Friday, April 8 ~ tammi

Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is Joshua 7-9; Luke 9:37-62.

Again, we come to a passage where I really feel for Israel's leader.  It seems Joshua had absolutely no idea that someone had broken God's command to take nothing from among the rubble and ruin of Jericho and that that was why they suffered a sudden loss at Ai immediately after their incredible victory at Jericho.  I really feel bad for him!  They didn't suffer huge losses in terms of personnel (though 36 lives for one man's sin seems pretty steep if one looks at it that way), but Joshua's utter confusion is obvious in his prayer.

We see here once again, God's absolute intolerance toward sin.  Holding an entire nation responsible for the sin of one man seems harsh and yet over and over again, God had indicated He needed the ENTIRE nation to be committed to the job they had agreed to do.  I also think it's possible that either others knew about Achan and just didn't say anything, or that many had entertained the same idea and just hadn't been quite defiant enough to act on it. Since the text says, "the Israelites acted unfaithfully," I get the impression that either there were many whose attitudes were a little too cavalier about following God's instructions to a T, or that they were abetting Achan by not holding him accountable or turning him in.

I think so many of us are guilty the way the Israelites were here.  We know sin exists and abounds in our families and churches and yet we turn a blind eye.  We know God's commandments and laws for living; we KNOW the teachings of Christ, and yet we are so nonchalant about sin in our own lives and in our churches.  Oh, that we were jealous for the purity of the Body of Christ!

We see God's loving mercy and grace here though, too, in that Joshua then has the ability to attack Ai in the same way he initially did, allowing the Canaanites to believe they were in for another easy victory.  Only this time, instead of just a few thousand men, the rest of the entire Israelite army was waiting in ambush.  The city was completely destroyed.  And this time, God allowed them the plunder.

I thought it curious that sometimes God allowed the looting and sometimes He didn't.  This was, of course, the customary way for soldiers to get paid and their incentive to stay in the army, so I wondered at the difference.  My Bible notes indicate that the cities in which it wasn't allowed were specifically under God's judgment for their idolatry and therefore everything about the city was unclean.  Other cities were destroyed for other various reasons, and from these the plunder was permitted.

When I got to The Gibeonite Deception in Chapter 9, what struck me most was verse 14:  "The men of Israel sampled their [the Gibeonites'] provisions but did not inquire of the LORD."  What follows is pretty easy to understand, but I just felt for Joshua here again.  We get so down on these Israelites for their constant failings and yet, I so often approach and make decisions without stopping to consider that just because it worked this way once doesn't necessarily mean it will work this way again. Or I presume that I am wise enough and capable enough to make the decision on my own without even thinking I should maybe consult God first. I think that might have been Joshua's problem here. I don't think he deliberately left God out of this decision.  I think he simply saw it as a no-brainer; he could handle it without needing to 'bother' God.

A few days later, he realizes just how wrong he was and instantly, I believe, realizes that his mistake was not necessarily the action taken, but the fact that he didn't consult God.  But again we see the grace of God ~ towards the Israelites AND the Gibeonites.  God didn't punish the Israelites the way He could have for this oversight ~ in fact, He provided them with a huge blue-collar labour force ~ and God spared the Gibeonites, who might otherwise have been annihilated in a later battle as Israel pressed ever onward into The Promised Land.

Then we skip over to the New Testament and we find Jesus healing a demon-possessed boy and amazing everyone around him.  I find it so sad that after they left that place and were walking down the road, Jesus is trying to get His disciples to understand how He's going to be betrayed and die, and all they can think about is who's the greatest.  There too, though, I see myself and I'm disgusted with the trivialities we concern ourselves with sometimes in light of who God is and what He's done for all mankind.  You'd think since we have the entier Word of God in our hands, to read for ourselves, we'd understand better than they did and avoid those silly arguments!

Jesus puts them in their place by using a child as an example again, and then we end today's reading with them beginning their return to Jerusalem because the time of the Passover is approaching.  The Sacrificial Lamb of God "resolutely" set out for Jerusalem.  He knew what fate awaited Him there.

As the Son of God, He delighted in knowing and doing the will of His Father and He looked forward to the glorious plan of salvation He was coming to execute, but as a human being, we see from that one word that it wasn't something He was looking forward to.  He knew it had to happen, but I'm sure He dreaded the pain, the inevitable separation from His Father.  He knew He'd be the innocent, undeserving object of His Father's terrible fury, yet He made His way to Jerusalem resolutely, willingly, to spare us from suffering under that same fury, knowing we could never stand against God's judgment.

Tomorrow's passages:  Joshua 10-12; Luke 10:1-24.