Spiritual Nuggets (Schechem)

Ok, I’m at it again. As many times as I read the Bible, I am always finding nuggets of knowledge that makes the Scriptures and history come alive in my mind.

So while I am enjoying my morning quiet in the Word, I just happen to be reason through the book of Joshua; and the chapters I am covering are 13- 21. These are some of those chapters that many consider boring, because they cover peoples names and geographical places being divided between the tribes after Joshua had conquered most of the promised land.

So, I am reading the endless names of the territory descriptions and of the many cities allotted to the tribes, along with the cities of refuge.

{The cities of refuge are the ones God chose as a safe sanctuary for anyone who accidentally kills another person. This is so the manslayer will be safe from relatives who want revenge.}

Now one of these cities if refuge was Shechem. This city was also a city that God gave the Levites. Remember, the Levites received no allotted territory. This is because their inheritance is the Priesthood, thus they serve are God’s servants to His people.

So we get to Korah’s family, a descendant of Levi. You may recall that Korah was the guy who challenged Noah, and God had the desert swallow him and most his family. Well, this Korah is the descendants who did not agree with their father, so God preserved them, so now God gives his family the city of Shechem.

How many times do you just skip over boring portions of a scripture that is loaded with names and places you figure is a waist of time? Well, These can be some of the best places to find hidden nuggets of knowledge and wisdom.

Remember back when Jacob was dwelling near the city of Shechem? You should, that’s when the son of the king of Shechem violated Jacob’s daughter Dinah. Now he loved Dinah and asked his father to see if Jacob would let him marry her. Jacob’s brothers agreed, under one condition, all the men of the city had to be circumcised. They agreed, and thus the men, including the king and his son all got circumcised.

That night when the men were in pain and healing. Two of Dinah’s brothers, Levi and Simeon went into the city and murdered all the men. When Jacob’s other sons realized what their brothers did, they decided to loot town and steal all the wealth including the livestock, and even the women and children for slaves.

Interesting how God works things out, because hundreds of years later, God gives Shechem to one of the Levi’s descendant families as their inheritance. Thus Shechem becomes a Levitical Priestly city that is also a city of refuge for manslayers.

God’s not finished though, because 1400 years later, our Lord Jesus will meet a woman at the well of Shechem, and from that meeting, all the inhabitants of the city massacred by Jacob’s sons would become the first non-Jews to believe in Jesus.

Now I realize these are not actual descendants of those who were massacred, but God does have a certain affinity towards places. After all, how many times do we read of certain places being doomed in perpetuity for the sins of men?

Only God would do something like that. Hmm, there seems to be a powerful sermon in that whole scenario someplace.

As I say time and time again, read the Word daily, because the more you read it the more you will be blessed by nuggets that bring the Scriptures alive, and you will be blessed.