Ed—A Stone of Witness
~I would die for a pan of good biscuits.~
I like good biscuits, and apparently so did the speaker of that sentence, but...
As much as I like certain things I'm pretty sure there aren't a lot of things in that manner at least, that I would 'die' for.
Figures of speech, cliche's. We're inundated with them and we understand most all of them. Some of them are Biblical such as, 'apple of my eye', 'cleft of the rock', 'as a ring of gold in a swine's snout'.
As I do my daily Bible reading I come across interesting phrases. As I shared several posts ago, Ebenezer comes from (I Samuel 7:12) Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath Jehovah helped us.
There are a number of these jewels scattered through scriptures: Joshua 22:12—
Joshua 22:12 "And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up against them to war."
The whole ten tribes of the children of Israel are ready to go to war against the two and a half tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half tribe of Manasseh because of a copy of an altar the latter had made. Then after the ten tribes have sent a delegation of princes and priests up to ask about it, the answer defuses the situation:
22:22 "The Mighty One, God, Jehovah, the Mighty One, God, Jehovah, he knoweth; and Israel he shall know: if it be in rebellion, or if in trespass against Jehovah (save thou us not this day,) 22:23 that we have built us an altar to turn away from following Jehovah; or if to offer thereon burnt-offering or meal-offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace-offerings thereon, let Jehovah himself require it;
22:24 and if we have not rather out of carefulness done this, and of purpose, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with Jehovah, the God of Israel? 22:25 for Jehovah hath made the Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no portion in Jehovah: so might your children make our children cease from fearing Jehovah.
22:26 Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice:
22:27 but it shall be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may do the service of Jehovah before him with our burnt-offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no portion in Jehovah. 22:33 And the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God, and spake no more of going up against them to war, to destroy the land wherein the children of Reuben and the children of Gad dwelt. 22:34 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: For, said they, it is a witness between us that Jehovah is God."
