Category: 1 Year Bible Reading Plan

Judges 4-5 record the cycle of judgment and release of the Israelites with the Canaanites. The Canaanites subjected Israel to slavery for twenty years. Then two leaders arose who God used to break the cycle of slavery: Deborah and Barak. Deborah challenged Barak to take the lead, because God would be with him, but Barak was unwilling to go into battle unless, Deborah went along. Thus, Deborah received the most glory in the battle, or I should say the second most. The LORD received the greatest glory as we read in Judges 4:15: ¹⁵And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. Judges 4:15 (ESV) The mercy of God toward the Israelites is incredible. Time after time they abandoned Him, yet He continued to fight for them. In this battle God used Deborah, and another woman, named Jael, to overcome the enemy. Chapter 5 contains “The Song of Deborah,” which recounts the victory.

We would think this great demonstration of God’s power and mercy would have caused the Israelites to follow Him out of gratitude for their freedom from slavery. Not so. Chapter 6 begins with the familiar statement, “The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD the gave them into the hands of…. This time it was Midian who subjected the Israelites to their rule, but once again it was not the power of Midian that caused this to happen. It was the judgment of God. When the Israelites cried out to God for deliverance, God sent a prophet to remind them how God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt and established them in the Promised Land. He also reminded them of the LORD’s command for them to obey Him, and no other gods. They had disobeyed.

But once again, God’s heart softened toward the Israelites and the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon. He told Gideon the Lord was with him. Gideon’s responded,  “Please, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” Judges 6:13 (ESV) How often our perspective leaves out our part in our circumstances. We can see why it didn’t seem to Gideon that the LORD was with them, but Gideon wasn’t seeing the Israelites role in their situation. Their sin was the direct cause of their situation. Even so, God had come to call Gideon to overthrow the Midianites.

Gideon’s call involved two important acts: First, Gideon tore down the altar of Baal. The people of the town wanted to kill Gideon for doing that, which shows how entrenched they were in forsaking God. Gideon’s father reasoned with the people, so they spared him.  Second, Gideon asked the Lord for two, separate signs that it was really He who was calling him. You have probably heard the expression, “putting out a fleece.” It comes from Gideon’s request the the LORD confirm His intention to use Gideon, by making the ground dry and a fleece wet, or a fleece dry and the ground wet to show it was God. God gave both signs to Gideon and as we’ll see tomorrow, Gideon took leadership as Israel’s next judge.

As we return to John 13, the time is nearing for Jesus’ death. As we know, Jesus washed the disciples feet, the ultimate act of servanthood–next to dying on the cross for them and all of us! He gave them them the command to love one another. He told them one of them would betray Him. The detail in that experience that always troubles me is not a single disciple was certain it wouldn’t be he who denied Jesus.  Peter asked John to have Jesus tell him which one it would be. Also, John tells us when Jesus identified Judas Iscariot, but giving him a piece of bread to eat that “Satan entered Judas.” What a chilling statement. Satan can only be one place at one time. We read often in the gospels of demons entering people and possessing them, but this what not a mere demon entering Judas–Satan himself entered Judas to ensure the betrayal of Jesus would take place. As we consider our lives as Jesus’ followers, how important it is not to become to sure of ourselves, or too sure that we will never deny or forsake Jesus. Only in the power fo the Holy Spirit do we have the power to remain faithful in every situation. Let’s call on the Holy Spirit to fill and empower us right now, that we will remain faithful whatever today’s circumstances bring us.

Today we turn to the Book of Judges. This marked a major turning point in the history of Israel. Chapters 1-2 sound a great deal like the Book of Joshua. The people of Israel continued to take the Promised Land by force, defeating the indigenous people, but we see trouble brewing. In most of the battles the Israelites left some of the people. They were unable to drive them out totally. This became more and more prevalent as we move from chapter 1 to chapter 2.  Chapter 2 records the death of Joshua once again, and tells us Israel remained faithful to God for as long as the people who knew Joshua remained alive. The statement seems to have a sense of foreboding, and indeed it does.

When that generation died, chapter 3 tells us a new generation arose who didn’t remember Joshua, or the works of the Lord. They quickly rebelled against God and started following after the Baals and Ashteroths and the other gods of the indigenous people. They did precisely what God commanded them not to do. He had warned them the consequence of such disobedience would be He would turn them over to the peoples of the land. That is precisely what the LORD did. As we read chapter 3, we read the first several of many “cycles” of events that went like this: 1) the people abandoned the LORD and went “whoring” after other gods. (This label that equates the people’s sinning with other gods with sexual immorality is found throughout the Old Testament. God considered the people of Israel His “bride,” just as Jesus considers the Church His “bride.” That makes the language of sexual immorality apropos for the situation.) 2) God turns the people over to slavery to the very people they had defeated during the days of Joshua. 3) After years or decades the people of Israel cried out to God for deliverance. 4) The LORD provides a deliverer a “judge” to redeem them–that is to set them free. 5) During the life of the “judge” and for years or decades thereafter the people had peace and followed the Lord. 6) The people abandoned the LORD… which started a new cycle.

The reason I put the word “judge” in quotation marks is these leaders were not judges as we think of judges. They were charismatic leaders, gifted by the LORD to lead the people of Israel to overcome their enemies. Some are mentioned by name such as Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar in chapter 3. Others are not named.  As we read through Judges we will see this cycle repeat over and over. We might ask ourselves, “Why didn’t they ever get it? Why did they keep turning away from God? Why didn’t they remain faithful to Him? But then, if we’re honest, we need to ask ourselves the very same questions. Why don’t we ever get it? Why do we keep turning away from God? Fallen human nature is sinful. Even after we’re redeemed by the blood of Jesus, we still struggle with the flesh, so it’s no wonder the Israelites who lives so long before the coming of Jesus struggled, and failed so often.

As we return to John 12, let’s focus on one particular verse, because it sums up the entire chapter. It is John 12:24: Jesus said, ²⁴Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24 (ESV) Jesus’ words applied to Him and they apply to us. Jesus death which was coming in less than a week from the moment He made this statement, would bring “much fruit.” Millions of people have been saved from sin and death, through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. Millions more will be, if Jesus tarries in His return.

But what does it have to do with us? For us to bear fruit, we must “die” to ourselves. We must put our sinful nature to death daily, and live in the newness and power of the Holy Spirit. If we fail to do that, we will continue to be nonproductive. I have heard many people say Jesus doesn’t call us to be fruitful. He calls us to be faithful. The truth is Jesus calls us to be faithful and in so doing we will be fruitful! When we faithfully die to ourselves, pick up our crosses daily and follow Jesus, the result will be fruit. The fruit will come in the form of our own spiritual maturity, and in others trusting Jesus as Savior and Lord through our witness. This is a hard teaching. No one wants to “die,” literally or figuratively. But it’s the only way to be reborn, and to produce abundant fruit for Jesus and His Kingdom!

Joshua 21 records the distribution of cities and pasturelands to the Levites. According to Moses’ instruction, the Levites didn’t receive a territory in the Promised Land along with the other tribes. Instead, they received cities and pasturelands in each of the territories of the other tribes. The strategic value of this distribution is obvious: Levites would live throughout the entire land of Israel. They would be able to help guide their relatives to carry out the practices of worshiping God faithfully. At the end of the chapter we read:
⁴⁵Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass. Joshua 21:45 (ESV) While not surprising, the statement is so powerful. God is always good, and His good promises to us always come to pass, not one of them has ever failed or will ever fail. We can stand on that solid rock in our lives, regardless of what we might be enduring at any given moment.

Joshua 22 tells us of the return of the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh to their homes on the eastern side of the Jordan River. They had fulfilled their commitment to help their kinsmen take the Promised Land, and now Joshua sent them back with His blessing. As these two-and-a-half tribes returned home they built an altar, which nearly caused a war. The remaining Israelites thought the altar was to offer sacrifices to pagan gods, but the Reubenites, Gadites and half-tribe of Manasseh explained the altar was for their children. They want their children to remember they were part of Israel. Living apart from the rest of the tribes, they foresaw a day when their children might forget that. The altar would remind them.  With that explanation all were satisfied and the situation ended peacefully.

Joshua 23-24 record the final words and instructions of Joshua to the Israelites.  He reminded them of how good God had been to them, and how God had fulfilled His promises and blessings to them. He also told them if they forgot to follow the LORD in the future, they would receive His curses. Joshua’s message was plain and clear: follow the LORD and be blessed; abandon Him and be cursed.  Finally, Joshua spoke a brief history of the Israelites and all the LORD had done for them. Then he offered the famous statement:  ¹⁵And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15 (ESV) Notice Joshua offered three choices to the Israelites: 1) They could serve the gods of their slavery, their past in Egypt; 2) They could serve the gods of the Amorites in whose land they lived at the moment; or 3) they could serve the LORD, who had been with them in the past, was with them in that moment, and would be with them forever. So often, we look to our past and hold onto something from it with the kind of intensity that is to be reserved only for the LORD. Sometimes we look around and grab onto something of this world in which we live, with an intensity that is to be reserved only for the LORD. The best action is to grab onto the LORD with that kind of intensity today, tomorrow and forever.

As we return to John 11, we return to the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Every time I read this chapter, I’m reminded of the absolute power Jesus has over life and death. He waited until Lazarus died to return to do something about Lazarus’ sickness. The mourners who gathered at the tomb murmured the same thing many of us have murmured as we have watched a loved one grow sicker and sicker and eventually  die: “If He were here, our brother (friend, mom, child…) wouldn’t have died.” We see the short-term value of having our loved one with us. Jesus sees the eternal value of where all of us are going. The difference is Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus died and came back to life.  All my loved ones who have died, have stayed dead…but that is only from my perspective, from a physical perspective. One day each of us will die to this life, unless Jesus returns first. That means each of us will be in the tomb and hear what Lazarus heard: Arise! Wow! In the short-term it must have been such an amazing blessing for Mary and Martha to have their brother back. In the long-term, the eternal-term, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus will always be together with Jesus. That’s why the Apostle Paul wrote, “We don’t grieve as the rest of people who have no hope…” We grieve, and while our loved ones are sick we pray for their healing so we don’t have to grieve. But always, always, always–we have hope, because Jesus is the resurrection and the life, as we believe in Him we have the promise that we will never die.

Joshua 18-19 record the distribution of land to the final seven tribes of Israel that hadn’t yet received their portion. Before it took place God had Joshua gather the people at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting. He asked the people how long they were going to hesitate before going in and taking their possession. Isn’t that a powerful question? How often does God have something for us to take, possess, or live out in our lives, but we hesitate, we wait, we worry about wether God will do what He promises? But as we see in these chapters, the same process that happened in previous chapters happens again, a tribe is given land, the borders are described, and the cities listed. The people go into the land and it becomes theirs. This includes an inheritance for Joshua, their leader. By this time we see what God promises, He does. We need to remember that the next time we are hesitating to take possession of or to live into a reality God has promised for us.

In Joshua 20 we read about the cities of refuge, cities where a person who had committed murder accidentally could go to be safe from the retaliation of the dead person’s family. The rules for these towns had been established in the Torah. Now the carrying out of the plan was to take place. As we’ve read thus far in the Old Testament, we’ve seen God always had a plan. His plan was always the best plan for the Israelites. When they carried out the plan, the result was blessing, but when they didn’t the results were devastating. With all the testimony of the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, you would think we would have learned: Obedience brings blessing, and disobedience brings a curse. Yet, time and time again the Israelites forget that reality. So do we! Let’s take the lesson from these passages and recognize again that our call is to follow where God leads us, because as we do our lives will always be the most blessed.

That leads right to our second time through John 10. As you’ll recall, John 10 records Jesus’ illustration of Himself as “The Good Shepherd.” Jesus tells us the sheep (that’s us!) will follow the Shepherd’s voice. He tells us the thief (the devil) comes only to kill, steal, and destroy, but He came to give us life in all its abundance. As we go about this day, and each day, how vital for us to listen for the Shepherd’s voice and then to follow where He leads. That always leads to a better outcome than following the competing and false voices of the world. The Good Shepherd has already laid down His life for us, and risen again to demonstrate that everything He says is true, and all His promises are faithful. Let’s follow where He leads us today.

Joshua 14 offers us another look at Caleb, who along with Joshua had been the only two spies of the twelve Moses had sent into the Promised Land forty years earlier to come back with a good report. Caleb was eighty-five and as Joshua was distributing the land, Caleb had a request–Give me the high country! The older I get the more I love Caleb. He is the poster child (grandfather?) for living our lives fully for as long as God gives us good health and the strength to do it. Caleb took on some of the toughest of the land’s inhabitants, and after he and his people defeated them, settled where they had lived. The final words of chapter 14 are “And the land had rest from war.” That’s what happens when we follow the LORD fully. We gain victory, and ultimately rest from the battle. It might take longer than we think, after all, it took Caleb forty-five additional years to claim the piece of land he must have thought would be his shortly after he and the rest of the spies walked through the Promised Land the first time. I’m sure for Caleb it was worth the wait, as it is when we remain faithful for however long it takes for Jesus to give us rest from the wars we face spiritually, physically and in every way.

In Joshua 15-17 we read about the distribution of lands to the other tribes of Israel. The details are similar for each tribe. We’re told of the area of the land, and what its borders were on the north, south, east, and west; we’re told of some of the towns in the land; and we’re told some of the local people were not driven out. This last detail would prove to be a thorn in Israel’s side from that moment and for decades to come. As we’ll see when we complete the Book of Joshua and turn to Judges, these remaining people would eventually gain strength, because the Israelites abandoned their worship of the LORD and followed the pagan gods of these people. As a result God would let the Israelites be subjected to slavery for a time. While we’re getting ahead of the story, the seed of the downfall of Israel was planted in their not fully rooting out the indigenous people of the Promised Land. The principle of one bad apple spoiling the whole bunch will be lived out in Israel’s history as we read forward through the Old Testament. The lesson for us is not to participate with those in our spheres of influence, when they follow the gods of this world, rather than the One, true and living God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We must remain faithful to Him alone, and seek to draw those who are turning away from Him back to  relationship with Him.

As we return to John 9, and the account of Jesus healing a man who had been born blind, I want to underline Jesus’ response to the disciples’ question about whether it was the man or his parents who had sinned that resulted in his blindness. Jesus said the answer was neither. No one sinned. The disciples, and the Jews of Jesus’ day thought all negative outcomes were the result of someone’s sin. Jesus made it clear the only reason the man had been born blind was so God could be glorified in his healing. Think about that. The man endured blindness all his life, for decades, so God would ultimately be glorified. It seems like a high price for the man to pay, especially given he wasn’t even aware it was happening. The principle is powerful: God brings good out of bad situations. It doesn’t matter whether the situations were caused by sin, or whether they were the result of living in a fallen world, where “innocent” babies are born blind, or deaf, or without limbs. I put innocent in quotes, because as the Apostle Paul reminded the Colossian Christians, we were all once enemies of God. None of us are innocent in the sense of having no guilt or blame, but a baby is as innocent as a human being can being apart from the shed blood of Jesus Christ washing away our sins. The blind man was made into an example by the religious leaders, because he confessed Jesus was the Messiah. He was kicked out of the synagogue. It was at that point when Jesus offered the man the opportunity to believe in Him, and also to show the religious leaders they were blind spiritually. Spiritual blindness is ultimately worse than physical blindness, because it keeps us from a relationship with Jesus, and from salvation in Him.

Joshua 10-13 records Israel’s defeat of most of the inhabitants of the Promised Land. Many of the people joined in battle against Israel, but to no avail. God stood with Israel. In one battle He cast hail down on the enemy. He also made the sun and moon stand still to give them more daylight to fight. Everywhere, we read of Israel destroying the people of the land and “devoting them to destruction.” The phrase sounds so “unfair,” and even “wrong,” but we must remember God used the Israelites to bring judgment on the people of the land, because their sin had become full. One day each of us will be judged for our sin, and only if we have trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord, will we be spared from that judgment. God is not unjust, because all of us have sinned and fall far short of His glory. In Israel’s judgment against the people of the land, God’s justice was shown.

Toward the end of today’s reading, we’re told Joshua was old and his life was coming to an end. God warned that much land was yet to be taken, and pockets of resistance remained. These would prove to be harmful to Israel in the period of the judges, and even when the monarchy was established in Israel. For the moment, God started the distribution of the land to the various tribes, and the conquest of the land was coming to a lull. In our lives, we must not stop our battle against sin after we have trusted Jesus for salvation. His Holy Spirit leads us and strengthens us so we will have victory. It remains for us to live into that victory daily, because the pockets of resistance remain in us as well. The Apostle Paul called it “the flesh,” or “the sinful nature.” Vigilance brings victory, but a lack of focus can set us back.

As we return to John 8, let’s remember how important it was for Jesus to stand in the gap for the woman caught in the act of adultery. While the religious leaders used her as a pawn in their attempt to trap Jesus with being too lenient, or too judgmental, Jesus saw a woman not an adulteress. Many years ago, I heard a pastor say, “Jesus spent time with prostitutes.”

A person in the audience interrupted and said, “Jesus never saw a prostitute.”

The pastor persisted, “Jesus spent time with prostitutes regularly. He…”

Again the young man in the audience interrupted, “You’re not listening. Jesus never saw a prostitute.”

Again the pastor continued, “Young man, I’ve studied the Bible for longer than you’re alive, and Jesus most certainly spent time with prostitutes.”

The young man said, “I have no doubt you’ve studied the Bible longer and more than I have sir, but you’re wrong. Jesus never saw a prostitute.”

Finally, the pastor understood, “Oh, I see what you’re saying. You’re absolutely right. Jesus never saw a prostitute. He saw a woman created in God’s image.”

“Yes!” the young man affirmed.

We must see what Jesus sees when we look at others. They may have committed many sins, as each of us have done. They may be labeled by society as a particular type of sinner, and perhaps we have labeled them as well. Perhaps you have labeled yourself, but let’s remember when Jesus sees each of us, He sees who God created us to be, and wants to call that out in each of us. Let’s let Him do that more and more with each passing moment!

Joshua 7 shows us the consequence of disobedience in the clearest terms. God had promised blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. He had pronounced that reality over and over again through Moses. Yet, Achan decided to disobey God’s command not to keep any of the spoils from the battle of Jericho. As a result the Israelites lost their first battle against Ai. Thirty-six of their soldiers died. When Joshua heard about it, his response was reasonable: He fell on his face before the LORD, thinking they needed the LORD’s help to win the fight. But the LORD said, “Get up!” In other words, “Joshua, I’m not the one responsible for this situation. The people are. They have sinned, and I have responded to it.” God always responds to sin.  The response to Achan’s sin was clear, immediate, and severe.  God cannot be in the presence of sin. That’s why Jesus came, but that’s getting way ahead of the story. In the case of Achan, the consequence of the sin was thirty-six dead soldiers, a defeat at the hands of a people who God had given over to the Israelites, and Achan and his family were destroyed. The lesson is clear: trust God and obey Him.

Joshua 8 shows us the difference between obedience and disobedience. After Achan’s sin had been exposed and judged, God sent the Israelites against Ai again. This time the result was the utter destruction of Ai. Afterwards, Joshua set up an altar and read the Law of the LORD. Joshua wanted to make certain the people saw the cause and effect relationship between obedience and blessing, and disobedience and cursing. That relationship stands throughout history, but sometimes the results of our obedience or disobedience aren’t as immediately obvious as in this situation.

Joshua 9 shows us the lengths to which people will go to save their lives. The people of Gibeon heard about the exploits of the Israelites and carried out an elaborate ruse to save themselves. They wore old clothes and packed spoiled food and “travelled” to the Israelites. They told the Israelites they were from a distant country and wanted to make a treaty with them. Without consulting the Lord, the leaders of Israel entered into an agreement to spare the Gibeonites. When they found out the Gibeonites had deceived them, they agreed not to kill them, because of their oath, but condemned them to be woodcutters for Israel. What do we learn from this account? Proverbs 5:6 comes to mind: Trust in the LORD with all your heart, do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.  We find it so easy to rely on our own understanding. From all outward appearances the Gibeonites were from a distant land, but had the Israelites consulted the LORD, He would have revealed the deceitful plan to them. The lesson for us is to turn to God first, not after we have relied on our own understanding.

As we return to John 7, let’s look at one, specific verse John 7:18: ¹⁸The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. The principle Jesus offered here remains valid and helpful for us 2,000 years later. When a person champions his or her own standing, situation, glory, or honor we rightly suspect the motivation. If anyone ever had the right to push His own agenda and His own glory it was Jesus. After all, He is the God of the universe! Yet, Jesus didn’t come to put Himself in the limelight or to be served. He came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for us. Every time I reflect on that truth I am amazed. I ask, “Why?  Why would the God of the universe put Himself in the position of dying for you and me?” We know He had to do it to satisfy God’s justice, and to quiet God’s righteous wrath. But, still, God could have wiped us out and started over. Instead, He put Himself on the cross, paid the penalty for our sins, rose again to show us His ability to follow through on His promises to us, returned to heaven and and sent the Holy Spirit to empower us to live victoriously until He returns. Wow! As so many worship songs have put it over the years, “What a Savior!”

In Joshua 4 and into the beginning of Joshua 5, we read of God’s command for the people of Israel to take twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes, from the middle of the Jordan River and to establish a memorial on the Promised Land side of the Jordan. It would remind the Israelites of God’s faithfulness and power in their coming to the land via a flooded river, which God stopped from flowing.  They were also to put twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, which no one would see again, as an additional reminder. This great crossing of the Jordan put Joshua in the category of being revered as much as the people had revered Moses. We’re told at the beginning of chapter 5, the Kings of the Amorites and all the Canaanite kings heard of the Israelites crossing of the Jordan with the LORD’s help and they “lost heart and were paralyzed with fear.” Through the remainder of chapter five, Joshua had the Israelites reestablish Covenant ceremonies, including circumcision, because they hadn’t followed these commands while they were in the wilderness.

As chapter 5 closes, the Angel of the Lord confronted Joshua. When Joshua asked, “Are you friend or foe?” The Angel responded, “Neither one.” When he told Joshua who he was, Joshua fell on his face in reverence and promised to do whatever he commanded. The angel told Joshua to remove his sandals, because the ground where he stood was holy. This reminds us of God’s call to Moses in Exodus 3-4, when God told Moses to remove his sandals as he stood in the presence of the burning bush.

Chapter 6 records the Israelites’ defeat of Jericho. To say the “battle” was unorthodox is an understatement. Rather then send the Israelite troops into battle immediately, the LORD told him to gather the people and march around the city daily for seven days. Most of us have read about this unusual plan, or if we were every in children’s ministry when we were small have acted it out. The result of the Israelites marching around the city and blowing trumpets was on the seventh day the walls fell, and God delivered the people of Jericho into the Israelites hands. The Israelites honored their commitment to save Rahab and her family, and then they burned the town and everything in it. The only thing they kept were items made of silver, gold, bronze, and iron. They were kept to be placed in the Lord’s treasury.  All looked to be well, but as we’ll see tomorrow when we read chapters 7-9 the Israelites never remained wholly faithful to God for long.

As we return to John 6, the account of Jesus feeding the 5,000, I’m reminded of how difficult it was for the people to accept Jesus’ claim to be the “Bread of Life,” and to follow Him fully. I wasn’t there, and I imagine if someone told me I needed to “eat his flesh and drink his blood” (John 6:53) in order to have eternal life, I would have struggled with the idea. But the evidence of Jesus’ power was clear. He had fed 5,000 men, plus the women and children with a few loaves of bread and fish. Who but God could do that? The majority of the crowd left Jesus at that point. The majority of Jesus “disciples” left Him at that point. Only the twelve remained with Him. We have the benefit of being able to look back over 2,000 years, of knowing Jesus died and rose again, of knowing Jesus wasn’t speaking literally about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. What would we have done were we there? Thankfully, we will never have to find out, because we live on the resurrection side of Easter. We have the assurance Jesus is the Son of God, the Bread of Life, and the source of salvation for all who believe in Him!

As we turn to the Book of Joshua, the theme of the first chapter is courage. Joshua finds himself in the unenviable position of taking over the leadership of the Israelites from Moses. Moses had held the position for forty years. Time and again, Moses found himself taking the brunt of the people’s rebellion against God, and occasionally pleading for God to show mercy to his rebellious followers. Moses had suffered with his people through a forty-year wilderness journey, when the trip ought to have taken six weeks at most. Their disobedience had cause God to sentence every adult who was 20 and older at the time of their rejecting His offer to go into the Promised Land, to die in the wilderness. Now, Moses has died and Joshua takes over the reigns. On the positive side of the ledger,  Joshua has served as Moses’ right-hand man for decades. He has also inherited Moses’ mantel from God. God now speaks directly with Joshua as He had with Moses.

In Joshua 1, God promises Joshua He will be with him, as He was with Moses. He charges Joshua to be courageous, to read and keep the Law, and to know God will give him and the Israelites every bit of land where they walk. Joshua charges the Israelites to be faithful and to obedient to the LORD.  The response they give would not have encouraged to me: ¹⁶And they answered Joshua, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. ¹⁷Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you, as he was with Moses! ¹⁸Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.” Joshua 1:16-18 (ESV) The oath is in the strongest form: Whoever rebels agains you…shall be put to death.  That sounds like a great pledge of obedience to Joshua.  The part that would have scared me is they promised: “…Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you.” We have read of all the ways the Israelites disobeyed Moses. As we will see in the pages of Joshua, the Israelites also disobey Joshua at key points in their taking of the Promised Land.

The Israelites did start with a short burst of obedience as we see in Joshua 2 and 3.  In chapter 2, Joshua sent two spies into the land to scout out Jericho, which would be one of the first walled cities the Israelites would need to battle and overcome. The spies found the people were frightened of the Israelites and had heard of God’s deliverance through mighty works of power. The spies would have been caught except Rahab, a prostitute, gave them shelter in exchange for the promise of being spared, along with her family, when the Israelites eventually overtook the city. The spies agreed. In chapter 3, the Israelites march across the Jordan River. Just as God had provided safe passage through the Red Sea when the Israelites escaped from Egypt, so He gave them safe passage through the Jordan River. I have always found it significant that the waters of the Jordan didn’t part until the priests stepped into the water with the Ark of the Covenant. The river was at flood stage, so to obey God the priests had to step into a raging river. As soon as they did so, the waters stopped flowing, and the Israelites were able to pass on dry ground.

As we return to John 5, let’s remember the question Jesus asked the man who was lying beside the pool of Bethesda, “Do you want to get well?” While the answer seemed obvious, after all the man had been paralyzed for decades, the question begs an answer. The man made an excuse, but Jesus provided the healing anyway. In our lives, we often come to points where God wants to work in our lives, but we get in our own way. One specific example in my life is the many times I have lacked the discipline to eat healthy and exercise effectively.  You might think, “That is nothing like being paralyzed.” In degree, that’s true, but in principle it is the same: The man had the means to be healed standing in front of him, and he offered Jesus an excuse.  I have had the means to be healthier, and more effective as Jesus’ follower in front of me over and over again, and have said, “Yes,” for periods of time, and then I make excuses. Or I have simply started with an excuse.  Let’s not follow the paralytic’s example and make excuses when Jesus asks us if we want to be well. Let’s say, “Yes!” and then let Him work His healing power in our lives, whether the healing we need is physical, emotional or spiritual!

Chapter 33 records Moses’ blessing for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Much as Jacob had blessed his sons before he died (which we read at the end of Genesis), Moses blessed each of the twelve tribes before he died (which we are reading at the end of Deuteronomy). As we read through the blessings we see Moses didn’t offer the same blessing for each of the tribes, and as we might expect his longest blessing was offered to the tribe of his own origin: Levi. Throughout the Bible we find blessings are never “equal.” Often the firstborn are not given as great a blessing as the second-born. Jesus treated three of His disciples to greater opportunity than the other nine. We find out God isn’t “fair” in His distribution of gifts, blessing, land, and other aspects of life. How is this possible? It’s possible, because God makes the rules, and the only place we find “all men” are created equal is in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. I put “all men” in quotes, because when the document was written, women weren’t equal, and only men who were white property owners were part of the “all” who were created equal.  Even they weren’t created equal, as each was endowed by God with different natural aptitudes and skills, and each who belonged to Jesus Christ was given different spiritual gifts by God as well.

My purpose is not to denigrate our founding fathers, nor to say I think God is wrong not to treat us the same.  My purpose is to show us that equality is a great standard to follow in living out our roles as citizens of the United States of America, and that equality is for all people.  When it comes to how we treat each other as Jesus’ followers, we are to treat each other with love and respect. But we can’t treat each other the same or equally, nor is there any place in the Bible that tells us we ought to do that.  As Moses offered varying blessings to each of Israel’s tribes, we will live with differing relationships toward all the people in our spheres of influence. We will be closer to some than others. We will show preference to some over others. So long as we do that in love and in the power of the Holy Spirit, that is good.

Deuteronomy 34 records the final acts and the death of Moses. Some seeking to criticize the idea Moses authored the first five books of the Bible, have asked, “Did he write Deuteronomy 34, too?  Of course not! He could have written a portion of it, but Joshua or someone else would have written the account of his death, that no one knew exactly where he was buried and these comments:  “There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew fact to face. The Lord sent him to perform all the miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, and all his servants, and his entire land. With mighty power, Moses performed terrifying acts in the sight of all Israel.” Indeed, Moses was an incredible servant of the Lord, yet, because of a couple acts of disobedience, he was not permitted to enter the Promised Land.  Was that fair? As the first couple paragraphs remind us, fairness is not God’s first standard. God’s decisions are beyond our standards of fairness. He decided Moses would not enter the Promised Land, so Moses didn’t.  He did many amazing things in his life, and is remember as a prophet like no other.

As we reread John 4, let’s turn to the end of the chapter, where we read about the “official” in Cana who asked Jesus to heal his son. Jesus’ response doesn’t seem “fair.” (Because we’re on that topic today!) Jesus’ response when the man asked for Him to heal his son was, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” Jesus didn’t ask what the son’s problem was. He didn’t seem to show compassion. He cut right to the point: Only signs and wonders bring faith to you people. The father didn’t care about Jesus’ bluntness. His son was dying. That’s what he point in front of Jesus. If Jesus didn’t come down to the man’s house, his son was going to die. Jesus took the opportunity to show He didn’t need to be present physically  to performa a miracle. He dismissed the man by saying, “Go. Your son will live.” The man went home, and found out his son was fine. When he asked when the son got better, the man realized it was the exact moment Jesus had said, “Go. Your son will live.” The man became a believer that instant, as did his household.

Interesting: Jesus said, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe,” and then He performed a sign, and a whole family believed. Jesus hadn’t told the man about the demand for signs, because He wasn’t going to perform one.  Jesus knew human nature. He still does.  When He does signs and wonders these days, often through His followers, some believe and others don’t. It was the same in Jesus’ day. Some who saw the amazing signs Jesus performed, decided to go out and determine how to kill Him.  Others, such as this official, saw a sign and believed. Our task is to be faithful to Jesus, whether we see signs or not, whether He uses us to perform signs or not. It’s easier for some when they see signs, but even then some continue in disbelief.  That’s why following Jesus requires belief or faith, and it was so even for those who saw Him perform signs and wonders in person!