the book of Joshua – listen
This is Day 9 of a series of posts for the month of October. I’m joining Kate Motaung over at Five Minute Friday for the annual Write 31 Days challenge. I will write about themes found in the book of Joshua each day, with a different word prompt.
Today’s word prompt is LISTEN.
A lot of commands fly about in the book of Joshua. Things that seems normal “go and spy and find out what we’re up against”. Things that seem crazy, “March for seven days and you’ll win. I promise.”
There was much to be done. They were taking over the Promised Land. Kings had to be defeated. Cities overtaken. God’s people were obeying (most of the time), listening to what he said and following through to be successful the physically take over the land.
But what about spiritually?
In chapter 5, they set aside time to circumcise the new generation. This can be a “huh?” moment in a book mostly about war. Was it wise to delay a whole section of men fighting for a period? This wasn’t something they could do in a day and be ready to fight the next.
In Old Testament time, circumcision for the Jewish people was a sign of their covenant relationship with God. Circumcision rarely occurred for people outside the Jewish faith. (The only recorded exceptions were the slaves of Jewish people.) This act of obedience was the sign of a new start – leaving the old ways from their time in slavery behind them.
And the commander of the Lord‘s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. – Joshua 5:15
Nothing is recorded about God’s people training for war in a physical sense. There is no talk of sword fighting drills, running laps and push-ups (the jr. high girl inside me just started hyperventilating at the thought of doing wall sits for volleyball). Nothing at all to suggest Joshua put his people through rigorous training to prepare them for the fight ahead. But they did prepare God’s way.
We often forget that preparing for anything that God has called us to do is just as much about listening and it is about doing. In this moment, when the command of the Lord’s army appeared before him, Joshua knew. He knew that preparing for battle wouldn’t be about the proper way to plunder a city. It would be about listening o God’s direction and knowing he was with them.
the book of Joshua – plan
This is Day 8 of a series of posts for the month of October. I’m joining Kate Motaung over at Five Minute Friday for the annual Write 31 Days challenge. I will write about themes found in the book of Joshua each day, with a different word prompt.
Today’s word prompt is PLAN.
They had a plan.
They went up to Ai to spy on the city, to see what their plan of attack should be. When they came back, they said to only send 2 or 3 thousand men, because there just weren’t that many of them to defeat. They expected a short battle with just a few men.
This was their plan. They planned for success.
But they didn’t know that God’s blessing had left them.
The sin of Achan, directly disobeying God by taking some of the things devoted for God’s treasury (6:18-19), had a collective consequence for the people of God. It wasn’t just Achan, the one who first disobeyed, that was punished.
Of the 3,000 went up to attack the city of Ai, 36 were killed. Considering the wars and battles and mass shootings we hear about today, that seems like a small number. But for God’s people, who had lost no one… who had the promise of God fighting for them… who obeyed God doing crazy things like blowing trumpets to bring down a six-foot-thick wall… 36 men dying was a big deal. Their defeat was a big deal.
It wasn’t part of their plan.
It’s no wonder Joshua tore his clothes off in mourning before the Lord. (Joshua 7:6) after this defeat. He knew it had nothing to do with the strength of the men in Ai that they lost. Because Joshua knew God was the one fighting for them. So he knew God was the one who brought about their defeat.
Planning is a never-ending tension in the life of a Christ follower. God is sovereign, and we must also do stuff. We must make choices, plan our days and weeks. Plan for emergencies by keeping a savings, make and keep doctor’s appointments to keep ourselves healthy. Our whole lives as Americans is about planning, really.
Yet we must hold these plans so loosely. In our hands and our hearts.
The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)
Holding our plans loosely is often what keep people away from God. They fear being out of control, being forced to do things, not knowing what is ahead.
But the promise we have is that the one who plans and directs our steps is the one who created us, loves us, and knows us intimately.
Following his plan is easier when we understand the depth of his love for us. He is always for us, which means no matter what his plan looks like, it is GOOD.
the book of Joshua – truth
This is Day 7 of a series of posts for the month of October. I’m joining Kate Motaung over at Five Minute Friday for the annual Write 31 Days challenge. I will write about themes found in the book of Joshua each day, with a different word prompt.
Today’s word prompt is TRUTH.
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.” – Joshua 1:8
This was one of the rare Old Testament verses I had to memorize as a kid (I grew up in an almost entirely New Testament -focused church.) It’s inadvertently lead me to believe, for most of my childhood and a good portion of my adult life, that the Bible’s purpose was the Law. To tell us what to do. While that is part of what the Bible is for, it’s primary purpose is to
impart the truth of God’s character. For it’s out of this knowledge the Law is built.
The Law tells us a great dealt about who God is. It’s reminds us of his justice, his compassion, his power, his mercy, his holiness.
It also reminds us of our sinfulness.
The truth of the Gospel involves both good and bad news. At this point in the book of Joshua, God’s people have just been read the Law. After their years in slavery, they need rules and regulations to be disciplined back into what they were created for: to worship the one true God.
In an ever-changing world, I am thankful to have a solid foundational truth to hold on to. Scripture grounds me in a world that does everything to keep me aimlessly floating, unsure of who I am and what I am called to do. This is why God calls us to keep the Book of Law from departing from us. Because it’s truth is constantly a reminder of who God is and who he created us to be.
the book of joshua – hold
This is Day 6 of a series of posts for the month of October. I’m joining Kate Motaung over at Five Minute Friday for the annual Write 31 Days challenge. I will write about themes found in the book of Joshua each day, with a different word prompt.
Today’s word prompt is HOLD.
We’ve been spending a lot of time in Joshua, but today I want to take you back to set up the context for the book. After all, context is king when it comes to Scripture interpretation.
I want to talk about those 40 years before the book of Joshua. After being released from their bondage in Egypt. (Remember the plagues and the Rea Sea parting? That was God getting them out.) But here’s the thing: from where they were to where they were going (Canaan, the Promised Land) it was only about 400 miles.
And it took them 40 years.
“Why did Moses wander the desert for 40 years? Because even back then men wouldn’t ask for directions.”
I mean obviously this was not a day’s drive or anything. They had to walk or ride their camels. There were mountains to get around, it was the desert. It wasn’t going to be an easy journey. But 40 years? This wasn’t because they couldn’t find Canaan. It’s because God held them back.
“And the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone.” (Numbers 32:13)
God’s people were scared that going into Canaan involved fight people a lot bigger than them. “We are like grasshoppers next to them!” they cried. When learning it wasn’t be a cake walk to take over Canaan, they complained. They were sick of manna, and missed Babylon. What a testament this is to how we would rather be enslaved in sin than free in Christ, just because he tells us to do what’s best for us. We are a stupid people.
God knew his people weren’t ready. They had been so tainted by 400 years of living in a pagan land, they’d forgotten Who they belonged to, Who they were to worship, Who they were to follow. They want to follow their own sinful hearts.
So God held them back, and pursued them to holiness , to bring them back to where they belonged. With Him.
God holds us back for all kinds of reasons, but I can’t think of no better reason than to do so for our growth and sanctification. He knows when we are ready and when we aren’t. That’s why He holds us.
the book of joshua – story
This is Day 5 of a series of posts for the month of October. I’m joining Kate Motaung over at Five Minute Friday for the annual Write 31 Days challenge. I will write about themes found in the book of Joshua each day, with a different word prompt.
Today’s word prompt is STORY.
There are a lot of stories in the book of Joshua that are fascinating to study and consider. But there is one more famous than all the rest.
I remember being in Sunday School as a kid, pretending to play a trumpet and marching around the room seven times. I remember the teacher telling me how cool it was that the walls of Jericho came down. I remember singing that child’s song , “Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho // Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came a-tumbling down” I’m pretty sure our teacher had us collapse while singing the “a-tumbling down” part, too.
As a college student, I remember falling in love with Veggie Tales as I watched a bunch of french peas shoot purple slushies at God’s people while they marched around the wall. Pretty sure that’s not how it went down.)
As an adult, I’ve realized just how significant it is to read the Bible as one story. If you single out one of the stories in Scripture, like the Battle at Jericho, you can get a lot of wrong ideas of who God is. I’m pretty sure all I took away from that story as a child is that God likes to do cool things like make stone walls six feet thick comes down just by the marching and yelling. That is sooooooo not the point of the story.
The I find the point of the story in 6:27, “So the Lord was with Joshua…”
I can’t take what I learned as a child about Jericho into adulthood and have it matter much. Having a God that does cool things, even powerful things, is good to know. But it means so much more to also know that the Lord was with them.
Why? As a covenant theologian, I believe God’s people include me. So this story tells me that He is with me, too.
This is my story. It’s the story of God’s people. He is with us always, never leaving or forsaking them.
Stephanie Nelson 