The book of Joshua is upon us. What exactly will it hold? Hopefully it is better then Deuteronomy was. Joshua 1 begins by giving us the new leader of the Israelites. Who exactly is the new leader, well it is Joshua. The people seem to show a great faith in Joshua. Joshua also seems to know what he is doing. One line that really stood out to me was, "Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you." (Joshua 1:17) Just as we fully obeyed Moses, I do not get that. To me it appeared that they questioned Moses a lot, last time I checked to obey also meant to not question. You do it because that was what you were told to do.
Joshua 2 is a story I kind of like. I am not sure why though. I think it is because in a sense it has to do with some form of military action. We learn of two spies that are helped by a lady who in turn makes a deal with them. She knows that their God is the only true God and pleads with them to spare her family because she knows what is coming. They agree to spare her family as she spared their lives when the guards were looking for them.
Joshua 3 gives us another tale of the Israelites crossing a river on dry grounds. I can just imagine the strength that must have entered the soldiers when they saw this happen. At that moment they truly knew that God was with them. A sight like that sure would lift my spirits. And just imagine the fear it put into the enemy. If enemy soldiers would have seen that I can see them turning tale and running. I do not imagine I could have went into a battle after seeing that happen for those I was about to fight. I would be throwing up my hands and shouting "I'm out!"
Luke 9 starts out with stories that we are familiar with. We read once again the story of the feeding of the five thousand. It still amazes me how He can do so much with so little.
Tomorrow's reading is:
Joshua 4, 5, 6 and Luke 9:18-36
1. I totally agree with you. If I was Joshua and the people said to me we'll obey you as we did Mosses, I'd be thinking, grrreeat. I can not imagine how overwhelming a fist day this must have been for Joshua.
ReplyDelete2. I'm curious how these two spies know they have the authority to make this decision?
3. I thought it was very interesting that the water didn't part for them until their feet were dipped in the river. What an incredible display of faith. The bearers of the arc trusted that God would dry up the river enough to step into it and believe there path would be dried....AMAZING.
9. I'm struck again by the disciples leaving on their journey with no supplies knowing that God will provide for them. Imagine leaving on a long trip and not packing anything to take with you.
Both of these last two chapters really emphasis the point to me that we need to trust God to provide for us. This is something I know I personally need to work on. As a planner it's hard for me to give up that control and trust in God to fulfill my needs.