I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 23-24.

    When Joshua realized he was nearing the ned of his days he called the people of Israel together for one final admonishment/encouragement. Joshua reminded them of all the things God had done for them as they served Him and warned them against turning to other gods. He pointedly told them that they had to choose what gods they would serve. They could choose to serve the gods of the peoples who lived near the Euphrates, the gods of Egypt, or the gods of the people living in the land they had just conquered. Or they could choose to worship God alone, but if they chose God, they could serve only Him. This is a key message which people forget time and again. People repeatedly try to say that one can choose to follow Christ and take bits from other religions and follow those as well, but God makes it clear time and again, You must choose either to serve Him alone, or to serve those other gods. Other gods accept what portion of your worship and service they can get, but God demands all of it.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 21-22.

    The writer finishes describing the land allotment by listing the cities which were given to the various clans of the tribe of Levi. This description tells us how the Levites and the priests were more or less evenly distributed among the rest of the tribes. Then having completed the distribution of the land, Joshua sent the warriors from the tribes whose land was east of the Jordan River home. There are some interesting lessons we can learn from what happened next. On their way home, but before they crossed the Jordan, the tribes whose land was east of the Jordan built an altar which was a copy of the one Joshua had built on Mt Ebal. When the other tribes heard about it they thought that the eastern tribes had set it up as an alternative to the altar at Mt Ebal. If this interpretation of the purpose of the altar was correct, it would have been in direct violation of God’s commands regarding altars (it probably would have also represented the eastern tribes setting themselves up as a separate nation, with a separate god). So, the other tribes prepared to go to war with the eastern tribes. However, before they actually went to war they did something we can learn from. They sent a delegation to the eastern tribes in order to find out what they thought they were doing, and to offer a solution which did not require war. When they learned the reason the eastern tribes built the altar, they were satisfied that war was not necessary. That reason brings us to another lesson, the eastern tribes had built the altar as a memorial to remind their descendants, and the descendants of the western tribes, that the eastern and western tribes were the same nation, the same people, and had equal claim in the worship of God. There is value in building monuments and memorials. They serve as reminders to those who come later of who we are, what our values are, and the lessons we have learned.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 18-20.

    Today’s passage gives us an interesting insight into how the allocation of land occurred. Seven tribes have yet to have land allocated to them at this point and Joshua admonished them for their failure to claim their land. Joshua then lays out a plan for them to divide the remaining land among them. We learn from this that, while they got approval from Joshua and through him from God, the tribes of Judah, Ephraim, Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad received the land they did because they went out and conquered it. The other tribes had to settle for dividing what was left because they did not take the initiative to go out and conquer the land they desired. Of course, what I just wrote is an oversimplification, because we are told that the tribe of Simeon was given a portion of the land originally given to the tribe of Judah. What does this mean? I am not completely sure. However, my interpretation is that despite getting a choice portion of land because they took the initiative to conquer it, when the leadership of the Children of Israel reviewed the division of the land they realized that the tribe of Judah had bitten off more than they could chew and slotted some of the land initially claimed by Judah to the tribe of Simeon.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 15-17.

    Having started the story about Caleb’s request for an allotment of land the writer resumes describing the boundaries of the land assigned to each of the tribes. However, he is not done telling us about Caleb’s conquest of his land and tells a story about Caleb’s daughter. I am not sure of any lesson for us from this, except for the fact that while Caleb gave some of the land to his son-in-law it was his daughter he got him to give her (and therefore her husband) additional land to make it a truly viable territory. We are also told that the tribe of Judah failed to drive the Jebusites out of Jerusalem. The next tribes whose land allotment was described were Ephraim and West Manasseh (the other half of the tribe having been settled east of the Jordan). These accounts overlap with the earlier stories of Joshua conquering the southern and northern portions of the land. The earlier account gives the impression (I do not believe the writer necessarily intended to do so) that Joshua had completely wiped out the peoples living in the land he conquered. The description of the land allotments to the various tribes shows that was not the case. Some of the people were too strongly established for the Israelites to overcome at this time. This failure to completely control the territory which they settled sets the stage for much of what happened in the Book of Judges.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 12-14.

    Today’s passage summarizes the land which the Israelites gained control over as they ended their days as nomads. Perhaps I am reading too much into this, but it appears to me that the writer of the Book of Joshua perceived the Israelites as having been nomads from the time of Abraham until they defeated King Sihon east of the Jordan. At that point, they began to take ownership of land more than a burial plot. Even during their days in Egypt they viewed themselves as nomads. No longer. The writer lists the kings whom the Israelites had conquered, then lists the land which he considered to be part of Israel which had not been conquered as of Joshua’s death. Finally he begins describing the boundaries of the land assigned to each of the tribes.

    Once the writer described the boundaries of the land east of the Jordan the writer makes a slight detour and tells the story of the tribe of Judah conquering the land assigned to them. In particular he describes the story of Caleb claiming his land. Caleb, was along with Joshua, one of the twelve spies who spied out the land before their generation became too frightened to begin the invasion. Caleb is now an old man, but claims that he is still strong enough to conquer those living on the land promised to him and take possession of it. He credits remaining alive and strong when all of his peers (except Joshua) had died to God’s grace. Despite being forty plus years older than when he scouted out the land, Caleb is still confident that, if God is with him, he can defeat those who stand in his way. Let us follow Caleb’s example. No matter how old, or young, we are, we are capable, with God’s aid, of carrying out the mission which he has assigned us. We may have “one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel” but we can be sure that if we are following God’s direction and are depending on His strength we will accomplish the tasks He has set before us. The same is true of us who are still “wet behind the ears” as well. Just put your trust in God, do as He commands, and you will not fail.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 10-11.

    When the king of Jerusalem learned that the Gibeonites had allied with the Children of Israel he formed an alliance with four other kings and attacked Gibeon. Joshua came to the relief of Gibeon and completely defeated the armies laying siege to it. Those armies fled, but the Israelites were able to kill all but a remnant which managed to get back inside their fortified towns. After killing the kings which had led these armies, Joshua had the Israelites regroup to their camp. From there he launched a campaign against the cities from which these armies had come. Except that the passage does not mention Joshua attacking Jerusalem, which is consistent with later Biblical accounts that Jerusalem was not controlled by the Israelites until David conquered it. When the kings in the Northern portion of the Promised Land heard what Joshua and the Israelites had done in the South, they gathered the armies and confronted the Israelites. The Northern kings fell to the same fate as the Southern kings. Of particular note is that when Joshua defeated the Northern kings, he crippled the horses and destroyed their chariots. What makes this noteworthy is what it tells us about the organization of the Israelite military. In order to use chariots effectively the soldiers who used them needed to spend enough time training with them that they did not have time to do anything else. The destruction of the chariots and the crippling of the horses tells us that the Israelites did not have a “professional” army which spent all of its time under arms and training. Such an army could be used to impose the ruler’s will over the people. Without such an army, whoever led the people was reliant on the support of the common man.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 8-9.

    The second attack on Ai gives us an insight into Joshua as a military commander. Despite the initial loss being attributed to God’s judgment over the sin of Achan, Joshua chose not only to take the entire Israelite army this time, but set up an ambush as well. His plan, which worked to perfection, was to draw all of the defenders out of the city by having his main force appear to be routed. Meanwhile, a force of 30,000, who had camped on the other side of Ai the night before attacked the city and a force of 5,000, sent out during the night, positioned themselves between the army of Ai and the city (at least, that is the way I read it).

    The second part of today’s passage recounts how the Gibeonites tricked the Israelites into making a treaty with them. We should take note of chapter 9 verse 14: “So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord.” The Israelites failure was not that they applied reason in their attempt to verify the Gibeonites story of being from a distant land. Their failure was in not relying on God to direct their reasoning. We need to use our reasoning, but still turn to God for guidance. If we seek God’s guidance He will show us the flaws in our reasoning and help us reach the correct conclusion.