The really long day

Now we come to an account of what sounds like one of the most awesome (in terms of leaving one awestruck) battles ever. This is the battle of Gibeon.

The Gibeonites were actually Hivites/Amorites, or Canaanite people whom Israel was told to conquer and kill. This was because the Canaanites had engaged in many practices that were abhorrent to the God of Israel. In fact, the Canaanites had engaged in practices that many people today would still find abhorrent: incest, child sacrifice, and bestiality (Deuteronomy 20:17-18; Leviticus 18). But, through trickery, the story goes that Gibeon managed to ally with Israel by passing themselves off as a people from a distant land who (due to distance) would be unlikely to lead Israel astray from the Law of God.

In the end, the alliance of Gibeon with the Israelites did not go over well with the other Canaanite people. So the surrounding Canaanites waged war on Gibeon. Israel honored their new alliance and came to the aid of Gibeon--this was the story of the battle of Gibeon, or as titled above, the battle of the really long day.

So how well is the battle of Gibeon contextually supported in Scripture?


Old Testament References to Gibeon and Aijalon:

• References to Gibeon:
• Joshua 9:3-15, "When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they also acted craftily and set out as envoys, and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins worn-out and torn and mended, and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and had become crumbled. They went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, 'We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us . . .' So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the LORD. Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them." 
• Gibeon - portrayed as a historical Canaanite city
• How could a fictional Gibeon have "heard" about the conquests of Jericho and Ai?
• How could fictional Gibeonites send envoys to the real Israelites?
• Why would the Jewish writers note how their people were tricked by fictional Gibeonites?
• Why would the Jewish writers note an unwanted alliance with the very Canaanites Israel was told to conquer, unless that really happened?
• Why else record how Israel failed to seek God's counsel about Gibeon when the whole storyline was that Israel was led by God to conquer Canaan?
• Joshua 10:6-14, "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.' So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him and all the valiant warriors. The LORD said to Joshua, 'Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands; not one of them shall stand before you.' So Joshua came upon them suddenly by marching all night from Gilgal. And the LORD confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. As they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword. Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
              'O sun, stand still at Gibeon,
              And O moon in the valley of Aijalon.'
        So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
              Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies.
              Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. There was no day like that before it or after it, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel."
• Gibeon - portrayed as a historical Canaanite city
• Why else write of how Israel fought for the Canaanite Gibeonites? How would this improve the whole conquest story?
• Why name a fictional city in a passage with detailed geographical context?
• Why would a real God speak to Joshua about coming to the aid of a fictional Gibeon?
• Why would a fictional city figure in a battle clearly credited to a real God? How would this really give God credit?
• II Samuel 21:1-2,"Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of the LORD. And the LORD said, 'It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.' So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the sons of Israel made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah)."
• Gibeon - portrayed as a historical Canaanite city
• How else could Israel have had a covenant with Gibeon?
• Why else write how a real God said He was holding Israel to their covenant with the Gibeonites?
• Why else would the Jewish writers criticize the zeal of King Saul for his own people?

• References to Aijalon:
• Joshua 21:20-26, "Then the cities from the tribe of Ephraim were allotted to the families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, even to the rest of the sons of Kohath. They gave them Shechem, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands, in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer with its pasture lands, and Kibzaim with its pasture lands and Beth-horon with its pasture lands; four cities. From the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands, Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; four cities."
• Aijalon - portrayed as a historical city in Canaan
• Why else place Aijalon in the territory of the real tribe of Dan?
• Why else name "Aijalon with its pasture lands" as a possession given to real families from the sons of Levi? How could the sons of Levi live a fictional city?
• Why associate a fictional Aijalon with the real, historical city of Shechem?
• I Chronicles 6:1, 66-70, "The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath and Merari . . . Now some of the families of the sons of Kohath had cities of their territory from the tribe of Ephraim. They gave to them the following cities of refuge: Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim with its pasture lands, Gezer also with its pasture lands, Jokmeam with its pasture lands, Beth-horon with its pasture lands, Aijalon with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; and from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Aner with its pasture lands and Bileam with its pasture lands, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath."
• Aijalon - portrayed as a historical city in Canaan
• Why associate a fictional Aijalon with the real, historical city of Shechem?
• Why else again assert in the chronicles of the Israelite kings that Aijalon had been given to the sons of Levi, again specifically to the families of Kohath?
• Why else again name Aijalon in context with the same cities of Shechem, Gezer, Beth-horon, and Gath-rimmon?
• II Chronicles 11:5-12, "Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built cities for defense in Judah. Thus he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin. He also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and stores of food, oil and wine. He put shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin."
• Aijalon - portrayed as a historical city in Canaan
• Why else place Aijalon in the context of the historical cities of Bethlehem, Gath, and Hebron?
• Why include a fictional Aijalon in a detailed record of defensive fortifications?
• How would a fictional Aijalon help defend the real tribes of Judah and Benjamin?
• II Chronicles 28:16-18, "At that time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria for help. For again the Edomites had come and attacked Judah and carried away captives. The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland and of the Negev of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, and Soco with its villages, and they settled there. For the LORD humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had brought about a lack of restraint in Judah and was very unfaithful to the LORD. So Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. Although Ahaz took a portion out of the house of the LORD and out of the palace of the king and of the princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him."
• Aijalon - portrayed a historical city in Canaan
• Why record a humiliating plea for help to Assyria unless this really happened because Israel was in dire straits from Philistine conquest of cities like Aijalon?
• Why else name Aijalon in a passage with such ethno-geographical context?
• Why else name Aijalon in the chronicles of the Israelite kings?
• Why would Jewish writers name a fictional Aijalon in context with a specific, historical Assyrian king?

• Context for the unparalleled long day:
• Joshua 10:12, "Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
              'O sun, stand still at Gibeon,
              And O moon in the valley of Aijalon.'
        So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
              Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies.
              Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. There was no day like that before it or after it, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel."
• Talking about sunrise/sunset type terms here, not geocentricism.
• [This is not a case of time standing still, since the writers note that the sun "did not go down for about a whole day". Measurement of time like this would not have been possible if time had stopped. Further, Israel continued pursuing and killing their enemies, showing that neither their persons nor their weapons fell into suspended animation, as one would expect if time had stopped in the physical world.]
• [Since there was "no day like that before it or after it", the day could not have been just another day where a man (here Joshua) waxed poetic in a prayer to God for aid. Scripture repeats itself here in Joshua to affirm that Joshua's prayer was indeed answered. The second affirmation takes a different descriptive angle (common in Scripture), reading: "And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for a about a whole day". If the sun appeared to stop in the middle of the sky, that's exactly what Joshua asked, as that would be overhead of Gibeon in whose vicinity they fought.]
• Why record how Joshua specifically asked for the sun to remain over real Gibeon, unless it really did visibly remain in the sky above Gibeon?
• Why record how Joshua specifically asked for the moon to remain over real Aijalon, unless it really did visibly remain in the sky above Aijalon?
• II Chronicles 1:2-7, "Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ households. Then Solomon and all the assembly with him went to the high place which was at Gibeon, for God’s tent of meeting was there, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness . . . Now the bronze altar, which Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the LORD, and Solomon and the assembly sought it out. Solomon went up there before the LORD to the bronze altar which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it. In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, 'Ask what I shall give you.'"
• What was so special about Gibeon that God's tent of meeting was placed there?
• Gibeon wasn't specified by God as the city for His tabernacle or temple.
• Gibeon wasn't a city of refuge (Joshua 20).
• Gibeon wasn't where Joshua was buried (Judges 2:9)
• Gibeon wasn't a place where Samuel (I Sam. 3:19-21; I Sam. 7:15-17) or any of the other judges judged (see Judges).
• Gibeon wasn't the hometown of either King Saul or David (I Sam. 11:4; I Sam. 16:1)
• Gibeon was a somewhat central city in Israel, but why for that reason alone overlook the embarrassing heritage of Gibeon for Israel (as the people who tricked them)?
• The only special thing about Gibeon appears to be the battle of Gibeon. If so, was not the outstanding event at that battle (which would put Gibeon on the map) the story of the sun remaining over Gibeon?
• Habakkuk 3:1-13, "A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.
        LORD, I have heard the report about You and I fear.
              O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years,
              In the midst of the years make it known;
              In wrath remember mercy.
        God comes from Teman [Edom (Jer. 49:7), S. of Canaan],
              And the Holy One from Mount Paran [Seir/Edom (Deut. 33:2; Jos. 24:4)]
  
  Selah.
        His splendor covers the heavens,
              And the earth is full of His praise.
        His radiance is like the sunlight;
              He has rays flashing from His hand,
              And there is the hiding of His power [see Deut. 33:2].
        Before Him goes pestilence,
              And plague comes after Him [on Egypt & later Israel?].
        He stood and surveyed the earth;
              He looked and startled the nations [Egypt & Canaan?].
              Yes, the perpetual mountains were shattered,
              The ancient hills collapsed.
              His ways are everlasting.
        I saw the tents of Cushan under distress,
              The tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling [Num 22:1-7?] . . .
       The mountains saw You and quaked [Ex. 19:18?];
              The downpour of waters swept by [Ex. 9:33?].
              The deep uttered forth its voice,
              It lifted high its hands [Ex. 14:21-22?].
       Sun and moon stood in their places [only parallel in Jos. 10];
              They went away at the light of Your arrows,
              At the radiance of Your gleaming spear.
        In indignation You marched through the earth;
              In anger You trampled the nations.
        You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
              For the salvation of Your anointed.
              You struck the head of the house of the evil
              To lay him open from thigh to neck [Canaan conquest?]."
  

A Lesson in Belief.

Moving forward from Moses, Aaron, the Tabernacle of Testimony, and the Ark of the Covenant, we encounter Joshua. You probably hear the name of Joshua and think, "the Battle of Jericho". From a historical standpoint, that battle would have been a test of belief indeed. So how contextually supported is the story of Jericho and the life of Joshua in Scripture?

"I Lift My Hands" by Chris Tomlin

Old Testament References to Joshua:

• Numbers 14:36-38, "The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 'How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me?' . . . 'Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun' . . . 'Your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your corpses lie in the wilderness. According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition. I, the LORD, have spoken, surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be destroyed, and there they will die.' As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land, even those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the LORD. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why would God speak to historical Moses and Aaron about a merely imaginary Joshua?
• Why mention the father of a merely figurative Joshua?
• Why would it be written in Scripture that the Lord swore He would punish Israel for forty years for their guilt, if the story of the spies, including Joshua, was fake?
• Where in Scripture do you find an imaginary plague from the Lord? If the plague was real, must not Joshua have been a real (not merely figurative) Israelite?
• Deut. 31:14-26, "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Behold, the time for you to die is near; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.' So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. The LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent. The LORD said to Moses, 'Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land' . . . 'Now therefore, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it on their lips, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel' . . . So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the sons of Israel. Then He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, 'Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you.' It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, 'Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark . . . '"
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why would the Lord speak to a historical Moses just before his death about an imaginary Joshua succeeding him?
• Where in Scripture does the Lord commission an imaginary man for leadership?
• Why would an imaginary Joshua be recorded in the real law of Moses, which was kept beside the real Ark of the Covenant?
• How could a merely imaginary man lead the real sons of Israel into a new land?
• Joshua 6:26-27, "Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, 'Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates.' So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Where in Scripture are curses merely imaginary?
• Why associate a specific city with an imaginary curse?
• If the curse in Joshua 6 was real, how could Joshua be merely figurative?
• Joshua 19:49-50, "When they finished apportioning the land for inheritance by its borders, the sons of Israel gave an inheritance in their midst to Joshua the son of Nun. In accordance with the command of the LORD they gave him the city for which he asked, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. So he built the city and settled in it."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why write of the real sons of Israel apportioning land to a merely imaginary Joshua?
• Why specify the city given to Joshua and its location in the territory of Ephraim, if Joshua was a simply figurative character?
• Judges 2:6-10, "When Joshua had dismissed the people, the sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land. The people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD which He had done for Israel. Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of one hundred and ten. And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why write of "all the days of Joshua", if Joshua never lived?
• Why reference "the elders who survived Joshua", if Joshua never lived?
• Why name Joshua as the "servant of the Lord", if he was an imaginary character who never actually served the Lord?
• Why specify the age of Joshua at his death if he never lived?
• Why specify the burial place of an imaginary man?
• I Kings 16:33-34, "Ahab also made the Asherah. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why specify who rebuilt Jericho and who died, if the curse wasn't real?
• Why write of how the curse of a merely figurative man came to pass?
• How would the "word of the Lord" be given through an imaginary man?
• I Chron. 7:20-27, "The sons of Ephraim were Shuthelah and Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son, Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to take their livestock. Their father Ephraim mourned many days, and his relatives came to comfort him. Then he went in to his wife, and she conceived and bore a son, and he named him Beriah, because misfortune had come upon his house. His daughter was Sheerah, who built lower and upper Beth-horon . . . Elishama his son, Non his son and Joshua his son. Their possessions and settlements were Bethel with its towns, and to the east Naaran, and to the west Gezer with its towns, and Shechem with its towns as far as Ayyah with its towns, and along the borders of the sons of Manasseh, Beth-shean with its towns, Taanach with its towns, Megiddo with its towns, Dor with its towns. In these lived the sons of Joseph the son of Israel."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why specify legacies of people in a genealogy attributed to the tribe of Ephraim, if these people never lived?
• Why include a merely figurative Joshua in the genealogy of the real tribe of Ephraim?

New Testament References to Joshua:

• Acts 7:44-47, "The high priest said, 'Are these things so?' And he [Stephen] said, 'Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran' . . . 'Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen. And having received it in their turn, our fathers brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David. David found favor in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.'"
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why would Stephen defend himself before the antagonistic high priest by referencing a figurative character? How would this be a good defense for Stephen?
• Why would Stephen insert an imaginary character into a story including the historical Abraham and Moses?
• Why would Stephen bring a merely imaginary Joshua into the story of how their real "God drove out" the Canaanite nations before them? Wouldn't referencing an imaginary character in this story be considered blasphemous by the high priest?
• Hebrews 3:16-4:11, "For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief . . . For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: 'AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS'; and again in this passage, 'THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.' Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, 'Today,' saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,
              'TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,
              DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.'
  For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience."
• Joshua - Portrayed as a historical man, not simply a figurative one.
• Why would an imaginary Joshua be referenced in writing of the yet observed (at least by Jews) seventh day sabbath and the final Sabbath rest promised to believers?
• Why at all consider whether Joshua gave the sons of Israel true rest, if Joshua never led Israel into a land of their own?
• Why write of some "following the same example of disobedience", if the story of Joshua being exempted from Israel's punishment of forty years' wandering in the wilderness was merely figurative and not a real example from which to learn?

Covenant Testimony

In view of Scripture, it seems that the Tabernacle of Testimony was real and historical. At the same time, the New Testament writers evidently believed that the nation of Israel had wondered without a land to settle in time past. But might the eyes of modern readers be blind in regard to ancient Judaic writings? Would this be a good, scholarly supposition? I think that the answer to this question lies in considering the author. The Scriptures do not claim human authors, although they were recorded and copied by human hand. No, the Scriptures claim as author the One, True, Omniscient God. This God is said to have no favoritism for the ancients or for the wise:

Psalm 19:1-4, 7-9 (NASB), "The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
            And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

      Day to day pours forth speech,
            And night to night reveals knowledge.

      There is no speech, nor are there words;
            Their voice is not heard.

      Their line has gone out through all the earth,
            And their utterances to the end of the world . . .

 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;
            The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
       The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
            The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
      The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
            The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether."

The works of the Lord are not uttered to a few but rather "through all the earth" and "to the end of the world". The sure testimonies of the Lord are not given to the "wise" but rather to the "simple" to make them wise. This being our framework for studying Scripture, well, then onward! All are welcomed to read and seek understanding, and all are offered the opportunity to look upon the "work of His hands".



Facts, customs, and widespread beliefs regarding the Tabernacle of Testimony and Israel's wilderness wandering:

Reconstructed Tabernacle

• Timna Park - Park surrounded by cliffs and centered about Mt. Timna which offers a replica of the Old Testament tabernacle of testimony. The park also boasts the "world's first copper mine", dating back to imperial Egypt.
• Jerusalem Post - Tourist review of Timna Park and the full-size, reconstructed tabernacle of testimony. Article includes a photo of the replica tabernacle and notes its placement in the wilderness that Israel wandered.
• Encyclopaedia Britannica - Jewish history accounts that the tabernacle served as a "portable sanctuary" during a time of their wandering prior to arrival in Canaan. The Biblical account described how the tabernacle sheltered an alter of incense, table of shewbread, and a seven-branched menorah in the "holy place". Within the "holy place", the "Holy of Holies" was said to be indwelt by the presence of the Lord and sheltered the Ark of the Covenant, containing tablets written with the Ten Commandments.

Shiloh

• Israel Ministry of Tourism website - Notes that upon entry into Canaan, the Tabernacle was set up in the territory of the tribe of Ephriam at Tel Shiloh. Scholars have assessed what they deem to be the exact spot that the Tabernacle stood, corresponding also to the place where Hannah came to pray for and dedicated her son Samuel.
• Jewish Press - An alter (2 ft x 2 ft x 16 in.) has been discovered at Shiloh dating to the first kings of Israel.
• Islamic Web - Reinterpretes quite a bit of Scripture from an Islamic viewpoint (site info page), yet affirms that the Tabernacle and ark of the Covenant were placed at the geographical town of Shiloh.
• Islam For Mankind - Appears to copy, come from the same source text, or provide a source text for the Islamic Web website page above as this alternate webpage identically reinterpretes Scripture (for those questioning the acceptability of such exact copy, similar Islamic reasoning regarding Shiloh can be found on The Message of Islam website).
• United with Israel - Ongoing archeology to discover traces of the Tabernacle of Testimony which is noted in Scripture to have rested there.
• Joshua 18:1, "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."
• I Samuel 1:24-25, "Now when she [Hannah] had weaned him [Samuel], she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and one ephah of flour and a jug of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD [the Tabernacle] in Shiloh, although the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and brought the boy to Eli."
• I Kings 8:1-6, "Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the city of David, which is Zion . . . Then all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. They brought up the ark of the LORD and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils, which were in the tent, and the priests and the Levites brought them up . . . Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house [the Temple]. . ."

Other Attestators

• Feast of Tabernacles:
• Overview of the Feast - Rabbi Jack Zimmerman (a Messianic Jewish Rabbi and an ordained Christian pastor) reviews how the feast of Booths/Tabernacles is called "Sukkot" in Hebrew and was ordained by God as a reminder of how the nation of Israel dwelt in booths in the wilderness. Many Jews yet observe the feast by constructing four-walled booths with roofs of palm branches in which they "dwell" for the seven days of the feast.
• Judaism 101 - Affirms that the feast is still observed by Jewish people as a reminder of how the Children of Israel dwelt in temporary booths while wondering in the wilderness, which also necessitated a Tabernacle for worship.
• Reform Judaism - Affirms the continued observance of the feast by Jewish people in commemoration of Israel's 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.
• Leviticus 23:33-34, 39-43, "Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, "On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the LORD" . . . On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD for seven days . . . Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'"
• John 7:1-3, 10, "After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. Therefore His brothers said to Him, 'Leave here and go into Judea . . .' But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up . . ."
• Levitical Tabernacle Service:
• Temple Institute - The Temple Institute was founded by Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, who served in a paratrooper brigade during the 1967 Six Day War to regain the Temple Mount for Israel, and who has written many Hebrew works of scholarship. The Temple Institute website notes that Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, and his sons were appointed the first priests for the nation of Israel.
• Cohen-Levi.org - Modern family of Kohen, or Cohen, claims direct geneological descent from the Aaronic priesthood, with geneticists having identified a "Cohen Model Haplotype" DNA signature on the Y-chromosome. This DNA signature in members of the modern Kohen family shows direct descent from a single paternal ancester, which parallels the Torah description of the Aaronic priesthood and its regulations for priestly marraige.
• Chabad.org - Notes that the dedicated status (in departing from Egypt) of all firstborn sons of Israel was transferred to the tribe of Levi at Mt. Sinai due to the idolatry of all the other tribes with the golden calf. The dedication of the Levites assigned them to service in the Tabernacle and Temple of the Lord, which is yet seen as their role by Jewish people in their hope for a Third Temple.
• Numbers 3:5-13, "Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. They shall perform the duties for him and for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. They shall also keep all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, along with the duties of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. You shall thus give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the sons of Israel. So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood, but the layman who comes near shall be put to death.'       Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, the first issue of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine. For all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine; I am the LORD.'"
• Leviticus 21:10-15, "[the Lord speaking to Moses, who instructed Aaron and his sons] 'The priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes . . . for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the LORD. 'He shall take a wife in her virginity. A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but rather he is to marry a virgin of his own people, so that he will not profane his offspring among his people; for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.'"

Ok . . . how important are Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph?

I got a little side-tracked from the broader Biblical story. My excuse is that the facts/customs/beliefs about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph seemed rather closely related (in more ways than one). The textual study of how Abraham is placed in Scripture is back in the March 25th and April 9th posts. But Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph are also more than just characters in Genesis. Their names do appear in other Old and New Testament books. So, what was Scripture saying about Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph before the onset of modern archaeology?

Map from Bible History Online of the Twelve Tribe Settlements

Old Testament:

• Exodus 3:3-6, "So Moses said, 'I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.' When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am.' Then He said, 'Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.' He said also, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God."
• Isaac and Jacob - portrayed as historical men.
• Why would you have a God of a historical Abraham who is at the very same time the God of an imaginary Isaac and Jacob?
• God speaking directly to Moses called Himself the God of Isaac and Jacob. Why would a real God identify Himself as the God of imaginary figures?
• Why would Moses be afraid of a God who identified Himself with mythology?
• Joshua 16:4-17:10, "The sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim [direct sons--see Genesis 41:50-52--with Manassah being the firstborn], received their inheritance. Now this was the territory of the sons of Ephraim according to their families: the border of their inheritance eastward was Ataroth-addar, as far as upper Beth-horon. Then the border went westward at Michmethath on the north, and the border turned about eastward to Taanath-shiloh and continued beyond it to the east of Janoah. It went down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah, then reached Jericho and came out at the Jordan [River]. From Tappuah the border continued westward to the brook of Kanah, and it ended at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim according to their families, together with the cities which were set apart for the sons of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages . . . Now this was the lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. To Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war . . . The border of Manasseh ran from Asher to Michmethath which was east of Shechem; then the border went southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah. The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the sons of Ephraim. The border went down to the brook of Kanah, southward of the brook (these cities belonged to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh), and the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook and it ended at the sea. The south side belonged to Ephraim and the north side to Manasseh, and the sea was their border; and they reached to Asher on the north and to Issachar on the east."
• Joseph - portrayed as a historical man.
• How do you have real cities defining the borders of imaginary tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (see the Twelve Tribes Settlement map above, and the following Google Map)?
• Why would the real river Jordan and the real Mediterranean Sea define borders of imaginary tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh?
• How can you say real tribes (Ephraim and Manasseh) are descendents of imaginary people (Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph)?
• Why would firstborn status be important for the tribe of Manasseh, if the story of Manasseh being the firstborn son of Joseph was simply imaginative?

• Joshua 24:2-4, "Joshua said to all the people, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, "From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac. To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau, and to Esau I gave Mount Seir to possess it; but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt."'"
• Isaac and Jacob - portrayed as historical men.
• Why would Joshua's parting speech to the Israelite people be about imaginary characters?
• How could the descendents of a real Abraham be multiplied through imaginary figures (Isaac and Jacob)?
• How could an imaginary Jacob travel to a real Egypt?
• I Kings 18:36-39, "At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, 'O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel [Jacob], today let it be known that You are God in Israel [nation] and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.' Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, 'The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God.'"
• Isaac and Jacob - portrayed a historical men.
• Why would Elijah call for aid from the God of imaginary figures?
• Why would God respond Elijah's request for real action after Elijah said He was the God of imaginary men?
• How could the people worship the real God of imaginary characters?
• I Chronicles 2:1-2, "These are the sons of Israel [Jacob]: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and Asher."
• Jacob and Joseph - portrayed as historical men.
• Why would the twelve tribes (Many verses interchange Joseph with Ephraim and Manasseh. But Levi held no land, so the land-holding tribes still numbered twelve with Ephraim and Manasseh.) of Israel retain identical names to merely imaginary figures, such as Joseph? Wouldn't this grow old?
• Why would record be kept of the sons of an imaginary man Jacob?
• I Chronicles 29:10-19, "So David blessed the LORD in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, 'Blessed are You, O LORD God of Israel [Jacob] our father, forever and ever . . . But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You. For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours. Since I know, O my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You. O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, preserve this forever in the intentions of the heart of Your people, and direct their heart to You; and give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies and Your statutes, and to do them all, and to build the temple, for which I have made provision.'"
• Isaac and Jacob - portrayed as historical men.
• Why would David identify the real Israelite people as sojourners just like imaginary forefathers?
• Why would David acknowledge that "all things" come from God based in part on the sojourner status of imaginary forefathers?
• Why would David call an imaginary  Isaac and Jacob fathers of the real nation of Israel?
• How could the God of imaginary forefathers preserve the hearts of a real people and David's own son?
• Why build a temple for the God of imaginary forefathers?
• How did David and the nation of Israel know God's name was holy, if all they ever heard were tales regarding God's involvement in the lives of imaginary forefathers?
• Jeremiah 33:14-26, "'Behold, days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David [Christ the Messiah] to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth' . . . The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 'Thus says the LORD, "If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers. As the host of heaven [stars] cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me."' And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 'Have you not observed what this people have spoken, saying, "The two families which the LORD chose, He has rejected them"? Thus they despise My people, no longer are they as a nation in their sight. Thus says the LORD, "If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them."'"
• Isaac and Jacob - portrayed as historical men.
• How can the descendents of an imaginary man, Jacob, be as firmly established as nighttime and daytime?
• Why would the descendents of an imaginary Jacob be identified alongside those of a real King David, who is identified as the forefather of Christ (Branch of David)?
• Why would the name of an imaginary man, Isaac, be placed between those of two historical men, Abraham and Jacob?
• Amos 5:4-6, "For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel,
              'Seek Me that you may live.
        But do not resort to Bethel [Judges 1:22]
              And do not come to Gilgal [I Samuel 11:14-15],
              Nor cross over to Beersheba [II Chronicles 19:4];
              For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity
              And Bethel will come to trouble.
        Seek the LORD that you may live,
              Or He will break forth like a fire, O house of Joseph,
              And it will consume with none to quench it for Bethel . . .'"
• Jacob and Joseph - portrayed as a historical men.
• Why say "house of Israel" if Israel/Jacob was an imaginary man?
• Why say "house of Joseph" if Joseph was an imaginary man?
• How could the descendents of an imaginary man Joseph live in real cities and later be taken into captivity?

New Testament: (this is getting a little long, so I'll postpone the New Testament verses)