Today's reading from the One Year Chronological Reading Plan is Joshua 22-24, which brings the book of Joshua to a conclusion.
I was a little dismayed when I started reading chapter 22. Suddenly the Israelites on one side of the Jordan were going to go to war with the Israelites on the other side! It turned out to be a misunderstanding, which made me think of how quick we can be to jump to conclusions and pass judgement on others. The Reubenites and Gadites erected an altar and suddenly everyone else was up in arms, having no idea what the altar was meant to represent. Thankfully they sent a delegation over to talk about it first, or they would have been shedding each other's blood for nothing. It turns out the Reubenites and Gadites were not intending to use the altar for sacrifices, which would have gone against the laws of God, but only as a witness for their descendants that they shared the inheritance and blessings of the Lord God together with their brothers, even though they lived apart from them. I thought it was so great that the Israelites celebrated this news when the delegation came back and reported what they had found out. I can imagine that after years of war, routing the previous owners from the Promised Land, that they were not anxious to do any more fighting, particularly against the men who had been fighting WITH them for those years, leaving their own inheritance behind, to fulfill their promise to Moses and to God.
Following that, Joshua, realizing that he was near the end of his life, made the Israelites renew their vow to follow God and honour His laws. One of the most popular and well-known verses of Joshua appears in this passage. "But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15b My parents had a plaque on the wall in our house with this verse on it.
What I found interesting was the FIRST half of this verse. "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living." Joshua 24:15a (emphasis mine) This is a reminder that we cannot serve two masters. Or, as it says in one of my favourite romantic comedies "You can't ride two horses with one ass." (Sweet Home Alabama) So often we think we can follow God and do His will on the one hand, but do this and that which pleases us on the other hand. It is completely appropriate, in my opinion, to take time for pleasure and enjoyment, relaxation, vacation, etc. The important thing is to remember that we've chosen whom we will serve and if we find ourselves doing our own pleasure more and more and neglecting our commitment, then it is important to renew our commitment when necessary.
Following the renewal of their commitment, Joshua set up a large stone, saying "See!" he said to all the people. "This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the LORD has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God." Joshua 24:27 The idea of a rock hearing the words the Lord had said and being a witness seems a little humorous, but I think it's a reminder that God is always listening. He sees and hears all. There is nothing we can do in secret from him. We may be able to "put something over" on a human being, but we can never deceive God. He knows our true motivations.
Tomorrow's reading is Judges 1 - 3.
4 comments:
The same things struck me as well.
One thing I wondered is why Joshua didn't ask God to select a new leader to replace him, like Moses did with Joshua?
The one leader was needed as they were being moved still as one nation. Now, they were in their own areas and one leader would not really work as well. I think that is why we have the transition to the 12 judges. One for each tribe. It kind of makes sense like states governing themselves.
I thought the rock thing funny too but then it reminded me that the bible says that even the rocks will cry out if there is no one to praise the Lord. Plus, these people had seen so many things, they probably had a different view of what as possible.
Except that the 12 judges weren't judging each area at the same time. One judge led, then he died, then the next one and so forth. So they did have a leader, they just didn't really pass the torch very well it seems.
yeah, it gets real messed up from here on out for sure.
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