MARCH 6 JOSHUA 18-21

Joshua 18-21

Why name a church Shiloh United Methodist Church or Shiloh Baptist Church?

Joshua 18 begins with an assembly at Shiloh, where the “tent of meeting” had been set up. This is only the second time we see the word, Shiloh, in scripture, the first being Genesis 49:10, as Jacob was pronouncing a blessing on Judah.  Of Jacob’s 12 sons, Judah, the fourth, was chosen as the one through whom the Messiah would come.   Jacob said: The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come.  The NIV makes it more understandable: the scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs.  In other words, Judah’s house shall reign until the Messiah comes. 

If this interpretation is correct, to say Shiloh United Methodist Church is synonymous with saying Christ United Methodist Church.

This makes the gathering of the tribes at Shiloh a gathering of hope. There, the remaining tribes receive their inheritance, their allotments of land (Joshua 18-19); there the six cities of refuge are named (Joshua 20); and there the Levites’ cities and pasturelands are designated (Joshua 21). You see, the Promised Land divvied up at Shiloh was a down-payment on the rest of the promise, which included the Messiah! And the “cities of refuge” in Joshua 21 are themselves a picture of God as our refuge!

Until tomorrow,
Pastor Gary