Prayer: Father, teach me new things and give me new insights into Your Word today. In Yeshua’s name, amen.
Reading: Psalm 87 key: 5-6
5 But of Zion it will be said:
“This one and that one were born in her.”
And Elyon Himself will establish her.
6 Adonai will count in the register of the peoples:
“This one was born there.” Selah
Attention: It is common for man to tell one another from where we came. I was born in Wichita, Kansas to parents who both were Nebraska born. Living most of my life in Washington State, I have found some native-born people, but most are from somewhere else.
In today’s psalm, I had never heard the name of Rahab mentioned in any other way than the name of the woman, a harlot who hid two Hebrew spies which Joshua had sent to determine the defensive strength of Jericho. But according to the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (HIBD), the name Rahab also was used as a symbolic name for Egypt. Isaiah 30:7 includes a compound name Rahab-hemshebeth. Translations vary but the TLV uses “Rahab who just sits.”
So, the mention of locations (towns or region states) leads me to surmise that Cush is also a location rather than a person’s name (Cush could be both Psalms 7:1; Genesis 10:8; Jeremiah 13:23).
Doing some further research, the HIBD also provides some insight into the usages of Zion in Scripture. It was first used in the account of David’s conquest of Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:6-10; 1 Chronicles 11:4-9). Zion was also used by biblical writers in a variety of ways. Many psalmists used the term to refer to the temple built by Solomon (2:6; 48:2; 84:7; 132:13). The most common usage of Zion was to refer to the city of God in the new age (Isaiah 1:27, 28:16; 33:5). Zion was understood, also, to refer to the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 14:1), the place where the Messiah would appear at the end of time.
Knowing this, I am surprised that the TLV and other translations I have checked do not capitalize “One” in verse 6. In the title of this chapter, they do capitalize. Regardless, there is little doubt about who this verse refers too, “in the register of the peoples: This One was born there.” Selah.
Action: The new birth or second birth is the more important; are you born again?
Yield: I must yield to be born again.
Engage: By yielding, I am engaging in His death, burial, and resurrection.
Relationship: I enter into relationship with Adonai by the second birth. I develop relationship by a daily lifestyle of the study of the Word through the Choose Life Journal plan.
Prayer: Father, how can I know You without knowing Your Word? How can I conform to Your image without submitting to the transformative power of the Word and Spirit? Change me. Renew me, I pray, in Yeshua’s name. Amen.
Memory Verse: 1 Peter 1: 3
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah! In His great mercy He caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Messiah Yeshua from the dead.
Music Video: Cornerstone
Remember, “Abide in Yeshua, today!”