Day 66: Joshua 13, 14 and 15

There are still very large areas of land to be taken over. (Joshua 13:1)

Sometimes we get the idea that Israel marched into the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership, and that all their enemies surrendered when the walls of Jericho came a-tumblin’ down. The truth is it was a little more complicated than that. The previous chapters outlined the three military campaigns led by Joshua in Canaan. This passage makes it clear there was still work to be done.

Notice the division of land. God didn't say, Well, I was going to give you this land, but you didn't conquer it, so now your inheritance will have to be much smaller. No, the division of land went on as planned, even for land that hadn't yet been conquered. God gave them the land. Next step? Take it.

Most responsible preachers try to stay away from allegorical interpretations of Scripture, so I'm not saying God orchestrated this gradual assimilation of Canaan to Israeli control to show how our spiritual life works. On the other hand, I can't overlook the obvious similarities. Show me someone who has set their goals in life and achieved every single one according to a pre-planned time table, and I'll show you an anomaly - an outlier. Most of us have starts and stops in our forward progress. Israel's ongoing battle to take the land God had already given them illustrates the point.

Does your reach exceed your grasp? What victories are still ahead of you?

Day 65: Joshua 10, 11 and 12

It was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy. (Joshua 11:20)

In John 14:9 we read the words of Jesus: Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. In times past, some people believed the God of the New Testament (Jesus) must be different from and superior to the god of the Old Testament. Jesus was trying to teach us that what we saw in him was what we got in God - they were one and the same (or three-in-one and the same).

I think most biblical scholars and theologians today would prefer to believe that the Old Testament understanding of God was probably immature, needing development. The biblical concept of herem is that God commanded Joshua to totally destroy the inhabitants of Canaan. Some thinkers are questioning if God would do that.

If you want to read more about this, try Greg Boyd's blog Christus Victor. Search for two specific articles that address the concept of violence in the Old Testament: Shedding Light On the Dark Side of God and The Command to Utterly Destroy. Or go to his blog and type herem in the search window. He dedicated a lot of print space to the subject in 2008.

That 6^th Commandment sure throws a wrench in the works, doesn’t it?

Do you ever have difficulty reconciling the violence of the Old Testament with the Jesus of the New Testament?

Day 64: Joshua 7, 8 and 9

Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them. (Joshua 9:16)

Here is the story of the Gibeonite deception. The Israelites, under Joshua’s leadership, were taking Canaan city by city. Whether it was primarily a military conquest, a simple process of assimilating into Canaanite culture, or a mixture of the two is debated by Old Testament scholars. Nevertheless, knowing it was just a matter of time before their number came up, and in order to spare their own lives, the Gibeonites dressed in old clothes and disguised their belongings to make them appear as if they had traveled a long distance. They came before Joshua, misrepresented themselves, and negotiated a peace treaty with Israel.

Had Joshua known they were Canaanites, he would have been compelled to destroy them. Only after he covenanted with them to spare their lives did he find out they had deceived him and were really neighbors. When Joshua learned the truth, it was too late. He had given his word and refused to go back on it, but he did press the people of Gibeon into forced servitude, in which they would perform menial and difficult labor.

From Joshua and the Gibeonites we learn two valuable lessons: First, another’s deception does not legitimize dishonorable behavior on our part. Second, it’s never a good idea to sign a contract without reading the fine print.

Have you ever committed to something without getting all the facts first?

Day 63: Joshua 4, 5 and 6

Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. (Joshua 5:9)

Upon crossing the Jordan and before engaging the city of Jericho in battle, the Israelites renewed their covenant with Yahweh. In taking inventory, they realized the men who marched out of Egypt forty years previous had been circumcised at Sinai, but those born in the desert remained uncircumcised. At Gilgal, the people circumcised the sons of those who had perished in the wilderness.

In Genesis, to avenge their sister Dinah, Jacob’s sons tricked the men of Shechem into circumcising themselves. While they were unable to defend themselves, the brothers swooped into town and killed everyone. Joshua’s obedience in having his men circumcised is even more striking when we consider his army’s back was against the river, and they were helpless in enemy territory.

The writer records these words as spoken to them by God: Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. Gilgal means “rolled away.”

Isn’t it good to know that God wants to roll away our reproach? Whatever baggage we have been carrying from our past, whatever dirt we’ve picked up walking through life, God doesn’t want those things to stick to us. He wants to free us of those things that might trip us up, tie us to the past, or hold us back from moving forward into our future and his purpose for our lives.

Are you holding on to baggage God has determined to roll away?

Day 62: Joshua 1, 2 and 3

You have never been this way before. (Joshua 3:4)

In Chapter 3, Joshua encourages the Israelites to follow the Ark of the Covenant as they cross the Jordan, for they are about to go where no man has gone before... well, at least where no Israelite had gone in the last 400 years.

The problem was they didn’t know where they were going. This was terra incognita. With no GPS (not even a map), they were going to need some help getting where they wanted to go.

Joshua gave them good advice: When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go… (3:3-4). This was more than just good common sense. True, being carried on poles, the ark’s elevation would make it easy to see. But more to the point, God would lead the way.

In the case of Israel, the nation had followed Moses and now they were following Joshua. Joshua was following God, and they were to follow Joshua. Or as the Apostle Paul would say more than a thousand years later: Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Trust God to raise up a leader, and then follow that leader.

Every day is new territory. You have never been this way before.

How are you trusting God to guide you into uncharted territory?

Day 61: Deuteronomy 31, 32, 33 and 34

Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. (Deuteronomy 34:5)

Congratulations on reading through the Pentateuch - the Books of Moses. Although nowhere in these five books is it claimed that all these words were penned by Moses, because they are called the Books of Moses there are those who would fight anyone who suggested that maybe Moses didn't write them. Most scholars would agree that these books are the product of several oral traditions and, once written down, subject to several revisions before coming to their final form sometime in the 6th century B.C.

So how did Moses report the details of his own death? Regarding the above verse there are basically three schools of thought. 1) Moses knew he was going to die and wrote these paragraphs prophetically; 2) Moses wrote the rest of the Pentateuch and someone else scribbled these few verses at the end; or 3) what I said in the preceding paragraph.

The idea that Moses wrote these books is merely a matter of tradition, and in no way does it impact our relationship with God either way. The authoritative word of God is not threatened by asking questions. God can take it. He has big shoulders. The Bible can take it. How could I stake my life, both abundant and eternal, on it, if it couldn’t?

You’ve reached a milestone. You've read the Pentateuch; most people have not. You're the expert now, so what do you think?

Day 60: Deuteronomy 28, 29 and 30

Love the Lord your God, ...walk in his ways, and . . . keep his commands, decrees and laws. (Deuteronomy 30:16)

Chapter 30 is where the Deuteronomic Covenant comes to a head. The basic idea is that those who do right will be blessed while those who do wrong will be cursed. The rewards for compliance and the consequences for disobedience have been spelled out, and Moses asks for a decision. Choose life.

It would be easy to suppose that Moses’ words in verse 16 are ordered in an arbitrary manner. In math it would be called the commutative property: a + b = b + a. That works with addition, but not in growing a relationship with God. The sequence in which Moses’ words are delivered is by no means coincidental, but deliberate. Legalism begins with summoning up the strength to keep a list of rules (commands, decrees and laws), thinking this is how we walk in God's ways, and that somehow through this we'll learn to love him. Holiness, on the other hand, begins with a heartfelt love for God, which can only be satisfied by walking with him. And if we walk with him, keeping his commands, decrees and laws will come naturally.

So what sounds better: struggling to follow a list of rules and regulations and seeing how far that gets you? Or falling in love with God and seeing where that leads?

What will you choose?