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Psalm 78:9a "The children of Ephraim..."

Day 111 – Psalm 78

“The children of Ephraim…” Psalm 78:9a

STRONG REASONS

Asaph had strong reasons to be deeply committed to the ministry of teaching the Word of God. The following text is the commencement of a series of candid historical observations about the nation of Israel.

“The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,
Turned back in the day of battle.”
Psalm 78:9

1. “The children of Ephraim”

a) This could be an actual specific reference to the tribe of Ephraim.

b) However, Ephraim could also be used as a reference to Israel.

c) The latter is probably the case.

i) Hosea used the terms “Ephraim” and “Israel” synonymously (Hosea 7:1; 11:1-3).

ii) The overall context of Psalm 78 would be more relevant to Israel as a nation.

iii) If the reference was limited only to Ephraim, the significance would be muted.

2. “Being armed and carrying bows”

a) Which historical period is being described here?

b) It has to be a very significant period of time in the history of Israel.

c) This was Israel on a war footing.

d) The most likely period would be Israel on the verge of entering Canaan.

e) Israel was ready to possess the Promised Land (Numbers 13-14).

3. “Turned back in the day of battle”

a) The twelve spies had done a reconnoiter of Canaan.

b) Two spies (Joshua and Caleb) encouraged the nation to enter into Canaan.

c) However the ten spies disagreed strongly. They managed to persuade Israel not to make any attempt to conquer Canaan.

d) Sadly the nation of Israel agreed and they “turned back in the day of battle”.

They paid a high price for their cowardice and unbelief (Deuteronomy 1:26-33).