|
[back]
Bible Reading Notes
February 2011
Friday, February 25th – Joshua 1: 1, 2
These verses indicate to us how Joshua was qualified for his work of leading the Israelites into the Promised Land. The first qualification was Joshua’s divine calling. The Lord spoke to him and directed him in his calling. Joshua was further qualified for his work by the training he had received and the character that was his as a fruit of that training. Joshua had served for a long and faithful period as the servant of Moses. He was therefore trained in submission and obedience to authority—qualities that are essential in all effective leaders. Joshua was also trained in military tactics and strategy while also gaining courage through his fighting in battles such as the one against Amalek (Ex. 17:8-16). Joshua not only learned to fight Israel’s external enemies but he also cultivated a strong faithfulness to the Lord that prompted him to stand firmly against an unfaithful majority of the Lord’s own people, as he and Caleb had done after the spy mission at Kadesh-barnea (Num. 13,14). God prepares His leaders far in advance of their calling and commissioning. The Lord trains them thoroughly in the days of small things so that they will succeed in the days of greater challenges. The Lord does this for His own glory as well as for the good of His people, not least among them being the leader of His calling and equipping.
Saturday, February 26th – Joshua 1: 1, 2
The work to which the Lord called Joshua is also stipulated in these verses. It was supremely daunting work. Joshua was to cross the Jordan River, which was at that time in flood stage (Josh. 3:15). No indication is given by the Lord to Joshua as to how this was to be done. Joshua did not need any indication, for he had learned to trust the Lord and follow Him fully. The surest way for the Lord’s people to know their way is for them to focus upon their knowing the God of that way. The Good Shepherd knows the way and it is the business of His sheep to know, trust, and follow Him (Heb. 12: 1, 2).
Sunday, February 27th – Joshua 1: 1, 2
Joshua’s work consisted not simply in his crossing the Jordan, but also in his leading all of the Lord’s people with him across that watery barrier and into the Promised Land. The crossing point at that time was more difficult than would have been the entrance into Canaan at Kadesh-barnea forty years earlier. That entrance would have taken Israel through the less populated and dry southern region of the land through which the people could have built up their strength gradually for their conquest of the land. Now they faced an impassable river and beyond it great, fortified cities. But while the way had become more difficult, Joshua was charged with maintaining unity of the people through all natural barriers and living enemies they were to encounter. For this calling Joshua would need and would have a strong and pure faith in His wise and almighty God.
Monday, February 28th – Joshua 1: 3, 4
The extent of God’s provision for His people is set out in these verses. The national boundaries are traced in v.4. They stretched from the southern wilderness north to Lebanon and encompassed all that was west of the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea. The mention of the land of the Hittites indicates perhaps a more northeastern extent than what Israel ever did manage to conquer and occupy. The point for us to see here is that our God sets our boundaries, and while we may at times find them restrictive, they are capacious enough safely to contain all of our legitimate ambitions and exertions.
Tuesday, March 1st - Joshua 1: 3, 4
Within the boundaries that the Lord set for His people they are authorized and empowered by God to exercise total dominion. Within the Promised Land, the only limits to their possession would be those self-imposed by their lack of faithful endeavor. Every place that their feet, walking by faith, would touch, they would find that their God had given to them. Surely this is on the stage of redemptive history an enactment of believers being strong in the Lord and the strength of His might (Eph. 6:10ff) and so becoming more than conquerors in and through Christ (Rom. 8:31ff).
Wednesday, March 2nd - Joshua 1: 5-9
Joshua is in these verses charged and comforted by the Lord. By these promises of divine provision, Joshua receives abundant encouragement and resources to enable him effectively and fruitfully to fulfill his God-given calling. The Lord’s directives in our lives are supremely challenging; however, His gracious enabling is abundantly sufficient for us to do all things he directs us to do (Phil. 4:13).
Thursday, March 3rd - Joshua 1: 5-9
Before we consider in detail what provision God did promise to Joshua, we do well to notice what the Lord did not promise to provide. One would naturally expect that for such a massive campaign as Joshua was ordered to undertake, vast stores of money, weapons, soldiers, and supplies would be provided by God. Yet, what Joshua here receives from the Lord are promises. Whenever we are given promissory help, we can take encouragement only so far as we can trust the sincerity and capability of the one promising. The promises that come to us from God can be regarded by us as being great and precious because the One promising cannot lie and He possesses almighty power and infallible wisdom that nothing can thwart.
Friday, March 4th - Joshua 1: 5
The first thing God promises to Joshua and through his leadership to His people is that no human enemy would be able to prevail against them. The only defeats Israel would suffer would be traced not to the might of their foes but rather to the weakness of their faith and to the ascendancy of the Israelites’ own sin. Israel’s defeat at little Ai after their glorious victory over great Jericho—a defeat resulting from Achan’s sin—clearly demonstrates this (Josh. 7). Well do we heed the call to watch and pray, not so much against external human enemies as against the residual sin lurking in our hearts that can easily entangle us in a way that human foes could never do.
Saturday, March 5th - Joshua 1: 5
The reason that no human foe would be able to withstand Joshua was that the presence and power of God would be with this man of His choosing. The divine presence would shield Joshua from any opposition that might arise within Israel as well as whatever attacks would surely come upon him from enemies outside of the covenant nation. God promised to be with Joshua as He had previously been with Moses. The sustaining and prevailing power of God’s presence had been demonstrated for the course of forty years wherein the Lord upheld Moses. Joshua could rely on similar divine enabling, and at the end of his life he could give eloquent and moving testimony to how faithfully God had fulfilled all of His promises to him and to Israel (Josh. 23). If God is with us, what other company and help do we require? If God is for us, who in heaven or on earth or under the earth can prevail against us (Rom. 8:31ff)?
Sunday, March 6th - Joshua 1: 6, 7
Strength of mind, heart, and body would be required for Joshua to fulfill his charge. The Lord promises and begins to confer upon Joshua the requisite strength and courage by commanding him to be strong and courageous. Here the Word of the Lord is like the command of Jesus for Lazarus to come forth from his tomb. With the Word of divine command comes a gracious enabling to obey it. Yet it is not brute strength or carnal bravado that the Lord commands and confers. The strength is in the Lord’s glorious might and the courage results from a grateful confidence in the Lord’s securing comfort and loving care. The Apostle Paul speaks of our God giving to His people, and especially to His pastors, not a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love, and self-control.
Monday, March 7th - Joshua 1: 7
The ultimate source of Joshua’s strength and courage was the living God. The instrumental source of Joshua’s strength, courage, and effective leadership was the Word of God as it was contained in the five biblical books that had been written by Moses. Joshua is informed by the Lord that he would succeed in his divinely appointed mission precisely to the degree that he brought all of his thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds captive to the mind of the Lord as expressed in His Word. Similarly for us, the means of God’s grace serve to enlighten and transform our minds, purify our hearts, and empower our service. Yet we must be like Joshua if we are truly to be edified by the means of God’s grace. We must not be careless or casual but rather careful in our hearing and heeding of God’s Word. Further, we must be committed to our attaining a comprehensive and vital grasp of the whole counsel of God. Every jot of Scripture contains precious power to do us infinite and eternal good.
Tuesday, March 8th - Joshua 1: 7, 8
In v.7, Joshua is told by God that his way of success in his calling was to be found in his careful observance of all of God’s Word. In v.8, the Lord elaborates what it means for His servant carefully to observe His Word. First, the Word was to guide all of Joshua’s thoughts, determinations, and pronouncements. To that end, Joshua was to read it, consider it, and mediate upon it at all times. Such study and meditation were to have a goal of practical piety rather than mere intellectual impact. Scripture is given to us to live by, and as we do conform all of our thoughts, feelings, words, and actions to it, we shall find that our lives are characterized by fruitful and effectual actions that show God’s glory, serve for man’s good, and fill us with blessed and joyful satisfaction.
Wednesday, March 9th - Joshua 1: 6-9
The Lord reinforces His consolation and exhortation to Joshua by telling him in vv.6,7,9 to be strong and courageous. In v.9, the Lord even adds a prohibition to the three positive exhortations, telling Joshua not to tremble or be dismayed. Sin makes weaklings and cowards of all people. The primal emotions Adam felt after his sin was shame (due to his fall from uprightness and his consequent corruption) and fear (due to his guilt before God). Our saving God vanquishes our corruption and guilt by mortifying our sin in the death of His Son. Our fears are our most misleading guides and our most sorry comforters. The perfect love of our God in Christ casts out all of our fears by casting out all cause we have to fear.
Thursday, March 10th - Joshua 1: 9
Faith in God vanquishes all of our fears. This is so because by faith we rightly reckon that the God whom we have offended by our sin has been reconciled to us through the person and work of His Son. If the one true and living God is for us, accepting us in His beloved Son, who or what could possibly stand against us? However, the Lord exhorts His servant not to fear but to be strong in His might (Eph. 6:10ff). By referring to Himself as the Lord your God, Joshua is commended to the constant company and care of the God he has come personally to know, to love, and to trust. No fears are vanquished when we are told to trust a God who remains unknown to us because we have failed to be careful to come to know Him through His Word (vv.7,8).
Friday, March 11th - Joshua 1: 10, 11
Immediately after Joshua was called and commissioned by God, he turns to command the people of God. Those who submit to the authority of the Lord find that they will have effective authority over men. Joshua issues his orders through a chain of command wherein he commanded the officers of the people and they, in turn, informed and commanded the people. With godly authority also comes an efficient orderliness in the exercise of that authority. Chaos and disorder mark the kingdom of evil while decency and order mark the kingdom of God.
Saturday, March 12th - Joshua 1: 10, 11
Joshua’s orders are exemplary in their clarity and brevity. Several significant features are contained in his orders—all of them being necessary for the people to know and observe. The first feature is that the people are to prepare provision. They had not had to do so throughout the forty years of their wilderness sojourn. The manna from heaven had fed them and would continue to do so for some time (Josh. 5:12). Yet, the Lord’s servant rightly discerned that God’s people would soon be subsisting from their labors and harvests in the land of Canaan. Therefore, he would have the people here at their point of entry into their covenant inheritance prepare to live as they would when their conquests were over and they were settled in their land according to the promise and power of God. Although our salvation begins with our being by God miraculously raised from our spiritual death (Eph. 2:1-7), it continues with our faithfully and diligently working out our salvation (Phil. 2:12,13).
Sunday, March 13th - Joshua 1: 10, 11
The people were to prepare provisions for themselves. This would include food and other necessities in accordance with their own personal needs, for which each person was responsible and with which each was best acquainted. The people are not ordered to prepare weapons or pontoons for the Jordan crossing. God would have them feed and nourish themselves while He would tend to the challenges in the way of their obedience to Joshua, His servant. We are not called by our God primarily to busy ourselves with many apparent practicalities but are rather to feed ourselves upon the one thing necessary for our true welfare (Lk. 10: 38-42).
Monday, March 14th - Joshua 1: 10, 11
The mission for which the people of Israel were to prepare was one of great challenges but greater encouragements. The challenges were that within three days all of the people were to break camp and march to the river Jordan and cross it while it was at flood level. The fact that they were to possess the land was also a challenge because they would be committed to a long campaign of fighting and conquering in order to possess the land. But the overwhelming encouragement was that the Lord was giving them this land. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who labor work in vain, but when the Lord is the giver of the land, those who strive to enter into it are guaranteed success.
Tuesday, March 15th - Joshua 1: 12-15
Two and one half of Israel’s twelve tribes are specifically addressed in these verses. They are singled out because of a concession they had sought and received from Moses to settle in the territory of Gilead, east of the Jordan (Num. 32:1-33). At this time when all of Israel was preparing to cross to the land west of the Jordan, Joshua wisely reminds these minority tribes of the terms of the concession that had been granted to them by Moses. Their grant to settle their families in Gilead is acknowledged and their responsibility to have all of their men cross the Jordan and fight with their brethren until they had conquered their land is urged. Interestingly, Joshua mentions nothing about the sanction that Moses added to the concession, should the men of these tribes fail to fulfill their responsibility (Num. 32:23). A word to the wise is sufficient, and Joshua knew that he was dealing with spiritually wise people at this point. Therefore, he leads them firmly yet not overbearingly. When spiritual people have dealings together, communications are usually good and cooperation is of a high level.
Wednesday, March 16th - Joshua 1: 16-18
In response to Joshua’s reiteration of the terms of the concession that had been granted to them, the men of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh give their unreserved commitment. They oblige themselves not only to cross the Jordan but also to do all that Joshua would command them to do in the course of his leading Israel in its conquest of Canaan. They pledge their obedience to Joshua just as they had performed obedience to Moses. Their governing leader would be the Lord’s servant, Joshua, not their own feelings, not their personal or family agendas. By this response, the men of these tribes demonstrate that Joshua’s respectful treatment of them was justified. They were men sincerely submissive to the Lord’s servant because they were truly submissive to the Lord.
Thursday, March 17th - Joshua 1: 16-18
Not only do the men of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh commit themselves to obey Joshua, they also commend him to the Lord in their prayers. They ask the Lord to be with His servant, making him strong and courageous—the very things that the Lord had already impressed upon Joshua. With what sweet efficiency and harmony all parties work when they all seek to know God’s will and to do it by His enabling power.
Friday, March 18th - Joshua 1: 16-18
Observe how the men of these tribes bind themselves strongly to obey and follow Joshua. Although the Lord’s servant did not mention the sanction Moses added to their concession, they did not construe the silence of Joshua on that point to free them of the sanction. Instead, they here willingly add to the sanction the feature of capital punishment for any who would rebel against Joshua’s authority. It is a beautiful characteristic of true spirituality in the people of the Lord when each prefers others before himself in respect and honor (Phil. 2:3).
Saturday, March 19th - Joshua 1: 16-18
Joshua’s respecting the good will of the men of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh and the exemplary way the men of those tribes responded to this reminder reveals a significant feature of the character of the people of Israel at that time. We see here, and shall see repeatedly throughout the Book of Joshua, evidence of the mature spirituality of the people that Joshua led into Canaan. Whereas the fathers of this generation were disobedient to God and to Moses and paid for that disobedience with their lives lost in the wilderness, their children demonstrate great fidelity to the Lord and to His servant, Joshua. It may be that this was the most faithful of all of Israel’s generations. It also may be that although their parents had sinned and suffered divine judgment accordingly, those parents well may have repented and, as fruit of their repentance, taught their children well the ways of the Lord before they themselves died in the wilderness. Godly discipline more often than not brings about the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
Sunday, March 20th – Joshua 2: 1
While the people of Israel prepared their provisions, Joshua took steps to improve his perspective on the land of Canaan. In order to study especially the first objective of the coming campaign of conquest, Joshua selected two spies and sent them into the land to gather intelligence and report back to him. Was this a step of faith or did it represent reliance on the flesh? In view of the disastrous spy mission forty years previously at Kadesh-barnea (Num.13,14), it may appear a carnal step. However, the previous spy mission consisted of twelve men representing the tribes of Israel and reporting to the people of Israel. This current mission consisted of two spies hand-picked by Joshua, one of the two faithful spies on the previous mission. These two spies were sent by Joshua to report only to him as faithful witnesses of what actually awaited them at Jericho and in Canaan. This intelligence would be used not as an excuse to refuse entrance into the land, but as a basis for making prudent preparation effectively to enter into the Promised Land. True faith does not preclude but rather includes the wise use of means.
Monday, March 21st - Joshua 2: 1
The spies are charged to view Jericho especially. One of the factors that led to the discouragement of the people at Kadesh-barnea was that the ten spies saw and reported on much of the land and all the fortified cities and giants it contained. Joshua narrows the focus to one objective at a time, knowing that a great mountain is climbed a step at a time rather than in one great leap that is bound to fail. He who will be faithful and fruitful in many great things must learn to be faithful and diligent in smaller and fewer things first.
Tuesday, March 22nd - Joshua 2: 1
Jericho was the key city for the central portion of Canaan. If it could be defeated, it would open a way of easier conquest through the central corridor that would divide Canaan’s southern region from its northern one. Then each half could be defeated in turn. This is precisely the strategy that unfolds, as we read of the central campaign in chapters 7-9, the southern campaign in chapter 10, and the northern campaign in chapter 11. It is a brilliant strategy that was conceived not so much because Joshua pondered earthly military strategy, but rather because he fixed his focus on the God of heaven and earth. He who is most heavenly-minded will always be of most earthly good (Mt. 6:33).
Wednesday, March 23rd - Joshua 2: 1
In pursuit of the mission the spies boarded in a public house owned by a harlot whose name, Rahab, is recorded in this verse because of how significantly she figures in this mission and beyond this mission, even to her being in the genealogical line of Jesus (Mt. 1: 5). The spies’ choice was a wise one, for few would ask of them many questions in such a place, while at the same time they might listen to much that would indicate to them significant things about Jericho and Canaan. Superintending their choice was the hand of God, who had gracious purposes in mind for the spies’ preservation and for the salvation of Rahab and her family. The most common, ordinary, and lowly features of the lives of believers can be charged with momentous significance by the guiding and providing hand of their heavenly Father.
Thursday, March 24th - Joshua 2: 2, 3
Despite all of the prudence and care of Joshua in sending the spies and of the spies in their pursuit of their mission, the mission that depends so much upon secrecy for its success is quickly discovered by unknown sources and reported to the king of Jericho. This discovery threatens to be fatal to the spies and to their mission, and it calls into question the certainty of the promises and providing power of the Lord. It is often the case that our following our Lord by faith lands us for a time in situations that appear doomed, where the wicked seem to perceive and control all things, while we and our God appear blind and impotent. However, we shall see that appearances are misleading. Whereas the king of Jericho knows of the spies and calls at the right place for them to be delivered to him, it is he who is doomed to be frustrated while the spies and their mission and God’s gracious plan to save Rahab and her family will all gloriously succeed. It is not by our avoiding threatening tribulations but by our faithfully walking through them that we enter triumphantly into the fruition of the glorious plans of our heavenly King.
Friday, March 25th - Joshua 2: 4-6
What are we to see in these verses? Many would say that we see Rahab lying. However, Scripture never once expressly condemns her as a liar, but rather commends her for her faith (Heb. 11:31; Jas. 2:25). We must have eyes to see and minds to grasp what is the essence of her action, what is the motive that prompts her to her action, and, most significantly, what stamp of commendation or condemnation God in His Word puts upon her action. Essentially, Rahab shielded the spies, her motive was faith, God blessed her action with success, and the Lord clearly commends her repeatedly for it in His Word. We can perceive what may or may not in fact be imperfections in her shielding these spies upon whom so much of critical importance for Israel depended, but the God of Israel treats her and her deeds as commendable in His sight. Faith prompts godly, loving deeds, it does not paralyze us with perfectionist concern over moral casuistry.
Saturday, March 26th - Joshua 2: 4-6
As the spies’ prudence looked foolish and the Lord’s power looked impotent once the king of Jericho discovered the spies’ mission, so Rahab’s hiding of the spies and handling of the king’s order looks at fist to be full of sin and bound to be practically ineffectual. We can identify the single instance of truth in what she said in the words: Yes, the men came to see me (v.4). This grain of truth is swallowed up in four misleading statements: (1) I did not know where they were from; (2) the men went out; (3) I do not know where the men went; and (4) Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them. Can anything good be at the heart of or result from so much prevarication? When the whole matter becomes clear in the light of God we shall see a commendable fulfilling of the moral law amidst the apparent violation of one feature of that law. On the final day of God’s judgment many apparently righteous deeds will be seen to be sinful when the hearts and intentions of those who have done such deeds are revealed (Mt. 7: 22,23). If our hearts are pure, we shall see God (Mt. 5:8), and in the light of His holy love we shall see by the light of love that guides our actions through the most dark and apparently sinful turns (Ps. 36:9).
[back]
|
Sunday
Morning Worship 10:30 AM
Evening Worship
6:30 PM
Wednesday
Christian Education
7:00 PM
Saturday
Congregational Prayer Meeting
7:00 PM |
