KNOWING GOD – THE GOD OF MIRACLES – Lesson Thirty-six
TEXT: Psalm 78 (Cont’d.) – V.54-55
[We continue to “consider the marvelous works” listed in this psalm, in keeping with I Samuel 12:24 – But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.
Be sure to fear the LORD – Proverbs 19:23 – The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.]
V.54-55 – 54Thus he brought them to the border of his holy land, to the hill country his right hand had taken. 55He drove out nations before them and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance; he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.
(a) This was a part of the covenant made with Abram: Genesis 15:18-21 – 18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates– 19the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.
(b) It was prophesied by Moses in his song of celebration: Exodus 15:13-17 – 13“In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling. 14The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of Philistia. 15The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away; 16terror and dread will fall upon them. By the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone– until your people pass by, O LORD, until the people you bought pass by. 17You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance– the place, O LORD, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, your hands established.
(c) The following was the beginning of the fulfillment: Joshua 3:14-17 – 14So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
(d) Recounted: Nehemiah 9:22-25 – 22“You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan. 23You made their sons as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their fathers to enter and possess.
24Their sons went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you handed the Canaanites over to them, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased. 25They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.
They captured fortified cities – In the case of those belonging to Og king of Bashan (v.22), it is expressly stated that there were sixty fortified cities as well as many unwalled villages: Deuteronomy 3:4-5 – 4At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them–the whole region of Argob, Og’s kingdom in Bashan. 5All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages.
Note: Psalm 44:1-3 – 1We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago. 2With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our fathers; you crushed the peoples and made our fathers flourish. 3It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them.
Psalm 80:8-11 – 8You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. 9You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. 10The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. 11It sent out its boughs to the Sea, its shoots as far as the River.
The River – The Euphrates. Fulfillment of Genesis 15:18 – On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—
Let us thank the GOD OF MIRACLES that His promises are sure and that these promises include 1 Peter 1:3-5 – 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
Let us therefore ask Him to help us to heed Matthew 24:42 – “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.