Bible in 90 Days - Day 16 (Joshua 1:1-14:15)

Lord, to whom shall we go?

You have the words of eternal life!

Help us now to hear and obey what you say to us today.

Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

—based on John 6:68

This is a whole new chapter in the life of Israel, and a lot of things happen rapidly to mark that. Note how many of them are echoes of how God revealed himself to Moses and shaped the Israelites as they were coming out of Egypt:

1. Chapter 3 starts out with the command to follow the ark, and it sounds like the command to follow the cloud in the desert. The ark is the main symbol of God’s presence now.
2. The Israelites were baptized in the Red Sea crossing as God called them to be his holy people (1 Corinthians 10:2), and now the new generation is being “baptized” in the Jordan River as they enter the promised land.
3. The covenant sign of circumcision is renewed.
4. Manna is now officially gone. The bread of heaven is replaced with local milk and honey.
5. Joshua is commanded to remove his sandals just as Moses was at the burning bush.

Rahab is an interesting character. We don’t know much about her, but she gets mentioned three times in the New Testament – twice for her faith in this action (Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25), and she is one of the three women in Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1 (we already met Tamar, and later this week we meet Ruth). She gives quite a testimony in 2:9-13. For one thing, the Red Sea story is already 40 years old, and it is still circulating in a land where the Israelites have not travelled yet. Second, Rahab recognized the LORD as the God over all gods – even the Canaanite gods. Finally, and most interestingly, the fear of God that was supposed to guide the Israelites seems to have more effect on the nations around them! Jericho is melting because of the 40 year old Red Sea story, but Israel whined through the desert for 40 years after being the ones who actually walked through the Red Sea. This testimony of foreigners is repeated with the Gibeonites.

Extra notes:

1:9 – “Be courageous” is a command here again; it is not merely an encouragement. The penalty for cowardice is disastrous when one is supposed to go forward in God’s name!

I love the way people are asked to tell the truth (as Joshua does to Achan): “Give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give him the praise.” Truth-telling glorifies and praises God.

The scene in Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim is exactly what Moses commanded in Deut 11:29