We are in chapter thirty-three of Exodus with our word for today. יְבוּסִי Jebusite, Jebusites. It is used 41 times in the Old Testament. Our word is used to describe a nation of people. They live in the hill country. Numbers 13:29 The Hittites, וְהַיְבוּסִ֤י the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. Joshua 11:3 וְהַיְבוּסִ֖י and the Jebusites in the hill country. They lived in the original city of Jerusalem before God’s people came and occupied the land. Joshua 15:8, 63 Then the boundary goes up by the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the southern shoulder of הַיְבוּסִי֙ the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem) … But הַיְבוּסִי֙ the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out, so הַיְבוּסִ֜י the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day (Joshua 18:21, 28). Once the tribe of Benjamin occupied Jerusalem we find both groups living together (Judges 1:21). Later we see King David fighting against them. 2 Samuel 5:5-7 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against הַיְבֻסִ֖י the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. When David had sinned and God was caring out the consequences of that sin the angel stopped his destruction on the land of the owner who was from this nation. 2 Samuel 24:16, 18 And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah הַיְבֻסִֽי the Jebusite. This same place was where Solomon built the temple. It was over the threshing floor whose owner was from this nation. 2 Chronicles 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan הַיְבוּסִֽי the Jebusite. Our word is used most often to identify one of the nations on the list that lived in the land God promised his people. It is in the list when God first made this promise to Abraham (Genesis 15:18-20). This is how our word is used in our chapter today. Exodus 33:2 I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, וְהַיְבוּסִֽי and the Jebusites. We later see Joshua refer back to this promise before leading the people into the land. Joshua 3:10-13 And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, וְהַיְבוּסִֽי and the Jebusites. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.” God demonstrated his power with this miracle to confirm that what he said was true and would happen. Today for those of us who are in Christ our miracle is the resurrection of Christ from the dead. This once and for all demonstrates God’s power to accomplish what he said he would do. I’ll close with this great passage. 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time … Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
