Joshua 12-14

Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ … ”

Joshua 14:6-9

We know Caleb as one of the twelve spies who looked over the Promised Land early on, just a year after leaving Egypt. Of those twelve spies, only Caleb and Joshua trusted the LORD to drive out the inhabitants of the land. (See Numbers 13-14.) At that time, Caleb was forty years old. Now he is 85, and only Caleb and Joshua survive from that generation, the rest having died in the wilderness wanderings.

Note what sets Caleb apart. It is not his excellent livestock handling skills. (We know nothing about those, if any.) It is not his wealth. (We know nothing of that.) It is not his rugged good looks. (We know nothing of those, either.) It is not even his strength and skill as a warrior. (We can surmise that he has those.) What sets Caleb apart is simply this: he wholly followed the LORD.

It is now time for Caleb to receive the land that the LORD had promised to give him. (Num. 14:24; Dt. 1:36; Joshua 14:9) It is fitting that Caleb should be the first to receive an inheritance. He has been at the front of the line for 45 years. But an even better reward than the real estate is the testimony that the Scriptures continue to bear to Caleb: he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel. (Joshua 14:14b)

May we, like Caleb, follow the LORD fully. May we dedicate ourselves to Christ with wholehearted devotion, so that one day we might hear our Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Mt. 25:21)

Joshua 9-11

Today’s reading covers the bulk of Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land. With Jericho and Ai in hand, Joshua moves on to further territory. But the people of Gibeon (and neighboring towns — a bit north-northwest of Jerusalem) recognize the coming destruction and preemptively undertake a deceptive plan to make peace, claiming to have traveled from a far country. Without consulting the LORD, Joshua and the other leaders of Israel agree to let the Gibeonites live. Even when the deception is uncovered, Joshua decides to let the covenant stand.

The other cities in the area, perceiving that they cannot each stand alone, form an alliance against Israel (and Gibeon), but the LORD gives them into Joshua’s hand, raining down hail on the enemy and making the sun and moon stand still for about a day. Joshua then moves on to conquer first the southern portions of the land and then the northern areas, annihilating everyone along the way. And the land had rest from war. (Joshua 11:23)

One reason this post is a bit late today is that I’m having a hard time choosing which of three points to focus on. (Given how much ground we cover each day, that is not particularly unusual!) I can’t decide, so today you’re getting all three…

First, the treaty with the Gibeonites. Even though Israel’s covenant with Gibeon is based on Gibeon’s deceit and made without seeking the LORD’s counsel, that does not create a loophole for Joshua to jump through. A promise is a promise, especially one made in the name of the LORD. Joshua is not free to break that promise. We might think that the LORD would rebuke Joshua here for failing to wipe out Gibeon, but He does not. Aside from noting the failure to seek the LORD’s counsel, our reading today is silent on what the LORD thinks of the covenant, except that He clearly lets it stand. In fact, the LORD later ratifies the covenant, showing His displeasure with Saul for violating it. (See II Samuel 21:1-14.) We should learn at least two things from this: 1) seek the LORD’s counsel before making any substantive decisions and especially before making promises; and 2) keep your promises.

Second, the miracle of the sun standing still. If you find the idea of stopping the earth’s rotation for a day to be ludicrous, let me refer you back to Genesis 1:1 and this year’s very first post. God can do whatever He pleases with His creation. Making the sun stand still is certainly extraordinary (as Joshua 10:14 clearly states), but we should not therefore find it unbelievable. In speaking of this miracle (and miracles in general), Saint Augustine says much the same thing:

In regard then to human knowledge of the nature of things, the unbelievers have no right to becloud the issue by their assumption that nothing, even by the power of God, can happen to nature beyond what is known already by human experience. And remember too that there are qualities and powers in the natures of the commonest things that are nothing less than stupendous and would in fact be reckoned portents by anyone who examined them, except that humans have accustomed themselves to have no wonder to spare save for things that are unusual.

Augustine of Hippo, City of God 21.8

Though written in the early fifth century, Augustine might just as well be speaking to the 21^st-century physicist.

Third, the annihilation of the enemies of Israel. Although this is an account of real history and real events, we can also take this book somewhat allegorically. Consider again the idea of Joshua as a type of Christ. And consider Joshua’s conquest of the peoples of the land as a portrayal of Christ’s conquest of sin in our lives. The people of Israel can no more conquer the inhabitants of the land on their own any more than we can conquer sin on our own. In both cases, it is the LORD Who gives the victory. But just as the people of Israel must themselves take up the sword and participate in the battles, so we must cooperate with the LORD and actively engage in annihilating sin. I have said it before, and I will say it again, and I will keep on saying it: Christ died so that we might be free from sin, not just sin’s penalty. He died to annihilate sin in us, not to enable us to keep on sinning without consequence.

Joshua 6-8

Achan … took some of the devoted things … and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men…

Joshua 7:1b,5a

One man sins, and thirty-six other men die.

All the spoil from Jericho is to be devoted to the LORD: metal objects are to go into the treasury of the LORD, and all else is to be destroyed. But a few things catch Achan’s eye. He covets those things and takes them for himself. I can easily imagine Achan’s train of thought:

“My, that cloak from Shinar sure is beautiful. It would be a shame to just burn it. What a waste that would be! And the silver and gold — there is so much of it! Why should that go into the LORD’s treasury? I mean, what does that really mean, anyway? The LORD already owns the whole earth, so why does He need a treasury? Besides, what are these few bits out of all the rest? No one needs to know, and no one is getting hurt. I think I’ll just tuck these things away for later…”

I hope I’m the only one who can imagine such a train of thought — but I rather expect you can, too. I’d be willing to bet that the real clincher for Achan is the idea that this whole thing is his own private affair, that he’s not hurting anybody. He can quietly get a little bonus, and no one else is affected. But that’s a lie: thirty-six other men pay the price.

The truth is that we are all interconnected. My sin always affects others, no matter how much I might try to convince myself that it’s my own personal issue, just between God and me. No, as a believer in Christ, I am a member of His Body. When I sin, even in the most private way, I injure myself, and in so doing, I injure the Body, causing harm to the entire Body. Even the smallest sin (if there is such a thing) brings injury so that the Body cannot function as well as it might. (When you have a hangnail or a paper cut — small injuries, surely! — your finger cannot say to the rest of your body that only the finger is affected. Your whole self knows it, feels it, is distracted by it, and so your whole self underperforms.) My sin affects you. And your sin affects me.

Private sin? There’s no such thing.

Joshua 1-5

The Promised Land! At long last. Forty years after he first spied out the land and urged the people of Israel to trust the LORD to give it to them, Joshua now leads a new generation into that land, the land the LORD promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Joshua sends two (not 12!) spies into the land, and they — like Joshua and Caleb, but in stark contrast to the majority of the spies 40 years earlier — speak rightly:

Truly the LORD has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us.

Joshua 2:24

With that encouraging word, the Israelites enter the Promised Land by crossing the Jordan River on dry ground, which is reminiscent of the parting of the Red Sea, further establishing Joshua as the new leader in Moses’ stead.

Back on January 14 Fred introduced the notion of “typology”, mentioning that Joseph is a type of Christ, that he foreshadows some aspects of Jesus. Similarly, we can see Moses as a type of Christ as the Exodus parallels our deliverance from sin. And now we have Joshua as another type of Christ, leading the people into the Promised Land, much like Christ opens up heaven for us. Only this time the typology should be even more plain to us, because Joshua actually bears the name of Jesus; that is, “Joshua” and “Jesus” are really the same name, with the same meaning: “The LORD Saves” or “The LORD is Salvation”. It’s just Hebrew vs. Greek — just like “John” in English is the same as “Juan” in Spanish or “Johann” in German. Saint John Chrysostom says it this way:

The name of Jesus [Joshua] was a type for this reason then, and because of the very name, the creation reverenced him. What then! Was no other person called Jesus [Joshua]? But this man was on this account so called as a type, for he used to be called Hoshea.* Therefore the name was changed: for it was a prediction and a prophecy. He brought in the people into the promised land, as Jesus into heaven; not the law; since neither did Moses [enter the promised land] but remained outside. The law has not power to bring in, but grace.

St. John Chrysostom

*See Numbers 13:16.

I am not going to try to pick that statement apart, but suffice it to say that the idea of Joshua as a type of Christ is not new. It goes back to the Church Fathers, who recognized (as should we) that the entire Old Testament points to Jesus. As we read through this book, then, consider how Joshua might typify Jesus. There just might be some lessons for us to learn.

Deuteronomy 33-34; Psalm 90

Today Moses comes to the end of his (earthly) journey, and we bid him farewell. We know him as a prophet, the man of God, the law giver, the servant of the LORD. He is inseparable from the Exodus, the parting of the Red Sea, the giving of the Ten Commandments, the establishment of the Tabernacle, and the Wilderness wanderings. He is a grand, towering figure, not only for Israel, but for the entire world.

Yet he is not the star of the show. The LORD is. For who is Moses apart from the LORD? Had the LORD not called Moses at the Burning Bush, we would not now be talking about him. Had the LORD not delivered His people from Egypt and parted the Red Sea, we would know nothing of Moses.

Even so, it is good and proper to honor Moses. What an example of humble obedience we have in him! What an example of faithful, dedicated service! If only we would cooperate with the LORD a tenth as well as he!

Before he dies, Moses climbs Mount Nebo, from which the LORD shows him the Promised Land. Moses gets a good look, but he cannot enter. Leading the people forward into the Promised Land falls instead to Joshua. We start that part of the story tomorrow.

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One more thing…

Now that we have finished the Pentateuch, while it is still fresh in our minds, I would encourage each of us to spend a little extra time reading through the Letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 1:1-13:25). No, it is not yet in our chronological reading schedule — it’s quite a way off yet — but I think you will find reading it now to be helpful and very worthwhile.

Deuteronomy 30-32

You might recall that on February 6 I said we should remember Leviticus 26 as we move forward through the Scriptures. Our readings yesterday and today echo the same message, with blessings for following the LORD and curses for turning away from Him. Let’s keep these blessings and curses in mind as we watch Israel’s history play out.

With today’s reading we can already see the trajectory of that history. We may not yet know all the characters that we will meet along the way. We may not yet know all the twists and turns of the plot. But we can see the overall arch of the story, because the LORD is clear-eyed about it Himself.

The LORD is no fool, no gullible chump who naively expects a “happily ever after” relationship with Israel. He knows their hearts (and ours). He knows that they will fail to keep the covenant, that they will stray from His path. We see this repeatedly in today’s reading. Starting from the very first verse (Dt. 30:1) and continuing on through the entire “Song of Moses” (Dt. 32:1-43) there is a clear recognition that although Israel may enjoy the blessings for a time, the curses will certainly come to pass. Moses says this directly, just before the “Song”:

For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And in the days to come evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.

Deuteronomy 31:29

But the LORD invests in Israel anyway. He is faithful. He made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He intends to fulfill those promises. Further, despite Israel’s assured failure to keep the covenant, the LORD nonetheless anticipates their eventual repentance and return, and He promises to receive them back. (Dt. 30:1-10; Lev. 26:40-45) And so He shows Himself even more faithful and gracious.

And He is faithful and gracious still. As with Israel, He calls us to life, and that life is not far off or unattainable, because that life is in Christ Who is ever present with us. (Dt. 30:11-14; Romans 10:6-8) So choose life. Choose Christ. Every day and moment by moment. But if in your desire to choose life, you ever think that you have failed too often or too deeply, so that the Lord couldn’t possibly welcome you back, recognize that it is His own Spirit prompting you toward life. He is the One calling you, so answer the call in humility, confessing and repenting of your sin, and you will find that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ is faithful and gracious still.

Deuteronomy 28-29

And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.

Deuteronomy 28:1-3

But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.

Deuteronomy 28:15-16

Obedience or disobedience. Blessing or curse. Prosperity or tremendous destruction. The choice is clear, so take your pick. What will it be?

The LORD lays out for the people of Israel the terms of His covenant with them. He paints a glorious picture of abundant blessing for obedience but a stark picture of devastation for disobedience. They have a choice to make. And so do we.

I daresay that with the options laid out before us today, most of us consciously make the rational choice in favor of obedience, blessing, and prosperity. Who wants destruction? But then our thinking gets a little clouded, because we look around at the world and we do not always see this “formula” for blessing and curse working out as expected. We see prosperity coming to people who evidence little or no interest in following God. Meanwhile we see saints suffering. And so we doubt. (See Psalm 73.)

But then we rightly remember to look at things in the light of eternity, not just this world. We remember heaven and hell, and see that the blessing and curse formula may still work out if we consider the afterlife. So we immediately set about making resolutions to establish ourselves as citadels of righteousness and thus win the blessing. And in so doing we sow the seeds of our own downfall, not because we choose obedience, but because we think to rely on ourselves, our own strength and resources, to achieve it. And we fail.

Yes, we must by all means strive for obedience, but we must do so in humility and faith, recognizing that any power for real obedience comes not from ourselves but from the Holy Spirit because of the work of Jesus Christ. In saying this I am well ahead of our reading schedule, speaking of things not yet revealed to the Israelites. Indeed, they have yet to understand their own current scenario, so Moses says, “But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.” (Dt. 29:4) Let us lay that to heart and pray that God would indeed give us hearts to understand, eyes to see, and ears to hear, that we might rightly walk in obedience through faith in the completed work of Christ.

Deuteronomy 24-27

You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.

Deuteronomy 25:4

I hope we all know that we are not now bound by the letter of all these laws. First of all, I am guessing that most of us are not descendants of Israel, and so are not really part of the “covenant community” to which these laws are given as part of that covenant. Second, even if we were descendants of Israel, we have a New Covenant in Christ, which supersedes this Old Covenant. (We’ll eventually get to that much later in our readings.) And we should all be exceedingly thankful for that New Covenant because otherwise we’d be subject to the curse of Dt. 27:26: Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.

Even though we may be free from needing to strictly observe all these laws, we still need to pay attention to them, because they give us principles that express God’s heart. They show us what is right, what is just, what is fair, what is proper. And so it is with this law regarding oxen. On the surface it just says that an ox should be allowed to eat as it works. On the surface the law applies only to oxen. So, strictly speaking, muzzling a cow being used for the same task would be OK, but I think we all recognize that the LORD would frown on such an interpretation. We should instead look for the LORD’s heart and extrapolate a bit. We should recognize that the LORD expects us to act with compassion, even justice, with oxen — and much more generally than with just oxen.

Saint Paul quotes this verse twice, in I Corinthians 9:9 and in I Timothy 5:18, to argue that ministers of the Gospel deserve to be paid for their preaching and teaching. And he is right, of course. We should not expect our pastors and other church staff to live as paupers or to have to work a second job just to put food on the table. We should, in fact, recognize the tremendous value of their ministry and generously give to provide for their needs.

As we approach the end of Deuteronomy and we look back over the Torah and the 613 commandments that the rabbis tell us it contains, let’s not just consider the letter of the law and all its detail. Let’s find the spirit of the law, what God is really and truly looking for. Let’s recognize that it is all summed up in those two greatest commandments, to love God and to love our neighbor.

Deuteronomy 21-23

So you shall purge the evil from your midst…

Deuteronomy 21:21b

This is an oft-repeated refrain in Deuteronomy. (See Dt. 13:5; 17:7,12; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21,24; 24:7; as well as 1 Corinthians 5:13.) Maybe we should pay attention.

It would be easy for us to get side-tracked here (again!) by our own discomfort over these statements. We think that God should be “nicer” to the guilty parties. Or we perceive some disconnect between the LORD here and the God that Jesus calls “Abba”. But let me again just say that God does not change, and if we feel like He is somehow in the wrong, the problem lies somewhere on our side, not His.

My guess is that for most of us the real problem is that we do not take sin seriously — at least, not nearly as seriously as God does. Nor do we understand what constitutes life. Life is not mere existence. Life is relationship with God. So when we say that sin should be ignored or treated lightly, what we’re really saying is that we think sin is no big deal — and that our life with God is no big deal, either. So let’s be clear: Sin breaks our relationship with God; it destroys our life; so God hates sin.

So you shall purge the evil from your midst…

The lesson for us here is not that we should go on witch hunts, killing anyone guilty of anything. (We would all be dead!) The lesson is that we should be ruthless in our treatment of our own sin. We are not to tolerate sin within ourselves. We are to kill it. But we tend to treat the Cross of Christ as a mere “get out of jail free card”. We see the Crucifixion as merely taking our penalty — which then just enables us to keep on sinning, penalty free. That is not the Gospel. That is ludicrous! As Saint Paul explains in Romans 6, we have been crucified with Christ, and so Paul rhetorically asks, “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (See also Romans 8:13 and Colossians 3:5.)

Let’s start treating sin — our own sin — that thing we cozy right up to — as the disgusting, horrendous abomination that it is and let God nail it to the Cross.

So you shall purge the evil from your midst…