November 12, 2005

Joshua 1: Moses my servant is dead…In the same way I was with Moses, I'll be with you.  I won't give up on you; I won't leave you.  Strength! Courage!

Some people cast long shadows.  David, King of Israel; Abraham, Father of Faith; Moses, Law Giver.  The only leader the people of Israel have ever known is now dead.  What is true of the people in general is especially true for the new national leader.  Joshua is already a proven leader, but that leadership was always under the authority of Moses.  Without this spiritual giant to lean on how would they ever defeat the physical giants of Canaan?  At this point, the Lord speaks to Joshua, probably in a way and at a level that Joshua has never experienced.  The great Promise Maker states a potent promise to him.  Moses is gone but God is not.  The same God who spoke to Moses now will speak to Joshua.  That same Presence will remain.  God's faithfulness continues.  Today, I thank God for the Moses figures in my life.  These people have provided me with leadership, advice, and strength.  Still, humanity is limited.  Things, and people, change.  Sometimes, in fact, with the passing of time our rolls reverse.  I have one firm Rock -- the very same Rock that Joshua stood on.  He won't give up on me and he will not forsake me.  Here I stand.

November 14, 2005

Joshua 3: Finally the whole nation was across the Jordan, and not one wet foot.

Here is an encouraging verse of Scripture.  Their ancestors had left Egypt by passing through the Red Sea. They were fleeing slavery and the Egyptian army that was bent on their destruction.  Crossing the Red Sea was a "do or die" event for them.  Then, their parents had been on the banks of the Jordan just a generation earlier.  Their decision was not based on what was behind them, but on what was on the other side of the river.  In their thinking, not crossing was the prudent thing to do.  You might want to say that in their eyes, it was a "don't or die" situation.  Now, we see this nation of people deciding to move forward in faith.  God has promised them the land on the other side of the river and they have chosen to believe that God can keep his promise.  In crossing the Jordan they are declaring war on all those who occupy that land.  If their grandparents and parents had acted to avoid battle, these people are marching, not away from, but to a battle.  Why?  They trust God.

November 15, 2005

Joshua 4: In the days to come, when your children ask their fathers, "what are these stones doing here?" tell your children this: "Israel cross over this Jordan on dry ground."

Out in the middle of the Jordan River, way down at the bottom, there are stones.  That was what the people of Israel discover as God opens the way through the river.  As the thousands cross over, twelve men are given the assignment of each taking one of those stones and piling them on the bank of the river as a memorial of this momentous event.  Then, in future generations, when children ask about the pile of stones, the story will be told.  The story of God's deliverance, of how God makes a way when there is no way; the story of God's grace, patience, and mercy; the story of his unfailing love.  Here's a tip right from God's Word: build some memorials in life.  Take the kids to the old church, point to the place at the altar and tell them what happened there.  Read them the scripture that got your attention and tell them why.  Show them your pile of stones from the Jordan riverbed and in so doing pass your story along to the next generation.  Someday, your great-grandchildren, who never met you, will hear their grandpa talk about how his dad came to Christ.  God's grace will minister through your life from beyond your years on earth.

November 16, 2005

Joshua 5: As soon as they started eating food grown in the land, there was no more manna for the People of Israel.

All their lives they have eaten manna that appears every morning.  It is God's provision for them, meeting their needs in places and under circumstances in which that need could be met in no other way. They eat other things too, but it is manna that is the staple in their diet. Now they have a toe hold on the land God promised to them.  There is much to be done, wars to be fought, land to be claimed, but finally they are here.  It seems that they have camped at Gilgal long enough to plant and harvest their first crop of grain.  What a great Passover, remembering not only deliverance from Egypt but also now beginning to receive the land God promised them.  With the harvest of this first Canaan crop the manna stops.  The end of the manna isn't an indication that God is no longer going to provide for them.  It is simply a change in how he is going to do it.  God is now providing for them in a new (only to them) way.  Sometimes God does things in miraculous ways but most of the time he uses common tools for that purpose.   Either way, it is God who is supplying the need.  This concept works not only with manna and crops, but also with my health, job, and the many other concerns of life.  I thank God for "the manna" but also for the ordinary, every day provision for life.

November 17, 2005

Joshua 5: "Whose side are you on -- ours or our enemies'?"  He said, "Neither, I'm commander of God's army.  I've just arrived."

I confess that I love these mysterious passages of the Bible.  As Joshua prepares for his first Canaan conquest battle he encounters a stranger who is holding a drawn sword.  Joshua asks his allegiance, and the answer is that this stranger is on neither side.  He is commander of God's army and has only just arrived on the scene.  What is going on here?  God has an army?  He sends his commander to scout out the battlefield?  There are more questions than answers here.  Apparently, the commander of God's army has come to give Joshua the heavenly battle plan.  As I continue reading, the "march around the city" strategy is given to Joshua.  In light of the abundance of unknown things in this little passage, I don't want to go too far out in finding devotional material, but a few things come to mind.  First, God is ready to go to war on my behalf, even when I am unaware of his presence.  Second, God doesn't claim allegiance to me; I claim allegiance to him.  Third, God has a plan that may be very different than my plans.  His plan is best.

November 19, 2005

Joshua 6: Shout! -- God has given you the city!

"Joshua fit the battle of Jericho and the walls came a-tumblin' down."  They had marched around the city six days.  On the seventh they marched around seven times and then with the blast of the trumpets and a shout of victory the walls fell and they charged in to win their first victory in the conquest of Canaan.  Who on earth came up with such a battle plan?  Well, it didn't originate on earth at all, but at the throne of God.  In fact, speaking from an earthly point of view, it wasn't much of a plan at all.  Yet it was God's way and that made it the best way.  The fact is that God likes to do things in unique ways: defeat giants with shepherd boys, feed people with bread falling from heaven, set up a kingdom by going to a cross.  His ways don't make sense to me, but I had better pay close attention to his direction.  Common sense, conventional wisdom, good business -- all must yield before an Almighty God who often does things his own way.

November 21, 2005

Joshua 7: Israel has sinned: they've broken the covenant I commanded them.

Jericho has been defeated and destroyed.  Now their attention is on a much smaller, less fortified place, Ai.  An armed force of 3000 is sent to do battle at Ai, more than enough to win an easy battle.  However, it doesn't work that way.  The people of Ai rise up and rout the larger Israelite force.  How could that happen?  They not only had superior numbers, but God was on their side.  Right?  Wrong!  They went to Ai without God and were defeated there.  Joshua wisely goes to the Lord, and is told that there is sin in the camp.  So long as there is sin, there will be no help from God.   I had better remember that sin is always serious in the eyes of God.  Beyond that, my sin impacts others in unexpected ways.  Achan thought that God wouldn't notice and that his intentional disobedience to God's command would have no consequences.  Instead, because of his sin, God withdrew his blessing and over 30 men died.  In our western culture, we like to think it is every man for himself.  Had an American written this story, Achan, and maybe family, would have died for his sin (poetic justice), but everyone else would have gone on with "business as usual."  Here we see a very different picture.  "Achan lied and men died."  Is it possible that some churches struggle because here is hidden sin in the camp?   And why stop at the church?  What does this story say to me as an American?  A country where babies by the millions are aborted, where immorality is the accepted mode of behavior?  Am I really free to stand back from that and be dismayed, expecting the judgment of God to only fall on "them?" 

November 22, 2005

Joshua 10: The sun stopped in its tracks in mid sky; just sat there all day.

Because of the significant military victories of the Israelite army, word of their success has spread like wildfire through the area.  These residents of Canaan are cruel, child sacrificing, warring peoples, but some unite in an effort to stop the advance of Joshua and his army.  The battle that ensues is a momentous one.  In one fight they will either gain a decisive advantage or be beaten back.  It is during this battle that Joshua asks for an unbelievable favor from God.  He asks that the sun stand still so that they can continue to fight while they have the advantage.  God answers and the sun stops in the sky as the battle rages.  Of course, the impossibility of that is clearer to me than it was to Joshua, who didn't understand anything at all about the solar system.  I'm no scientist, but I know that if the sun stood still that it would mean the earth quit rotating, and if the earth stopped turning…well, it would be the end of the world.  Needless to say, I would never pray the prayer Joshua prayed -- I'm too educated to do that.  But here we have poor, ignorant Joshua asking for something that couldn't possibly happen.  What's that?  You say that the Bible says it did happen?  Listen, I have no idea of how God could stop the sun in the sky without the entire solar system crashing.  It is such a big miracle that I, even with my limited knowledge, could never pray for it.  Joshua didn't know that the earth was round and was spinning and was orbiting around the sun.  All he knew was that he needed a miracle from God.  My friend, that is the whole point.  Sometimes I need to throw out all the facts and hold on to the only real Fact, God, Himself.  I need to be careful that I am not so "smart" that God can't do for me what he wants to do.

November 23, 2005

Joshua 11: It was God's idea that they all would stubbornly fight the Israelites so he could put them under the holy curse without mercy.

It was bloody with lots of death and destruction.  As individual tribes and cities as well as in coalitions the heathen residents of Canaan had resisted.  Now victory has come and war is over.  I know that the book of Joshua gives a "marching to victory" view of the Canaan Conquest while Judges paints a less pretty picture, but frankly, even the positive view of Joshua makes me cringe.  All the slaughter of entire peoples: men, women, and children -- even, in some cases, animals. The writer of Joshua explains that it wasn't that God wanted to give Canaan to the Israelites so he helped them exterminate those who lived there.  Rather, it was that those who lived there were so degenerate, so unholy, that God didn't want them or anything about them contaminating the people he had chosen. Still, I struggle with this because it seems so distant from "God is love." I confess that sometimes God is a stranger to me.  Still, what is wrong humanly speaking is not necessarily wrong for our Creator.  The "Giver of Life" has full authority to be the "Taker of Life."  Sometimes devotional lessons are hard to come by in passages like this, but here's what I get today: there is an "other-ness," a sobering, even a fear-generating side of the Lord.  I love him and I trust his character, but I definitely don't always understand who he is and why he does what he does.  I am glad God Almighty doesn't need me to be his defender.

November 25, 2005

Joshua 14: So give me this hill country that God promised me.

With the battles ending, the country is being divided up among the people of Israel.  An old friend comes to the leader, Joshua, with an insistent request.  Caleb was a mature 40 years old when he was named one of the 12 to scout out the Promised Land.  Now of the 12, only he and Joshua are left, with Caleb at 85 years of age.  All of his contemporaries are dead, and he surely is in the twilight of life.   But he doesn't come to Joshua to reminisce.  A generation ago, when the people were revolting against God this man had stood firmly for God.  The Lord was pleased with Caleb and promised that a portion of Canaan would be his.  Now, Caleb is reminding Joshua of that.  For over 40 years Caleb has remembered that land and now he wants it as his inheritance.  The thing is, this section of Canaan is still occupied.  In fact, there is a fortress there.  What is an 85-year-old man going to do in the face of such opposition?  Caleb says, "Just give it to me and see what I am going to do!"  You have to like old Caleb!  This guy trusts God to keep his word, and not just in some vague theoretical sense.  He trusts God in a blood and dirt, "let's get to it" kind of way.  Tell you what, I want to be more like that -- more ready to take God at his word and start claiming that which he has promised me.

November 26, 2005

Joshua 20: A person shall escape for refuge to one of these cities.

We have been looking over Joshua's shoulder as the newly occupied Promised Land is divided up among the tribes of Israel.  Frankly, it isn't an especially inspirational section of the book.  Now we are down to special cases: cities for the Levites and priests, and the Asylum-Cities.  These cities are important places indeed.  If a person has messed up and accidentally killed someone they can flee there and find mercy.  These cities of refuge were the only hope for some in need of a second chance.  I think there will always be a need for "cities of refuge."   Simply put, people mess up.  Our world is filled with broken families, broken promises, shattered dreams.  The need of the day is not for the Church to tell lost people how bad they are, it is to tell them that there is still hope.  I pray that my church is a "city of refuge."  And not only the church, but my life as well -- that people will find in me mercy and hope of restoration - a city of refuge.

November 28, 2005

Joshua 21: Not one word failed from all the good words God spoke to the house of Israel.  Everything came out right.

The battles are over, the land divided, and the special cities designated.  It is a time for reflection.  Soon Joshua will call the people together and preach a "conclusive" sermon of his own, even as Moses had done earlier.  Here's the thing: God had made promises and he had kept them.  Today, I operate under certain promises: "believe and be saved," "I am with you to the end of the age," "I will come back and take you to be with me."  Sometimes the receiving of God's promises takes an effort on my part, and it almost always calls for patience.  The great phrase before me today is this: "Everything came out right."  With that in mind I stay the course.  God has made promises; it will come out right.

November 29, 2005

Joshua 23: Now, vigilantly guard your souls: Love God, your God.

The final pages of the book of Joshua contain the sermon he preached to the people of Israel in his old age. It is a mere "sermonette" when compared Moses' farewell that fills most of the book of Deuteronomy. It may be that since Joshua has been primarily a military leader that he is short on words and long on action. Still, Joshua has things to say that are worth hearing. He reminds his hearers that their success is all due to the gracious hand of God. One Israelite soldier has put a thousand enemy combatants on the run. Only God could do that. Their unprecedented success is because of God's goodness. Still, there is one area where they must be ever vigilant: their souls. As Moses warned a generation earlier, Joshua warns now. Even with military victories won, there remains the battle for their hearts. As an army posts sentries to keep watch against enemy intrusion, they must stand guard over their own lives. Now, I already know that two or three pages over I will find myself in the dark ages of the book of Judges, but here I find Joshua already warning them. How sad to win the land and yet lose their hearts. So, Joshua warns, "stand guard." That's good preaching if the people of Israel 3300 years ago and its good preaching for me to hear today.

November 30, 2005

Joshua 24: As for me and my family, we'll worship God.

Here is the most famous thing Joshua says.  This is a glorious declaration.  A decision has been made, a firm commitment.  Joshua can't control what others do, but he knows what he will do, and that is worship God.  I know something can be made here of Joshua's including his family in his declaration of intent.  Our Western culture says, "But Joshua, everyone has to make their own decision -- you can't just unilaterally speak for your family."  The fact of the matter is that, in his culture, he could do just that.  He was the leader of his family, and worshipping God wasn't built around John 3:16 anyway.  In fact, while I know this concept can be abused, most families need the man of the house to stand up and say, "We'll worship God."  Fathers and husbands need to show some leadership, to make a commitment, to take action.  I doubt that there are many women who would be offended if their husband showed some of the leadership Joshua shows here.  "Here's what we're going to do -- we'll worship God."