Joshua 1-24
Dear RTB’ers,
Today we have no new reading; STS calls it a “Revision” day. I like the second half of the second question in STS – God’s character and His purpose for us…
A couple of my own thoughts from Joshua. First, my Study Bible noted seven occasions when the Israelites set up altars or memorial stones in the Promised Land. Off the top of my head I could only name four. How many can you find. (Use a “search” option in your browser.) Let’s name them this Sunday (the 25th) at our last RTB gathering before Carol and I leave.
Second, the slaughters of all the men, women and children… That certainly sounds harsh to our 21st-century minds with our sense of righteousness, mercy and justice. So how to explain it? No answer – except that God is God and I am not.
Third, God gave the Israelites the Promised Land. They promptly disobeyed (read the book of Judges!) and eventually lost it in 722 BC and 586 BC, then gained it back after 70 years of captivity in Babylon – such that the Jews had “centers” in Jerusalem and Galilee separated by Samaria during Jesus’ life. But then they lost it again in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the Temple and dispersed the population. Never again did the Jews have their own homeland until 1948. And today maintaining that homeland is a constant battle. So, what to make of the Jews’ claim to that Promised Land? What to make of that 1948 “gift”? What to make of the WWII Holocaust? What to make of “God’s chosen people”? What to make of our own Jewish “heritage”?
See you Sunday!!
Blessings!