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Bible Reading Notes
August 2011
Sunday, August 28th - Joshua 6: 1, 2
The Apostle Paul tells believers to pray and to rejoice at all times (1 Thess. 5:16,17). These opening verses of this sixth chapter of Joshua inform us how and why we are to do these things constantly. We saw in the closing verses of the fifth chapter how the Lord came to Joshua as that chosen leader of Israel was pondering the practical challenge of his leading the sons of Israel against Jericho. The Lord kept Joshua’s mind fixed first on his worship of God, even as he contemplated and sought to accomplish his work for God. When Joshua made it his business to worship the Lord, the Lord made it His business to direct, encourage, and empower Joshua to work with efficient and fruitful effect. Those who determine to fix their minds on heavenly things—and especially on heaven’s King—will continually prove to be of most earthly good (Col. 3:1-4, 15-17).
Monday, August 29th – Joshua 6: 1, 2
The first thing the Lord gave Joshua as a fruit of his worship was an accurate perception of the challenge before him. Not only were the walls of Jericho thick and high, but they also were securely shut against the Israelites. How was Joshua going to lead this mass of wilderness wanderers who were inexperienced at war against such a sealed fortified city? The Lord leads Joshua to perceive that the task before him was not merely difficult but was impossible. Faith does not ignore or diminish our challenges. David was not ignorant of the size and armaments of Goliath (1 Sam. 17:4-7, 45), nor was Abraham in denial over the deadness of his aged body and of Sarah’s womb (Rom. 4:19). Our Lord informs us of the real magnitude of our problems so that we would not try to rely on our own frailty but rather on His almighty power as the solution to our problems.
Tuesday, August 30th - Joshua 6: 1, 2
These verses show us how the Lord gives His people a true perception of their challenges so that they would hunger and thirst for the provision that His almighty arm alone can make. After Joshua saw the strongly secured city of Jericho, the Lord directed him to see something beyond the perception of his eyes. Joshua is directed to consider His God who holds Jericho in His almighty hand. When Joshua turns to regard the One speaking to him, he beholds the great I am of Israel, the self-existent and self-sufficient God who needs nothing but who graciously gives to His people all things (Rom. 8:32). Such faithful focus on the person and work of the Lord leads Joshua to a profound, precious, detailed, and practical grasp of the strength and security he has in the Lord that are infinitely greater than what the citizens of Jericho had in their city.
Wednesday, August 31st - Joshua 6: 1, 2
The Lord promises to give Jericho into Joshua’s hand. God does not say that He will give the city to His servant, but rather that He has given Jericho to him. Whenever our God speaks, the matter is as good as done. No sane soul would doubt that he possessed an item he felt and held in his hand. Neither does the Lord leave any room for His servants to doubt the truth and comforting certainty of His great and precious promises and provision.
Thursday, September 1st - Joshua 6: 1, 2
The Lord does not simply promise Joshua that Israel would conquer Jericho, but rather uses a particular and significant expression to indicate the conquest. Joshua is told that the Lord would deliver the city into his hand. The expression indicates complete possession and control. Yet, it is also emphasizes something about the true proportion of Joshua in relation to the great, fortified city of Jericho. The Lord was promising that He would so reduce Jericho and so enlarge Joshua that the city would be like a grasshopper in the grasp of the Lord’s servant. Truly the Lord’s servants are made by God’s enabling grace to be great and majestic ones of the earth (Ps. 16:3; 18:35). They can do all things through their heavenly Joshua who strengthens them (Phil. 4:13).
Friday, September 2nd - Joshua 6: 1, 2
Jericho was a city not only fortified by massive walls and secured by tightly shut gates, but it was also full of experienced fighting men whom the Lord designates as valiant warriors. Far from these facts disheartening Joshua, they indicated to him that the Lord was promising to deliver into his hand a rich trophy, not reduced trash. The glory of God is more clearly manifested and the blessing of our reward in His service is enhanced when the challenge over which we triumph by God’s enabling is great. Let us learn to delight in our facing such great challenges, and not dread them.
Saturday, September 3rd - Joshua 6: 3-5
In addition to His promise of victory, the Lord also provides Joshua with a strategy for his attaining the triumph over Jericho. The strategy and tactics that the Lord lays out for His servant are ones that no man could ever discover or even imagine. This is so because the method of conquest given by the Lord appears to be (and without the blessing of God’s almighty hand would in fact be) weak and ineffectual. Yet, the Lord blesses the means of His choosing with effectual power, whether those means are a young shepherd facing a giant, or a man dying on a cross promising to all who believe in Him eternal life.
Sunday, September 4th - Joshua 6: 3
The first component of the Lord’s strategy is the commitment of all of Israel’s soldiers. Never does the Lord break the integrity of the fellowship of His people, and only rarely does He divide them into companies with differing assignments. Our Captain of the Lord’s host leaves no reserve in case the main body fails because when His people march in trusting obedience to His Word, they never fail, but are always led in triumph (2 Cor. 2:14).
Monday, September 5th - Joshua 6: 3
The entire fighting force of Israel is to be committed to a series of marches. For six days they are told to make a daily march to, around, and from Jericho. To any observer, this seems to be a commitment to marching circuits that amount to six daily repetitions of futility. No one march would accomplish anything, neither would the series of marches achieve anything except exposing Israel’s soldiers to insult and possible injury from the people and valiant warriors within Jericho. Why did the Lord command His people to pursue such a course of apparent foolishness? At least one reason, if not the only reason, would have been to train His people (then and in all ages thereafter) to trust and obey the clear Word of the Lord, even when that Word appears foolish to their finite and fallible understanding. The six-day course of marching to no apparent effect would effectively work in the hearts and minds of those of the Lord’s new creation, training them to persevere in trusting the Lord even when no apparent result issued from such trusting obedience. Our God is always more interested in building up His people in the faith than He is in tearing down his enemies.
Tuesday, September 6th - Joshua 6: 4
In addition to all of Israel’s men of war being committed to a series of marches around Jericho, the priests and the ark are also to form part of the daily processions. The priests and the ark had proven to be key instruments in the dividing of the Jordan’s waters. Therefore, such instruments of the Lord’s grace that had served to open the way into Canaan for Israel were assigned by the Lord to be with the army of Israel to signal not the mere breach and division of Jericho’s walls but the complete demolition of Jericho’s stone wall. The means of God’s grace have an irresistible power to break down all strongholds, natural as well as those that men erect against the Lord and His people.
Wednesday, September 7th - Joshua 6: 4
By express direction of the Lord, the priests and ark led the sons of Israel into the Jordan that divided as they stepped into it (Josh. 3:6, 8, 11, 13, 15-17). However, this verse does not make clear to us whether the priests and the ark were to lead the procession of Israel’s soldiers or to be embedded in their midst. Whether the Captain of our salvation leads us to refreshing waters or embeds Himself amid two or three gathered in His name, we are made to be more than conquerors through Him who never leaves or forsakes us.
Thursday, September 8th - Joshua 6: 4
Not only would the priests carry the ark as they had done when Israel crossed the Jordan, but seven of them are here directed to carry trumpets before the ark. The number seven signifies perfection. The trumpets are not the two silver trumpets that served to signal Israel’s moving camp, gathering at the tabernacle, or responding to a battle alarm (Num. 10:1-10). Instead, the priests are instructed to blow rams’ horns such as had been sounded at Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:13) and that served to announce the Day of Atonement and the year of jubilee (Lev. 25:9). These horns, accordingly, signify God’s gracious salvation and the resulting liberation and joy of His people. The Church of the Lord does not triumph through the use of battering rams to force open Jericho’s gates or ladders and scaling equipment to climb over Jericho’s walls. The Church of the Lord triumphs through the supernatural means of the gospel of salvation that her members believe and sound forth.
Friday, September 9th - Joshua 6: 4
The second half of this verse instructs the priests and soldiers of Israel to march around Jericho seven times on the seventh day. This would cap six days of fruitless marching with seven apparently futile circuits on the seventh day. However, at the end of the seventh circuit, the priests were to blow the horns that would signal jubilee for Israel and judgment for the people of Jericho. On the seventh day of this campaign, signifying the fullness and perfection of time according to the reckoning of the Lord, a signal would sound that would indicate the unleashing of the almighty power of God for His people and against their enemies. Let us, therefore, learn from this to persevere in doing good, knowing that in due time we shall reap abundantly.
Saturday, September 10th - Joshua 6: 3, 4
The priests and men of war of Israel were directed by God to march for seven straight days. One of those days, perhaps even the seventh day that was to be filled with manifold marching followed by fighting, would have been the Sabbath day. How are we to reconcile the Lord’s command that His people should keep that day holy with His directive now that they should march and perhaps fight on that day? Deeds of mercy and necessity, however strenuous they may prove to be, when performed by us in response to God’s clear direction and providence will prove to be acceptable worship in His sight and service that He will richly reward (Mt. 25:34-40).
Sunday, September 11th - Joshua 6: 3-5
From the seemingly futile efforts, repeated by Israel over the course of six days and multiplied on the seventh day, would come astonishing results. The great wall of Jericho would fall, literally beneath itself. It would entirely collapse, as though the rocks composing the wall would prostrate themselves in homage to the Lord who approached them in the midst of His people, glorifying God and serving His people by giving to them unimpeded access to the city. This collapse of the wall would leave its builders and inhabitants exposed in their fearful dismay to an easy conquest by Israel. The awesome and abundant provision of the Lord more than vindicates the apparent weakness and foolishness of the means He employs.
Monday, September 12th - Joshua 6: 3-5
The procedure of repeated marches around Jericho would be hard even for people of faith to swallow. But such procedure was like gnats when compared with the camel of the incredible provision of Jericho’s walls collapsing at the sound of Israel’s trumpets and shouting. Could Joshua swallow both gnats and camel and so report faithfully the Lord’s words to Israel? There is much in the Word of God that can seem incredible even to us and even in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Yet we, like Joshua, do well to regard the Lord’s promises as great and precious, even when they appear improbable, if not impossible, in view of the circumstances that surround us. Through our trust in and obedience to our Lord, we shall always at the right time find Him to be not only true to His promises but better than them.
Tuesday, September 13th - Joshua 6: 6, 7
Questions raised in connection with the strategy and promised success the Lord outlined for Joshua in vv.3-5 begin to be answered in vv.6,7. Would Joshua believe and faithfully report to Israel the gnats and camel of the marching of Israel and the collapse of Jericho’s walls? He who had learned to trust and fully follow the Lord through more than forty years of God’s consistent grace and marvelous works for His people, shows by the instructions he faithfully gives to the priests and people that he would neither doubt nor desert his loving Lord now.
Wednesday, September 14th - Joshua 6: 6, 7
The question raised in v.4 regarding the placement of the priests in the processions around Jericho is answered in v.7. The priests and the ark were not, according to Joshua’s orders, to lead the procession. There were to be armed men leading the procession. If the Lord made this arrangement explicit to Joshua, Scripture does not record that fact for us. Instead, we are given the impression that the Lord entrusted His servant to make effective arrangements in light of Joshua’s knowledge of and loving trust in his Lord. The more we know our God, the better we understand all things. The more we store His Word in our hearts, the better we can see the right way in all things (Mt. 5:8; Ps. 36:9).
Thursday, September 15th - Joshua 6: 6, 7
It may appear from what Joshua adds regarding the place of the priests in the procession that he was adding to the words of the Lord. It may also appear, from what Joshua does not report to the priests and people about the collapse of Jericho’s wall, that the Lord’s servant was taking away from the words of his Master. In both instances, however, it appears likely that the Lord entrusted His servant with an executing commander’s discretion. No criticism of how Joshua communicated these divine directives can be found in Scripture. A pastor is expected to know well the condition of his flock, partly so that he might, with wise and loving discretion, minister God’s Word to them in measures most fitted to their understandings. Our Savior did this very thing when He told His disciples that He had many more things to share with them that they could not at that time yet rightly receive (Jn. 16:12).
Friday, September 16th - Joshua 6: 6, 7
With what he communicates in these verses, Joshua mentions nothing about the Lord’s promise that Jericho’s wall would collapse on the seventh day. The servant of the Lord gave to the people of God instruction without incentive. He held back the incentive until the time he judged best (v.16). Our religion is reasonable but that does not mean that either the Lord or His servants are always obliged to give reasons for everything they command. It is at times best that we reckon it to be right and reasonable to obey clear instructions from those who have proven to us their trustworthiness.
Saturday, September 17th - Joshua 6: 8, 9
One of the major themes of the Book of Joshua is the demonstration of the strong faith of the people of Israel whom Joshua led into the Promised Land. These Israelites were the children of the generation that had died in the wilderness because of their unbelief (Heb. 3:15-19). Contrary to natural expectation, we find in our verses an account of one of the many demonstrations of strong faith in the children of those who had not believed the Lord so as to follow Him fully. This generation of Israelites to a man does not refuse to obey the instructions of the Lord delivered to them through Joshua. They do not question the apparent foolishness of their marching repeatedly around Jericho, but instead they fall into the prescribed formation and set out according to the directives of the Lord. They who by faith in the words of God had already walked through a miraculously parted river, heartily walked in the way not of their logic and liking but in the way of their true and trusted God.
Sunday, September 18th - Joshua 6: 8, 9
When we compare the Lord’s instructions given in vv.3-5 with the performance of the priests and soldiers of Israel in vv.8,9, we may be observing an imperfect obedience. According to the instructions, it appears that the trumpets should have been blown only on the seventh day. Yet we read in vv.8,9 of the priests blowing the trumpets on the first day of their marching. If this is imperfect obedience, the event of the wall of Jericho falling shows that it does not invalidate the promise of God. Our calling is to obey our Lord, yet our blessing ultimately issues not from our imperfect obedience but rather from the perfect obedience of our Redeemer.
Monday, September 19th - Joshua 6: 8, 9
The actions of the priests blowing their trumpets in these verses may not, in fact, represent imperfect obedience. They may quite rightly have determined that if the Lord had instructed them to carry the rams’ horns, He obviously intended that they should blow them on each march. That way, by the sight of the ark in the middle of the marching procession as well as by the sounding of the trumpets, the Israelites would grow even stronger in their faith, knowing that the Lord was in their midst. At the same time, the Canaanites in Jericho would for an entire week see with their eyes and hear with their ears a gracious warning calling for their repentance before the final sounding of the trumpets of their judgment.
Tuesday, September 20th - Joshua 6: 8, 9
These verses make clear what was unclear in vv.3-5. The priests carrying the ark and the seven priests carrying the rams’ horns were not to lead the procession, as they had done when the people crossed the Jordan. Instead, they were embedded in the middle of the marching column of Israel’s warriors. The difference seems to result from the character of each mission. The river crossing was a work of God for His people, while the destruction of Jericho was to be a work of God for and in His people through the men of war who would do the fighting. The embedded priests and ark of the Lord speak to the faithful of their God empowering them by His dwelling with and mightily working within them (Col. 1:29).
Wednesday, September 21st - Joshua 6: 8, 9
A significant hint of the efficacy of the means of God’s grace is contained in the phrase before the Lord (v.8). It indicates to us the faithful consciousness of the Israelites that the Lord, whose Word they were obeying and whose ordinances were in their midst, was vitally among them, guarding, guiding, and empowering them in their way. If we by faith look for the living God in our worship and work, we too shall be conscious that we do all in His presence, by His grace, for His glory, and for our own highest and enduring good.
Thursday, September 22nd - Joshua 6: 10, 11
Although the priests’ trumpets sounded, Joshua commanded the men of war to be silent. Their natural impulse to shout was to be resisted. Their less spiritual descendants years later shouted when the ark of God was brought into their camp, only later to be captured by the Philistines (1 Sam. 4:5-11). Here, the faithful soldiers of the Lord were ordered to keep silent and to hear the Lord’s trumpets and show themselves to be His ready servants. There would come a time when Joshua would order shouting; then there would be shouting of bold and joyful exultation in the righteous judgment and glorious triumph of their Lord.
Friday, September 23rd - Joshua 6: 10, 11
The sons of Israel marched around Jericho then returned to their camp as they were ordered to do by Joshua. They kept unity and order in their march. No one broke ranks to attack or even to shout at Jericho. It would have been an impressive and perplexing spectacle for the inhabitants of Jericho. Yet, our attention is especially focused upon the fact that Joshua had the ark of the Lord taken around the city. God with His people is the most vital and determining feature of any endeavor of the Lord’s servants. If He is with and for us, who can stand against us?
Saturday, September 24th - Joshua 6: 12-14
These verses inform us that the sons of Israel persevered in following the Lord’s orders completely for the prescribed six days of their marching a single daily circuit around Jericho. What did such repeated marching accomplish? Very likely it served further to unnerve the already disheartened inhabitants of Jericho. However, the key to our understanding what was truly and most vitally accomplished is found in Josh. 1:3 where the Lord told His servant that every place on which the sole of his foot would tread had been given to him by his God. Therefore, such marching done under Joshua’s orders was an act, emphasized by its daily repetition, by which the people of God were claiming their inheritance from the Lord. If God gives to His people, no one on earth or in heaven can withstand their walk by faith through which they possess every spiritual blessing that God has given to them in Christ.
Sunday, September 25th - Joshua 6: 15, 16
In v.15 as well as earlier in v.12, it is noted that Joshua and the people of Israel arose early in the morning to accomplish their daily marching. This notice informs us how eager they all were to obey the Lord’s instructions. We should neither dread nor dutiously obey the Lord’s will, but rather we should delight in our walking in the way of our Good Shepherd. Our delight-filled eagerness in His service grows when we recognize that His infallible wisdom sets our course, His almighty arm empowers us in that course, and that His holy love has designed the race He sets before us so that it leads to our abundant, blessed, and joyfully triumphant living.
Monday, September 26th - Joshua 6: 15, 16
Joshua and the Israelites were especially eager to walk in the way of the Lord on the seventh day. On that day their marching would be multiplied and would be but the prelude to the work they would do of conquering Jericho. Far from their shrinking from the increased and dangerous workload of that day, they show themselves eager to bear a load that was made light for them by their being yoked together with the Lord, whose yoke is easy and who makes for us all burdens light by His enabling grace and power. It is no wonder that when Joshua gave the order for the men of war to shout, they did so with what must have been awesome gusto, for Joshua made it clear to them that the Lord was with them and was giving Jericho to them. When we hear the gospel trumpeted forth, we do well to sing for joy to the Lord and shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation (Ps. 95:1).
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