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

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

    Having started the story about Caleb’s request for an allotment of land the writer resumes describing the boundaries of the land assigned to each of the tribes. However, he is not done telling us about Caleb’s conquest of his land and tells a story about Caleb’s daughter. I am not sure of any lesson for us from this, except for the fact that while Caleb gave some of the land to his son-in-law it was his daughter he got him to give her (and therefore her husband) additional land to make it a truly viable territory. We are also told that the tribe of Judah failed to drive the Jebusites out of Jerusalem. The next tribes whose land allotment was described were Ephraim and West Manasseh (the other half of the tribe having been settled east of the Jordan). These accounts overlap with the earlier stories of Joshua conquering the southern and northern portions of the land. The earlier account gives the impression (I do not believe the writer necessarily intended to do so) that Joshua had completely wiped out the peoples living in the land he conquered. The description of the land allotments to the various tribes shows that was not the case. Some of the people were too strongly established for the Israelites to overcome at this time. This failure to completely control the territory which they settled sets the stage for much of what happened in the Book of Judges.

I am using 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 summarizes the land which the Israelites gained control over as they ended their days as nomads. Perhaps I am reading too much into this, but it appears to me that the writer of the Book of Joshua perceived the Israelites as having been nomads from the time of Abraham until they defeated King Sihon east of the Jordan. At that point, they began to take ownership of land more than a burial plot. Even during their days in Egypt they viewed themselves as nomads. No longer. The writer lists the kings whom the Israelites had conquered, then lists the land which he considered to be part of Israel which had not been conquered as of Joshua’s death. Finally he begins describing the boundaries of the land assigned to each of the tribes.

    Once the writer described the boundaries of the land east of the Jordan the writer makes a slight detour and tells the story of the tribe of Judah conquering the land assigned to them. In particular he describes the story of Caleb claiming his land. Caleb, was along with Joshua, one of the twelve spies who spied out the land before their generation became too frightened to begin the invasion. Caleb is now an old man, but claims that he is still strong enough to conquer those living on the land promised to him and take possession of it. He credits remaining alive and strong when all of his peers (except Joshua) had died to God’s grace. Despite being forty plus years older than when he scouted out the land, Caleb is still confident that, if God is with him, he can defeat those who stand in his way. Let us follow Caleb’s example. No matter how old, or young, we are, we are capable, with God’s aid, of carrying out the mission which he has assigned us. We may have “one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel” but we can be sure that if we are following God’s direction and are depending on His strength we will accomplish the tasks He has set before us. The same is true of us who are still “wet behind the ears” as well. Just put your trust in God, do as He commands, and you will not fail.

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

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

    When the king of Jerusalem learned that the Gibeonites had allied with the Children of Israel he formed an alliance with four other kings and attacked Gibeon. Joshua came to the relief of Gibeon and completely defeated the armies laying siege to it. Those armies fled, but the Israelites were able to kill all but a remnant which managed to get back inside their fortified towns. After killing the kings which had led these armies, Joshua had the Israelites regroup to their camp. From there he launched a campaign against the cities from which these armies had come. Except that the passage does not mention Joshua attacking Jerusalem, which is consistent with later Biblical accounts that Jerusalem was not controlled by the Israelites until David conquered it. When the kings in the Northern portion of the Promised Land heard what Joshua and the Israelites had done in the South, they gathered the armies and confronted the Israelites. The Northern kings fell to the same fate as the Southern kings. Of particular note is that when Joshua defeated the Northern kings, he crippled the horses and destroyed their chariots. What makes this noteworthy is what it tells us about the organization of the Israelite military. In order to use chariots effectively the soldiers who used them needed to spend enough time training with them that they did not have time to do anything else. The destruction of the chariots and the crippling of the horses tells us that the Israelites did not have a “professional” army which spent all of its time under arms and training. Such an army could be used to impose the ruler’s will over the people. Without such an army, whoever led the people was reliant on the support of the common man.

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

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

    The second attack on Ai gives us an insight into Joshua as a military commander. Despite the initial loss being attributed to God’s judgment over the sin of Achan, Joshua chose not only to take the entire Israelite army this time, but set up an ambush as well. His plan, which worked to perfection, was to draw all of the defenders out of the city by having his main force appear to be routed. Meanwhile, a force of 30,000, who had camped on the other side of Ai the night before attacked the city and a force of 5,000, sent out during the night, positioned themselves between the army of Ai and the city (at least, that is the way I read it).

    The second part of today’s passage recounts how the Gibeonites tricked the Israelites into making a treaty with them. We should take note of chapter 9 verse 14: “So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord.” The Israelites failure was not that they applied reason in their attempt to verify the Gibeonites story of being from a distant land. Their failure was in not relying on God to direct their reasoning. We need to use our reasoning, but still turn to God for guidance. If we seek God’s guidance He will show us the flaws in our reasoning and help us reach the correct conclusion.

I am using 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 am not sure I have written about this in the past, but every time I read this passage it strikes me that none of the males had been circumcised during the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. We are given no explanation as to why they were not circumcised. We are just told that they were not. So, after crossing the Jordan, but before launching the attack on Jericho, Joshua had all of the males circumcised using flint knives. I believe that flint knives were used because they are inherently sharper than metal knives. While metal knives can be made as sharp as flint knives it requires careful forging of the metal of the blade and then continuous effort to keep them sharp.

    I am going to skip over the attack on Jericho, although I find the strategy used fascinating, and discuss the attack on Ai. More precisely, I am going to discuss the sin of Achan. Achan surely thought that his sin would have no impact on any one other than himself. How could it hurt anyone else? How would they even know? Certainly, I can come up with no explanation, other than an act of God, for why his sin would have caused the Israelite defeat when they attacked the city of Ai. The lesson we learn from this is that our private sins can have an impact far beyond what we can imagine. We are not the only ones who suffer as a consequence of our sins, even if we cannot imagine how our sin might effect anyone else.

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

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

    The story of Rahab should be inspirational for us. Rahab was a prostitute, which suggests that she was rather low on the social scale. It may also suggest that she was involved in the religious observations of the people of Jericho. As soon as Rahab learned that the authorities were looking for the Israelite spies, she hid them and concocted a story to send the search elsewhere. Of course, not only did she send those searching for the spies elsewhere, but her story sent them in a direction which would allow the spies to avoid the search when they left the city later that night. As soon as the searchers were well on their way elsewhere she let the spies out of the city by a rope from her window. But not before extracting a promise for the safety of herself and her family. Rahab had heard the stories about the Israelites conquests east of the Jordan, and the miracles which God had performed for them. We should strive to emulate Rahab’s faith: she knew of God’s power and acted to aid those He had blessed with no assurance that it would benefit her in any way. We should also take notice that Rahab was not the sort we ordinarily expect to be receptive to God’s message, but the spies did not approach her to hide them. She chose, completely on her own initiative, to hide them. Sometimes God works through those from whom we would least expect it.