Even though it feels like the Israelites lived in a war culture it’s apparent that they lived in a God culture too. When Caleb requests land he ties everything to God. “…the Lord said” (v. 6), “I…followed the Lord…wholeheartedly” (v. 8), “the Lord promised” (v. 10), “the Lord helping me,
Continue readingHow to occupy the futureAfter watching action movies seeing a documentary of land survey is dull. But what if the land is your father’s gift to you and your brothers as inheritance. Joshua is old ( that is what happens to all men) and there is plenty of land to
Continue readingThirty one kings in such a small territory. Though they were small kingdoms, they were the only kings on earth who waged war against King YAHWEH. They kind of chose wrong battle. We should know how to choose our battles. Glad that it’s over, but I’m not able to celebrate
Continue readingIf we forget the total destruction and merciless extermination (v. 20) of the people of Canaan and just focus on what God did for the Israelites, it is a pretty big miracle. A bunch of nomads taking over more established kingdoms with ease and striking fear in their hearts. Then
Continue readingThe Israelites captured a whole chunk of land in one campaign because the Lord fought for them (v. 42) and thanks to the deceiving Gibeonites for being the cause of this campaign. In Joshua 1, first God encouraged Joshua twice by saying “Be strong and courageous”(vv. 6, 9). Then in
Continue readingKing Yaweh has entered canaan. Joshua made a treaty and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath (v. 15). That’s a functional democracy. Not sure how the leaders were selected in the first place but they definitely represented all the tribes. Unfortunately, they made a decision without consulting
Continue readingJoshua was encouraged by the Lord. The first loss against Ai did not keep him from mobilizing his fighting men and marching towards Ai. The first loss also helped Joshua to approach the same problem differently. What do we learn from our mistakes? “Afterwards, Joshua read all the words of
Continue readingJoshua had the courage to go before the Lord even though he was totally frustrated because of losing a battle. Achan knew the instructions but failed to keep it. Because of his sin, his entire family was punished. The community also suffered because of Achan. We should become a source
Continue readingThe Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have handed Jericho to you” (v. 2). The Lord also gave instructions to follow. Joshua being confident in the Lord took the Lord’s promise and his instructions seriously and followed it carefully. For example, he said to the people boldly, “Shout! For the
Continue readingCurious childrenGod asked J to lay 12 stones in remembrance of the event but there is subtle point here thatis missed.God expects the parent that their children will ask questions. “when they ask” A significant shift in raising children in this world is to encourage them to ask questions.What does
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