Until Shiloh Comes - Joshua 18

And well, let's turn again to the book of Joshua chapter 18

I was thinking back just a couple of months ago in the The bleak midwinter when

I was Shoveling snow every day and thinking I can't wait until Spring I'll even be glad to see pollen and this last week.

I've been rethinking that strategy a little bit So if I start having a little voice cracking you'll know what's going on So we're back in chapter back in Joshua in chapter 18 this week

Lord willing We'll be looking at chapter 18 this week and chapter 19 next week we're continuing in this portion of the book of Joshua that deals with the the tribal allotments the way in which

God Sovereignly ordained these areas these these tribes these tribal boundaries

For the people of Israel I can say personally this this has been a blessing to study the book of Joshua together and even even these passages that have been

Sometimes hard to get through in terms of the the place names and the people that are involved

When we think of of instruction in the Bible in God's Word, we we can immediately think of Paul's letters

We can think of the Proverbs those books that are that are clearly full of good solid instruction

We don't often think of Portions of Scripture like the ones that we've been in over the last few weeks

But again, I can say that for myself It has been a blessing to study those passages together and our hope and our prayer that is that it has been

Your experience as well that you have found it a blessing as we

Recall and as we remember that all scripture is indeed Breathed out by God by the

Holy Spirit and it's profitable for our instruction The common themes that we've been seeing over these last few chapters include

God's faithfulness in spite of the times when the Israelites did not have faith when they were

And they were disobedient and they doubted as we think back to Earlier in the book of Joshua when when some of the

Israelites were outright disobedient and suffered because of that we've seen throughout these last few chapters the the the assurance of God's power and presence as over and over again

God Assures the people that he is with them that he will be with them that the land has already been given to them

They just need to go and to claim that in faith we've seen warnings against disobedience as We considered in our passage last week and as as read helpfully reminded us that that partial obedience is not

Obedience it is disobedience and this was very clear in God's instructions to the

Israelites These instructions have come in the midst of what?

To the casual readers seem to be a dry Recitation of tribal boundaries and of place names that have have long been lost to history in some cases

But again, this is a great example of how God's Word is filled with instruction it's filled with encouragement with warnings with blessings for us when we prayerfully and Intentionally read his word

And we seek to be led by it And this portion of Joshua has been a fulfillment of that claim of Paul that had just mentioned that all scripture is inspired by God It's profitable for teachings for reproof for instruction

For correction for training and righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate equipped for every good work

What a blessing it is when we receive

And we receive when we read all of God's words for us and and what a blessing that we forfeit when we neglect those words

When we skip over because it seems repetitive or it seems that there's not anything there that would be applicable to us today

So with that in mind, let's continue on we're gonna be reading again in chapter 18 this morning I'm gonna be looking at the entire chapter

Then the whole congregation of the sons of Israel assembled themselves at Shiloh and Set up the tent of meeting there and the land was subdued before them

There remained among the sons of Israel seven tribes who had not received their inheritance So Joshua said to the sons of Israel how long would you put off entering to take possession of the land which the

Lord? The God of your fathers has given you Provide for yourselves three men from each tribe that I may send to them

That they may arise and walk through the land and write a description of it according to their inheritance

Then they shall return to me They shall divide it into seven portions

Judah shall stay in its territory on the south and the house of Joseph shall stay in their territory on the north

You shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me I will cast lots here before the

Lord our God For the Levites have no portion among you because the priesthood of the

Lord is their inheritance Gad and Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh also have received their inheritance eastward beyond the

Jordan Which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them? then the man arose and went and Joshua commanded those who went to describe the land saying

Go and walk through the land and describe it and return to me And then

I will cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh So the men went and passed through the land and described it by cities and seven divisions in a book and they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the

Lord and there Joshua divided the land to the sons of Israel according to their divisions

Now the lot of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin came up according to their families And the territory of their lot lay between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph Their border on the north side was from the

Jordan then the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north Went up through the hill country westward and it ended at the wilderness of Beth Avon From there the border continued to Luz to the side of Luz that is

Beth El Southward and the border went down to Atteroth Adar near the hill which lies on the south of lower

Beth Horon The border extended from there and turned round on the west side southward from the hill which lies before Beth Horon southward and it ended at Kiriath Baal that is

Kiriath Jerim a city of the sons of Judah. This was the west side

Then the south side was from the edge of Kiriath Jerim and the border went westward and went to the fountain of the waters of Nephthah The border went down to the edge of the hill which is in the valley of Ben Hinnom Which is in the valley of Rephiam northward and it went down to the valley of Hinnom To the slope of the

Jebusite southward and went down to in Rogel It extended northward and went to En Shemesh and Then went to Gililoth which is opposite the ascent of Adumim and it went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben It continued to the side in front of the

Aravah northward and went down to the Aravah The border continued to the side of Beth Hoglah northward and the border ended at the

North Bay of the Salt Sea Near the south end of the Jordan. This was the south border

Moreover the Jordan was its border on the east side This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin According to their families and in according to the borders all around Now the cities of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin according to their families were

Jericho and Beth Hoglah and Emech Kaziz and Beth Aravah and Zimmerayim and Beth El and Avim and Parah and Ophrah and Shephar, Ammoni and Ophni and Geba twelve cities were their villages

Gibeon and Ramah and Birof and Mizpah and Shephira and Moza and Rakem and Irpil and Tarilah and Zalah Hailef and the

Jebusite that is Jerusalem Gibeah Kiriath 14 cities with their villages.

This is the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin according to their families Father we thank you that we have the blessing of gathering together today of rejoicing and Exhorting one another and the blessings that you have given to us through Christ We thank you as we read the writings of the book of Hebrews as we think about all of those

Believers those Israelites who followed you in faith before the coming of Christ That were told that they did not see

What was promised That their lives of faithfulness would be testimonies to us of those who followed you in faith

Having never received the promises that you made But in the fullness of time you caused your son to be born of a virgin

What a blessing it is father that we are able to gather together And we are able to read of these promises made in the

Old Testament The shadows and the types that point forward to your son

Jesus Who is the perfect King who is the perfect prophet?

Who is our true high priest and who is at the same time the perfect Passover lamb?

Who came and tabernacled among us? that in the work the

Ministry the death and now the intercession of Jesus Christ for us

That we were able to see those promises made are also promises kept and that we are able to experience

The truth of our Savior's words when he said I will not leave you alone But I will send a helper a paraclete the

Holy Spirit Father we thank you for these blessings this morning.

Lord if our our hearts have grown lukewarm and Complacent this morning.

Would you would you kindle into flame? That fire that is in our hearts this morning as we think think again

About this great salvation that you have delivered to us through Jesus Christ would you fix our eyes and our

Hearts our ears on your word this morning Would this be a time when we would rejoice in you and worship you we ask this in Jesus name

Amen Over the last few chapters.

We've been reading of the allotments that were given to the tribes by God these these

Territories these boundaries and and one of the things that we've been talking about is how these these are not arbitrary

When we look at maps today modern maps and we can see this in our own country

We can even see this in our own state where there's a line that's unbroken and it diverges a little bit here and there

And sometimes those things were decided by one person. They are many times arbitrary

Especially as you go further out west where there weren't as many boundaries. There weren't as many people to care about the boundaries and Arbitrary lines on the map or on the globe determined the borders it is not so With the nation of Israel these lands were given intentionally by God for a purpose we looked last week at The the territory of Ephraim before that we we saw

Judah's territory back in chapter 15. We saw Ephraim's territory

This was actually in chapter 16 In our text today and in Joshua He mentions that Gad Reuben and half of Manasseh have received their allotments

So so many of the lands of Israel have been divided, but there are seven tribes that still have not received

Their boundaries and so it is these remaining seven tribes Asher Naftali Zebulun is a card and Benjamin and Simeon.

These are the seven tribes That have not yet received their inheritances We'll be looking at Benjamin this week.

Obviously, we've read those borders the description of this land already Lord willing we'll consider the other six next week and In this account where it is again

It is it is very much this recitation of these lands and and what the tribe

Looked like and what its boundaries were But in this passage we can make for observations

Things that God is teaching that God is reminding the people of Israel of Observations that I would argue that make even more heavy even more significance to us today

Than they did to the Israelites when these events occurred Because for us it is the fulfillment of these shadows these types these promises that were being made to the people of Israel That are fulfilled in Jesus First of all, we see the source of the inheritance we see this first Right off the bat in verse 1 of chapter 18

We see that the whole congregation assembled assembled themselves at Shiloh and set up the tabernacle there

Joshua says that the land was subdued Now we know that the entire land has not been subdued yet We we know if we read the rest of the story of Israelite history that the land was never completely subdued

So when Joshua says the land was subdued before them we could take this to mean that the land around Shiloh was secured and rid of the

Canaanites We also know that the the land There around the the camp what was secured

The the land of Gilgal where the tabernacle has been up until this point Was secured we know again that the entirety of Israel had not been conquered yet And nor would it be

Shiloh is in the territory of Ephraim which we looked at previously we looked at last week So perhaps it was

Ephraim's territory that had been subdued and maybe this is what Joshua has in mind here on the other hand this this word subdued this idea of being at peace things being settled is a

Could be a play on on the name Shiloh itself the name means tranquil or peaceful one and So the city of Shiloh would have been the city of peace the city of tranquility

So now the tabernacle has been moved from Gilgal to Shiloh Gilgal remember was the city that was across the

Jordan It was the first place that they came to and set up camp It was Joshua's base of operations for all of the battles that we saw previously

Tabernacle has now been moved to Shiloh and it will stay here for the next 300 years

Through the period of the judges It will move around a few more times before it is finally brought the

Ark is brought to Jerusalem and then the temple is Eventually built for it.

But for a long period of time after this it will remain at Shiloh long after Joshua Is dead and gone and it's in this city of peace and tranquility

God's dwelling and Presence it is here that the remaining inheritances will be given

But it's interesting that this is not the first time that the name

Shiloh is mentioned in Scripture Last week during the

Lord's Supper and and even before that during reeds message we read from Genesis and during the

Lord's Supper we read from Genesis particularly Particularly Israel is

Prophecy or Jacob's prophecy Concerning Joseph and if we go back there to Genesis chapter 49, we also find that reference to Shiloh in Jacob's prophecy concerning Judah Jacob says the scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler staff from between his feet until Shiloh comes and to him shall be the obedience of the people's

While some may find some kind of partial fulfillment of this in the life of David It could have been said that it was partially fulfilled in some of the the good judge good kings

Or maybe the better kings of Israel But of course This is a prophetic reference ultimately to the true and eternal

King of Israel the Lion of Judah The one who was born in Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David Jesus is the

Shiloh of whom Jacob speaks and as we'll see in the following verses it is through This casting of lots that the land is distributed and as we've seen several times in the book of Joshua that this this casting of lots is is tied and Separately from the worship of God at the tabernacle or later at the temple

So it is from God that this inheritance comes This is not just an administrative task that that Joshua undertook.

It wasn't again. It was not Arbitrary these things were done intentionally by God It's from God that the inheritance of the

Israelites comes and in an infinitely greater sense It is from the true and lasting

Shiloh Jesus Christ that our inheritance comes the former

City of Shiloh that the site for Shiloh once stood is now an archaeological site and There is an area that is thought by archaeologists to be the likely place where the tabernacle was set up Remember, even though this was a temporary structure.

It sat there in Shiloh for over three centuries And so there's a lot of reasons why they they believe that it was at a particular place they can dig through the dusty dirt and Brush off little things and dig them up and put them in museums for people to look at The city the physical temporal city of Shiloh is gone, but Jesus still reigns

Shiloh still reigns. He is the Shiloh of whom Jacob prophesied and of whom the

Israelites saw a shadow of in the tabernacle a Pattern a type of Jesus Christ who was to come

So we see that there is this source of the inheritance it comes from God we see secondly a warning against faithlessness

Joshua asks These remaining tribes How long?

Will you put off entering to take possession of the land which the Lord the God of your fathers has given you?

How long will you put off? the

Hebrew Hebrew word that's used here Rafa Translated in my translation new

American standard has put off it may be translated the same in yours as well There's some different renderings of this

Probably a little a little softer of a word than what Joshua intended for it to be

We find some clues to that and the other two times that this word has been used It's it's as it occurs in Scripture is not an often used word

But in Joshua, it is already appeared twice In chapter 1 verse 5 it was used in God's promise to Joshua When God says no man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life

Just as I have been with Moses. I will be with you. I will not fail you or Forsake you that word fail there is of the same

Hebrew root And then in 10 chapter chapter 10 verse 6 it is used again

This time it's used in the Gibeonites and their message to Joshua their their SOS call to him as The other

Canaanite armies are surrounding them to attack them because the Gibeonites have allied themselves to Israel Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal saying do not abandon your servants

Come up to us quickly and save us and help us For all the kings of the Amorites that live in the hill country have assembled against us

These words fail and abandon God promised

Joshua at the beginning of his leadership of Israel that he would not fail him.

No, this is not just a a Sense in which Joshua is saying you're you're you're putting this off.

You're you're procrastinating Procrastinating this is a this is an active. This is a failure

Joshua is saying that the tribes have failed God. It's not just that they've delayed they've been

Lazy, although that's true, but they are actively disobeying God We can say that they are they have abandoned

God's plan for them While Joshua Says that that God has made good on his promise to be faithful to Israel.

Joshua is rebuking the tribes of Israel Perhaps the the remaining tribes found it more comfortable to stay near Gilgal or maybe to stay near Shiloh stay

Where the tabernacle was stay where things were established and they were safe And there was no danger

What was supposed to be a temporary camp for these remaining seven tribes has become this permanent home

They were growing complacent. And again as we saw last week

Their complacency wasn't just complacency. It was disobedience It was a failure to take that which

God had promised to them. We see thirdly

God's meticulous Sovereignty his preciseness in his inheritances for the tribes

This is evidenced by Joshua's command select three men from each tribe

There's a there's a process that is supposed to take place now for these remaining seven tribes 21 men are to go and take a survey of these lands that have not yet been distributed the fact that they were supposed to go and take a survey of the land indicates that a survey had not yet been done and Surveying sometimes you can go back and resurvey land a second time if a pin wasn't dropped correctly

Or if it was lost or it was buried, but ideally you want to survey land one time

But this indicates that this was something that had not yet been done again speaking back to Joshua's rebuke.

How long are you going to put this off? Go do it back in Chapter one where God gives the assurance to Joshua that we just read that he would not abandon

Joshua We also saw this instruction to the Israelites It says now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the

Lord that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Don Moses his servant Saying Moses my servant is dead

Now therefore arise cross this Jordan You and all this people to the land which

I am giving to them to the sons of Israel Every place on which your foot treads

I have given it to you just as I spoke to Moses God's giving them this promise here

Everywhere you walk is land that I have given to you. I see the ramifications of this

Disobedience of these seven tribes that they have not walked the land that God told them to walk

They have not claimed that which God has promised to give them. So when

Joshua tells the represent Representatives to walk the land he is in effect telling them to do what they were already told to do

This is not a new instruction Sometimes people read This passage and think oh, well, it was a little unfair for Joshua to to tell them

How long are you gonna wait around like we don't see where God commanded them to know we do

We saw it back at the beginning they were to claim in faith what was already given to them by God and instead they preferred the

Safety the security the familiarity of this established area Around Gilgal this area that was secured

Relatively So the men do as they are commanded

They go into these areas and they walk through the land and divide it into seven portions

We see God's sovereignty and his wisdom here in a couple of different ways a couple of different aspects

First in the practicality that the wise practicality that he he gives to Joshua that Joshua in turn gives to these representatives

Now it's obvious in what follows and the casting of lots that that the tribes are not walking through and claiming their own land you can imagine the

Will to say the differences of opinion that might arise If that were the case, right?

They probably wouldn't be walking together. They would all go their own ways Somebody might dislodge is a car's wheel over here and his wagon so he can't go anywhere

All right, there would be ways to Fleshly speaking to try to get the best piece of land

But instead what Joshua says is to go take all this land split it up into seven pieces Which piece you get is going to be determined by God later back here at the tabernacle

This reminds me a little bit of when we were kids Hey There's three boys

If you can look at me you can imagine my two brothers we we aren't we don't hate eating, okay

It'd be something left one piece of something left and my mom would say, okay one of you cut the cut it up into three pieces

All right, and we knew what was coming next. Okay. Now the other two pick the pieces you want. I Had a vested interest in being exactly and precisely fair and how

I divided that piece of whatever it was As the 21 men walked the land they had no idea which one of these pieces was going to fall to them

And so there was a vested interest in dividing that land equitably We see the wisdom of God in this

In another aspect we see God's sovereignty in a miraculous way say this very practical way we see a miraculous way

And in verses 6 8 and 10, we're told that Joshua would cast lots in God's presence in Shiloh Again, these men were following in obedience

They were walking this land and they were doing something very practical in conducting this survey But ultimately the gift came not from their effort

It came not from their work, but it came from the hand of the Lord back at the tabernacle

The inheritance came from God's own hand It was a practical obedience required of them

But the gift did not come from them. It did not come from their own efforts.

The giver of the land is God And the means by which the land is given to them is tied inexorably it it it cannot be separated from the worship of God we see finally this tribe of Benjamin and it's in its boundaries and where it sits in the nation of Israel Benjamin this land of mediation but what comes next is this

This division of of the remaining seven lands and again Lord willing. We'll see the other six next week

So when we go back to the map, we can see why Joshua says That the land of Benjamin lay between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph Judah to the south was one of the largest of the territories in terms of of arable land

Some of the territories were larger Manasseh East Manasseh was larger, but much of that was desert a lot of it was mountainous

In some ways Judah was in the middle of this what you might call the breadbasket of Israel it's for this reason that later on when

The civil war occurs and the kingdom is split into that Judah is the southern kingdom

Judah basically absorbs these other kingdoms these other tribes into itself and it becomes known collectively as Judah and Economically militarily it is stronger than Israel it lasts longer than Israel Of course, it also resists idolatry longer than Israel does the sons of Joseph refers to West Manasseh and Ephraim to the north and So in between these two large blocks these power players of Israel you could call them

There's little Benjamin the youngest of all of his brothers The youngest of all of the brothers of Jacob sits nestled here in between them

And we see in verse 28 that the Jebusite City the city of Jerusalem is included in this territory

And we've already Considered that these the tabernacle will remain at Shiloh for some 300 years

It will remain for the rest of Joshua's life through the succession of judges those temporary leaders of Israel Saul would be anointed as king and then

David Would become king and it would not be until David's Rule that the city of Jerusalem the

Jebusite City was finally rid of all the Jebusites and Was established as the capital of Israel So this conquering of this

Jebusite City would not happen for over 300 years Between the reign of King David and the time that the true king of Israel Jesus Be another 1 ,000 years

The time of Jesus that he walked Those streets he walked on the way to the cross even here at this seminal period of Israel when the tribes are cowering and Joshua is pulling them out of the

Established areas out of the camp and telling them to go survey the land Even here

God is preparing Israel for the coming of the anointed one the Messiah Jesus Christ He's nestling

Benjamin in between the great and the mighty of Israel These territories of Joseph's sons to the north and Judah to the south

He's setting the stage for the day when the one mediator and man between God and man

Christ Jesus will enter this city to the shouts of Hosanna Hosanna he will teach and he will heal and he will rebuke and Then he will be delivered up and killed for sinful man

The strip of Benjamin's territory significantly are seemingly insignificant compared to Judah and Joseph Will play the lead role when

Jesus? Seemingly insignificant to the Jewish and Roman leaders will demonstrate his love and his power by becoming obedient to the point of death and rising from the grave victorious

Israel's greatest blessing Was not the land of Canaan it was not the land that they were to inherit

Because as we know this land was partially won and it was completely taken away

Israel's great greatest blessing was the tent of meeting at Shiloh This place where God dwelt the city of peace and tranquility

The place of God's dwelling from whom all of their other blessings flowed the place where it could be said that God is with us and Yet Israel's greatest blessing in the tabernacle was its shelf a shadow and a type pointing forward to Jesus As for this reason that John is very specific in the words that he uses the beginning of his gospel when

John says the word became flesh and tabernacled among us

And we saw his glory Glory as of the only begotten from the Father full of grace and truth

Do you delight in the dwelling place of God today Do you delight in the presence of God above all else

This is a gracious reminder that just as the

Israelites received their inheritance from the God who dwelt with them in an infinitely greater way

We have received our incorruptible inheritance From God with us

Emanuel that the prayer of Paul for the

Colossians would be ours as well That these words have been given to us for our good that the

God of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of glory may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him

I Pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know the hope of this calling

What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance of the Saints? And what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe?

Passes today is also a gracious and a gentle rebuke a

Timely rebuke for us Joshua rebuked the seven tribes for their spiritual lethargy their indolence their their tendency towards inaction their love of inaction

Literally for abandoning for forsaking God's promise and Calling that he gave to them.

Have you put off the means of grace that God has given to you? Reading his word of corporate worship of prayer of fellowship

With fellow believers. Have you abandoned the pursuit of holiness and the battle against sin?

Have you grown weary in doing good? If so, this is a gracious word of correction to us today

It's it's not It's not that God doesn't think that we need these words or that we shouldn't need these words

It's because he knows that we do need these words that they are in Scripture not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also

I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus and laying hold that Jesus did and us first I Do not regard myself as having laid hold of yet, but one thing

I do forgetting what lies behind and Reaching forward to what lies ahead.

I press on toward the goal for the prize of their upward call in Christ Jesus That in the words of the writer of Hebrews We desire that each one of you show the same diligence

So as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end So that you will not be sluggish

But be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises can also imagine that the tribes

Might have been tempted at times to look at one another's territories longingly

To question why God gave them one inheritance instead of another Do you question where God has placed you whether it's physical health or?

I'm believing family members a stressful job a discouraging Job, it can be easy to look at someone else's territory with envy

And again, this is where it is helpful to read the words of the writer of Hebrews God disciplines us for our good so that we may share his holiness

All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful Yet to those who have been trained by it

Afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness Paul called out to God to remove this thorn that was in his flesh this this messenger this agent of Satan What was

God's response? My grace is sufficient for you

For power is perfected and weakness So with Paul, we're exhorted to most gladly boast in Our weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in us

Therefore I am well content with weaknesses with insults with distresses with persecutions with difficulties for Christ's sake

For when I am weak, then I am strong What ways does

God desire to make? His power perfect in your weakness in this coming week

And what ways does he desire to show his power great in your life? Finally our passage today reminds us

But these words of Joshua the things that the Israelites saw and that they experienced

They pointed forward to the fulfillment of the promises that were made To Abraham that were continued to be made through the years the generations

That this territory of Benjamin would be home to the city where Jesus was crucified where he was buried where he was resurrected

Where he rose victorious Benjamin this name that means son of the right hand this true and eternal

Shiloh The Prince of Peace the Prince of Tranquility We have not come to a temporary tabernacle where a human priest intercedes for us

We have not like the Israelites before them come to a mountain that can be touched into a blazing fire and to a darkness and gloom and whirlwind to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of Words which sound was such that those who had begged that no further word would be spoken to them

For they could not bear the command that even if a beast touches the mountain it will be stoned

And so terrible was the sight that Moses said I'm full of fear and trembling but you have come to Mount Zion To the city of the

Living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to myriads of angels To the General Assembly of the

Church of the firstborn who were enrolled in heaven and to God the judge of all And to the spirits of the righteous made perfect and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant

To the sprinkled blood which speaks better than the blood of Abel The earthly Jerusalem that would eventually be conquered by David speaks to a better Heavenly Jerusalem the blood of bulls and goats that were offered for generations

At the tabernacle and then at the temple speaks to the better blood of Jesus The mediators of the

Old Covenant who operated in the tabernacle and later at the temple speaks to a better and true mediator

For indeed there is one God And there is one mediator between God and man the man

Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all the testimony given at the proper time

The Shiloh to which Jacob looked Longingly the Shiloh from which these temporal blessings of the

Israelites came The Shiloh speaks to the better the true the permanent the lasting and the personal

Shiloh our peace Let us rejoice in our

Savior Jesus today Rejoice that his promises are true that they are fulfilled for us today we

Are blessed to see those things That these Old Testament the

Israelites longed to look at they longed for from afar and died never having received the promises father we

We thank you for your word We thank you that we are reminded once again that your word is full to us of instruction of encouragement of exhortation of rebuke

Lord as we as we read your word and as we are reminded again of the of the glorious truths in your word

We are also again Convicted and humbled that we do not love love your word as we all

We do not love you as we ought Like the

Israelites we are prone to faithlessness to spiritual apathy

We're prone to doubt We are prone to look at another's territory

Father we thank you that you give us these words So that we might be corrected that we might be conformed to the image of your son our perfect Prince of Peace Father we thank you for your graciousness and your mercy towards us father, would you continue to grow in our hearts a greater and ever -growing love for your word a thankfulness for what you have done for us in Jesus Christ and what you continue to do for us each day as our

Savior intercedes for us As you continue to care for us as a loving father as The Holy Spirit continues to guide us in all truth