Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 5-7.

I was debating on whether to write about the circumcision of the Israelites born in the wilderness, or the keeping of the promise made by the spies to Rahab, or perhaps about Achan’s sin.  Then I read the short part where Joshua encountered the Commander of the army of the Lord.  When Joshua saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword, he asked if the man if he was for them or for their enemies.  The man replied, “Neither, but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”  This is an important statement.  It reminds me of a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln (but there is no documentation that Lincoln ever said it),  “My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”  When we find ourselves in conflict with others, God is not on our side, nor is He on our opponents side.  We should seek to determine what God’s side is and then take that.  In this case, the Commander of the Lord’s army came to Joshua and told him what the Israelites needed to do in order to be on God’s side.  If we seek to know God’s side, He will reveal it to us.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 1-4.

When Joshua took over leading the Israelites, God told him to be strong and courageous.  God said that he should not fear that the task God was giving him was too big for him, He (God) would be with him (Joshua).  God told Joshua to follow the commands He had given Moses and not turn aside.  He should not become discouraged when the results of following God’s commands did not turn out as he anticipated, for God would be with him.  God would not leave him nor forsake him, but would be with him wherever he should go.  That same promise extends to us.  Then, when Joshua reminded the tribes which wished to settle east of the Jordan River of their commitment to send their warriors to aid the rest of the Israelites, they replied that they would follow him.  They just asked that he be strong and courageous.  There is an important lesson for us here.  God will not leave us nor forsake us, and others will follow our lead in doing God’s will, as long as we are strong and courageous.

Next we have the story of Rahab and the spies.  My first thought about this story is that we never really find out what role the spies played in the plans of conquest.  However, the important thing I get from the story is that Rahab began taking action to help the spies before the king began looking for them.  It appears that she chose to aid them from the moment they appeared at her door.  She had heard what God had done for the Israelites and chose to throw in her lot with them.  This story is an important clarification of the commands God had given the Israelites to not partner with or make treaties with the people of the land.  Rahab was choosing the leave the people into which she had been born and join with the people of God, the Israelites.  In the same way, we should welcome with open arms anyone who wishes to leave their lives among the “heathen” and join themselves to the people of God by fully and solely worshiping God.  Rahab gives us an example of someone who was not a leader following God’s command to be strong and courageous.

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