We interrupt your regular programming...

Yes, I am definitely behind.  And with good reason.  Friday, April 8th, my son was born!  We were in the hospital two days, and though we've been home a few days, we are still playing catch-up/adjusting/trying to make it through the sleep-deprivation haze that comes with those first few weeks postpartum.  We're both doing well, Big Sister is trying to adjust, and Daddy is an amazing, amazing man.  I am hoping to get caught up not only on the reading and the blog, but it may take a little bit of time.  I hope to be back on track, though, by Easter.  We shall see!  We're still trying to find "the new normal!"

Judges 10:1-11:40

I did get my reading done today.  I'm not actually going to write a full post, as there are things going on here at home that make it difficult to concentrate, except to say: this is my favorite story to tell high school students why the Bible is not boring.  Why?  Well, let's admit it, we all have a fascination for gruesome stories.  And this story is certainly not boring.

Tomorrow's Reading:  Judges 12:1-13:25

Judges 9:1-57

What a depressing story!  This is one that I don't remember having read before, though I've read through Judges more than once.  Apparently, Abimelech felt that his father had made a mistake when he told the Israelites not only would he not be king, but neither would his sons.  You see here, Abimelech takes matters into his own hands, convincing the people of Shechem to take him as their king.  There is more than one sin in his actions: first, the Lord God only was to be King over Israel, and Abimelech sought to usurp that role.  Secondly, he slew his brothers, seventy of them, on one stone; this means that he likely had them rounded up and executed, rather than taking them in battle.  Reading Be Available by Warren Wiersbe on this chapter, I see that Wiersbe points out that embedded in Abimelech's actions were other sins: ambition and greed, idolatry, dishonesty.  Clearly, his actions were abhorrent, and he certainly did not have the Shechemites best interests at heart, but his own. 

Many thoughts swirl in my head as I think about this passage, but mostly I think of Gideon's relationship with Abimelech.  Abimelech was the son of Gideon's slave woman.  Is it possible that he never really cared for or nurtured the young man?  Was Abimelech the product of Gideon's life after the snare of the ephod?  Did Gideon never teach his son(s) about the Lord, or about what it meant to follow the Lord?  Or did Abimelech simply rebel and refuse to submit to God?  It is clear from generation to generation in the Book of Judges that the previous generation, the parents and grandparents, failed to teach those in their care to love the Lord with all their heart, mind, and soul.  They had neglected the admonishments of Deuteronomy 6.  Was Gideon and Abimelech another example, one with tragic and dire results?

I look at my own daughter, and think of my son about to be born, and their futures and their relationships to the Lord weigh heavily on me.  What can I do to teach them not just Sunday School stories and knowledge but to love God, to cherish Him, to seek Him first above all things?  I feel the charge to make sure my children know Him and love Him and desire to follow Him.  I pray every day that He will call them to Him and that they will truly be His disciples.  It is stories like Abimelech's that give me a sense of urgency.  It is stories like these in Judges where you see the children forsaking the Lord that makes me cry out to Him that my children never will.  I want to know that they will be safe in His arms.  I want to know that I will see their beautiful faces in Heaven with my Savior.

Please, Lord, grant me, I pray, my children's salvation!  May they love You and honor You and cherish You above all things!  May they grow to be good disciples, better than their mother, and to be a testimony before others in their lives.  Take them by the hand and lead them into Your promised land.  Amen.

Tomorrow's Reading: Judges 10:1-11:40

Judges 8:22-35

What a sad ending to that story!  After the mighty things Gideon did because the Lord enabled him to, because the Lord made it possible for him to, because the LORD went before him and tied up all the details for him, Gideon went and did a fool thing!  He was right to refuse to be king, and he was right to say that it should be the Lord who ruled over Israel.  But then he made a gold ephod which became a snare not only to himself and his family, but others in Israel.  When he should have been leading the people in faithfulness to God, instead he drew them away from the Lord.  Obviously, you cannot rest on the laurels of one spiritual triumph.  You've heard the adage that if you're not growing and moving forward, you're actually backsliding?  This seems true here of Gideon.  Rather than continuing and pursuing faithfulness to the Lord, he camped on the fact that the Lord had used him greatly at one point, and instead begins to worship the spoils that he had gained.  It is a good warning to us: if we cannot see spiritual growth in our own lives recently, we may need evaluate where our walk is going.  There was a sign once on the wall across from the elevator doors in my dormitory at the Bible college I attended; it said: If you no longer feel close to God, it was not God who moved.  Something like that.  I can gaurantee that's true.

Tomorrow's Reading: Judges 9:1-57

Judges 7:1-8:21

Confession: Tonight, I just wanted to get the reading done.  I had difficulty paying attention and really just wanted to "check this off my list".  Which is sad, really, when you consider what we're reading: the story of Gideon overcoming the Midianites.  Of course, the story is more complicated than the Sunday School version with just 300 men, some torches, and clay jars.  It was the Ephraimites that played an important role in chasing down the fleeing enemy, as well as the fact that two cities in Gad refused Gideon succor, basically siding with Midian for the sake of the own lives.  Epic fail, there.

Here is an account where you clearly see the Lord orchestrating Israel's success: only 300 men go with Gideon to battle.  They strike the jars, light their torches, give a cry, and the Midianites go into madness, turning on one another.  And the dream one of them shared with their fellow and his comrade identified Gideon himself as their conqueror on hearing the dream, something the Lord had predicted to Gideon!  It's amazing.  They, in that night, defeated more than 120,000 men so that when they faced the kings of Midian, they had only 15,000 men at their side.  Gideon only started out with around 32,000 before the Lord whittled it down to 300!  This is an account that truly affirms, "If God is for us, then who can stand against us?" 

The Bible promises us that we can do all things through Christ who is our strength.  If we have that promise, then isn't possible that we could accomplish great things through Christ, also?  Gideon wasn't a mighty hero to begin with: this is the same man who hid in the winepress and claimed to be the least of his family, who put out the fleece two separate times.  We don't have to be great and mighty to start out with: we need only allow God to do His work.  It intimidates me, just a little bit, to think what could or might happen if I let go and let God do His thing.  What am I missing out on because of fear?

Tomorrow's Reading: Judges 8:22-35

Judges 6:1-40

Gideon.  This is a guy that I unfortunately understand.  Fear is a big thing with me.  Here is Gideon, the least of his clan, which was the least of his tribe.  He is beating wheat in a wine press to hide it from the Midianites when the Lord approaches him.  Though he is having a conversation when the angel of the Lord, possibly the LORD Himself, (as it says that the Lord turned to him to say), he doubts his calling to be the one to lead Israel out of its oppression.  He was given a sign, fire leaping from a rock to consume his offering, and still he doubted.  He could only destroy the altar to Baal by night, for he feared his own family.  And after he destroyed the altar and escaped retribution from the Baal worshippers, he still went before the Lord to ask a sign, twice, that he should go up against the Midianites.

I feel this guy's pain.  There are times when I think I may feel the Lord calling, or there may be something I think I am supposed to do, and I dither.  Am I right?  Do I understand the Lord right?  How do I know if I should really speak here and now?  How do I really know that I'm supposed to do this or that thing?  I always feel so unsure.  I've never been given the opportunity to set out a fleece, let alone twice.  I cannot say I always feel confident that I am really hearing the Holy Spirit or that I have discerned what He is saying correctly.  But one thing I am learning: it is by prayer and by seeking the Lord out on a consistent basis that I will learn to understand and recognize the Spirit's voice better.  Just as the more you speak you a person, the more readily you recognize their voice when they call, the more I listen and seek the Lord, the better I would be able to hear Him when He speaks to me.

Tomorrow's Reading: Judges 7:1-8:21

Judges 5:1-31

Do you ever wonder how spontaneous the songs of praise in the Bible are?  Did Barak and Deborah really have the ability to just break out into chorus at a moment's notice?  Some people do have that ability.  And perhaps, led by the Holy Spirit, it's even easier to do.  It's not something that lies within my talents and abilities.  I could not have composed such a beautiful hymn of worship to the Lord without the Spirit's help.  Which is why I wonder if perhaps they actually took a few days to compose it, or perhaps there were writers around to help them out... Or a myriad of possibilities.  But I recognize that it might have totally been the Holy Spirit guiding their worship.  How cool would that be?  To be so overwhelmed and excited by what the Lord is doing and to be caught up in the Spirit so that you have just the right words to say to express your gratitude and praise to God.  That's pretty cool.

Next Reading: Judges 6:1-40

Judges 3:12-4:24

The stories of Judges.  They fascinate me.

Take Ehud, for example.  How gruesome!  Fat Eglon sits on his throne and Ehud, being left-handed, is able to sneak a sword in to kill him.  It is my understanding that they only checked the left side for swords, where a right-handed person would carry theirs.  Let's face it: most of the world is right-handed.  Ehud plunges his sword into the king's belly, his fat encloses over it, and Ehud escapes while Eglon's servants think he's in the bathroom.  Wait, what??  This is in the Bible?  Yes, yes, it is.  From there, Ehud musters the people of Israel and they defeat their oppressors, the Moabites.  Notice that Ehud gives all credit to God, that the Lord has place the Moabites into their hands.  Not Ehud.  Not the absence of King Eglon, though, obviously, his notable death would have an impact on the battle.  The Lord sent Ehud, and Ehud knew it.

Then there is Deborah, the only female judge recorded in the Bible.  She was a prophetess and an arbitrator among the people.  Her courage and faith in the Lord spurred Barak to the battle field when his own courage couldn't.  And because of his lack of faith, a woman actually took credit for the victory.  She lulled Sisera with milk and a false sense of security, then she drove a tent peg through his head.  Barak subdued the army of the Canaanites and they defeated the King Jabin, who was their oppressor at this time.  But through all this, you see the Lord's hand at work.  Deborah prophesied the the Lord's command to move against Sisera and Jabin, as well she noted that the Lord would give the victory to Jael, though many may have suspected that it would be Deborah who would gain the credit (and to this day, many still do; she is far more famous that Jael).  But the real credit belongs to the Lord, who set things in motion through Deborah, and it was the Lord who went before Barak and gave the enemy into the Israelite's hands.

As fascinating as these stories are, as gruesome their details (like a good ghost story around the campfire, yes?), this was real life for people.  A woman in Israel thousands of years ago stepped back bloody from a man she had just lulled to sleep.  A warrior deferred to a woman because he could not trust the Lord by himself.  A man, stepping out in faith, was resourceful enough to make a sword and take down the oppressing king to lead his people to victory.  All of these stories rode to success on the back of this truth: the Lord was for them, none could stand against them.  That is not to say that Israel was perfect; they certainly didn't remain so.  That is not to say that just because you step out in faith, God will approve your every action.  If it is not firmly grounded in His will, He may very well not approve of your action.  Still, it's amazing to see what happens when the Lord is working in tandem with those who follow Him.  What could He accomplish through me, if I were willing?

Tomorrow's Reading: Judges 5:1-31

Judges 1:1-36; Judges 2:1-3:11

So... something happened to these posts.  I'm not sure what.  They were supposed to have published, but they seemed to have either not appeared or have disappeared from the blog.  I don't know what happened.  I'm sure they're floating out there in the netherlands of the internet, somewhere...

Judges is one of those books I am fascinated with.  Like the bloody original versions of familiar fairy tales, you don't expect to see some of these things in the Bible.  As a piece of literature, Judges is an epic tale of the affects of sin and dissolution on a nation.  As Holy Scripture, it has something to tell us.

In those first chapters, the pattern of Judges is established, and it will be repeated over and over again throughout the book.  Because the Israelites did not obey God in driving out the idolatrous nations, He revoked His blessing from them that they would always be successful in battle.  This is very important, as it is key to the cycle.  When things are good, Israel begins to be unfaithful to God, chasing after the false gods of their neighbors.  Because of their sin, God allows oppressors to rise over Israel; if they'd had His blessing still, they would have been able to beat back these oppressors.  But in truth, they needed them: because of their misery and oppression, they turned back to God and cried out to Him.  He took pity on them sent them judges: mostly men, one woman, who stood for the Lord, drove away the oppressors, and led the people in worshiping the true God.  As long as the Judge was alive, the people were faithful.  But when the judge died, the people turned to sin and idolatry, until the Lord began to discipline them again through raiders and plunderers.  Notice, God used these pagan nations to bring His holy nation back to Him each time.  And it worked; for a time.

It seems as long as the Israelites had a strong leader, they would follow that strong leader.  We'll see that when they gain a king: the good kings lead the people toward God; the bad kings led them astray.  Perhaps this is why Samuel was such an amazing character in the Bible: though not king, he was High Priest and led the people towards faithfulness all his days.  But that is in the future from now.

Next Reading: 3:11-4:24

Joshua 23:1-24:33

I've gotten behind on my posting.  While I've found it difficult to sleep the past few days, I've found it very difficult to concentrate when doing my reading.  I would read a paragraph over and over and over and still be unsure of what I'd read.  Of course, this is the most famous passage of Joshua, and many homes sport that well known command: "Choose this day, whom you shall serve; as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord."  Paraphrased, a bit.  The thing that really struck me this time around, was not that particular passage, but the warnings Joshua gave the people again and again about intermarrying with the local tribes and being careful to be faithful to the Lord, even calling them to be witnesses against themselves should they turn away from following the Lord.  Israel already had a history and a proven tendency to go astray.  Joshua erected a monument beneath the terebinth in order to remind them of their promise to follow God.

I don't know if it is discouraging that Israel is warned over and over again to be faithful, and yet they prove faithless, or if it could be encouraging.  Discouraging, that even a people who have a unique and intimate relationship with the one true God, who are given prophets and Scriptures to keep them steady, can't seem to hold it together.  Encouraging, that despite all of these things, and the fact that they can't hold it together even with all the help, God still loves them and provides for them, remains faithful to them.  I definitely don't hold it all together; not even some of the time.  I mess up.  Horribly.  There are many times I am convinced I am the worst of women.  But still God loves me.  And He's faithful to me.  It's encouraging to remember 1 John 1:9, that if I'm faithful to confess my sin, I will be forgiven.  Just like Israel.

Next Reading: Judges 1:1-36

Joshua 22:1-34

Remember we just recently talked about how Manasseh could have served as a bridge to those tribes on the east bank of the Jordan River?  How easily misunderstandings could arise?  Case in point: the altar Gad, Reuben, and half of the tribe of Manasseh erected once on home soil again.  Upon hearing it, the rest of Israel stood up-in-arms and marched over to set these erring tribes to right.  However, upon confrontation, they learned that they were mistaken.  The altar had not been erected for the purpose of sacrifice, something those eastern tribes repeated again and again for emphasis (v. 26, 28, 29).  They had no intention of instituting worship at this altar; rather, it was to be a reminder to the people on both sides of the Jordan who the eastern tribes were to serve: the LORD, and none other.  Did they stay true to that?  We shall see.

Such misunderstandings are easy to come by, aren't they?  You see someone doing something, believe it is for one thing rather than another, and suddenly you've made a rash judgement.  And it's easy to act on those rash judgements, just as the Israelites did.  There's two reminders here, I'm thinking.  One, that we need to be mindful of how our actions might come across.  True, we are not responsible for what others think; they are.  However, we are responsible for the way we ourselves act, and we need to be mindful of how we comport ourselves.  Especially before unbelievers: we're not perfect, but we do want to be a good reflection of our Savior.  Two, we need to be mindful that we might not have the whole story when we see something happen.  We may assume a particular person is like this or that, we may assume that someone has done this or that particular thing with a particular motive.  And we could be dead wrong.  And the damage could potentially be catastrophic.  We can't live our lives walking on eggshells, but we can live it prayerfully, seeking the Lord above all things and praying that our lives and our actions would be a reflection of Him above all.  Don't you think?

Tomorrow's Reading: Joshua 23:1-24:33

Joshua 21:1-45

We help with the high school youth group at our church on Sunday nights.  I must say, there are things going on in my heart and head from the day, and even the past few months, that make me come to Scripture tonight with the longing for something "relevant".  Something that speaks to where my heart and head are at.  But I am so thankful for our youth minister's lesson tonight; God spoke to me through him, and I hope our kids were hearing it as well.

Tonight, Travis, our youth pastor, talked to the high schoolers about the word of God, why all of it matters.  It's about the whole story.  If you ignore or gloss over any portion of the Bible, you're missing out on the whole story.  Genealogies difficult to read?  Well, yeah, but if you miss them, then you're missing the whole story.  There is information in them we should know.  The allotments of Israel's inheritance?  Yes, it's important.  It's part of the whole story.  The passage tonight: it's part of the story of the Levites and God's relationship with them.  It began, in part, with Levi himself, his sin against Shechem, and the prophecy his father Jacob made on his death bed.  It also began at Mt. Sinai, when they stood for the Lord at the Golden Calf incident.  It continued with the selection of Aaron's family as the priesthood, choosing the Levites to serve before the Tabernacle, outlining their duties, and here, God fulfilling the promise to Levites to give them an inheritance scattered among the people (just as Jacob said) so that they might serve the Lord among the people.

Travis talked about how the historical books like Joshua, Judges, Ezra, and Nehemiah show that God is involved.  He's not just sitting on the sidelines, but he is involved in the activities and daily-doings of Israel.  God was involved (and still is) in the story of the tribe of Levi.  Here in this chapter He is fulfilling His promise to them.  At the beginning the chapter, it plainly states that it was by the Lord's command that Levi was given these cities and pasture lands as their inheritance.  God was involved even in the smallest detail of who got what city and the land that surrounded it, because remember some of the cities awarded in Judah did not come with pasture land as it was given to Caleb as a result of God's promise to him. 

These two lessons really encourage me in my reading tonight.  Maybe I would have preferred a Scripture that spoke more directly to the things on my mind.  But you know what?  No matter where I am in the Bible, I can learn something about God.  I see here, in these cities, that God is indeed involved with man.  He fulfills His promises.  He is concerned with the smallest of details.  He follows through.  He's not distant, unconcerned, or uncaring.  If He was, wouldn't He have told Joshua, "Eh, work it out amongst yourselves"?  But instead, it was by His command, by the throwing of lots, which they did to understand God's word (and which the did for the last time just before the Holy Spirit came to indwell all believers) and God's will.  It was not their decision, nor chance, but God's direction through the Urim and Thummim.  (That's not something I've ever really discussed in this blog, but if you need the background, the Urim and Thummim were given to the priests to read and interpret God's will on certain questions.)  God cares.  And that's good enough for me tonight.  I know that whatever I'm thinking or sorting out or dealing with, I can take to Him in prayer and He will be involved and respond.  God is good.  Amen.

Tomorrow's Reading: Joshua 22:1-34

Joshua 19:24-20:9

This is where cross references in your Bible come in very handy.  If you don't have a Bible with good cross-references, you might consider getting one.  Reading about the allotment of Dan, I was surprised by the obscure reference to the fact that they lost their territory.  However, I had a few cross-references which, when I looked them up, shed a little more light on the subject.  Apparently, the Amorites came down and pushed Dan from the cities they were allotted, driving them into some hill country rather than the plain they were to have.  They were unable to push the Amorites out, as they should have done by faith, and instead took over another town across from the northern part of Naphtali.  By chapter 18 of Judges, several generations later, Dan was still on borrowed territory and were seeking their own inheritance.  Their lack of faith had thwarted their ability to gain and maintain a territory, as God has said over and over throughout Deuteronomy and Joshua that He would go before them in securing the land.  This lack of faith is reiterated by the end result of the story in Judges 18, which we will look at in more detail, but it boils down to Dan adopting idolatry and setting up their own priesthood.  Very sad, indeed.

Tomorrow's Reading: Joshua 21:1-45

Joshua 18:11

Just a few quick notes:

• Jerusalem was actually in the territory of Benjamin.  This is significant because it was Judah and Benjamin that hang tight with Rehoboam, Solomon's heir with the country splits.  This is how Jerusalem remains in the country of Judah and eventually in Judea.  Also, cross reference Moses blessing in Deuteronomy 33:12.  There's little question that Jerusalem is beloved by God (Luke 13:31-34), so could this be what Moses was talking about in his blessing to Benjamin?
• Simeon's allotment was definitely a fulfillment of Jacob's prophecy (Genesis 49:5-7) in his blessing over Simeon and Levi.  Because of their blood-thirstiness and the manner in which they dealt with Shechem and his people, they were to be scattered among the tribes of Israel.  So Simeon's inheritance is a number of towns in the land of Judah.  They do not have a territory of their own, but are scattered among a much larger tribe that was awarded more land than they really needed.
• Zebulun's allotment is in the north, and may have included a strip of land that went from the interior of Israel to the coast among Issachar's allotment.  This is how it would be a haven to ships, as foretold by Jacob in Genesis 49.  Nazareth was not likely in existence at this time, but someday the town of Nazareth in Galilee would stand in the territory of Zebulun, corresponding to the prophecy is Isaiah about Zebulun and Naphtali (Isaiah 9:1,2).

Tomorrow's Reading: Joshua 19:24-20:9

Joshua 16:1-18:10

Truth: did you have difficulty paying attention to the allotments?  I did.  Sometimes I have to focus on the small things to keep myself going in passages of Scripture that might not seem relevant.  Example: Manasseh was granted the city of En-dor.  Importance?  Well, besides sounding like a Star Wars reference, it was at En-dor that Saul sought out the witch to resurrect the spirit of Samuel for consultation.  A decidedly bad idea.  There's also the fact that Manasseh actually could have served as a bridge over the Jordan for those tribes on the east and on the west.  It was easy, being separated as they were, for differences and misunderstandings to arise, and I think we will see that in Judges.  But I would have thought that Manasseh, as a tribe which had to function as a whole among the tribes of Israel, could have provided a way to overcome that division at the river.  I'm not sure if they did.  Focusing on things like that, no matter how little, sometimes helps me to remain interested when I'm tempted to "check out".  What strategies do you use to keep yourself faithful in your reading?

Notice, though, that neither Ephraim nor Manasseh managed to drive out the Canaanites from their territories.  They went to Joshua to complain about their allotment, even complaining when he granted them the hill country, saying that their numbers needed far more land than that.  Joshua had full confidence that they would clear the hill country and find room, but he also believed they would drive out the Canaanites.  It made me wonder: would they have had plenty of room if they had in fact accomplished their command from the Lord, to clear out the inhabiting peoples?  It's a pattern cropping up among the people of Israel: they're not fully driving out these peoples.  Instead, the pagan nations are remaining to entice and snare the Israelites into false religion.  Perhaps if they had fully obeyed that command, seeing as the Lord had promised to drive those people out, they might not have had such difficulty remaining faithful to the Lord.  It's something to watch as we move forward in the Scripture.

Joshua 15:1-63

Judah is the first of the tribes to receive their allotment on the west side of the Jordan, being the largest, most populous among the tribes.  This also means that Judah received the most significant portion of the land to accommodate their numbers.  The Bible Knowledge Commentary points out that Jacob's prophecy in his blessing to Judah comes true in this allotment: they are hemmed in by in by enemies: Philistines to the west, Amalekites in the southwest, Moabites on the east, and Edom on the south.  Except for Simeon, who receives some of the cities allotted to them, Judah is the southernmost tribe in Israel and therefore is most responsible for facing these foes.  By their numbers and might, most of the cities they take with great success.  Note the last verse, however: they are unable to dislodge the Jebusites from Jerusalem.  This does not bode well for Israel's occupation in that a people whom the Lord forbid to live among them remains.  It is also significant for the city that they hold: we all know the significance Jerusalem will come to take in Israel's history.

Tomorrow's Reading: Joshua 16:1-18:10

Joshua 13:8-14:15

Forty-five years!  Caleb was 40 years old when he spied out the land of Canaan for Moses, when he spoke up for the Lord before a fearful and stubborn Israel, when he received the promise of inheritance.  He was eighty-five when he went before Joshua and claimed it.  Forty years of wandering, and then we can assume it was five years of war before Caleb was able to enjoy the result of the promises.  That is patience!  But then, God has never rushed His promises.  He had promised all that land to Abraham, who died long before his descendants even saw the Promised Land, let before they actually went in.  It was prophesied to Judah that kingship would come in his line hundreds of years before David was anointed (and even then, he did not receive the kingship until many, many years later).  Over centuries, God promised the Messiah before Jesus was born onto the earth, and even yet there are prophecies of His return that have yet to be fulfilled.  God's timing is not our timing.  Caleb likely would have enjoyed receiving his inheritance many years before, though his strength was unwavering at age 85 (amazing!).  We don't know how long Caleb's strength lasted or when he died, though we know that he awarded his daughter to his younger brother for answering the call against Kiriath-sepher.  He must have led for at least a time after Joshua's death, but not too much longer as Israel then failed to drive out the peoples of the land as they were supposed to.  Still, Caleb proved faithful to the Lord, even in his last years, defeating the Anakim and driving out the sons of Anak and inspiring others to do the same (as his brother Othniel).  And God blessed him: He gave him his inheritance, he was able to enjoy it, for however long.  God fulfilled His promise to Caleb, in his own time.

This is something I've had to remind myself over and over: God's timing is not my timing; God's ways are not mine.  God is much higher and wiser and better than I am.  And yet sometimes I am still tempted to question Him.  Particularly when things don't go the way I wanted.  It is good to see examples like Caleb, who was faithful over years and years and years, who had to prove faithful though they could not immediately see a fulfillment to promises.  Many of the things I hope for or desire are much smaller than what Caleb may have desired: peace and a place to settle.  If he can prove faithful waiting for that, surely I can prove faithful, too.

Tomorrow's Reading: Joshua 15:1-63

Joshua 12:1-13:7

I couldn't believe how short the reading was today!  Seriously, it took me only five minutes, maybe less!  Thirty-one king.  Thirty-one kings Joshua fought and conquered as he guided Israel to conquer the promised land.  And yet there were so many more, so much more land that needed to be subdued.  The Lord makes it clear that Joshua won't be doing it: after all, he wasn't exactly a spring chicken after forty years of wandering.  Still, it remains to him to allot the land to Israel, and the rest of the conquest would be left to another day, even another generation.  You'll see the names of these peoples come up again and again in the Book of Judges, especially the Philistines.  They prove to be the proverbial pain-in-the-rear of the Israelites. 

From here we will be reading about the allotment of the tribes' inheritances.  I admit, I'm a little intimidated, as it is a number of cities and areas I am totally unfamiliar with.  No Biblical map I own is detailed enough to show me all of them, or even most of them, or maybe even more than a handful.  I have maps that show me where the allotments fell, but this doesn't help correspond a great deal with the litany of cities.  I think it is going to take wisdom and a lot of prayer and help from the Holy Spirit to remember that this is for our nourishment as well, that all Scripture is God-breathed and useful to us.  And so tomorrow, we begin.  Best to pray before we do!

Tomorrow's Reading: Joshua 13:8-14:15

Joshua 10:16-11:23

It's an epic battle, the one described in chapter eleven, when the kings of Hazor, Madon, Shimron, Achshaph, and the rest came against Joshua and the Israelites: the Bible describes it as a great horde like the sand on the seashore, gathering against them.  Did you notice that the Israelites did not have to pursue these battles, but that they ended up coming to them?  The neighboring kings of a recently conquered region gets word of what has happened, and they send out to every ally they might have to make war against the Israelites.  And then they get routed in battle.  God had been clear from the get-go that He would give this land over to them to fulfill the promise to their forefathers (ch.1) and each time He commanded to devote all the people to destruction.  I couldn't help but wonder what the aftermath of such a war looked like.  What did they do with all their bodies?  If the mighty men made a great horde, then imagine how many women and children were left behind also to be dealt with: it says over and over again that not were left breathing. 

It's quite the human toll.  And it makes me sad.  Not because I think it was wrong or mistaken to devote these people to destruction: God is just and right in all He does and I can trust Him for that.  But that there were so many people so stubborn and willful and disobedient before the Lord, who loved their sin and loved their own ways, that the only alternative was to exact their judgment against them.  It will be like that in the last days, too (2 Timothy 3, Revelation 9:20-21).  A huge human toll has been paid for the sin in this world.  Sin is an ugly thing; it hurts other people, and it hurts us.  And yet we [human beings] seem to prefer it to being subject to the Master.  This really leads me to pray: for people, for myself, for wisdom to know how and when to share the Word, to have the courage and strength to do it.  Will you pray with me?

Tomorrow's Reading: Joshua 12:1-13:7

Joshua 9:1-10:15

I'm worn out.  I have been pursuing "home-management" assignments all day and have worn myself out, mind and body.  I had difficulty paying attention to the passage as I read it, and it's a shame for it's great material.  The Gibeonites deceive the Israelite leaders into thinking they are from afar and make a treaty with them; if the Israelites had consulted the Lord, they would have known the truth and avoided such an error.  Crafty Gibeonites.  Plus, the amazing story of the sun standing still in battle against the king of Jerusalem and his cohorts.  There has never been a day like that before or since.  How bewildering it must have been to see that the sun was not hurrying, to feel time passing, to feel your body wearing at the end of the "day" and yet to see the sun still uncharacteristically high.  It allowed the Israelites to defeat their enemies by the Lord's mighty hand, and it's the only time God ever changed the laws of the universe to heed a request from a human being.  Amazing.

Tomorrow's Reading: Joshua 10:16-11:23