Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Tuesday, March 23 - Miriam

Today's reading from the One Year Chronological Reading Plan is Joshua 3-6.

There is a lot of great stuff in these chapters. Much of it is things we've heard before in Sunday School, especially the story of Jericho, where the walls come tumbling down.

To start out, Joshua has taken over as leader in Moses' place and God wants Israel to know that He is with Joshua just as he was with Moses. He wants to establish Joshua's reputation as a strong, godly leader for the people. They set out to cross the Jordan river, which was swollen with flood waters. Everything happens just as God told Joshua. The waters stop flowing and "piled up in a heap". I wonder if the water stopped still, or if it moved and undulated as though it might come crashing forward at any second? Might be a little nerve-wracking, especially for those priests carrying the ark of the covenant. They must have stood there a long time. I wonder if they were allowed to swap out? I'm sure they didn't put the ark down on the ground in the middle of the Jordan. They would have had to stand there while the twelve representatives each picked up a stone for the marker of their camp, and then while the WHOLE NATION crossed over. That must have taken hours! It would seem obvious that God wanted to remind the people of the crossing of the Red Sea when He led their fathers out of Egypt. It brings things nicely full circle, doesn't it? Cross a body of water on dry land to leave the country of their slavery and oppression, and cross a river on dry land to enter the land promised to their forefathers by God. It also served nicely to terrify the people of the land they were moving into!

Anyway, following that we have the re-circumcision of the nation of Israel. This was adequately explained in the text, I believe. What I found interesting is that THE DAY after Passover was the day they first ate from the Promised Land and the following day the manna stopped. God doesn't do anything half-way. The people left Egypt following Passover, and ate the first fruits of their new home following Passover. He paid such attention to detail with the timing of their journey and their arrival in Canaan -- he knows the right time for each and every thing that happens in our lives as well.

I love the story of Jericho. In fact, I can't think why anyone wouldn't love it. Well, besides the killing of all the living things and burning of the city that followed. I have to admit, I get a kick out of action movies. I like explosions and car chases. I think it would be totally cool to see those walls crash to the ground without the aid of any dynamite or C4. But maybe that's just me.

Imagine what it would be like to see a couple million people calmly and quietly marching around the city behind the guard and the golden ark of the covenant every day for six days with nothing happening. I'm sure by the seventh day the people of Jericho were thoroughly mystified... maybe even rolling their eyes a bit. "What are those nut jobs doing? They've marched around six days in a row already - haven't they realized yet that they aren't accomplishing anything?" They must have wondered what was up with the priests blowing the horns on the seventh day, though, and then been horrified to hear all those people shout in unison and see their city walls come crashing down. But how cool for the Israelites to see that! I'm sure the story spread like wildfire. I'm also sure I wouldn't have wanted to go up against the Israelites or their God after hearing about it.

Tomorrow's reading is Joshua 7-9 and 1 Chronicles 2:7.

12 comments:

tammi said...

I sometimes wonder, too, how long it took the Israelites to get from one place to another. I guess this is probably the argument against there actually being about 2 million people. The Red Sea, at its narrowest point, is still about 15 miles/24 kms wide. Even for just one person to cross at that point would take at least 5 hours.

Some of the things the Bible says they did in one day, tribe by tribe, are amazing, too, if it literally means tribe by tribe. Sometimes, I wonder if it was just the leaders of each tribe, but sometimes the Bible specificially says, "the whole assembly." How on earth do you address 2 million people without the aid of electronics?!

Anyway, I guess that's a little off-topic, but your question about how long the Levites had to stand in the Jordan kinda started it!

I wonder what it must have been like to watch Jericho fall from Rahab's home along the city wall? Was she calm, believing in the promise the spies made to her, or was she freaking out just a little because her home was a part of the massive wall that was crumbling before their very eyes, destroyed by unseen hands?

VERY incredible story, to say the least.

Tammy said...

According to Wikipedia, it would've taken approximately 29 days for the Israelites to cross the Jordan River. Wow - that is incredible!

I too have wondered about how they could all hear. I wonder if there is a natural explanation or if God simply supernaturally intervened.

Another thing that is commendable is the faith of the men carrying the ark. God didn't separate the waters until they stepped into the river. So often we want God to show us how He's going to do something before we step out in faith. But we need to have the faith to follow what we know to be right, and that God will do as He's promised.

Nicole said...

I was a bit puzzled why they weren't circumsised. It didn't really say, it just said they weren't. But is that because their fathers were disobedient to God?

Mrs.Oz said...

Enjoyed your post. I too love this story for it's cinematic qualities, not to mention the power of GOD!
LL's comments on how the people heard reminded me of the Left Behind books. In those, the authors take the literary liberty of fiction to depict a situation where the person talking's voice is supernaturally augmented or even changed into the language of the listener if needed. Now, I realize this is fiction and no I don't have my theology lines crossed, but it's fun to think about what God COULD have done. In a less dramatic solution, the people may have had leaders who passed the word on to the crowd.
I found 6:25 interesting in it's wording. It commends Rahab for "hiding" the men. Not, "helping" or "aiding" the men, but "hidding". The process of hiding (which in itself also implies deception) involved lying. I don't know if anyone read or listened to the link I gave in yesterday's comments, but in light of that, I found this very interesting wording. Kinda kudo's "The Hidding Place" after all in my mind. I love that God can be astounding at times and yet down right matter of fact practical too when he's working out his ways. :) The fact is, the wall of water above your head took faith, and lying to the wicked took faith , and for that (as LL pointed out too in the comments yesterday), their FAITH are they commended. Still, as we backward step through that I think it helps better understand the black and white instead of letting it fuzz into grey when it's not.

Miriam said...

Nicole, verses 4-8 of chapter 5 explain the need for circumcision. All the males had been circumcised years ago when God first told Moses they were to do so to set themselves apart from the other nations, but no boy babies born since then had been circumcised. Because they had to wander in the desert for years due to their disobedience, all the men who had previously been circumcised had died.

Nicole said...

Yes but why hadn't the boy babies been circumcised? Surely they had a few days to stop and do it in the years they were wondering? Or was it because everyone who would of done it had died?

Tammy said...

Do we know why they didn't circumcise the new baby boys in the desert?

Mrs.Oz said...

I saw your question earlier Nicole and I was wondering the same thing. In Lev. 12:3 they were comanded to do that right? The law was given while they were in the wilderness. So, this is what the John MacArthur study bible say on that:
"5:2 Circumcise. God commanded Joshua to see that this was done to all males under 40. These were sons of the generation who died in the wilderness, survivors from the new generation God spared in Nu 13,14. This surgical sign of a faith commitment to the Abrahamic Covenant (see Gen 17:9-14) had been ignored during the wilderness trek. Now God wanted it reinstated, so the Israelites would start out right in the Land they were possessing."
I still see what you are saying though, were not the Levitical laws given in the wilderness? It does seem like they just pooh, poohed this one. I found it amazing that Joshua had to make flint knives just for this because they had no proper tool I suppose since they had not practiced it.
This does not help much but JM does confirm it being ignored.

Mrs.Oz said...

Interestingly enough I was reading that even Passover may not have been celebrated regularly by all of the people. This met up with John Wesley's notes on this passage. He seems to feel that the command is for the "body" as a whole, meaning that any who were not because of ignoring the commands for too long, would be. A purification of the mass of them and a recall for the passover as well. Here are his thoughts:
"The second time - He calleth this a second circumcision, not as if these same persons had been circumcised before, but with respect to the body of the people, where of one part had been circumcised before, and the other at this time, which is called a second time, in relation to some former time wherein they were circumcised, either, in Egypt, when many of the people, who possibly for fear or favour of the Egyptians, had neglected this duty, were by the command of Moses circumcised. Or at Sinai, when they received the passover, Numbers 9:5 , which no uncircumcised person might do."
It's interesting, the last statement. It kind of proves the thoughts about many of them not even observing passover since you had to be circumsized to do that.
Sounds like a child gone astray for sure and God was going to make them get their act together and remember some basics before they went into the land.

Nicole said...

Yeah I think the answer is that they just kind of ignored what God has asked them to do. Which isn't surprising really when they also grumbled and complained the whole time too.

Mrs.Oz said...

yeah, it made me think how long suffering he really was with them. if he struck them down every time they failed to do what they were told, they seem like they would not have survived as long as they did out there.
again, it's sad really and to think that Moses saw them do this over and over and prayed and prayed for God to spare them. how he must have struggled with discouragement.

Miriam said...

Hmmm, I never actually thought about that. I just assumed they hadn't been circumcising while travelling without thinking about what the reasons might have been. Thanks for the info, ladies.