December 18, 2009 (Joshua 16-24)

Joshua chapters 16-21 is all pretty much about the land being conquered and allocated to the different tribes. At the end of this section was the verse "None of their enemies could stand against them, for the Lord helped them conquer all their enemies. All of the good promises that the Lord had given Israel came true."

After that Joshua called all the people together and said this to them:

^{Joshua 22:1} Then Joshua called together the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. ² He told them, “You have done as Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, and you have obeyed every order I have given you. ³ During all this time you have not deserted the other tribes. You have been careful to obey the commands of the Lord your God right up to the present day. ⁴ And now the Lord your God has given the other tribes rest, as he promised them. So go back home to the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you as your possession on the east side of the Jordan River. ⁵ But be very careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave to you. Love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.” ⁶ So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went home.

The thing that struck me about this was that they were "so good". They obeyed "every order". I was trying to figure out why? Maybe it's for two reasons. (1.) They had a job to do and so it kept them out of trouble. (2.) They had seen the punishment that God had inflicted upon their disobedience in the past, and it made them want to walk in obedience.

Joshua chapter 22 tells of how the people who were given land west of the Jordan river built an altar there. The people who had settled east of the Jordan river "freaked out" when they found out. They went to confront them as to why they built an altar other than the one "true" altar. As they confronted them, they recounted all the times they had sinned in the past and how God had killed so many because of that. And they didn't want that to happen again. The people in the west explained that they were not going to use it for sacrifices, but as a memorial to remind the people that even though a river separated them, they had a right to worship at the true altar. God's punishment in the past definitely got their attention.

I know some may disagree with me on this following point, pointing out that God is a God of love, but I have definitely seen His hand of "punishment" at times in my life. He does that to get our attention. "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I have kept thy law." (That's somewhere in psalms...). And also: ^{Hebrews 5:7} While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. ⁸ Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. ⁹ In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him.

It's just like we, as parents, must do. If we let our children do whatever they want, with no regard for our "rules", we do them no favors. I hope Cooper learns obedience through learning to obey and be submissive to Chris and my authority. If he is not submissive to us, he will not be submissive to God.

And now we come to Joshua's final words. If I were on my death bed, my final words would be very important to me and to whom I was communicating with.

^{Joshua 23:6} “So be very careful to follow everything Moses wrote in the Book of Instruction. Do not deviate from it, turning either to the right or to the left. ⁷ Make sure you do not associate with the other people still remaining in the land. Do not even mention the names of their gods, much less swear by them or serve them or worship them. ⁸ Rather, cling tightly to the Lord your God as you have done until now.

⁹ “For the Lord has driven out great and powerful nations for you, and no one has yet been able to defeat you. ¹⁰ Each one of you will put to flight a thousand of the enemy, for the Lord your God fights for you, just as he has promised. ¹¹ So be very careful to love the Lord your God.

¹² “But if you turn away from him and cling to the customs of the survivors of these nations remaining among you, and if you intermarry with them, ¹³ then know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive them out of your land. Instead, they will be a snare and a trap to you, a whip for your backs and thorny brambles in your eyes, and you will vanish from this good land the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴ “Soon I will die, going the way of everything on earth. Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed! ¹⁵ But as surely as the Lord your God has given you the good things he promised, he will also bring disaster on you if you disobey him. He will completely destroy you from this good land he has given you. ¹⁶If you break the covenant of the Lord your God by worshiping and serving other gods, his anger will burn against you, and you will quickly vanish from the good land he has given you.”

For this next verse, I think of our military men and women fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. I know God is able to keep them safe.

¹¹ “When you crossed the Jordan River and came to Jericho, the men of Jericho fought against you... But I gave you victory over them. ¹² And I sent terror ahead of you to drive out the two kings of the Amorites. It was not your swords or bows that brought you victory.

^{And again, we come back to the "choice" question - we all have a choice to make as to whom we will serve.}

^{Joshua 24:14} “So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. ¹⁵ But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

²⁹ After this, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110. ³⁰ They buried him in the land he had been allocated, at Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

³¹ The people of Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him—those who had personally experienced all that the Lord had done for Israel.

There is something to be said about having a personal relationship with God....about personally witnessing His miracles. But what about the kids? What about those who didn't personally witness the miracles, but heard stories from their parents and grandparents? Will they take them to heart, or will they be like Thomas after Jesus' resurrection? He wouldn't believe the reports of the other apostles but said “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” And here was Jesus' response: Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!

I have a feeling I'll be coming back to this verse as I continue reading, because I'm sure there will be plenty more disobedience to follow.

December 17, 2009 (Joshua 9-15)

Even though I've read these stories before, God always uses something to remind me of how He wants me to be. I'm not sure of the struggles of others, but my prayer life is one that I continue to struggle with - having it be all it should be. We are to pray about everything. But we grow up learning to be "independent" and "self-sufficient" and that is exactly the opposite of what we are supposed to do. We are supposed to bring everything before the Lord, asking for His guidance.

God told Joshua and the Israelites to completely wipe out the people of the lands they were to occupy. The people of Gibeon heard of how the Israelites had defeated other towns and they "resorted to deception to save themselves." They put on ragged clothes and worn out sandals and brought moldy bread, making it seem as if they had come from a distant country. They said: “Your servants have come from a very distant country. We have heard of the might of the Lord your God and of all he did in Egypt. We have also heard what he did to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River. So our elders and all our people instructed us, ‘Take supplies for a long journey. Go meet with the people of Israel and tell them, “We are your servants; please make a treaty with us. This bread was hot from the ovens when we left our homes. But now, as you can see, it is dry and moldy. These wineskins were new when we filled them, but now they are old and split open. And our clothing and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.”

The next verses tell of what the leaders did, and what we so often do:

^{Joshua 9:14} So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord. ¹⁵ Then Joshua made a peace treaty with them and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath.

How often have I done the same thing? Examined something based upon how it appeared without asking God what to do. All too many times, I'm afraid.

The next section talks of a "natural phenomena" that occurred. Instead of paraphrasing, I'll just copy the story. As a side note, just before this story, it says that as the Israelites chased the enemy and "the Lord destroyed the enemy with a terrible hailstorm that killed more of the enemy than Israel killed with the sword." This is probably another natural phenomena - If you are chasing the enemy, I would think you are pretty close to them. Imagine the hailstorm not falling on you, but continuing to fall just in front of you.

¹² On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said,

“Let the sun stand still over Gibeon,
and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.”

¹³ So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies.

Is this event not recorded in The Book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and it did not set as on a normal day.¹⁴ There has never been a day like this one before or since, when the Lord answered such a prayer. Surely the Lord fought for Israel that day!

I did a google search to see if there was any record, historically, of this natural phenomena and discovered the following article. I'll let Cooper read that and let us know his thoughts...

http://brethrenassembly.com/archives/713

December 16, 2009 (Joshua 1-8)

After the death of Moses, God put Joshua in charge. After promising to be with him, here were His words to Joshua:

^{Joshua 1:8} "Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. ⁹ This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

I have to think God's words to Joshua apply to us today. The technological age has certainly helped in many areas, such as being able to communicate in war time with those thousands of miles away. But it has also served as a distraction. How many of us take God's words to Joshua to heart - to study God's word continually? To meditate on it day and night? How often do I do my "quiet time", do my blog, and then go on my merry way, not mulling over what I have just written? Not ending my day in His word again? We want to be prosperous and successful? What does God say? Only then - only if we do these things.

There were lots of other lessons learned in my reading for today, not the least of which is that our sin affects others (Achan stole things that were set apart for God, and not only did he steal them, he lied about them and went to great lengths to hide them.) Because of that sin, the Israelites were unable to defeat their enemies. Once his sin was discovered, he and his family were killed. God went to great lengths to show His people that He would not tolerate sin. I think today, we take "rely" on grace too much. Because Jesus brings freedom and grace, we don't take our "walk" seriously. We don't spend the time seeking Him and His will as we should. We live lives that aren't really that much different from anyone around us.

So again, I'll end with what I started with, and will mull this over the rest of the day and try to implement just this one concept into my life.

^{Joshua 1:8} "Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

December 15, 2009 (Deuteronomy 31-34, Psalm 91)

Moses is now 120 years old and is soon to die. In front of all the people he summons Joshua and says to him:

^{Deuteronomy 31:7} Then Moses called for Joshua, and as all Israel watched, he said to him, “Be strong and courageous! For you will lead these people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors he would give them. You are the one who will divide it among them as their grants of land. ⁸ Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

Then Moses wrote down the entire "book of the law" - all the things he had been teaching them, so that they would have those words to read and remember.

^{Deuteronomy 31:12} Call them all together—men, women, children, and the foreigners living in your towns—so they may hear this Book of Instruction and learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully obey all the terms of these instructions. ¹³ Do this so that your children who have not known these instructions will hear them and will learn to fear the Lord your God. Do this as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.”

He kind of sounded like a broken record. But it was because of the stubbornness of the people's hearts that he had to tell them the same things, over and over.

Then God steps in and tells Moses it's time for him to die, and time for Joshua to be commissioned as the new leader. He also tells them ahead of time that the people will continue in their stubborn ways. He gave Moses a song to teach the Israelites (Deuteronomy 32:1-43). This song was basically a "replay" of God's faithfulness and then a "replay" of their sin, hoping to show them one last time how their actions had led to their downfall, and how God was able to deliver them. They were to learn it by heart so that every time they heard it, it would stand as "evidence against them" - The song says: (vs. 39) "When all their strength is gone, He will proclaim "Look now; I myself am He! There is no god other than Me! I am the One who kills and gives life. I am the One who wounds and heals; no one delivers from my power!"

I found this following verse very interesting. It was to serve as encouragement to Joshua. He needed God to speak this to him. I would imagine Joshua "clung" to these words as he led the Israelites into the promised land, knowing how stubborn they were, but being reminded that God promised He would be with him:

Deuteronomy 31:²³ Then the Lord commissioned Joshua son of Nun with these words: “Be strong and courageous, for you must bring the people of Israel into the land I swore to give them. I will be with you.”

And then, Moses died. This is a reminder that God always does what He says He will do. His word is trustworthy.

^{Deuteronomy 34:5} So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, just as the Lord had said.

My reading for today finished with Psalm 91. This is what some might call "The Warriors' Psalm" and is a great psalm to pray over our deployed warriors, and for our deployed warriors to pray back to Him.

Psalm 91

¹ Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
² This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
³ For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
⁵ Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
⁶ Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
⁷ Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
⁸ Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.

⁹ If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
¹⁰ no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
¹¹ For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
¹² They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
¹³ You will trample upon lions and cobras;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

¹⁴ The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
¹⁵ When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
¹⁶ I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”

December 14, 2009 (Deuteronony 18-30)

Today's reading was concerning all kinds of "laws" - I had to read more than the scheduled reading to come up with something applicable, because verses like this didn't mean much to me:

^{Deuteronomy 25:11} “If two Israelite men get into a fight and the wife of one tries to rescue her husband by grabbing the testicles of the other man, ¹² you must cut off her hand. Show her no pity."

Remind me to never interfere in a fight Chris gets into.

So, throughout these chapters Moses is again reminding the people of God's blessing for obedience and cursing for disobedience. It's all summarized in the verses below:

^{Deuteronomy 30:11} “This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand, and it is not beyond your reach. ¹² It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ ¹³ It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ ¹⁴ No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.

¹⁵ “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. ¹⁶ For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.

¹⁷ “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, ¹⁸ then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.

¹⁹ “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! ²⁰ You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Moses gave the people a choice - (We'll see that again later, as Joshua gives them the same choice.) We today are faced with the same choice. I love how Moses put it - "You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life". When you use the key to gain entrance into a locked door, it is so much easier and leaves no damage. May we use the "key" of obedience to discover all of God's blessings behind the locked door.

December 13, 2009 (Deuteronomy 14-17)

Moses continues to give the people the laws from God. These caught my eye:

^{Deuteronomy 17:16} “The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself or send his people to Egypt to buy horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You must never return to Egypt.’ ¹⁷The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the Lord. And he must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself."


I'm curious about the first one. I'll try to remember that one as I continue reading. I'll bet you that I discover that a king does exactly that. That the horses in Egypt were better, etc., and that he sends people there to get some for him. I know the second command was broken. Solomon took many wives, and they did exactly that...turned his heart away from the Lord. Those darn women. And I would imagine the third one was broken as well, perhaps even by David. I'll watch for that as well.

And now, for the one that was probably broken that caused all the others to be broken:

^{Deuteronomy 17:18} “When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. ²⁰ This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel.

Another exhortation and reminder to daily be reading God's word. I don't think there's any way to live in obedience to Him without it. Even with daily reading, we are so quickly led astray. We need to continue to renew our minds and allow Him to change the way we think.

December 12, 2009 (Deuteronomy 9-13)

Today I read a convicting passage on not only the power of prayer, but the sacrifice needed to unleash that power. Moses had a heart for his people and was willing to go to extreme measures to stay God's hand of destruction:

^{Deuteronomy 9:18} “Then, as before, I threw myself down before the Lord for forty days and nights. I ate no bread and drank no water because of the great sin you had committed by doing what the Lord hated, provoking him to anger. ¹⁹ I feared that the furious anger of the Lord, which turned him against you, would drive him to destroy you. But again he listened to me. ²⁰ The Lord was so angry with Aaron that he wanted to destroy him, too. But I prayed for Aaron, and the Lord spared him.

Am I willing to truly fast and pray to see God's hand at work? Very convicting and motivating passage for me.

Moses again reiterated what God required of them. (I've taken some editing liberties with these verses):

^{Deuteronomy 10:12} “And now, Sandy, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. ¹³ And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.

¹⁴ “Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the Lord your God. ¹⁵ Yet the Lord chose you as the object of his love. ¹⁶ Therefore, change your heart and stop being stubborn.

¹⁷ “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed. ²⁰ You must fear the Lord your God and worship him and cling to him. ²¹ He alone is your God, the only one who is worthy of your praise, the one who has done these mighty miracles that you have seen with your own eyes.

As I read this next section, Moses did a "replay" for them of all the miracles they had witnessed; the parting of the Red Sea, water from rocks, manna from heaven, etc. I thought, humm, I want to replay all God has done for me. So I have inserted "my miracles" in place of the ones Moses used.

Deuteronomy 11:1 “You must love the Lord your God and obey all his requirements, decrees, regulations, and commands. ² Keep in mind that I am not talking now to your children, who have never experienced the discipline of the Lord your God or seen his greatness and his strong hand and powerful arm. ³ They didn’t see how God spoke to you through His word, when you had rebelled against Him and gone your own way; how He confirmed to you that "He had devised a way so that a banished person would not remain estranged from Him." ⁴ They didn’t see how God blessed your desire for a mate by providing just the right person at just the right time.

⁵ “Your children didn’t see how the Lord cared for you when you were past the child bearing years by providing a son for you. ⁶ They didn’t see how He brought you back to the area that you loved and provided a home for you. They didn't see how He healed your hand that should have been broken. They didn't see how He kept a dog safe in the Bay area after escaping from a kennel. ⁷ But you have seen the Lord perform all these mighty deeds with your own eyes!

These are just a few of the many miracles God has performed for me to see, not the least of which was the first miracle: saving my sin ridden soul and changing my life.

And then these last two passages, telling us to "cling" to Him. (Above, verse 10:20 also told us to "cling to him").

^{Deuteronomy 11:22} “Be careful to obey all the commands I give you; show love to the Lord your God by walking in his ways and clinging to him."

Deuteronomy 13:2 If they then say, ‘Come, let us worship other gods’—gods you have not known before—³ do not listen to them. The Lord your God is testing you to see if you truly love him with all your heart and soul. ⁴ Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.

It reminded me of Leroy Benson, the sea monkey that is the newest member of our family.

(Sorry if you missed the birth announcement). He was born on a filing cabinet in Iraq and was adopted by the famed "Poppy", who snatched him from a life of uncertainty to be loved by us. But due to an unfortunate circumstance in which his aquarium toppled to the floor, we thought he had died. But alas, he was found, "clinging" to the side of his aquarium, and so his life was saved! (At least for now). And so, may we be found, "clinging" to our Lord.