Joshua 22:1-24:33

I’m not sure whether you noticed it or not, but I find it intriguing that at the close of the book of Joshua, Joseph gets a mention.

Why on earth does Joseph get a mention, he is long gone. To discover an answer we will need to go back then forward.

Firstly when we go back to the final chapter of Genesis. Here we see the faith of Joseph in the promises of God and he makes the sons of Israel swear an oath:

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” 25 And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.”

Genesis 50:24-25

As we come to the final chapter of Joshua we see Israel has got it right and now that they have peace in the promised land, they bury his bones.

Yet this is not the end of the story. For when we look forward the NT reminds us of this act of faith on behalf of Joseph. But Hebrews 11 describes that these godly characters  did not receive what was promised. However at the close of Joshua they have just entered the promised land. So hasn’t Joseph received what was promised the author of Hebrews thinks not:

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country– a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Heb 11:13-16

Joshua 18:1 – 21:45

As I started today’s reading I was thinking this is gunna be a tough blog. But then I got to the end and saw those sweet verses – Joshua 21:43-45.

43 So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. 44 The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. 45 Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

After reading those verses the first part of the reading made more sense. All the detail as to who gets what is meant to point us to the fact that God is fulfilling his good promises, every single one.

It’s is great to know that God is faithful to every promise – But how should I apply this my life now, living between the first and second coming of Christ?

Joshua 7:1-10:15

After the success of the opening chapters, it does not take long before Israel blows it. It is an intriguing little section.

Joshua after the defeat Israel faced is informed by the Lord that the defeat they faced was due to sin that was amongst then. Joshua acts as commanded by the Lord and Achan stands before the assembly and this is what he has to say about himself:

²⁰ Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: ²¹ When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, ^[f] two hundred shekels ^[g] of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, ^[h] I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

Achan saw, coveted and took. Sound a little familiar. Now listen to Gen 3:6

⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Eve saw, coveted (fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye) and took.

Rebellion in the garden, rebellion in the land.

Though Israel go on to victory in Josh 8:28-29, we look forward to a greater victory Gen 3:15.

¹⁵ And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring ^[a] and hers;  he will crush ^[b] your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Jesus would come and defeat sin, death and the devil. Now those who trust in that victory can look forward to a land free of rebellion.  Heaven.

Deuteronomy 30:1 – 32:47

There’s a massive tension in these chapters. In chapter 30, Moses sums up the choice before the people: “see, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction… now choose life” (Deut 30:15, 19), and yet in the same breath he hints that the people will choose death: “this day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you…” (Deut 30:19). This hint is expanded in chapters 31&32 as we are left in no doubt about what will happen: “these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them.” (Deut 31:16). In other words God knows what’s going to happen and yet he clearly states that the people must choose. This apparent tension is one that the Bible insists we learn to live with – the sovereignty of God on the one hand (nothing is outside of his knowledge, nothing happens against his will), and human responsibility on the other (we make genuine choices to obey or reject the revealed will of God). And though it might mess with our brains a bit, it really couldn’t be any other way could it?

The really good news is that through Jesus for us and the Holy Spirit in us we now have even greater freedom (or perhaps “capacity” is a better word) to “choose life”. Deut 30:14 is now more true than ever: “the word is very near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it.” Check out Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:25-27 & John 1:14 to get a better understanding of how blessed we are in Christ.

Have a great day!

Deuteronomy 28:1-29:29

As I was reading through the blessings for obedience I thought if only the people could keep following God’s commands they could live in perfection. But by now we should realise that the people won’t get it right and a whole lot of nasty stuff is gunna come there way for disobeying the LORD’s commands.

It’s amazing that God continues to fulfill his promises to Abraham even when he knows that the people can’t fulfill the law. I guess the great thing is that the promises made to Abraham weren’t dependant on the Israelites fulfilling the law but on God’s grace.

Have a read of Galatians 3:15-29.

15Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 16The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,”[a] meaning one person, who is Christ. 17What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

19What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. 20A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.

21Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

23Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ[b] that we might be justified by faith. 25Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

It is great news that sinners like you and me don’t get what we deserve but that through Jesus (the only obedient Israelite) we have the sure hope of living in perfection in the news heavens and the new earth.

As a side note, I really love Deuteronomy 29:29.

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of the law.

Deuteronomy 24-27

I find it amazing how day after day as I read God’s law, my inclination at many points is to think “that seems a little unfair/bloodthirsty/harsh/unloving etc etc etc”. The only possible explanation for this is that I must think that I know better than God!

It’s amazing that he puts up with me!

Part of the irony is that it is my (incomplete) understanding of God’s word by which I judge… God’s word!

I think there is a HUGE challenge for us as we read through the Old Testament to  see ALL the ways in which Jesus fulfills what we read. To see the unity and continuity of the two testaments before we go looking for any disunity or discontinuity. The temptation is to read the OT and just shake our heads and say “thank God for Jesus”. What we should be trying to do instead is to truly understand and love God whether we are discovering him in the Old Testament or the new.

Let me share some of the things that I have discovered from today’s passage

• it is very important to God that his people have nothing to do with evil. 7 times in Deuteronomy 13-24 God says “you must purge the evil from among you”. If this means putting someone to death then so be it. The honour of God is more important than the life of a sinner. Isn’t the gospel amazing: Jesus obeyed his father perfectly in everything, overcoming evil at every point. And yet in order for evil to be purged from among God’s people, he had to be put to death it – so be it. In doing so, he honoured his heavenly Father in the ultimate way AND made it possible for sinners to “not die but have eternal life”.
• God is very concerned that his people should deal honestly and fairly with one another and not take advantage of each other. Jesus came to serve, not to be served (Mark 10:45) and his followers are to consider others better than themselves (Philippians 2:3).
• This concern extends especially to those who are the most vulnerable – the poor, the alien, the fatherless and the widow. Jesus’ reserved some of his harshest criticism for the way the Jewish leaders treated people like the poor widow in Luke 12:38-44.
• The more God’s people trust him and obey him, the more they will learn that he cares for and meets their needs. Check out Jesus’ teaching in Matt 6 – “do not worry…” and also in Philippians 4:6 “do not be anxious… pray” and consider the way that Jesus “practiced what he preached at all times but especially in the garden of Gethsemane. Do I trust God to met my needs or do I try to be independent
• God wants his people to remember his goodness and grace so that they will learn to be thankful. In the OT Israel were to celebrate the passover and remember God’s great rescue. But the passover was only a shadow of the death and resurrection of Jesus – how much MORE thankful should we be!
• God wants his people to be active in warning and encouraging one another to avoid sin, so lets speak the truth in love to one another (Eph 4:15) and confess our sins to each other (James 5:16) and consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds (Heb 10:24).

I’m sure there’s more, but that’s enough for one day!

Deuteronomy 20-23

Wow!

Ya go away for a couple of weeks and 14 days pass you by! Funny that…

Reading Deuteronomy 20 (which the NIV subtitles “going to war”) I couldn’t help but think of Paul’s instruction for Timothy to “fight the good fight” in 1 Timothy 1 & 6.

No-one likes the idea (let alone the reality) of going to war but when you’ve got enemies who are determined to bring you down, you’re left with no option but to fight! The great thing about fighting for King Jesus is that he actually fights for us! Just as God promised to go before Israel when they faced their enemies, we can face our enemies – sin, the world, the devil & even death – in the sure knowledge that Jesus has “gone into the breach” ahead of us and won the victory! Read Deuteronomy 20:3-4…

today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be faint-hearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them. For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you the victory.

How cool that those words find their full meaning in Christ! So, brave comrades, whatever it might look like for you today, fight the good fight knowing that in Christ the battle has already been won!

Deuteronomy 16:1-19:21

In Deuteronomy 17:14-20 we hear of the requirements of those who would lead Israel as king over the people. Here it outlines what a true leader of Gods people will uphold and abhor.

Yet when the kingship is established in the years ahead for Israel after they possess the land, things don’t really go to plan.

Many would say the golden years of the nation Israel were around the time of Solomon.

But that actually became the problem. Remember what Deu 17:17 said:

He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

Yet listen to 1 Kings 10:27

The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones

Strike one

Remember Deu17:16:

The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”

Now listen to 1 Kings 10:28:

Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt ^[i] and from Kue

Strike 2

Remember Deu 17:17:

He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray

Now listen to 1 Kings 11:3:

He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.

Strike 3… your out!

Here in Deu 17 we hear how a king of Israel should lead his people. They failed.

From Solomon the kings of Israel we basically on a downward spiral.

Christ would be the true king, who would obey were the kings failed,

listen to Phil 2:8:

⁸And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself  and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!