits […]

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