Joshua 18
Joshua 19-20
Joshua 21
BACKGROUND
Joshua 18-21 deals with the allocation of the land to the remaining seven tribes (18-19), cities for refuge (20), and the 48 cities set aside for the Levites (21).
Benjamin's territory included the Jebusite city of Jerusalem (18:28), the place where the future temple would reside (Deuteronomy 33:12).
This section concludes with a summary of the conquest and distribution of the land with special emphasis on the faithfulness of God. "Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass" (Joshua 21:45).
REFLECTION
We serve a faithful God, but sometimes we forget that. Meditate on God's faithfulness today!
Do this by doing a word study on the faithfulness of God by looking in a concordance for all the references to God's faithfulness, writing your favorite verses on cards, and carrying them around to remind you!
If you do not have a concordance, they are a very good tool to have in your Bible study tool box! Through thinking about my first concordance, it reminded me of God FAITHFULNESS, and I wanted to share this little story with you!
One summer in college, I did a Bible study called Being a Woman of God (It used to have the subtitle: A Bible Study for Single Women, but the revised one dropped one of the authors). Here is a picture of my copy:
At the end of that study was a "Personal Goals and Planning Sheet for the Development of the Woman of God." In the "Spiritual Development" section, there were questions about my plans for deeper Bible study, and it asked this question:
Which of the following standard study tools do you not own?
Concordance
One-Volume commentary
Bible dictionary
Bible Atlas
Good, inclusive English dictionary
The only tool that I did own was an English dictionary. So I purposed to start gathering more tools by buying a concordance and Bible dictionary by 11/79 from the Christian Supply store in Corvallis. Of course, being a poor college student, I had no money to buy a concordance and Bible dictionary, but I prayed that God would provide the money for it.
I started my junior year of college (1979), joined a FANTASTIC bible study led by Sheryl Rice, and grew like a weed in my spiritual walk! Sometime during that fall term, the housekeeper for my sorority, whom I had never talked to before, called me aside while I was running out the door and said, "There is something for you in my closet up on the third floor."
Perplexed, I ran back upstairs to find a brand-new Strong's Concordance and Davis Bible Dictionary. I ran back downstairs and exclaimed, "How did you know I wanted these?" She said, "My son was given two sets of these for donating to The Old-Time Gospel Hour, and I have noticed you coming and going with a Bible in your hand and thought you might like to have these for your Bible study."
Words could not contain my joy and excitement. Our faithful God had answered my specific prayer for two specific books and provided it through someone I had never even talked to before! My concordance is quite tattered since receiving them in 1979, but I cannot bear to part with it because of the special reminder it is of His faithfulness to and provision for me.
APPLICATION
He is a faithful God to you too. After you do a word study on God's faithfulness, try to remember times of God's faithfulness in your own life and journal about it.
Which of the following standard study tools do you not own?
Concordance
One-Volume commentary
Bible dictionary
Bible Atlas
Good, inclusive English dictionary
The only tool that I did own was an English dictionary. So I purposed to start gathering more tools by buying a concordance and Bible dictionary by 11/79 from the Christian Supply store in Corvallis. Of course, being a poor college student, I had no money to buy a concordance and Bible dictionary, but I prayed that God would provide the money for it.
I started my junior year of college (1979), joined a FANTASTIC bible study led by Sheryl Rice, and grew like a weed in my spiritual walk! Sometime during that fall term, the housekeeper for my sorority, whom I had never talked to before, called me aside while I was running out the door and said, "There is something for you in my closet up on the third floor."
Perplexed, I ran back upstairs to find a brand-new Strong's Concordance and Davis Bible Dictionary. I ran back downstairs and exclaimed, "How did you know I wanted these?" She said, "My son was given two sets of these for donating to The Old-Time Gospel Hour, and I have noticed you coming and going with a Bible in your hand and thought you might like to have these for your Bible study."
Words could not contain my joy and excitement. Our faithful God had answered my specific prayer for two specific books and provided it through someone I had never even talked to before! My concordance is quite tattered since receiving them in 1979, but I cannot bear to part with it because of the special reminder it is of His faithfulness to and provision for me.
APPLICATION
He is a faithful God to you too. After you do a word study on God's faithfulness, try to remember times of God's faithfulness in your own life and journal about it.
I find it really fun to do a Timeline. Through this I track God's faithfulness throughout my life. We forget His faithfulness so easily. Looking over your life helps you to remember!
BIBLE STUDY TOOL: WORD STUDY
If you are reading along in the Bible Book Club from Genesis to Revelation, you will have already seen this in the post on Exodus 36-38. But here is the excerpt of that post devoted to how to do word studies:
Define key words and phrase using an exhaustive concordance, expository dictionary, or English dictionary. Here is a handout to help you do this (Just remember the example is for a Greek study, and you will be doing a Hebrew study in the Old Testament.):
"How to Do a Word Study"
If you do not have the resources, BibleStudyTools.com has both Hebrew and Greek lexicons.
Below is an example of a word study of Exodus 36
If you prefer to not use heavy books or be tied to being online, LOGOS is an amazing Bible software that I have used since 1996. I am completely digital in my Bible Study now.
PRAYER
God, I am so ENERGIZED by remembering Your faithfulness to me more than thirty years ago in the provision of the concordance and Bible dictionary! I beg You to help each and every reader in the Bible Book Club to remember Your faithfulness in their own life and give praise and glory to You today. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.
BIBLE STUDY TOOL: WORD STUDY
If you are reading along in the Bible Book Club from Genesis to Revelation, you will have already seen this in the post on Exodus 36-38. But here is the excerpt of that post devoted to how to do word studies:
Define key words and phrase using an exhaustive concordance, expository dictionary, or English dictionary. Here is a handout to help you do this (Just remember the example is for a Greek study, and you will be doing a Hebrew study in the Old Testament.):
"How to Do a Word Study"
If you do not have the resources, BibleStudyTools.com has both Hebrew and Greek lexicons.
Below is an example of a word study of Exodus 36
You can set this up to have the words hyperlinked in blue. If you click on them, the Hebrew or Greek definition (with pronunciation) will come up.
In order to do this, you must always be on the New American Standard Bible or King James Version, click on the "settings" button on the far right that I have circled in red:
This will lead you to a drop-down menu:
When you click on "Strongs Numbers," it will show Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament) words in blue. If you click on the blue words, they will lead you to a new page with the definition!
The website www.preceptaustin.org also has some amazing study tools. Here are their directions for doing a Hebrew Word study.
If you prefer to not use heavy books or be tied to being online, LOGOS is an amazing Bible software that I have used since 1996. I am completely digital in my Bible Study now.
Correlate with cross-references - The best way to interpret Scripture is with other Scripture. A concordance has all the verses listed for a particular word. Most Bibles have cross-references in the margins. This is one of the options in the screenshot of the drop-down menu above.
Consult commentaries last. Commentaries can be biased, but they have their place after your own study. I use commentaries after I am done with the above study. It is helpful when I get stuck in my understanding or want to know something historically significant about the passage. The websites I mentioned above also have links to commentaries.
In order to do this, you must always be on the New American Standard Bible or King James Version, click on the "settings" button on the far right that I have circled in red:
This will lead you to a drop-down menu:
When you click on "Strongs Numbers," it will show Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament) words in blue. If you click on the blue words, they will lead you to a new page with the definition!
The website www.preceptaustin.org also has some amazing study tools. Here are their directions for doing a Hebrew Word study.
If you prefer to not use heavy books or be tied to being online, LOGOS is an amazing Bible software that I have used since 1996. I am completely digital in my Bible Study now.
Correlate with cross-references - The best way to interpret Scripture is with other Scripture. A concordance has all the verses listed for a particular word. Most Bibles have cross-references in the margins. This is one of the options in the screenshot of the drop-down menu above.
Consult commentaries last. Commentaries can be biased, but they have their place after your own study. I use commentaries after I am done with the above study. It is helpful when I get stuck in my understanding or want to know something historically significant about the passage. The websites I mentioned above also have links to commentaries.
If you prefer to not use heavy books or be tied to being online, LOGOS is an amazing Bible software that I have used since 1996. I am completely digital in my Bible Study now.
PRAYER
God, I am so ENERGIZED by remembering Your faithfulness to me more than thirty years ago in the provision of the concordance and Bible dictionary! I beg You to help each and every reader in the Bible Book Club to remember Your faithfulness in their own life and give praise and glory to You today. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.
1 comment:
I updated all the links for doing a Greek Word Study. Now, you don't need those big books, but i am so grateful for that housekeeper!
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