Tag Archives: Read the Bible in a year

Daily Bible Study

May 21, 2019 Bible Study — Confirmation of God’s Calling And Starting At the Right Place

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Judges 4-6.

We see today the theme of the Book of Judges:

  • “The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight.”
  • “So, the Lord handed them over to XXX.”
  • “Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.”
  • The Lord sent a judge to rescue them.

The wording is not always the same, but the theme repeats.  To a degree we see this same pattern occur throughout history.  One or more generations of a people live upright, moral lives.  They attain wealth, and perhaps power. Life is good for them and their children.  A succeeding generation abuses their wealth and power, does evil.  That generation and their children fall on hard times.   If those succeeding generations turn back to God, things become good once more.  If they do not, that people disappears from history.   The funny thing is how people who can see this pattern fail to learn from it.

I have always loved the story of Gideon.  He saw the situation his people were in.  He thought he knew what needed to be done and felt called by God to do it.  But he lacked confidence and asked God to provide him with confirmation of what he believed to be true.  I can relate to that about Gideon.  I struggle with having the confidence to do that to which I believe God is calling me.  This passage tells me that it is OK to ask God to give us confirmation of His calling.  We often overlook an important lesson in Gideon’s story.  Before he went to battle to relieve them from their enemies, he destroyed their idols and led them back to worshiping God.  The first step in overcoming our problems in life is twofold. Turn away from the false gods we worship, the sins we rely upon, and turn to God.  We cannot defeat our “enemies” until we faithfully serve God.

Daily Bible Study

March 20, 2019 Bible Study — As We Seek To Draw Others To God We Must Be Careful Not To Be Drawn Away

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Judges 1-3.

The Book of Judges begins with a short recount of the ending of the Book of Joshua.  This account sheds a different light on Joshua’s call to the people to choose what gods they would serve.  What we learn here is that the Israelites had failed to drive all of the people out of the land.  They had entered into agreements with some of them beyond the alliance with the Gibeonites they were tricked into.  In particular, they did not destroy the altars in the lands they conquered.  Joshua called the meeting of the Israelites in response to this situation.  The context here suggests to me that if the people of the land had given up their idolatrous gods and begun worshiping only God, there would not have been a problem with the people of Israel making alliance with them.  However, instead of this, while the people of Israel continued to worship God, as part of their alliances with the people of the land they also began to worship their gods.  At the final convocation called by Joshua, the people of Israel rededicated themselves to worshiping God, but when Joshua died a short time later they returned to worshiping other gods alongside their worship of God.

As we read through the Book of Judges, and the other books of the Old Testament, we see that the failure to keep the command to only sacrifice to God at the central location contributed to their falling into idolatry.  When they sacrificed locally, rather than going to the central location, they would blur the lines between worship of God and the worship of other gods.  The Book of Judges shows us how easy it is to be drawn into idolatry because of our friendship with “good” people who worship other gods.  That does not mean that we should not be friends with such people, just that we need to be on guard against allowing our love for them to draw us away from our love of God.  We are called to draw people to love God, but as we strive to do that we can be drawn away from Him instead.

Daily Bible Study

March 19, 2019 Bible Study — Today We Must Choose

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.

Like Moses before him, when Joshua knew he was about to die he summoned the people of Israel and gave them a speech recounting what God had done for them.  I want to note that Joshua tells us that Abraham’s father worshiped other gods when he lived beyond the Euphrates.  This raises questions about my idea that Terah left Ur because of the idolatry there.

However, the most important part of Joshua’s speech was towards the end where he tells the people of Israel that they must choose today whom they will serve.  Joshua gives them three choices. They can serve God.  They can serve the gods which their ancestors worshiped when they lived “beyond the Euphrates”.  Or they can worship the gods which the people of the land they were now living worshiped.  After giving them this choice, Joshua males one of the great statements of faith, “as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”  While this was certainly a rhetorical device to encourage the people to make the right decision, it was still a brave statement.  Joshua was saying, “I am calling on you as a people to choose what religion you will follow.  As a nation we cannot survive unless we all follow the same gods, or God.  However, if you choose some faith other than the worship of God, know that I and my family will not go along with you.”  We should follow Joshua’s example.  We need to point out to the people around us that if they do not choose to all worship the same gods, or God, they will not survive as a nation.  Along with that we need to make a statement that no matter what gods they choose to follow, we will serve God and teach out family to do likewise.

Finally, I want to return to something I had mentioned earlier.  I know of people who believe that the Bible is a source of great wisdom but do not truly believe in God’s power.  They look at the Old Testament and say that the ancient Israelites were polytheist, which is true.  However, they go on to say that the idea of monotheism is only a late development in what we now call the Jewish religion.  This passage shows that the latter part is not true.  Joshua makes his speech and his call for a choice because the Israelites were worshiping many gods (were polytheists), but he calls them to give up those other gods because worshiping other gods is incompatible with worshiping God.  The religion which Joshua preached, and Moses before him, was monotheistic.  The failure of the Children of Israel to practice monotheism does not change that.

Daily Bible Study

March 18, 2019 Bible Study — An Example Of Conflict Resolution

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.

Once all of the tribes except for the Levites had their allotment of land, the Levites came to Joshua, Eleazar, and the other leaders to request their towns.  According to the plan laid out by Moses they were to have towns and cities among the lands of the other tribes.  The Levites ended up distributed among the rest of the tribes.  At no point does it spell this out, but it seems to me that the Levites were to focus on passing down the stories which the Israelites had received from their ancestors and teach them, and God’s commands, to the rest of the Israelites.  They were to work with the priests as a kind of junior clergy.

Now that all of the tribes were settled (more or less, as we learn later), the warriors from the tribes east of the Jordan returned home. This is actually noteworthy as it had been at least five years since the tribes first crossed the Jordan. Before I get to my main point, it seems likely that the warriors from the tribes east of the Jordan only spent the fighting season west of the Jordan during this period, returning home for the off season. I am unsure which part pf the year they would have spent in battle. Various factors would have had an impact on that: weather, planting time, harvest time, etc.. My main point, however, is that when the eastern tribes returned home with no plans to return for battle the following year (or season), they built an altar on the western banks of the Jordan River. The rest of the tribes believed that they intended to make this a place of worship in conflict with the one at Shiloh. This was contrary to the clear instructions which Moses had given them regarding a central place of worship. So, they gathered to make war against the eastern tribes. But first they sent a delegation to the eastern tribes for an explanation of the altar. The leaders of the eastern tribes explained that it was intended as a monument, much like the one Joshua had built with river stones after the Israelites first crossed the Jordan. The important thing about this story is that the western tribes did not go to war based on their understanding of what the eastern tribes had done. They first sent a delegation for an explanation, and the eastern tribes did not take offense that the western tribes misunderstood their action. There is a lesson here for us, when we believe that others have done us wrong, we should first approach them and find out what they meant by their actions. And when others approach us because they misunderstood our motivation, we should not take offense. Rather we should explain our goals in doing what we did, acknowledging their right to be concerned if they thought we were doing wrong.

Daily Bible Study

March 17, 2019 Bible Study — Settling Into The Promised Land

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.

It appears from today’s passage that over the course of Joshua’s life only the tribes east of the Jordan, Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh actually began to settle down.  The other seven tribes apparently continued a nomadic lifestyle.  Here at the end of his life, Joshua instructed them to make a survey of the remaining land not already claimed by Judah or Ephraim and Manasseh.  I am not sure of its significance, but we are told that Benjamin was given the land between Judah and Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh), while Simeon was given land surrounded by lands settled by Judah.  We see here how the portion of Manasseh which settled west of the Jordan became absorbed into Ephraim and that Simeon would become absorbed into Judah.   We also see how Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon settled in the lands which had been part of the alliance of southern kings which Joshua conquered and the other tribes settled in the lands which had part of the alliance of northern kings.  This foreshadows the eventual divide into two kingdoms. 

There are two other, somewhat related things of importance in this passage.  First, it begins by telling us that the Israelites set up the Tabernacle at Shiloh as the central point for worship.  This was a more or less central location.  It also both reflects and contributed to the somewhat dominant role which the tribe of Ephraim played in the pre-kingdom era of Israel.  The other thing which was related here is that Joshua actually set up the cities of refuge as Moses had instructed the Israelites to do.  The importance of this is that it shows that at least some of the system of justice laid out in the Law of Moses was implemented.  The later portions ofthe Old Testament suggest that the system of justice (including Sabbath and Jubilee Years) laid out in the Law of Moses was never fully implemented, but this shows us that the early Israelites at least made a try at doing so.

Daily Bible Study

March 16, 2019 Bible Study — God’s Instructions May Be Hard, But He Will Give Us the Strength To Complete Them

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.

The passage goes over the land given to the tribes of Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh (the portion of Manasseh which did not settle east of the Jordan River).  It makes note of the fact that Judah was unable to drive the Jebusites out of Jerusalem.  Then goes into detail about the failure of the descendants of Joseph to defeat the Canaanites in the lowlands of their territory.  The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh asked for more land because of this.  Joshua gave them some additional land, but told them that they would overcome the Canaanites in the lowlands.  As I read this, Joshua’s comment seems to be both a command and an assurance.  There is a lesson here for us.  When God gives us directions which seem too hard for us, He will give us the strength to complete them.

Daily Bible Study

March 15, 2019 Bible Study — Age Is a Number, When Some Need To Slow Down, Others Are Still Going Strong

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.

The passage begins by listing the conquests which Israel had made during Joshua’s lifetime.  I find it interesting that the passage gives the borders of the land which the Israelites took control of east of the Jordan River, but only lists the kings which they defeated west of the Jordan.  East of the Jordan the passage describes the borders of the land they controlled after defeating the kings whom they defeated, while west of the Jordan it describes the area in which the kings they defeated lived.  Then the passage describes the unconquered land which they were to include when dividing the land up among the tribes.  The passage tells us that this was the state of things when Joshua was forced to acknowledge that old age meant that he would no longer lead Israel to further conquest.

So, with this state of affairs, Joshua, Eleazar the priest, and leaders from the tribes divided the land among the tribes.  The division was done in such a way that all of the tribes were satisfied that it was appropriate and fair.  In the middle of this, Caleb, who was a contemporary of Joshua, comes forward and asks for his allotment.  Caleb declares that he is 85 years old, but still able to fight.  From this we see that we should not have the same expectations for everyone.  Joshua, about whom I will repeat that he was a contemporary of Caleb, needed to recognize that he could no longer lead the Israelites in war and would soon die.  Caleb, on the other hand, was still prepared to go out and serve God by conquering the land which would belong to his descendants.  Each of us needs to judge to what God is calling us based on our own situation, not by comparing ourselves to others.

Daily Bible Study

March 14, 2019 Bible Study — The Land Is Naturally Divided

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.

The kings of the land had learned what the Israelites did to Jericho and Ai.  They wanted to keep the Israelites from doing the same thing to them, but the Israelites were still a nomadic people with no location they could be forced to defend.  However, once they had allied with the Gibeonites, the southern kings saw their chance.  Joshua demonstrated both his tactical leadership and the fighting prowess of the Israelites by marching overnight to relieve the siege of Gibeon.  Joshua caught the southern kings by surprise because they thought the Israelites were too far away to relieve the siege in a timely fashion.  Perhaps the most noteworthy thing about this account is that even though the king of Jerusalem organized the attack on Gibeon, Jerusalem is not one of the cities listed among those which Joshua conquered after this battle.

Some time after this, the northern kings joined forces to fight the Israelites.  There are a couple of interesting things about this account of the second group of kings.  First, the area controlled by the northern and southern kings corresponds loosely to the later division of Israel into two kingdoms.  Second, the way in which the northern kings gathered for war suggests that once the Israelites conquered the southern cities they began to settle down, giving the northern kings targets to strike if they were not met in battle. Finally, after Joshua had conquered and taken control of the towns which had entered into the northern alliance the Israelites, for the most part, ended their conquest of the area.  We know from later accounts that they had not completely taken control of the area, that some areas were still controlled by those who were here when they arrived, but nonetheless the Israelites had taken control of all of the land which they could settle at this time.

Daily Bible Study

March 13, 2019 Bible Study — The Importance of Seeking God’s Guidance

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.

When the Gibeonites came to the Israelites seeking a treaty, the leaders did what they thought was due diligence.  They looked at the food the Gibeonites had brought with them and at their other supplies.  All showed significant age, suggesting that the Gibeonites had come from a great distance.  So, the Israelites made a treaty with them, despite God’s command not to make a treaty with anyone living in the land.   Reading this story I can think of several things which they could have done to avoid making this mistake.  But that misses the point. The Israelites trusted in their own judgement and failed to seek God’s guidance.  No matter how sure we are of our own judgement on an issue, we should seek God’s guidance through prayer.  How God will deliver that guidance will vary from situation to situation.  Perhaps He will give us an insight, perhaps He will have someone give us advice, or perhaps something else, but we should always seek His guidance. 

Daily Bible Study

March 12, 2019 Bible Study — The Importance Of Being Accountable To Others

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 5-7.

I find it interesting that none of the children born while the Israelites were in the wilderness were circumcised.  No real explanation is given for why this was the case.  We are just told that all of the men were circumcised after they crossed the Jordan because they had not been while they were in the wilderness.  Perhaps it is unrelated, but Moses’ sons were also not circumcised until he was returning to Egypt.  I do not know why the Israelites did not practice circumcision while they wondered in the wilderness, nor why they resumed when they crossed the Jordan.  The only clue we have is that while the men were recovering from being circumcised they celebrated Passover and the Feast on Unleavened Bread in the Promised Land for the first time.  The last time it was mentioned that they celebrated the Passover was before the 12 spies went out.  Perhaps, they had not celebrated the Passover in the meantime?  That seems like a stretch, since the Passover mentioned here was significant because it was the first in the Promised Land.

The story of the Israelite loss at Ai and Achan’s sin always troubles me because the punishment seems so severe.  It was Achan’s sin, why were his family killed and all of his possessions destroyed as well?  There are two aspects to the answer.  First, his family was aware of his sin, and complicit in it because they did not report it.  When we read the way in which Achan concealed the loot he kept from Jericho in violation of God’s command, a little thought reveals that his family would have had to know about it.  He could not have dug the hole beneath his tent each time they moved camp without his immediate family knowing what he was doing and why.  As for destroying his possessions, by doing this no one can claim that anyone profited from his punishment.  We learn from the story of Ai and Achan’s sin that one person’s sin can undermine the efforts of an entire group.  Our sins may seem to be a private matter between ourselves and God and thus no one else’s business but our own.  However, they may impact the group of which we are part and undermine the efforts of others to do God’s will.  Therefore we must allow ourselves to be held accountable by those with whom we strive to serve God.