Digging in Deeper – Page 148

Digging in Deeper: Joshua 23:6-8

July 25, 2018July 24, 2018Leave a comment

“Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

A major purpose of the Law of Moses was to give the people of Israel a national identity that set them apart from all the other nations around them. Over and over again we see that the Lord wanted them to be different from everybody else. All the other nations, in spite of their own uniquenesses, were functionally the same: They were pagan. Israel, on the other hand, was to be a people of the Lord. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Joshua 10:40

July 20, 2018July 18, 2018Leave a comment

“So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings. He left none remaining, but devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the Lord God of Israel commanded.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

I’ve said it before and let me say it again here: If we don’t get the character of God right, we won’t be able to make sense out of the Scriptures. This is important all the time, but it is especially important in the narrative of Joshua where we find this verse, which, along with the other verses similar to it in this chapter and the next, gives people more trouble than just about any other portion of the Old Testament. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Joshua 9:14-15

July 18, 2018July 18, 2018Leave a comment

“So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord. And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

There are three things worth noting in this story. First, the Gibeonites were both smart and wise, if dishonest. They saw the writing on the wall and decided that living as servants was better than being totally destroyed. If they could trick the Israelites into thinking they were not locals slated for destruction, but rather foreigners who came to serve because of how great Israel’s God was, perhaps they would be allowed to live, rather than being wiped off the face of the earth as had happened to Jericho and Ai. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Joshua 7:1

July 13, 2018July 12, 2018Leave a comment

“But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

The story of Achan is an interesting and sad one. The people were coming off a major victory. Their first stop on their tour through the land of Canaan had ended with them sacking a significant military outpost in the city of Jericho. The city was famous for its incredibly high and thick walls. The walls were so massive that archaeologists today can see in the various layers of rubble around the city where this battle took place. So, the people are high on a sweet victory, but then things take a turn for the sour. What happened? Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Judges 19:22

July 11, 2018July 11, 2018Leave a comment

“As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, ‘Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.'” (ESV – Read the chapter)

For Israelites who were later being told this story as part of their people’s dark past, these words would have been chilling even before the narrative of what comes next. This whole situation would have left them shuddering in terror. This would have been a story you didn’t tell your children, but waited until they were a bit older and could handle it. Even now, this isn’t somewhere I’d point my boys to read just yet. Read the rest…