Today I wanna share something I believe is quite mind-blowing to say the least.
Take a look at verse 6 of Joshua Chapter 5 and note the word I have colored in red.
“…because the people of Israel walked forty years in the desert until the whole nation, that is, the fighting men who had left Egypt, had died out; because they had not heeded what Adonai said. Adonai had sworn that he would not allow them to see the land which Adonai swore to their ancestors that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.“-Joshua 5:6
Next take a look at verse 4 of Joshua Chapter 5 and again note the word I have colored in red.
“The reason Y’hoshua circumcised was that all the people who had left Egypt who were males, all the fighting men, had died in the desert along the way after leaving Egypt.”
“Okay Rich? What’s the big deal?”…
…is what you’re probably thinking, right?
Well homie, it IS a big deal and let me tell you why.
The original Hebrew word being used for “people” in verse 4 and verse 6 is different.
That’s right.
In verse 4, the Hebrew term being used is AM.
What does AM mean?
Technically speaking, the word AM can mean “people” in a very general sense.
However, in the Bible AM has a very special meaning.
It is a term used to refer to that people group especially chosen by God.
It is a term of affection and in the Scriptures is ONLY applied to God’s chosen people as a way to express the close relationship between Hashem and those He has called to be in intimate fellowship with Him.
Onward in verse 6, the Hebrew word being used for “people” is GOY.
If you’ve been studying together with me for any length of time, I’m pretty sure you’re familiar with that word.
In a general sense, GOY can mean “people” or “nation” but that ain’t the Scriptural definition of this word.
In the Scriptures, GOY means gentiles or heathens who do NOT know Hashem nor are they in a relationship with Him.
It refers to non-Hebrews.
Now ain’t this interesting as all heck?
Within the same paragraph in Joshua Chapter 5, we’ve got two different Hebrew terms being applied to the SAME group of people, namely the Israelites who died out in the wilderness.
So what’s my point?
My point is that in the original Hebrew, an important status change is being communicated that is concealed in our English Bibles.
In God’s eyes, we’re being told that the 1st generation of Hebrews underwent a status change from AM to GOY…
..or from being God’s people to not being God’s people.
To use modern terminology, they started off as Jews but later came to be seen as gentiles by the Lord.
The theological implications of this are nothing less than incredible…
…which we’ll talk more about the next time we meet.
Leave a Reply