Days 68&69: Joshua 7-14

The Israelites have defeated Jericho and now they are to move on into the land and start taking it over. Not just that, but they were to destroy everything and kill every living thing. These were their instructions. This was the way God was planning to punish the people living there for their evil and barbaric ways. Ok...while it seems sort of savage to me, I get it. But before they really get started we read these words:

But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the LORD’s anger burned against Israel. (7:1)

Now, God is not only angry at the pagan people the Israelites are supposed to destroy, He's angry at His own people, too. This sin of Achan was costly. According to what we read in the rest of chapter 7 it was holding the entire nation back from being able to accomplish what God had instructed them to do. So after a process of sifting through the entire nation if Israel they finally discover, with God's leading, who the culprit was. God wants this dealt with. The people follow His instructions. What was Achan's punishment? Here  it is:

   Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The LORD will bring trouble on you today.”
   Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since. (7:24-26)

I have to say, if I'm being honest, that this makes me extremely uncomfortable. It raises a lot of questions in my mind. I understand that God expects His people to live exemplary lives...but does this punishment really fit the crime? What did Achan's sons and daughters have to do with it? The cattle and donkeys and sheep...really? And even Achan himself? Doesn't he get a chance to repent and do better next time? Maybe some time banned from the camp or some time in servitude...but death? As far as we know (which I admit, isn't very far) this was a first offense. Were there NO second chances? I accept the fact that God doesn't need to answer to me and my fallen sense of right and wrong but there are times when I realize that I have a lot to learn about God and how He is both a God of justice and grace.

On a completely different subject...I have to say that, over the past couple of years I suppose, I've been trying to deal with the whole concept of getting old...and what that means. It is absolutely true that it isn't until you've lived a LOT of years that you sense how truly brief this life is. The first verse of chapter 13 hit me like a ton of bricks this morning:

When Joshua had grown old, the LORD said to him, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over." (13:1)

Wow. When I was younger, that verse sounded different. Then it seemed to speak of a lack of obedience to take all the land. Now it speaks to me of how quickly a life can slip by before we accomplish all that God may have in mind for us. I don't think Joshua really stopped being a faithful and obedient servant of God. I think maybe he just sort of got distracted. They had taken a LOT of the land. The nation was being established and stuff had to be done. Details had to be attended to. But the land was still out there...waiting.

I pray that I keep my mind and heart on the big picture. How sad it would be if one day God said to me, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over."

Caleb! Now there's a guy who aged well...and was ready to keep "taking the land":

“Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” (14:10-12)

Days 66&67: Joshua 1-6, Psalm 105

The theme of the first part of Joshua could be summed up in this verse:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)

I love that verse. How reassuring to know that God is with us no matter what! It makes me think of the promise Jesus makes before he ascends into heaven:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)

In each case the promise is given right after the task is assigned. In Joshua the task is to take the land...and obey God's word. In Matthew the task is to make disciples. It sounds to me like the promise is contingent on our faithfulness to the task.

He remembers his covenant forever,
   the promise he made, for a thousand generations. (Psalm 105:8)

May we be as faithful remembering our part of the covenant.

Days 64&65: Deuteronomy 28-34

In chapter 28 Moses lays out the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience. I think it's interesting that there are almost exactly 3 times as many verses devoted to the curses as there are to the blessings. I'm not sure what it means, but I think it's interesting.

I also think it's interesting that when God really wants the people to know and remember something he teaches them a song:

“Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them. When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. And when many disasters and calamities come on them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites. (31:19-22)

The text of this song is basically all of chapter 32...and I have to say it's not real catchy. It's a bit of a downer. It starts off ok...

I will proclaim the name of the LORD.
   Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
   and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
   upright and just is he. (32:3-4)

But the very next 2 verses are...

They are corrupt and not his children;
   to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.
Is this the way you repay the LORD,
   you foolish and unwise people? (32:5-6)

God's purpose for teaching them this song is intriguing. He says:

Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them.(32:19)

Wow. When we sing together in our worship services we do it for the purpose of giving God pleasure...by expressing our heart's adoration and longing for God. I wonder, though...if what we sing is only a show...if we sing of a commitment that isn't real...if our song expresses worship but our lives don't...I wonder...is our song a witness for God or a witness against us?

Deuteronomy closes with the death of Moses. It's very sad to me. He gets to see the beauty of the promised land with his eyes but he doesn't get to go in. However, Moses was indeed a great man. The closing words of Deuteronomy are amazing to me. Consider that this is written in the Bible...handed down for generations and thousands of years..and consider how many millions of people have read and will read this...

Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. (34:10-12)

Indeed.

Days 62&63: Deuteronomy 20-27

God, through Moses, gives the people these instructions before they cross the Jordan into the land that has been promised to them since the time of Abraham:

...in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you. Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God. (20:16-18)

Of course, this is exactly what happens. God is always way more ruthless about getting rid of sin and evil than we are. We even see this in Jesus' teachings when he says that if our eye causes us to sin it would be better to pluck it out.

I was also interested in the instructions God gives concerning the use of the tithe after it was given:

When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. (26:12)

I had always thought that the tithe was to be used by the Levites (the priests) for their support and for the support and maintenance of the place of worship...but it wasn't just for them...it was for anyone who has need...even the foreigner.

Day 61: Deuteronomy 16-19

These chapters contain more recap of Israelite history, laws and rules for them to follow and exhortation to stay obedient to God. Moses is going over it and over it,

Sandwiched in here, though, is a short section about the possibility of an Israelite king. This subject has never come up before and I'm not exactly sure why it comes up now. If the people have been talking about wanting a king it hasn't come up in the narrative. Later on when the time comes God makes it clear that He didn't want them to have a king...that He was to be their king. Yet here it is in Moses' address to the people. It almost seems prophetic, in a negative way, because all the things that Moses says about what the king should be and do get broken by most of the kings they have. Here's what he says:

When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” be sure to appoint over you a king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel. (17:14-20)

I don't think they ever chose a foreigner for a king but Solomon alone disobeyed most of the rest of this.

Day 60: Deuteronomy 12-15

Moses final speech continues. God seems to be very serious about eliminating the worship of any other god. He expects them to be ruthless about eliminating the source of any temptation along those lines.

If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them. You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again. (13:6-11)

Zero tolerance. If it's your relative He expects you to be the one to take care of it. I wonder if these verses were ever put into practice at all? I don't recall reading anywhere in scripture about anyone actually doing this. I'm not sure what to make of this.

I'm also not sure what to make of this...

However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. (15:4-5)

Then just a few verses later he says:

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land. (15:11)

The first passage does have a conditional statement: "...if only you fully obey the LORD your God..." Is it possible he's simply assuming that isn't going to happen? Maybe there's something else I'm missing here.

One thing is for sure...God expects us to take care of the poor among us.

Days 58&59: Deuteronomy 4-11

Moses continues his final (and lengthy) address to the people. Honestly, it seems a bit repetitious. He hits the same themes so many times I can't help but visualize the people getting a bit impatient (like me), but yet trying not to let it show because they want to give him the respect that his age and experience merit. I suppose it's about time they showed him some respect.

Anyway, what he is saying is obviously important to him...and I would say that it's important to God as well...that's why he keeps harping on it. He wants to make sure they get it. There seem to be 2 main themes:

1. Don't forget what God has done in the past.
2. Don't forget to obey Him now & in the future.

Actually, I suppose there's one more thing that seems to come up a time or two. He wants to make sure they understand that all of the good things God has done for them and will be doing for them are in no way deserved by them. Check these verses:

You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. (8:17-18)

After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is going to drive them out before you...Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.  (9:4-6)

See what I mean? Sometimes I think this may be our biggest problem today. I think this may be at the root of why Christians have gotten the reputation of being judgmental instead of compassionate. I think it may be a factor in why some people get a little uncomfortable when some of "those" people (whatever their definition of "those" is) start getting involved in "their" church. It may even be at the root of why so few people feel compelled to share the gospel with the lost. We start to think we deserve all the blessings God has bestowed.

I don't think we would ever say that but I admit that sometimes, deep down in my heart of hearts, I think I have a bit of an edge on some people. After all, I've been in some sort of relationship with God and His church for as long as I can remember. I was raised in a Christian home with parents who have been married 59 years as of this year. I, myself have been married to only one woman for almost 37 years. I'm a good guy. I've never smoked, drank (too excess) or chewed or hung around with girls who do. Surely, I deserve God's blessing...right? I won't list my sins here for all the world to see (or the 3 people who might read this blog post) but suffice it to say that they are many. True, they may not be as numerous or as grievous as some other people, but there are plenty. There's no reason for us to think that we deserve anything from God other than condemnation. We don't. I don't.

We should "...understand, then, that it is not because of [our] righteousness that the LORD [our] God is giving [us] this good land to possess, for [we] are a stiff-necked people."

On a completely different note...I am struck with how many times Moses has said something like, "But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the LORD has done." (11:7) I think Moses must be getting old, or living in the past because if I understand this correctly none of these people saw any of the stuff he's been talking about. That generation is all gone. But they have no doubt heard the stories so much they probably fell like they were there. I'm sure there's a good explanation for this but I find it interesting.