i'm excited to blog this morning. the Lord is near (phil. 4:5b). so...starting with chapter 9, let's really listen for what God wants us to understand as we look at the rest of joshua. the kings who were "beyond the Jordan, in the hill country and in the lowland and on all the coast of the Great Sea" (v 1)...heard of how God was giving the israelites favor. they heard about jericho and were afraid. so, the people of gibeon attempted to trick joshua (and succeeded). i think the key thing we can learn from this section of text is that they "did not ask for the counsel of the Lord" (v 14b). it was believable that these people were from a far country and seemed reasonable to promise peace/to make a covenant with them as they requested. even when things seem reasonable and good, we need to be on the alert (i pet. 5:8).
i love how God fought for them all along the way. i know i've read this before but did not remember that God actually threw large stones from heaven (hailstones)...on the five kings and their armies who had come against them (recorded in chap 10). here, also, is recorded that the sun "stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day." so...when you read this, did you think about this scientifically (astronomically:) )? of course, this was a figurative expression because we know the reason it looks like the sun rises and sets is a result of the earth's rotation/not the actual movement of the sun. so, the earth stopped rotating for a day? very cool. i imagine the hand of God just coming and His finger kind of resting on the north pole gently for several hours..."until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies" (v 13). soooo beautiful how it's just all in His hand...and in His control. (and...my faith just keeps being rocked and shaped and enlarged and confirmed and strengthened chapter after chapter). and...southern palestine...and...northern palestine were conquered under joshua's leadership (chap 10/11). chapter 12 lists kings that had been defeated by israel and 13 records how canaan was divided by tribes. caleb comes back on the scene in chapter 14 with a request for the territory that he desired for his family. to note about caleb...the affirmation in verse 9 "...i followed the Lord my God fully." and...i love how his strength and health had been sustained into old age (similar to moses').
i don't have a lot to really comment about the divisions of land recorded in chapters 15-20. each tribe was given space and territory...including the levites in chap 21. chap 20 records how the six cities of refuge had been set aside as well. i love 21:34, "not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of israel failed; all came to pass." in my margin beside chapter 22, i have written: it was relationship then too.... note verse 5: "only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul." (what does it look like for me...today...to hold fast to Him?) chapter 22 records a misunderstanding concerning an altar built near the jordan. remember that reuben and gad and the half-tribe of manasseh had settled on the other side of river. and...they built this altar as a reminder to generations after them that though the jordan divided them geologically, they were to follow after God as the rest of israelites.
chapter 23 records joshua's farewell thoughts to the people. "...you are to cling to the Lord your God..." (v 8). this stands out/shouts out to me this morning...he instructed/reminded them again to love the Lord (through verse 10). in chapter 24, joshua reviews israel's history...written record of the Lord's faithfulness again. the well-known proclamation in verse 15 is significant. "choose for yourselves today whom you will serve...." and they did verbally affirm that they would choose the Lord as joshua had...and...he warned them with urgency not to follow after other gods. joshua's death is, of course, recorded at the end of the book.
--personal thoughts--
i want to cling to the Lord/to hold fast to Him. for me...today...this means trekking through His Word and turning my heart toward Him in the quiet (and in the intermittent noisy of the reid home today). :)
faithful Father, let us cling to you....
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