From Joshua 6
This isn’t the first time in Scripture that God’s approach to doing something has been interesting. It won’t be the last time either. The Israelites are marching in with the goal of conquering the Promised Land as God has instructed them. The first major obstacle in their way is the city of Jericho. In the face of this city, God tells the people of Israel to march around the city for six days. On the seventh day, they were supposed to march around the city seven times and then seven priests would blow seven trumpets and then the people were supposed to “shout with a great shout.” (Joshua 6:3-5) I’m not an expert in military tactics, but that doesn’t seem like a great strategy for the conquest of a walled city. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what the Israelites did and on the seventh day, after the people shouted a great shout, the wall of Jericho fell and Israel sacked the city. The only one who was spared was Rahab (from Joshua 2). God gave the Israelites some instructions that, from a human point of view, were ridiculous. And through those ridiculous actions, He gave Jericho into their hands.
Sometimes the way God goes about accomplishing things makes no sense to us. Paul, in 1 Corinthians, actually makes the comment that the wisdom of God is foolishness to men. There could be a lot of reasons that God does things this way, and many of those reasons could be totally beyond our ability to comprehend. But one reason that is evident in the events at Jericho is simple, no one hears about the walls of Jericho collapsing when Israel shouted at them and will think “oh, that makes sense, the Israelites must’ve been really good at shouting.” The walls collapsed after people walked around them a bit and yelled at them – something else must’ve been going on there! Yeah, God was involved. When God takes Israel through a process like this, He is making sure that He is credited for their victory over Jericho. It’s something worth remembering the next time God’s Word is pushing us to do something that doesn’t make sense, there could be a lot of reasons for it, but one of those reasons could be that God is creating space in your life for Him to work in a way that the credit can only go to Him.
Focus on God
We are reminded in these verses that God graciously works in our lives, sometimes in ways that don’t make sense to us.
Function in Our Lives
We are encouraged to trust in God’s process, to trust that He knows better than us.
Topics to Pray About
- Thank God for His work in our lives.
- Confess to God the times where you find justifications for the blessings He gives you that don’t include Him.
- Ask God to open your eyes to His work in your life.
In His Service,
J. LeBorious
Posted on
June 20, 2023 10:45 AM
by
Josh LeBorious
From Joshua 5:13-15
There are undoubtedly moments in the Bible that leave us wanting for more details, more information, more of the story. For me, this passage is one of those times. Joshua meets the commander of the army of the Lord and I would really like to know a little more about this man. Was this person an angel, was he a saint, or was he someone else we would naturally assume commands the host of heaven – God the Father? Joshua encounters this man standing between him and Jericho, Israel’s first major target in the Promised Land. He sees the man’s drawn sword and naturally asks which side the man intends to fight for. The commander of the Lord’s army corrects Joshua’s misunderstanding, informing Joshua regarding the heavenly host he commanded. Joshua then reacts by showing respect to the man and the ground he stood on.
Because we have so few details, it can be hard to really understand what we can take away from this passage. That being said, there are a few things we can take away with some safety that we’re remaining faithful to Scripture. First, we might simply recognize this as a pretty cool story of God interacting with the earthly leader of His people. Second, we can see that God takes a personal interest in the things going on in this world and be reminded that God hasn’t left us to our own devices – He still takes an active role in our lives. And finally, this sets up the next several chapters well with the realization that, seen or unseen, God goes before His people into the Promised Land. It isn’t their wisdom or bravery or strength that wins the day, it is the power of God that goes before and overshadows them. That’s worth remembering in our own moments of victory – it is not our wisdom or power or strength, but God going before us to take care of His people.
Focus on God
We are reminded in these verses that God graciously goes before His people, taking an active role in their lives.
Function in Our Lives
We are encouraged to have the humility to point to God in moments of victory.
Topics to Pray About
- Thank God for going before you.
- Confess to God the times where you get caught up in your own hype.
- Ask God to open your eyes to His work in your life.
In His Service,
J. LeBorious
Posted on
June 16, 2023 10:13 AM
by
Josh LeBorious
From Joshua 5:10-12
The Israelites were busy. They were moving into the Promised Land, which by itself was a monumental shift. They were transitioning from a nomadic existence to a much more stationary one. If that weren’t significant enough, there was also warfare and conquest involved with that change. Leadership had just transitioned from Moses to Joshua. Israel had a lot going on, a lot to deal with. But we still see them stop on the plains of Jericho, within reach of a hostile enemy, to celebrate Passover. The commemorated the mighty works that God did to bring Israel out of Egypt, specifically when the angel of death passed over the homes of the Israelites. Even with everything going on, the Israelites stopped to glorify God and remember the work He had done for them. In this celebration, we learn that the Israelites “ate of the produce of the land.” And the next day, manna stopped appearing as a signal that God had finished bringing them through the wilderness and had now brought them into the Promised Land where they would be provided for by the land.
The people of Israel in the Old Testament aren’t always an example to follow. Sometimes they actually give us an example of what not to do. That being said, these verses are one of the places where Israel is living the way that God has called them to. That means we can look to them as an example of how God expects His people to live as a community. Even with everything that was going on in their lives, the Israelites still took time to intentionally reflect on what God had done for them. We can look at that example and mimic it in our own lives. Busyness is something that most of us struggle with, and this can remind us that God calls us to take time to reflect on what He has done for us and glorify Him. That’s a big part of what we do together on Sunday mornings, we take time from the busyness of the week to glorify God and receive His gifts. But we can also take time during the week, even just a few minutes before bed to pray and thank God for how He blessed you during the day.
Focus on God
We are reminded in these verses that God graciously does incredible things worth reflecting on for His people.
Function in Our Lives
We are encouraged to step away from the busyness of life to reflect on God’s gifts.
Topics to Pray About
- Thank God for the gifts He has blessed you with.
- Confess to God the times where you get caught up in the busyness of life.
- Ask God to open your eyes to His work in your life.
In His Service,
J. LeBorious
Posted on
June 15, 2023 11:32 AM
by
Josh LeBorious
From Joshua 5:1-9
For the people of Israel, circumcision was a sign of the covenant between them and God. With this covenant, Israel promised to be His people, and Yahweh promised to be their God. This meant that Israel would follow God and adhere to the standards for morality and society that He set. It also meant that God would promise to protect and uphold them with His power. The Israelites failed to keep up their side of the bargain on a fairly regular basis; however, God never completely withdrew His protection and care. In the reading today, the Israelites have just begun to occupy the Promised Land and were preparing for war with the current inhabitants. They had just finished a time of punitive exile in the wilderness because of their parents’ failure to obey God. It wouldn’t be a surprise if at this point in history, the Israelites were nervous about how their relationship with God stood. God orders the circumcision of the new generation, communicating to them that He was still willing to call them His own. An analogy that can maybe help us understand this is a renewal of vows for a married couple. Their initial vows were never gone, but sometimes it’s still nice to have a specific reminder of those promises you can point back to.
Our covenant with God is radically different from the covenant He had with Israel. Our covenant is one based on faith in the promises of Jesus. His death on the cross, His blood shed for us, was “our part” of the covenant, and God’s promise of forgiveness and eternal life is the other side. Each time we approach the Lord’s Supper, we remember that Jesus called it the new covenant in His blood. We receive the gift of that forgiveness at the table. God follows through on His promises, He upholds His covenant, and the only thing it takes from us is to trust in His promises.
Focus on God
We are reminded in these verses that God graciously entered a covenant of grace with us.
Function in Our Lives
We are encouraged to remind ourselves about the covenantal meaning of Jesus sacrifice.
Topics to Pray About
- Thank God for the gift of Holy Communion.
- Confess to God the times where you fail to seek out the renewal of Communion.
- Ask God to bind your heart to His covenant.
In His Service,
J. LeBorious
Posted on
June 14, 2023 10:20 AM
by
Josh LeBorious
From Joshua 4
After Israel crossed the Red Sea in Exodus, God instructed them to celebrate the Passover annually to remember what He had done for them in Egypt. Here, God instructs the Israelites to “take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.” (Joshua 4:3) Those stone came from the bed of the Jordan and would remind future generations of what God did that day. He ushered the river aside so that Israel could walk through on dry ground and enter the Promised Land. Those stones would remind people of yet another miracle that God did for them and another promise that He followed through on. This reminder wasn’t just to look back either, it was looking at how God had acted in the past to see how He will move in the future.
In some ways our experience is similar to that of the Israelites here. We read the Old Testament to see how God has acted in the past to see how He will continue to move in our lives, in that way it almost serves a similar function as those memorial stones. Now, the Word of God is obviously more expansive than some rocks the Israelites pulled out of the Jordan River, but these verses help give us a handle on part of what it does for us. It can also validate the creation of symbols and other things to remind us of how God has worked in our lives. We can point to these things to remind ourselves how God has worked, or to help teach the people around us how He has worked, and to point us towards how God will continue to move. So next time God works in your life, maybe you “pick up a stone” to remind you how He has worked and to encourage you to look forward to how He will work.
Focus on God
We are reminded in these verses that God graciously gives us plenty of examples for how He works.
Function in Our Lives
We are encouraged to remind ourselves how God has worked in our lives.
Topics to Pray About
- Thank God for giving us so many examples of His incredible character.
- Confess to God the times where you don’t remember what He has done for you.
- Ask God to draw your attention to His work in your life.
In His Service,
J. LeBorious
Posted on
June 13, 2023 11:19 AM
by
Josh LeBorious