July 3, 2011
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The Victorious Life of Joshua Part 21
Jos 3:2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;
I’m sure that my regular readers know the significance of the three days, but for those who are new to my site, I’ll explain.
Three is a powerful number scripturally.
The Number Three:
The number three seems early to have attracted attention as the number in which beginning, middle and end are most distinctly marked, and to have been therefore regarded as symbolic of a complete and ordered whole.
Abundant illustration of its use in the hundreds of passages in the Bible in which the number occurs include many where this special significance either lies on the surface or not far beneath it. This is owing in some degree perhaps to Babylonian influence, but will have been largely due to independent observation of common phenomena—the arithmetical fact mentioned above and familiar trios, such as heaven, earth, and sea (or “the abyss”); morning, noon and night; right, middle, and left, etc.
In other words, 3 readily suggested completeness, and was often used with a glance at that meaning in daily life and daily speech. Only a selection from the great mass of Biblical examples can be given here.
(1) Three is often found of persons and things sacred or secular, e.g. Noah’s 3 sons (Ge 6:10); Job’s 3 daughters (Job 1:2; 42:13) and 3 friends (Job 2:11); Abraham’s 3 guests (Ge 18:2); and Sarah’s 3 measures of meal (Ge 18:6; compare Mt 13:33 parallel); 3 in military tactics (Jud 7:16,20; 9:43; 1Sa 11:11; 13:17; Job 1:17); 3 great feasts (Ex 23:14); the 3 daily prayers (Ps 55:17; Da 6:10,13); the 3 night watches (Jud 7:19); God’s 3-fold call of Samuel (1Sa 3:8); the 3 keepers of the temple threshold (Jer 52:24); the 3 presidents appointed by Darius (Da 6:2); the 3 temptations (Mt 4:3,5 f, 8 f parallel); the 3 prayers in Gethsemane (Mt 26:39,42,44 parallel); Peter’s 3 denials (Mt 26:34,75 parallel); the Lord’s 3-fold question and 3-fold charge (Joh 21:15 ); and the 3-fold vision of the sheet (Ac 10:16).
(2) In a very large number of passages 3 is used of periods of time: 3 days; 3 weeks; 3 months and 3 years. So in Ge 40:12,13,18; Ex 2:2; 10:22 f; 2Sa 24:13; Isa 20:3; Jon 1:17; Mt 15:32; Lu 2:46; 13:7; Ac 9:9; 2Co 12:8.
The frequent reference to the resurrection “on the 3rd day” or “after 3 days” (Mt 16:21; 27:63, etc.) may at the same time have glanced at the symbolic use of the number and at the belief common perhaps to the Jews and the Zoroastrians that a corpse was not recognizable after 3 days (for Jewish testimony see Joh 11:39).
(3) The number 3 is also used in a literary way, sometimes appearing only in the structure. Note as examples the 3-fold benediction of Israel (Nu 6:24 ); the Thrice Holy of the seraphim (Isa 6:3); the 3-fold overturn (Eze 21:27 (Hebrew 32)); the 3-fold refrain of Psalms 42—43 regarded as one psalm (Ps 42:5,11; 43:5); the 3 names of God (the Mighty One, God, Yahweh, Jos 22:22; compare Ps 50:1); the 3 graces of 1Co 13; the 3 witnesses (1 Joh 5:8); the frequent use of 3 and 3rd in Revelation; the description of God as “who is and who was and who is to come” (Re 1:4); and ‘the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit’ (Mt 28:19).
Seeing all these references to this number, and knowing how powerful it is, makes me want to do a study on this number. But that is for a future time.
Jos 3:2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;
Jos 3:3 And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.In checking out some info on the ark of the covenant, I discovered something else I had missed earlier.
In Ex 25:10, Moses receives the command to build an ark of acacia wood.
Within this ark were to be placed the tables of the law which God was about to give to Moses. Upon the top of the ark, probably not as a lid but above the lid, the kapporeth, in the New Testament to hilasterion (Heb 9:5), is to be placed, which was a golden plate upon which two cherubim, with raised wings and facing each other, covered the ark. From the place between the two cherubim God promises to speak to Moses, as often as He shall give him commands in reference to the Israelites.The ark was to symbolize to them that God was on the march with them. The corresponding account is found in De 10:1-5. In Nu 10:33, we read that the ark had preceded the people as they broke camp and marched from Sinai. At this place too the words are found which Moses was accustomed to speak when the ark began to move out and when it arrived at a halting-place.
What caught my attention is that they were just camped for 3 days in Shittim; an acacia grove. And now, an ark of God is proceeding them, made of acacia wood.
Acacia: ( Heb. shittim) Exd 25:5, R.V. probably the Acacia seyal ( the gum-arabic tree); called the “shittah” tree ( Isa 41:19). Its wood is called shittim wood ( Exd 26:15,26; 25:5, 10,13,23,28, 27:1,6; De 10:3). This species ( A. seyal)
ShiTTah (= shinTah) is equivalent to the Arabic sant which is now the name of the Acacia Nilotica (NO, Leguminosae), but no doubt the name once included other species of desert acacias. If one particular species is indicated in the Old Testament it is probably the Acacia Seyal—the Arabic Seyyal is like the hawthorn, a gnarled and thorny tree. It yields the well-known gum-Arabic of commerce which is found in abundance in the Sinaitic peninsula.This tree, which has finely bipinnate leaves and globular flowers, grows to a height of twenty feet or more, and its stem may sometimes reach two feet in thickness. The tree often assumes a characteristic umbrella-like form.
The wood is close-grained and is not readily attacked by insects. It would be well suited for such purposes as described, the construction of the ark of the covenant, the altar and boarding of the tabernacle. Even today these trees survive in considerable numbers around ‘Ain Jidy and in the valleys to the south.
This fact appears to signify that they were proceeding totally under the covering of God. They camped under the Shittim trees, and then were lead forward by the ark of God, made of Shittim or acacia wood.
