He Saved Us

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

HE SAVED US

Judges 3:26-31

26 While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them. 28 "Follow me," he ordered, "for the LORD has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands." So they followed him down and, taking possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab, they allowed no one to cross over. 29 At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not a man escaped. 30 That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years. 31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

NIV

We do not know much about this judge Ehud whom God raised up, but we are told that he too saved Israel. His name in Hebrew can mean, I will be praised or give thanks. It can also signify unity or undivided. God has been showing Israel they will always need someone to lead them so they will be at peace. So far, we have seen Moses and Joshua and here we have Ehud and Shamgar who also saved Israel. They are forerunners or a foreshadowing of Jesus. However, just as Ehud blew the trumpet, and commanded the Israelites to, “Follow me”, Jesus told Peter and Andrew, “Follow me”. Jesus has been asking people for generations to follow him. Jesus makes it clear his sheep listen to his voice, that he knows them and they follow him. We know the voice of our Lord and we listen only to his voice. There are many voices out there, just as there were in the time of the Israelites. However, they listened to other voices as they served other gods, but the LORD saved them whenever they were being held captive or oppressed. Although we did not know it at the time, before Jesus called us out of the darkness into his wonderful light, we were captives of sin, being oppressed by the evil one. Praise the Lord, his light shone into the darkness of our world and led us out into the light saving us and now we live in peace. In fact, Jesus gave us his peace, not as the world gives, which is just an illusion, but his peace, a real and everlasting peace, one that is deep within our soul. We can say, “Jesus is to be praised”, “we can thank him”  and “He saved us”.  

The Secret

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

THE SECRET

Judges 3:19-25

19 At the idols near Gilgal he himself turned back and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." The king said, "Quiet!" And all his attendants left him. 20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace and said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king rose from his seat, 21 Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly. 22 Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. 23 Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them. 24 After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the house." 25 They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.

NIV

Who doesn’t want to get a secret message? Then putting a topper on that would be a secret message from God. Who would not want to hear a secret message from God? Of course in the case of this king, the message was an eighteen-inch sword stuck right into the fatness of the king so even the hilt was buried within the rolls of his stomach. Yet the point of this whole narrative is the desire to learn some secret, one that no one else is allowed to hear and know. On the whole, it is not a physical sword, but a sword nonetheless. We might be able to call, in some sense, a secret message as gossip. It would not be plunging a sword into the hearer, but it is certainly sticking a sword in the one whom the secret message is about. As far as receiving a secret message from God, it would never happen for God desires that all come to the saving knowledge of His Son Jesus Christ. God does not keep anything from us, nor tell us a secret message for someone else. God reveals himself and his truths to all who seek him. He holds nothing back or tells anyone a secret message. All throughout the days of the prophets, starting with Moses, God revealed truths to them to speak to all the people. There were times when the Israelites did not want to hear the truth from God. In fact, we see Jezebel who was married to one of the most evil of the kings of Israel who left God and began serving Baal, went and killed many prophets of God. Obediah, on the other hand, took many prophets of God and hid them in a cave to save them from Jezebel. It has been said that we no longer have prophets or apostles for the matter, that those two offices no longer exist. We wonder about that, for God gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers for the perfection of saints for the work of the ministry. If we no longer have two of the four then how can the saints, that is us, be perfected? Are those who are disposing of the apostles and prophets trying to silence the word of God? There are so many truths that some believers do not want to hear, and by closing their ears, or hearts and minds, to certain truths, they are telling God to keep silent, not to tell them about their secrets. We all may have some secret we are chained to that we do not want anyone to know, but God does and he wants to reveal his truth into our lives, so we can be free. With God, there are no secrets. 

Doing Bad

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

DOING BAD

Judges 3:12-19

2 Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. 13 Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.   14 The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years. 15 Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer — Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab. 16 Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. 17 He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man. 18 After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way the men who had carried it. 19 At the idols near Gilgal he himself turned back and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king."

NIV

We should use all of this chapter as it contains the whole of this narrative about Ehud and King Eglon of Moab, but we can take another lesson from Israel first. It just seems it doesn’t take much for the Israelites to do evil in the eyes of the LORD. What is their problem? Wouldn’t it be better to worship the LORD and have no other gods before them? They did have the Ten Commandments, and they must still have the tent of meeting somewhere with the ark of the covenant. What did they do with it? There must have been priests from the tribe of Levi attending to the LORD and were any of the people bringing sin offerings. Wasn’t there still one day of atonement? The Israelites still did evil in the eyes of God and he gave them over to being under the power of a foreign king. He took over the city of Palms, which is Jericho. This is strange in itself, as Jericho was completely demolished under Joshua’s leadership. Nevertheless, here is the lesson. The Israelites had all they needed to know the LORD, and to keep faith with Him, but their humanity got in the way, wanting what they wanted when they wanted it. It is easier to serve something that cannot demand anything from them, or something of their own making. Of course, we believe we would never turn from the LORD like the Israelites did. We don’t have any of the physical reminders they had, but we do have the whole of God’s word and we have the Spirit dwelling within us. Yet have we added some things of our own making that the Lord would consider evil in his eyes? But then how could religious things or activities be evil. Unless we put too much emphasis on tradition rather than truth. We might also put too much emphasis on good deeds instead of pure worship. Of course, we know it can never be Jesus plus, but have we added those things thinking that is being like Jesus. However, what is Jesus like? What did Jesus do? He taught about the kingdom of God, healed people, forgave sins, prayed to his Father,  offered himself as a sacrifice, died for us, raised for us, and ascended for us. What other good deeds or religious activities did Jesus do? Sure, he went to the temple, but to the courts to teach the people about the good news. Maybe all the things we do are of our own making and not from following Jesus. But how could doing good be considered bad? Just a thought to ponder.

 

His Alone

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

HIS ALONE

Judges 3:1-11

3:1 These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan 2(he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): 3 the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. 4 They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the LORD's commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses. 5 The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 6 They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods. 7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. 8 The anger of the LORD burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. 9 But when they cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who saved them. 10 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, so that he became Israel's judge and went to war. The LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. 11 So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.

NIV

These people groups the LORD left in Israel were supposed to give the generation that never knew about warfare experience by driving out the Philistines, Canaanites, Sidonians, and Hivites from their land. God tested them, but they failed, intermarried with those foreign people, and served their gods. It is clear they were dumb people, forgetting the LORD and his commands. How could they not only forget the LORD but give their daughters to them and take their daughters for their sons? There is folly in this action for in some sense it destroyed the family lines and depleted the blue-blooded Israelite. However, the worst of it was they served other gods and God’s anger burned against them and he made it possible for them to be sold into the hands of the king of Aram Naharaim. Of course, because they cried out to the LORD, he raised a judge to deliver them. That same sort of situation happened too many times when Israel would go astray and become in bondage then cry out to the LORD and he saved them. What do we learn from all this? First, we should never ever, not even once, ever forget about the Lord and go after some other god. Second, we should not intermarry with the world. We could see that in a real marriage, as a believer marrying a non-believer and becoming influenced by the non-faith of their spouse and becoming more invested in the world than in the Lord. Surely, there are exceptions and the believer brings their non-believing spouse to faith in Jesus. However, the real danger is when we who are the people of God look for and even chase after some of the gods of this world by intermarrying with the world's ideologies and philosophies. We might even attempt to serve some of those gods and serve the Lord. The question is how successful are we in serving both the Lord and one or more gods of this world. We may not be able to define all the gods of this world, but some of them could be fame and fortune, that is success and money. How can we trust our wealth and trust the Lord? It just seems that is sort of like the Israelites attempted and it did not work for them and it cannot work for us. This is not to say we should not have wealth for that comes from the Lord’s hand. But let us not get so invested in any god of this world, or even attempt to intermarry with any god, for we are the bride of Christ and his alone. 

Watch Out

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

WATCH OUT

Judges 2:16-19

16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the LORD's commands. 18 Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. 19 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

NIV

These were judges, those raised up to govern the power and God used them to save or deliver them from the hands of the raiders. At this point, we would have thought the people of Israel would have been thankful and praised God, but no, they did not listen to their judges but instead committed fornication or we could say adultery with other gods. This was evil in the sight of God. We see as long as the judge, or governor lived Israel received the compassion of the LORD, but when the judge died, they returned with even more corruption following and serving other gods. We simply cannot understand how the people of Israel did not know the LORD and stayed the course worshipping and serving him only. Is it possible that we believers could get confused and follow some other god? We do know, as we have witnessed, that many Christians have been deceived by false preachers who have drawn them with words that tickle their ears. Those “Name it, and Claim it” preachers, or “You can have it all”, “God wants you to be wealthy”. However, all they want is the money of the people they have fooled to become wealthy. Still, we wonder if we have not taken on any gods of our own that we commit adultery with. We know we cannot serve two masters, the Lord and the world, or its system, its methods for success or security. But have we adopted them into our lives and rebranded them as being frugal or financially conservative. Have we still taken on the view that we need to save up, and store up for our later years in life, as we retire from the workforce, just as the world has created that concept? It is something to ponder on. How many ways of the world have we adopted and brought into the church, or into our lives? When Israel incorporated the ways of other people, the ways of their world, and their gods, it was evil in the sight of God. We should take stock, evaluate our lives, and examine how much, if any, of the ways of this world we have incorporated into our lives, seeing if we are committing adultery, or having an affair with any gods of this world. Even when the LORD blessed them through a judge, they refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. We cannot ever allow that to become a part of our thinking. We cannot be stubborn and believe the system of this world is the best way to secure our lives; while professing we trust in the Lord. That is sort of speaking out of both sides of our mouths. Let us  watch out , and throw off anything we put trust in and look only to the Lord, seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness.

Never Forget

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

NEVER FORGET

Judges 2:10-15

10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger 13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 In his anger against Israel the LORD handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. 15 Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the LORD was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

NIV

The new generation was different from those who traveled with the LORD and remembered all the mighty works he did for them. When he brought that first generation of people out of Egypt they refused to go into the promised land and thus he turned them around and they wandered until they all died and it was their children who saw the Jordan River stopped up and the walls of Jericho tumbling down. But now they were all gone and this new generation either wasn’t interested in their forefathers' testimonies, and wanted to live their own paths, or never knew God, as the narrative tells us. How could they have not paid any attention to the stories their forefathers past down to them? It isn’t much different today, as many of the churches have nothing but old people while the younger ones may be drawn away to another form other than the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. Maybe they never knew any miracles or had any for themselves, and forgot about God and went to serve false gods. One denomination is focusing on the next-gen to revive or survive as a denomination, for if they are nothing but old people it will just die off and the new generation will not know God or what he has done and they will mingle with the people who live around them and serve other gods. This is what happened in Israel and it provoked the LORD, and we see what the result was. Yes, we live in the age of grace, which means the LORD has shown his love for all his creation by sending Jesus to redeem us, setting us free from the penalty of sin. However, at the same time each generation after Jesus saved us must make the choice to serve the Lord or serve a false god. We may not have seen the Red Sea parted or the Jordan stopped up. We may not have witnessed the water coming from the rock, or the manna coming out of heaven. We may not have experienced first-hand any of the mighty acts of God the Israelites had, but we have everything recorded for us so that we will never forget God and his mighty deeds, or his mighty hand at work for his people. Still, when we are convicted by the Spirit, or convinced the bible is the authentic word of God, we too can and have seen at least one miracle, our own salvation, but we can also see more through our faith, our belief that God still performs miracles, and his mighty hand is at work for us, within us, and through us. How can we even think of serving another god of this world, yet we see so many doing just that. Let us keep our eyes upon Jesus and look full into his wonderful face, and the things, gods, of this world will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. We will never forget. 

Get Rid of Them

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

GET RID OF THEM

Judges 2:1-9

2:1 The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? 3 Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be [thorns] in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you." 4 When the angel of the LORD had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, 5 and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the LORD. 6 After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. 7 The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.  Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

NIV

We don’t know who this angel of the LORD is, but we know from the Hebrew word that an angel is a messenger of the LORD who speaks as directed as the LORD. This is unlike when the prophets said, “Thus says the Lord”. This is as if the LORD, himself was speaking, as we notice the first-person words, “I brought you up out of Egypt”, and “I will never break my covenant with you”. The problem we spoke about before that was to happen is at hand. Because the Israelites did not drive all the people from the land God promised Abraham all his descendants would own, they now had foreign gods among them, yet more importantly they disobeyed the LORD. These foreign people and their gods became a thorn or a snare to them. The LORD has given them the opportunity to repent of their disobedience and serve him instead of those other gods. However, we know they had already begun to mingle with those foreign people and their gods because the angel of the LORD asked them, “Why have you done this?” It appears they did repent to an extent, as they wept loudly and offered sacrifices to the LORD. We are told they served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel. This would also imply most of the current people had not seen all the great things and that might be the reason they had begun to accept the foreign gods in the land of their inheritance. Here is where the rubber meets the road for us today. We cannot allow any of the foreign gods of this world to invade our thinking and thus the way we live. We cannot mingle with its ways, or allow the world’s altars to stay standing in our lives. We certainly would not ever think to bring an altar to a foreign god into our church sanctuary. Why then would we ever allow one into our personal lives? Yet is there anything that has become a master in our lives? This could be accepting the systems of the world, taking on the ideas they hold to, or for that matter, when it comes to our spiritual life, have we adopted the law as a way of life, rather than living by faith. If we have rejected the financial master of this world, worshipping the Lord only, but want to live by some laws we have devised or believe indicate we are Christians, are not those laws a form of a foreign altar? It is just a thought, but if Jesus gave us a new covenant based on two commands, loving the Lord with our whole being, and loving ourselves as ourselves, then that is the only altar we offer ourselves as living sacrifices on which would be acceptable and pleasing to God. Let us rid ourselves of anything that interferes with obeying our calling.

 

Co-Inhabit

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

CO-INHABIT

Judges 1:27-36

27 But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. 28 When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. 29 Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, who remained among them; but they did subject them to forced labor. 31 Nor did Asher drive out those living in Acco or Sidon or Ahlab or Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob, 32 and because of this the people of Asher lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. 33 Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. 34 The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain. 35 And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the power of the house of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. 36 The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond.

NIV

This will be a problem for the various tribes of Israel because they have allowed or given in to the Canaanites being determined to stay in the land. It is not going to matter if they forced them into labor or not, the fact is they were told to drive out all of the people who lived in the land God had given to them as an inheritance. What if we were given an inheritance, like a new home, and someone who lives in the same neighborhood, said we want to share that inheritance because we lived here first. Or even if someone lived with us, and wanted to share our inheritance, that would be crazy to think like that. The only inheritance we can share with others from God, eternal life. We can share the story of how God gave us an inheritance and how they too can have the same inheritance. However, here is what is going to be a problem for the Israelites by living with foreign people, or co-existing, co-inhabiting with non-believers in the LORD God Almighty, but who worship other gods. Looking ahead in this narrative of Judges we know it becomes more than a problem, but let us consider for a moment the ramifications of that happening in our lives. Of course, as we live on this earth, we need to live, work, shop, and perhaps play in a world filled with people who worship other gods. In one sense, we co-inhabit this world, although God has called us out of this world, to be separate from them. This would be in the way they think, the gods they serve, their ideologies, philosophies, principles, or convictions about life. The Israelites did not obey God and drove them out of their land. However, we need to obey our Lord and force all those ideologies and such out of our lives. We live in this world but we are not to live of the world for we have been called out to live in the kingdom of God and by His way of thinking, and the Lord’s way of life, having faith in God instead of self. If the Israelites would have kept their faith in the LORD they would have been able to drive out all the Canaanites, for He would have driven them out before them. But it would seem they forgot to keep the faith and looked to their own strength which was not enough to drive out the Canaanites who were determined to stay in the land.  The world is determined to undermine the truth of God and His Word and we cannot intermingle with their way of life, all those concepts we mentioned before. We can only serve our Lord with all, not part, but all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. If we are faithful to that command, then He will drive out all foreign thinking from us. Let us not co-inhabit with their gods. 

Follow the Man

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

FOLLOW THE MAN

Judges 1:22-26

22 Now the house of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them. 23 When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz), 24 the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, "Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well." 25 So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family. 26 He then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

NIV

We know Joseph did not have his own inheritance but his father made his two sons, Ephriam and Manasseh, his own, and they received land as their inheritance, and later Benjamin was included as the house of Joseph. Bethel stands about twenty miles north of Jerusalem and sits in the land of Benjamin really close to the border of the land of Ephraim. Although all that is interesting and it does play into what happened in this narrative, the story is once again that the LORD was with them. Can we do anything unless the Lord is with us? Sure, we try to do things by our own strength based on our educational background, and training and maybe even our own plans for our lives. However, can we really be doing the design of our Lord for our lives? Are we living out His plans for us? We believe when the Lord is with us, we can do all things because he strengthens us, but all those things need to be in accordance with his plan and not ours. There is one other story here, and it's about the man who led them to a way into the city of Bethel, formerly called Luz. Of course, this is about a common man who was told he would be treated well for his efforts of leading them to a way into the city. But just to ponder on a spiritual side, there is another man, who is called Jesus, who led men to a way into another city in the kingdom of God. Of course, for his efforts he was not treated well, in fact, he was hung on a cross and shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins. He treated us very well, by leading us to a way into the new city of Jerusalem, which is in the kingdom of God. The house of Joseph followed this man into the city and they put it to the sword, but spared him and his family. Someday the house of God will spare us, for we are following him into the city. However, we are not putting the city to the sword, but in some sense, we are putting his world to the sword on our way to into the city of God. The house of Joseph did not mingle with the people of Luz, nor incorporate any of their ways, they destroyed them all. This is how we put this world to the sword, we do not mingle with its ideologies or its way of thinking, but we put all its ways behind us, destroying them and forgetting about them, and straining toward what is ahead. When we follow the man, Jesus, into the city we will have victory. 

The Lord is With us

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

THE LORD IS WITH US

Judges 1:19-21

19 The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots. 20 As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak. 21 The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.

NIV

Sometimes we forget of the advancements of warfare during that time.  We remember that Pharaoh had hundreds of chariots when he chased after the Israelites. We remember the ruins of a racetrack, so to speak, in Caesarea by the sea, for chariot racing. It must have been challenging for infantry fighters to battle against horse-drawn chariots. Judah took the hill country perhaps because the chariot teams could not get into the hill country, but on the plains, they were hard to battle. However, the key in this narrative is the LORD was with the men of Judah. What we wonder is if the LORD was with them, why could they not overcome those iron chariots. Had the men of Judah looked to the LORD for the battle or had they looked to their own strength? We believe that would have made all the difference between complete success and partial success. Of course, we are not at war with people who occupy our inheritance, but at times we do face challenges in life, that we have to either overcome completely or partially, depending on who we look to for strength. We believe that if we are looking to the LORD all the time, that is every day, all day, then it would be very easy to look toward him for the power to overcome any challenge we face. However, if we spend most of our days looking at our abilities, skills, education, power, and influence based on our financial portfolio, then we may well not be able to take possession of the land, or drive out that challenge we face. However, even if we have all those advantages in life, when do not put our trust in them, but in the Lord each day, every day, we will win the battle because of the mighty hand of God. We should always know the Lord is with us, for we have the indwelling of the Spirit who bears witness to the Lord’s presence with us. Let us always keep our hearts and minds bent toward the Lord with confidence he will overcome those challenges. He may do it through us, giving us special powers beyond our natural ones, or he could just make it disappear without us lifting a hand. Then, we also know that God's will be done either way if we win the battle or lose it. However, the point is that we must live each and every moment knowing the Lord is with us. 

Wholehearted and Courageous

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

WHOLEHEARTED AND COURAGEOUS

Judges 1:9-18

9 After that, the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev and the western foothills. 10 They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai. 11 From there they advanced against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher). 12 And Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher." 13 Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage. 14 One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can I do for you?" 15 She replied, "Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water." Then Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs. 16 The descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite, went up from the City of Palms with the men of Judah to live among the people of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad. 17 Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites their brothers and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed the city. Therefore it was called Hormah.   18 The men of Judah also took Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron — each city with its territory.

Although this narrative is mainly about the conquests of the territory the Canaanites were living in, we find this man Caleb still out and about fighting against the Canaanites. We know that when he and Joshua and ten others were sent into the land to spy it out while  all of Israel waited on the east side of the Jordan. We also know that after they came back, only Caleb and Joshua said Israel could take the land, and conquer, driving them out of the promised land. But, as we know Israel refused, and so wandered for forty years. After all fighting men or adults died in the wilderness, their children were brought back to cross Jordan under the command of Joshua, and Caleb was also there. God testified about Caleb when he declared that no one who has treated him with contempt would see the promised land, but that because his servant Caleb had a different spirit and followed the LORD wholeheartedly, the LORD would bring him into the land, as recorded in Numbers. Caleb was now about Eighty-Five and still going strong. The character of Caleb is our story. He was a man of God, who followed the LORD wholeheartedly, never giving up, but always moving forward with the LORD as his commander. So we see Caleb had faith, he was devoted to following the LORD, as was rewarded. Caleb had strength; he was not what we picture what an eighty-five-year-old man looks like. We do not think Caleb was self-deceived, for he knew God was powerfully working in his life, even at Eighty-five. Caleb also loved the LORD, but we see that he also loved the mountains, the hill country of Hebron, which was occupied by powerful forces and heavy weaponry, as we saw in the book of Joshua. That was no problem for the likes of the man of God, Caleb who followed the LORD wholeheartedly. He set his path to the mountain, just as Jesus set his path to Mt Moriah, the city of Jerusalem. What mountain have we set our path to? Without question, the answer to that is the mountain of God. We also realize our need to follow our Lord wholeheartedly, as Joshua, Caleb and of course, David did. God testified about David that he found a man after His own heart. We know none of them were perfect men, as none of us are, but we must follow our Lord wholeheartedly, living courageously, no matter what age we are, for it is not us who conquest anything, but it is the LORD powerfully working for, in and through us, to accomplish his will. 

Ask First

 DEVOTION

JUDGES 1

ASK FIRST

Judges 1:1-8

1:1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the LORD, "Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?" 2 The LORD answered, "Judah is to go; I have given the land into their hands." 3 Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites their brothers, "Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours." So the Simeonites went with them. 4 When Judah attacked, the LORD gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. 5 It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. 6 Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 Then Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. 8 The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.

NIV

There are some interesting stories in these first several verses but the most important lesson we learn is in the first verse. Joshua was a humble and courageous leader of Israel after Moses another humble and courageous leader of the children of Israel died, and now Joshua is gone the way of the earth. This leaves no single leader of all the tribes; however, the Israelites asked the LORD, “Who will be the first to up and fight against the Canaanites?” Although the LORD answered and told them that Judah was to go, they made a covenant with the Simeonites. We know, from maps, that the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon lay right in the middle of the land the tribe of Judah inherited. So it made sense they would ask them to fight with them. However, the lesson is still in the first verse. Before the Israelites did anything, they asked the LORD. Because they not only asked, but they did as the LORD said and therefore the LORD gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands. They asked, He answered, and they obeyed. That is the story in a nutshell, and we would do well to live in the same manner regarding all of our days. Before we make any move, and before that, any decision regarding any move from where we are, we need to seek the guidance of our Lord. Of course, this is not about moving our household, although it could be, but most of the time it is about making any change in our lives. Perhaps moving, but also about changing positions at our jobs, professions, or place in the body of Christ, or in the way we serve him. Before we accept change in our service to God, we need to ask him, What should we do?” We know, without a doubt, that if we ask, He will answer, and we then must follow His command. If, or we should say, when we do that, the Lord will give whatever we do into our hands, that is we will have success. That success will not be on account of our great skill, abilities, education, or anything else from our flesh, but only because the Lord will give it into our hands. We should never look into ourselves trying to find our niche in the body of Christ first, then also in our tasks in the world, for surely we might find some degree of success, but it will never equal the success the Lord will accomplish within us as he gives it into our hands. Jesus told us that apart from him we can do nothing. He said that He is the vine and we are the branches, so that if we remain in him we will bear much fruit. However, the opposite happens if we do not remain in him. We are thrown out into the fire and burned. The idea is that before we do anything, ask the Lord, “What are we to do?”, that is remaining in him. Let us always ask first, listen, trust, and obey. 

The Last Day

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

THE LAST DAY

Josh 24:29-33

29 After these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 30 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 31 Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the LORD had done for Israel. 32 And Joseph's bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph's descendants. 33 And Eleazar son of Aaron died and was buried at Gibeah, which had been allotted to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.

NIV

Well, all those who led the people of Israel have died and are buried in their rightful places on the land of their inheritance. Although we will see more of what happens to Israel in the narrative of the Judges, we have come to the end of the story of Joshua. He did all that the LORD commanded and was faithful to the end. His last statement of faith testified to his life. “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD”. How can we not do the same all the days of our lives? How can we ever think of serving anything or anybody other than the LORD? Joshua lived to one hundred and ten, which is not as long as Moses who lived one hundred and twenty, but still, Joshua lived a good life, although it was filled with war for many years. Under the leadership of the LORD through the life of Joshua, Ireal drove out those foreign people from the land of their inheritance. Yet they still absorbed some of those foreign gods, religions, or Ideologies which Joshua told them they must throw them out, or they would be destroyed. We are still living and still susceptible to absorbing some foreign ideas into our thinking and thus believing in practices or ideologies of this world as just part of life. As long as we have breath within us, we must be consistent in what or who we put our trust in. Of course, we have chosen to trust in the Lord for our salvation, as Isreal did, most of the time, like when Moses was on the mountain of God too long and they wanted a golden calf to worship, or when they could not trust him at the Red Sea, and on and on the people who were chosen to be his people, to reveal himself through them to the whole world, could not trust him all the time, but rather put their trust elsewhere. We must be very careful all the days of our lives, that we only serve our Lord, not just for salvation, but for every aspect of our days we have left, until we reach the land of our inheritance, our heavenly home. Just as every man, it is appointed once for every man to die, and face judgment before God. Although we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts Jesus was raised from the dead, thus being saved, it would behoove us to live out the rest of our days serving our Lord and him alone, not getting distracted and taking on those foreign ideas, or live by the world’s way of thinking. We must stay true to our Lord in all areas of our lives, leaving all else behind and straining forward until our last day then we will reach the goal, our inheritance. 

A Yielded Heart

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

A YIELDED HEART

Josh 24:16-28

16 Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! 17 It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. 18 And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God." 19 Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you." 21 But the people said to Joshua, "No! We will serve the LORD." 22 Then Joshua said, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD." "Yes, we are witnesses," they replied. 23 "Now then," said Joshua, "throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel." 24 And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him." 25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he drew up for them decrees and laws. 26 And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the LORD. 27 "See!" he said to all the people. "This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the LORD has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God." 28 Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.

NIV

Joshua had testified, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” and he had given the people the opportunity to choose for themselves. They responded they would serve the LORD. Yet, Joshua is not content with their answer because they still had the other gods among their possessions and warned them, but they insisted they would serve the LORD. They must throw away the foreign gods among them and yield their hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel. Here is where we learn our lesson for life as a believer. Because we confess being a believer in Jesus Christ, or that we are a follower of Jesus Christ, or that we are born again, we need to yield our hearts to our Lord. The key here is to yield our hearts. The Hebrew word, the English transliteration is spelled Natah, which means to stretch out, or to extend, to spread out, to pitch. It is also used to incline, bend, or bow. All of these words carry basically the same thing, meaning we are to yield, give over,  to stretch out our hearts toward and to our Lord. This brings up that age-old question, of whether we still have some, maybe just one, but some foreign gods among our lives, or our possessions. We need to do some self-examination, and some soul searching to determine if our hearts might be divided, even if just a little, by trying to serve the Lord, spreading out our hearts before Him, while keeping a portion of our hearts bent toward something else. We already consider the consequences of having a divided heart, and now we can fully understand the concept of yielding our hearts. There can be nothing else in our lives that can stand in the way of stretching out our hearts to our Lord, especially ourselves, our desires, or wants, either things or our time. Sometimes, we say that we just want some alone time, and that is alright as long while we are doing our alone time thing, we are still focused on extending our hearts to our Lord. It’s alright to invest some time doing our self-interests, as long as they are not infringing on or replacing the inclination or bend of our hearts toward Jesus.  Joshua set up a large stone as a witness against them, but we have the Holy Spirit within us as a witness to the presence of the Lord in our hearts. He also serves as this witness, as we are marked with the Holy Spirit who is a deposit, a seal, a guarantee of our inheritance, just as Johsua set up that stone, marking the place, a seal, between them and God. Knowing we are marked with the Spirit, that he dwells within us, we cannot ever bend or stretch out our hearts to anything other than the Lord, all the time, every time, and everywhere, and during anything we are doing. Let us yield our hearts to the Lord.

Choose Today

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

CHOOSE TODAY

Josh 24:5-15

5 "'Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and I brought you out. 6 When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Red Sea.   7 But they cried to the LORD for help, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians; he brought the sea over them and covered them. You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the desert for a long time. 8 "'I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land. 9 When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. 10 But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand. 11 "'Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. 12 I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you — also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. 13 So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.' 14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

NIV

Josuha recounts for the people all the LORD did for them from bringing them out of Egypt, wandering in the desert, and then taking possession of the land. However, there still must have been some problem that Joshua was concerned about within the tribes of Israel, because of his warning. First, He told them to fear the LORD and serve with all faithfulness. Then to throw away the gods their forefathers served beyond the River and in Egypt and serve the LORD. Were they still carrying those gods around with them, and looking to them, especially after all they saw the LORD did for them? Joshua gives them a choice, telling them that if serving the LORD seems undesirable to them then choose this day, either the gods of their forefathers or the LORD. Everyone must make the same choice in life: to serve some god or the LORD. Joshua made that declaration, which is now one of the famous verses in the scriptures. “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” That is not only our statement of faith, but it is the singular purpose of our lives, to make it clear that we have chosen to serve the LORD. In making that profession, we also have chosen to throw away and cast those other things that we have made into gods for ourselves. When we consider what some of those gods could be, we think we should start off with ourselves. Serving ourselves may look different for each of us, but it could include having the desire for success, in a sense, fame, and fortune. Serving ourselves could also include any of our own goals or aspirations or our own plans for our lives. Serving self may also include pride and all those feelings of thinking more highly of ourselves than we should. We have been told by Jesus that we cannot serve two masters, that we would hate one and love the other or be devoted to one and despise the other. Jesus told us that we cannot serve both God and money, which represents all the materialism of this world. Jesus continues to tell us all about the power of the LORD God Almighty regarding his creation and that we are not to worry about our lives, that is serve ourselves but to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. We cannot ride the fence, or properly live with one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom of God. Trying to do that would divide our hearts and how can we have life if our heart is split in two. Jesus also promised that by seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness, all the stuff the pagans, or the world, chase after will simply be added to us by the hand of God, so that we should not worry about tomorrow, meaning our future. We cannot control our tomorrows, but we can control ourselves, we can choose who we will serve, and as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. 

To Present Oneself

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

  TO PRESENT ONESELF

Josh 24:1-4

24:1 Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods. 3 But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the River and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, 4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.

NIV

We are going to see Joshua recount a quick lesson of the history of Israel which concludes with one of the more famous confessions of faith by Joshua, but first, we need to ponder this first verse. When Joshua assembled all the tribes and summed the elders, leaders, judges, and officials of Israel, the first thing they did was present themselves before God. Right off, we have our lesson for life. Of course, they were summoned, but then we can say that we too have been summoned, although not by a man, as they were, but by God, himself. When the Holy Spirit was upon us, convicting us of our sins and need for repentance, we responded to the summoning of the Lord, changed the way we thought from accepting the ways of the world and joining in with its ideologies, principles, and philosophies, to accepting the ways of the Lord. We were summoned by God to live in his kingdom, and the first thing we did was to present ourselves to Him. However, this needs to be done daily, as a way of life, living in the presence of the Lord. Sometimes, it is easy to get distracted by the world and when we do get drawn toward it we wonder if, in some sense, we are presenting ourselves to that distraction.  Still, what we know is that we always need to present ourselves before the Lord, seeking his face and his will for our lives. Joshua told the elders, judges, and officials what the LORD, the God of Israel said. That meant Joshua heard from the LORD. We too must hear from our Lord, so we can tell others about the great work he has done. Although, we can recount all the times the LORD summoned us to serve in one capacity or another. We can recount all the miracles he performed for us, showing his great love and power to us. He revealed himself time and time again, giving us his truth, his peace, and his provisions. How can we not present ourselves before him each and every day, or we should say, each moment of our lives. We know we should offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, as our spiritual act of worship. The Greek word translated as offering means to present, to bring into one’s presence, to show, to offer to yield, to dedicate. This is what the elders, judges, and officials of Israel did, and this is what we are required to do, to present, to bring ourselves into the Holy One’s presence, yielding ourselves to him, and to dedicate our lives to Him.  

Promise Fulfilled

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

PROMISE FULFILLED

Josh 23:14-16

14 "Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. 15 But just as every good promise of the LORD your God has come true, so the LORD will bring on you all the evil he has threatened, until he has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. 16 If you violate the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the LORD's anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you."

NIV

There it is, two different ways to live with two different outcomes based on the promise of God. We should deal with the second outcome to focus on the first. If they were to bow down and serve other gods they would perish. Nowadays, that is considered the way of the world. As the old Bob Dylan song says, “But you have to serve somebody, yes, serve somebody, Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody” The way of the world is serving the Devil and that will only generate a response of his promise that those who serve the world will perish from the good land. The first outcome we focus on is that we can know with all our heart and soul, that not one of the promises of our Lord has never failed but has been and will always be fulfilled. The finest, or best promise is, of course, Jesus. Without Jesus, we all are doomed to perish, but God promised he loves the world and he gave his one and only son so that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. There are those same two outcomes Joshua was talking about, perish from the land, or knowing with our heart and soul Jesus, we have life. How can we ever not remember that God always fulfills his promise? We can be sure, without a doubt,  knowing in our hearts and souls Jesus has prepared a place for us, he promised that because he has prepared that place, he will come back to get us so that we can be with him in that place. With that promise firmly within our hearts and souls, it would make perfect sense to never even consider looking toward the world with any desire to join in with it. This is not about the don’ts many in the church established years ago with some still lingering in the church, as our culture changes. There is the key to those don’ts. If they change with the world’s culture, then they are man-made. Let us simply Love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, serving him and only him, knowing fully that all his promises are fulfilled. With God time does not exist, so everything that is to come for us has already been done with God. Therefore that is why we know all his promises never fail; they have been fulfilled. We are already in the kingdom of God, the land of promise, but we still have to live in the here and now according to every promise fulfilled. 

Be Careful

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

BE CAREFUL

Josh 23:9-13

9 "The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. 10 One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised. 11 So be very careful to love the LORD your God. 12 "But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, 13 then you may be sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you.

NIV

When they held fast and loved the LORD, he would fight their battles, and no one could withstand the Israelites. Here we are told that one of them could rout a thousand because of the LORD. However, Joshua also warned them not to intermarry with any of the foreign nations that were among them, and if they did the LORD would no longer drive out nations before them. Instead, those people become snares and traps. Here is where we come into this narrative. We already have a place in the promised land, which is the kingdom of God where we will live with the Lord our God in the new city of Jerusalem on the new earth. However, at the present time, we also live in this current world, a nation the Lord has driven out of our hearts and minds. But if we intermarry with any of this world, any of its ideologies, and its philosophies, religions, or anything that would be considered its gods, then we are in deep trouble. The ways of the world are traps and snares meant to engulf us, deceiving us into believing or trusting in our own abilities, our own strength, or our own educational achievements, as well as our material achievements, or celebrations are meaningful and that we should amass as much wealth as possible for our retirement or some other scheme to accomplish our successful life ending in retirement. It is all a scam of the world which is run by another nation other than the kingdom of God, to trap us into false thinking and if we accept any of the world’s systems for life, we may end up in those snares and traps that are whips on our backs and thorns in our eyes, until we perish from the promised land, the kingdom of God. Let us live with open eyes seeing those horrible traps and snares and hold fast to the ways of our Lord. We have been redeemed; we belong to our Lord. If we continue to trust in the Lord, and only the Lord, we will not perish but have life everlasting. We cannot either be married to both the Lord and the world, that would be bigamy, and we cannot be married to our Lord and have an affair with the world, that would be adultery. We cannot even hold dual citizenship; we are either citizens of this kingdom of God or this world. Holding fast to the Lord is the only way to life. We must be careful to always love the Lord our God. 

Hold Fast Forever

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

HOLD FAST FOREVER

Josh 23:1-8

23:1 After a long time had passed and the LORD had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then old and well advanced in years, 2 summoned all Israel — their elders, leaders, judges and officials — and said to them: "I am old and well advanced in years. 3 You yourselves have seen everything the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the LORD your God who fought for you. 4 Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain — the nations I conquered — between the Jordan and the Great Sea in the west. 5 The LORD your God himself will drive them out of your way. He will push them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you. 6 "Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. 7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. 8 But you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have until now.

NIV

As with all men, Joshua is old and advanced in years. His exact age is not of consequence, but his words to all of Israel, with their elders, leaders, judges, and officials are. We do wonder how all of Israel would have been able to gather and how long it would have taken for them to travel from all over the land to this one place so Joshua could speak to all of them. Maybe it was just all the leaders, but, nevertheless, what is important is the charge Joshua gave them. Once again we see it is the LORD their God, who is the same Lord, our God, who will drive out all the people before them so they may take full possession of the promised land. However, Joshua also warned them to, “Be very strong” and He tells them, and this is where our lesson for today is, to be careful to obey all the laws, without turning aside to the right or to the left. There were people living among them who had other gods and Israel was not to invoke the names of those other gods and not associate with those nations. We have people living among us who serve other gods, we should not even invoke their names. Interestingly, that Hebrew word translated as invoke, carries the meaning, to remember, to recall, to call to mind. That would mean that we should not only never speak the name of any god of this world, but we should not even think about them, or recall who they are. That is we are to completely, one hundred percent ignore them, not even remember who they are. Now, by faith, we know the Lord our God will drive them out before us, which would include driving them out of our minds. However, there is always the danger of bowing down to some god of this world without even knowing that is what we are doing. We know the schemes of the evil one are sly or sneaky, full of illusions and deceptions, smoke and mirrors, to coin a phase. We must be vigilant, and not get distracted by all the glitter.   However, if we hold fast, or cling, to the Lord our God, we have nothing to worry about because we cannot, or at least, should not even attempt to serve two masters. Holding fast to our Lord would imply letting go of the ways of this world, its ideologies, and its worship of materialism based on its worship and obedience to money, success, and power, along with a host of other gods. We cannot serve those things and serve our Lord at the same time. We cannot turn to the right or the left but fully have our focus on the Lord and his will for our lives. Of course, our Lord will provide all that we need in this world to live according to his will. Our calling is to follow Jesus, follow the light that he has shone on the path before us. This road is narrow and straight, so turning aside to the right or left would be fatal. The road to hell may be paved with good intentions, but it is still widely paved, easy to travel, and leads to destruction. Let us not even consider turning either way, but faithfully serve our Lord only, the one true way to life. Let us hold fast forever. 

Assumptions

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

ASSUMPTIONS

Josh 22:13-34

13 So the Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to the land of Gilead — to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 14 With him they sent ten of the chief men, one for each of the tribes of Israel, each the head of a family division among the Israelite clans. 15 When they went to Gilead — to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh — they said to them: 16 "The whole assembly of the LORD says: 'How could you break faith with the God of Israel like this? How could you turn away from the LORD and build yourselves an altar in rebellion against him now? 17 Was not the sin of Peor enough for us? Up to this very day we have not cleansed ourselves from that sin, even though a plague fell on the community of the LORD! 18 And are you now turning away from the LORD? "'If you rebel against the LORD today, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole community of Israel. 19 If the land you possess is defiled, come over to the LORD's land, where the LORD's tabernacle stands, and share the land with us. But do not rebel against the LORD or against us by building an altar for yourselves, other than the altar of the LORD our God. 20 When Achan son of Zerah acted unfaithfully regarding the devoted things, did not wrath come upon the whole community of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin.'" 21 Then Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the clans of Israel: 22 "The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows! And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the LORD, do not spare us this day. 23 If we have built our own altar to turn away from the LORD and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the LORD himself call us to account. 24 "No! We did it for fear that some day your descendants might say to ours, 'What do you have to do with the LORD, the God of Israel? 25 The LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you — you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the LORD.' So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the LORD. 26 "That is why we said, 'Let us get ready and build an altar — but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.' 27 On the contrary, it is to be a witness between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the LORD at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings. Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, 'You have no share in the LORD.' 28 "And we said, 'If they ever say this to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the LORD's altar, which our fathers built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.' 29 "Far be it from us to rebel against the LORD and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices, other than the altar of the LORD our God that stands before his tabernacle." 30 When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community — the heads of the clans of the Israelites — heard what Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased. 31 And Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, "Today we know that the LORD is with us, because you have not acted unfaithfully toward the LORD in this matter. Now you have rescued the Israelites from the LORD's hand." 32 Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the leaders returned to Canaan from their meeting with the Reubenites and Gadites in Gilead and reported to the Israelites. 33 They were glad to hear the report and praised God. And they talked no more about going to war against them to devastate the country where the Reubenites and the Gadites lived. 34 And the Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar this name: A Witness Between Us that the LORD is God.

NIV

There is no way we could break up this exchange between Phinehas the Reubenites and the Gadites over the altar they built at the shore of the Jordan. The problem is that the whole assembly of Israel was prepared to war with the Reubenites and Gadites because of an assumption regarding this altar the Reubenites and Gadites built on the shore of the Jordan. Phinehas and a leader from each tribe came to accuse them of breaking faith with the LORD God of Israel, before even asking them why they built the altar and for what purpose. We do not have to recount the exchange, but we only need to see that our life lesson is about making assumptions before knowing the facts. Consider that an assumption is another word for judgment about someone’s thoughts or actions, which in essence is a judgment regarding their character. This is what the other tribes did to the Reubenites and Gadites. We cannot judge someone else’s motives without asking them anything if we even have the right to ask. However, making assumptions based on nothing factual cannot be pleasing to our Lord. The deeper problem is when we assume something about another, we are thinking more highly of ourselves than we should, thinking are we are right and the other person is wrong. Let us do what we should by loving each other per how love is defined for us in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. Love should be patient, kind, rejoice with the truth, protect, trust, hope, and persevere. Love means we do not envy or become easily angered or that we keep a record of someone’s wrongs. Loving others also means we would not be boastful, prideful, rude, or look after ourselves first, known as self-seeking. If we were to love in this manner, we would never make an assumption. 

A Thought to Ponder

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

A THOUGHT TO PONDER

Josh 22:6-12

6 Then Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their homes. 7(To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan, and to the other half of the tribe Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan with their brothers.) When Joshua sent them home, he blessed them, 8 saying, "Return to your homes with your great wealth — with large herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze and iron, and a great quantity of clothing — and divide with your brothers the plunder from your enemies." 9 So the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan to return to Gilead, their own land, which they had acquired in accordance with the command of the LORD through Moses. 10 When they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan. 11 And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, 12 the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.

NIV

We will learn more about this imposing altar they built by the Jordan, but for now let us consider what they were going home with and what they were to do with it. As they fought with the rest of the tribes driving out those who had lived in the promised land, they gathered much plunder. They had great wealth with large herds along with silver, gold, bronze and iron and a great quality of clothing. When they arrived home they were to divide all that plunder with they brothers, or all your kinsman, people of their tribe. All this wealth was not just for them, but for everyone who remained in the land their tribes inherited as commanded by the LORD through Moses. It was just the fighting men that went to help the rest of the tribes take possession of their land. Nevertheless, we wonder if we have attained any plunder from our enemies, but then that would imply we are part of the fighting men of the kingdom of God and that we have enemies. We know that we have been called out of this world, that we are no longer friends with the world, meaning we do not participate in the same ungodly pursuits. We could enumerate many of them, but we know what they are, and because we have decided to follow Jesus, we no longer follow after the wicked ways of the world. However, if we are at war, not driving them out of the land, but driving them, and their ways out of our hearts and minds, we should have some plunder. However, it is not the same type of great wealth the Reubenites, Gadites and half-tribe of Manasseh had, although we might have a large quality of clothing, and in some sense, gold and silver. But our greatest wealth is being a citizen in the kingdom of God. However, we wonder how much of any of our earthy plunder do we share with our brothers. We wonder if we are required to as those fighting men were supposed to share their plunder. It seems we all acquire whatever we can from this world and just keep it, consider it a blessing from God. Of course, we do bring our tenth into the house of the Lord for its maintenance and for sharing with our brothers who work in the ministry, either pastoring, or being missionaries in various ways throughout the world. So in that sense we are sharing our plunder we gathered from our enemy. However, on the other hand, although the world is our enemy, or the ways of the world, we are told to love our enemies. This would mean the people who still live in wicked ways. It would also mean in some sense they are our brothers as they too are created by God. The plunder we have received by God is our salvation, of course, it is a gift given, not taken, and if we have this plunder, this great wealth of salvation, should we not share it with our brothers, or fellow people of the earth. Just a though that we need to ponder on, considering how we would go about doing this. Still, on one side, our tithes do go to sharing the gospel with the unsaved somewhere in the world. Yet, on the other side, have we ever shared our wealth, salvation, personally with someone who needs it? Just a though to ponder.

 

Whole or Half

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

WHOLE OR HALF

Josh 22:1-5

22:1 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh 2 and said to them, "You have done all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded. 3 For a long time now — to this very day — you have not deserted your brothers but have carried out the mission the LORD your God gave you. 4 Now that the LORD your God has given your brothers rest as he promised, return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan. 5 But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul."

NIV

It was time for the fighting men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh to go back to the land Moses allotted to them on the east of the Jordan. The half-tribe of Manasseh was right across the Jordan from the other half-tribe of Manasseh, with Gad just south of them and Rueben bordered the east side of the Dead Sea. They were given specific instructions that would be our life lesson as well. First, they were to be very careful to keep the commandments and the law that Moses gave them. Second, it included: loving the LORD their God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his command, to hold fast to him, and serve him with all their heart and all their soul. Let us be very careful to keep the commandments of the LORD. We would believe that we love the Lord our God, and we would hope that we are walking in all his ways, however, do we know and are we sure of all the ways of our Lord? Of course, that could simply mean being obedient to his commands. Then it comes down to hearing his commands so that we can obey them unless holding fast to him and serving him with all our heart and soul is being obedient to his commands. What does it mean to hold fast to him? The clue is in the Hebrew word dabaq which has a direct meaning to cling, to stick, to cleave, keep close, follow closely, and to be joined to. That would not leave any room to cling onto anything or anybody else. We understand God commanded Adam, that a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave, the same Hebrew word, dabaq, unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. Jesus quoted that verse of Genesis and Paul used it in his letter to the Ephesians. It would make sense that if we were to hold fast, to cleave to our Lord, leaving, symbolically our close family, we would be as one flesh with our Lord. We are called the bride of Christ, and we do have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, becoming one with us, as we become one with him. But do we hold that fast, do we really cleave with all we are, to our Lord? Then we also have to ask if we serve him with all our heart and soul. Jesus quoted that same thing from the law given in Deuteronomy, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, and with all your mind” as recorded by Matthew, however, Luke included, “With all your strength”. Are we doing that? Is our heart divided at all? Is our mind divided, do we think of so many things of this world rather than our attention to our Lord. Of course, we must work, but are we not told to work as onto the Lord. Should not the focus of our lives be on our Lord? Should we not be serving him with every fiber of our being or have we allowed ourselves to become divided. Are we wholehearted or halfhearted?

 

 

Promises fulfilled

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

PROMISES FULFILLED 

Josh 21:1-3

21:1 Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribal families of Israel 2 at Shiloh in Canaan and said to them, "The LORD commanded through Moses that you give us towns to live in, with pasturelands for our livestock." 3 So, as the LORD had commanded, the Israelites gave the Levites the following towns and pasturelands out of their own inheritance:

Josh 21:41-45

41 The towns of the Levites in the territory held by the Israelites were forty-eight in all, together with their pasturelands. 42 Each of these towns had pasturelands surrounding it; this was true for all these towns. 43 So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. 44 The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. 45 Not one of all the LORD's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

NIV

This command of God is recorded in the Book of Numbers when God instructed Moses to tell the people the Levites were to have towns to live in and pastureland around those towns. It is recorded they were to measure three thousand feet in all directions around the town which would be the pastureland for the livestock of the Levites. It was the tribe of Levi that carried the ark of the covenant, and all the materials of the Tabernacle whenever the Israelites were led somewhere by God during those forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Now, these family heads of three clans each received cities throughout the land of Canaan. Some from the inheritance of Judah, Simeon, Benjamin, Ephriam, the half-tribe of Manasseh, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Zebulun, Ruben, Gad and Dan, twelve tribes in all. Without going through all the city names we come to the final phrase that brings the lesson home to us. “Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.” God has never ever, not even once, ever failed to fulfill his promise. To coin a phrase, we can go to the bank on that. We can live completely assured without any doubt whatsoever, that the promise Jesus made to the New Testament church, which means us, will happen. The promise that he will prepare a place for us and that he will come back to get us and take us to that place will happen just as sure as we breathe. Jesus promised that if we take his yoke upon us, he will give our souls rest. When we ponder in our souls finding rest, we think about the time before we took his yoke upon us and learned from him. We were in turmoil, restless within, unsure as to what happens at death. We never found any rest within our soul, even though we might not admit we had a soul, or that it was God who formed us in our mother’s womb. Our uneasiness and restlessness were replaced by a sense of calm and tranquility, as we found that rest for our soul in Jesus. He also promised that even if we face troubles in this world, we can heart, and we can be of great courage, for he has overcome the world. Jesus promised that we would have eternal life and we would never perish. This, of course, agrees with the promise in John 3:16, the difference between eternal life, and perish. We can go through all the promises of Jesus one by one, but the point we take away, the life lesson we learn is that we are in the hands of our Lord, and we live in him and he in us, and his promises are true and we will see them fulfilled, both in this life and the life to come. Therefore, we have no need to get frustrated, disequilibrated, uneasy, or restless in this life, for we live with and in the promises of Jesus, for they will all be fulfilled.  

Harmony

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

HARMONY

Josh 20

20:1 Then the LORD said to Joshua: 2 "Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, 3 so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood. 4 "When he flees to one of these cities, he is to stand in the entrance of the city gate and state his case before the elders of that city. Then they are to admit him into their city and give him a place to live with them. 5 If the avenger of blood pursues him, they must not surrender the one accused, because he killed his neighbor unintentionally and without malice aforethought. 6 He is to stay in that city until he has stood trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest who is serving at that time. Then he may go back to his own home in the town from which he fled." 7 So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. 8 On the east side of the Jordan of Jericho they designated Bezer in the desert on the plateau in the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead in the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan in the tribe of Manasseh. 9 Any of the Israelites or any alien living among them who killed someone accidentally could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.

NIV

The situation is laid out in full in the book of numbers, but still the truth is there must have been accidental ways to take another man’s life. One that is enumerated in numbers is if a man accidentally drops a stone on someone and they die. Perhaps they were building a home, and one was on scaffolding, and dropped a stone by accident and it hit his fellow worker. However, according to the law, the avenger of death, that is the closest relative who would inherit the dead persons estate, or their inheritance had the right to immediately take the man’s life who caused the death of the other. However, here are places they can take refuge in until they stand trial. What do we do with this law, and refuge cities, with a trial. Of course, we believers would never commit murder or even kill someone accidentally, unless we were in a car crash and the people or person in the other car died. But the point is we would not ever even think about destroying another’s life. We all live in harmony, building each other up, putting others’ needs above our own, or at least that is how we are supposed to live. However, we have witnessed the harm or injury done to another through gossip. We know that is in some way, gossip can destroy a person’s reputation which in essence is their life in the assembly. Unforgiveness can never be achieved as long as hatred exists  toward another person for there offense, or even supposed offence. Yet, unforgiveness actually destroys the unforgiver from within. As believers within the assembly should never have to stand trial, for none of us have the right to judge another, only the Lord has that right, and he judges our hearts, but all men will stand trial before the Lord, ever knee will bow, and only those whose names remain in the book of life will live. Let us not accidentally or on purpose cause harm to another or to ourselves, but let us truly live in harmony.