Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 18-20.

Every time I read this passage I feel like I missed something somewhere about how the Israelites divided up the land.  The tribes of Reuben and Gad, along with half of the tribe of Manasseh, had been given land east of the Jordan River.  West of the Jordan, Judah, Ephraim, and the remaining half of Manasseh had been given large sections of land.   At that point, the land had been brought under the control of the Israelites, but seven of the tribes had yet to claim any land for themselves (with the tribe of Levi being explicitly left out of having a specific portion because of their connection with the priesthood).  Yet, these seven tribes had not claimed their land.  So, Joshua had them send out men to survey the land and when the surveyors returned, he cast lots to decide who got what portion of the remaining land.  Yet, previously, in Joshua 14:2, it said that lots had been used to divide up the land among the nine and nine half tribes, which would have been these seven tribes plus Ephraim, Judah, and the half tribe of Manasseh which settled west of the Jordan River.  We see that as a contradiction.  Yet clearly those who composed the Book of Joshua did not.  So, what am I missing?  What happened between the lots being cast for the nine and one half tribes and the lots being cast again for these last seven tribes?  We get some hints from the fact that Simeon’s portion was mixed in with Judah’s.  And that Jerusalem was in Benjamin’s, yet later King David conquers it as part of Judah.

There is value from reading through these passages again and again.  I always gain something from reading them again and writing this blog.  Even when that something is questions.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 15-17.

I mentioned yesterday how the statement that the people of Geshur and Maakah on the east side of the Jordan River lived among the Israelites “to this day” gave us hints about when the Book of Joshua was compiled.  Today, we have a few similar references.  In particular, it says that the tribe of Judah was unable to dislodge the Jebusites from Jerusalem and that they also live there among the Israelites “to this day.”  That means that the Book of Joshua was compiled before the time of King David, since David conquered Jerusalem and made it his capital.  A little later it says that the Ephraimites were unable to dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer, and that those Canaanites are required to do forced labor.  This tells us that the book was compiled after the time of Joshua, because if they had been able to initially compel the Canaanites to forced labor, they would have been able to force them out of the area.  We get a stronger indication of this a little later when it discusses the inability of the Manassites being unable to occupy some towns because the Canaanites were “determined” to live in that area, but that when the Israelites grew stronger they compelled them to do forced labor.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 12-14.

Today’s passage begins by listing the kings whose land the Israelites took over and settled after defeating them.  Interestingly, it lists the two whom Moses defeated east of the Jordan River by name, but then only lists the cities of the kings whom Joshua defeated.  There are a couple of interesting things in today’s passage which I do not know why they are mentioned here.  First, I find it interesting that it makes a point that Og, king of Bashan, was one of the last, or possibly, the last, of the Rephaites.  The other places where the Rephaites are mentioned suggests that they were “giants” (for example, elsewhere we are told that Og’s bed was about thirteen feet long).  I mention that because the writers clearly thought it was significant, but I do not understand why.  Second, I find the mention that the Israelites failed to drive out the people of Geshur and Maakah, and that those people lived among the Israelites “to this day” interesting.  `I find it interesting for two reasons.  First, unlike the Gibeonites, no account of how it came about that the Israelites failed to drive these people out from among them is offered .  Second, it clearly indicates that the Book of Joshua was composed at some time before the Babylonian Exile.  Actually, I cannot imagine that reference being included if the book was compiled after the reign of King Solomon.

I want to take a moment and write a little bit about my thoughts about how many of the books of the Old Testament came to be.  I believe that many of the accounts contained in them were passed down for multiple generations as oral histories.  Then at some point someone chose to compile those oral histories into a written account.  My personal opinion is that the Book of Joshua was compiled from oral histories, then edited to give context on several occasions, such as giving (or changing) place names to those used at a later date (this is likely true of other Old Testament books as well.  These edits are similar to the way a historian might add a comment saying, “in modern day Sudan” to a historical document which refers to Cush.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 10-11.

Because of the way in which this passage falls, I never noticed before that the account of Joshua’s war against the kingdoms of Canaan (aside from Jericho and Ai) begins before the alliance with Gibeon in yesterday’s passage.  The other rulers in the land had come together to wage war against the Israelites.  When they learned that Gibeon had made a treaty with the Israelites, the rulers of the southern cities attacked Gibeon.  The Gibeonites sent word to Joshua asking that he relieve the siege against them, since they had submitted themselves to the Israelites.  The Israelites marched overnight to attack those attacking the Gibeonites.  After their victory, Joshua told the men of Israel the same thing which God had told him when he first led the Israelites across the Joran River: “Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous.”   This happened after a battle where the sun stood still in the sky in order to give the Israelites more time to completely defeat their enemies.  It is important when God defeats the obstacles we face in doing His will that we take note and remember those events.  We need to remember the ways in which God has overcome obstacles for us so that we will not be afraid or discouraged when the next obstacle arises.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 8-9.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about today, then I was re-reading the account of the altar which Joshua had built on Mount Ebal after the defeat of Ai.  I saw that it said that all of the Israelites were standing on both sides of the Ark of the Covenant, half in front of Mount Ebal and the other half in front of Mount Gerizim.  What struck me was that it said that “Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born were there.”  This is yet another reference to foreigners who had joined with the Israelites.  It shows how the Israelites welcomed outsiders to join them in worshiping God, giving them the opportunity to join God’s people.  Which brings us to the account of the treaty the Israelites made with the Gibeonites.  The foreigners living among the Israelites were, for the most part, small groups of people (individuals, families, and clans) who recognized that God was with the Israelites and chose to join them in worshiping God.  In many ways, the Gibeonites were like those who had previously joined with the Israelites: they saw how God had blessed the Israelites and defeated their enemies and they wished to join with the Israelites.  Here’s the thing, we should trust in God and serve Him in such a manner that people wish to join up with us in order to part of His people.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 5-7.

I was debating on whether to write about the circumcision of the Israelites born in the wilderness, or the keeping of the promise made by the spies to Rahab, or perhaps about Achan’s sin.  Then I read the short part where Joshua encountered the Commander of the army of the Lord.  When Joshua saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword, he asked if the man if he was for them or for their enemies.  The man replied, “Neither, but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”  This is an important statement.  It reminds me of a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln (but there is no documentation that Lincoln ever said it),  “My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”  When we find ourselves in conflict with others, God is not on our side, nor is He on our opponents side.  We should seek to determine what God’s side is and then take that.  In this case, the Commander of the Lord’s army came to Joshua and told him what the Israelites needed to do in order to be on God’s side.  If we seek to know God’s side, He will reveal it to us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 1-4.

When Joshua took over leading the Israelites, God told him to be strong and courageous.  God said that he should not fear that the task God was giving him was too big for him, He (God) would be with him (Joshua).  God told Joshua to follow the commands He had given Moses and not turn aside.  He should not become discouraged when the results of following God’s commands did not turn out as he anticipated, for God would be with him.  God would not leave him nor forsake him, but would be with him wherever he should go.  That same promise extends to us.  Then, when Joshua reminded the tribes which wished to settle east of the Jordan River of their commitment to send their warriors to aid the rest of the Israelites, they replied that they would follow him.  They just asked that he be strong and courageous.  There is an important lesson for us here.  God will not leave us nor forsake us, and others will follow our lead in doing God’s will, as long as we are strong and courageous.

Next we have the story of Rahab and the spies.  My first thought about this story is that we never really find out what role the spies played in the plans of conquest.  However, the important thing I get from the story is that Rahab began taking action to help the spies before the king began looking for them.  It appears that she chose to aid them from the moment they appeared at her door.  She had heard what God had done for the Israelites and chose to throw in her lot with them.  This story is an important clarification of the commands God had given the Israelites to not partner with or make treaties with the people of the land.  Rahab was choosing the leave the people into which she had been born and join with the people of God, the Israelites.  In the same way, we should welcome with open arms anyone who wishes to leave their lives among the “heathen” and join themselves to the people of God by fully and solely worshiping God.  Rahab gives us an example of someone who was not a leader following God’s command to be strong and courageous.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 23-24.

When we read the account of Joshua’s farewell speech to the Israelites, we typically focus on the choice which Joshua gives them, and his decision on that same choice.  Those are good things for us to take to heart, because we have the same choice to make, but we often misstate what the choice is, or how we arrive at which options we have.  Actually, Joshua gives two speeches here.  It is not clear to me whether or not they were to different audiences, or, if perhaps, they were recorded by different people who were present and later compiled into the single account which is the Book of Joshua.

In any case, in both Joshua recounts the great things which God has done for the Israelites, things which he had witnessed (and which many of them had witnessed many of as well).  Then he tells them that they should faithfully obey the commands which God had given them.  If you are reading this, God has done great things to bring you to this point in your life, and He has probably done at least some of them in ways which you knew were Him blessing you as He did them, so, Joshua’s suggestion applies to you (and me) as well.  We should fear God, serve Him with all faithfulness, and destroy all other gods which we might be tempted to serve in His place.  However, if we think serving God is not desirable, we need to decide which set of gods we will serve instead.  Do we believe that if we serve the government, it will deliver a better life for us than what God will give us if we serve Him?  Will we be better off, if we just pick the right man, or woman, to be our ruler (or group of them to be our rulers)?  Or, maybe we will be better off if we spend our life in the pursuit of physical pleasures?  However, I agree with Joshua, as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 21-22.

When Joshua had finished dividing up the land among the tribes he summoned the warriors from the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half of Manasseh which had settled east of the Jordan.  He praised them for aiding the other tribes in conquering the land and dismissed them to return to their homes east of the Jordan.  Their work was completed, but Joshua reminded them that they should continue to love and obey God with all that they were.  These men took Joshua’s instructions to heart, and before they crossed back over the Jordan to their homes they built a memorial altar.  The purpose of the altar was to remind the descendants of those settling west of the Jordan that those living on the eastern side were their brothers and worshiped the same God.  Overall some important lessons there for us.  Even when we have finished the mission to which God called us we need to continue to love and obey Him.  And, it is important to build memorials to remind those who come after us that they are not the only ones who love and obey God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 15-17.

Todays passage discusses the territory given to the tribe of Judah and to the tribe of Joseph (as given to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh).  Contained within the description of the territory given to Judah is a partial account of Caleb receiving his portion.  It contains the story of Caleb promising his daughter in marriage to the man who takes a particular town and then his daughter asking Caleb for springs to go with the other land he gave to her and her husband.  I am not sure why the account about Caleb’s daughter is here rather than earlier in chapter 14 where the book first discusses Caleb claiming his portion.

Once the passage concludes describing the territory which was claimed by the tribe of Judah, it goes on to discuss the territory given to the tribe of Joseph to claim.  I am not quite sure what is going on here, this is one of the few places where the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh are lumped together as the tribe of Joseph.  I think if I were to read this without any context from other parts of the Old Testament I would conclude that Joshua initially planned to give territory to Ephraim and Manasseh as if they were a single tribe.  A plan which was disrupted by the numbers of these two tribes and the difficulty which they had displacing the Canaanites living in the territory they were assigned.  And yet, part of this also reads as if they were already given two separate portions.  Perhaps, the way to read it would be that the portion of the tribe of Manasseh which did not settle east of the Jordan was being settled with the tribe of Ephraim , calling the combined group the “tribe of Joseph”.    In any case, both here, and earlier in the description of the territory assigned to Judah, we see indications of the problems which would later face the Israelites due to their failure to expel all of the peoples living in the land which they settled.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.