ESV Chronological Plan, Day 77 | Joshua 16-18, 1 Chronicles 7-8

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Joshua 16:1-18:28 and 1 Chronicles 7:6-29 and 8:1-40

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

(A) Archaeological connection. In this reading, the people of Joseph are given the forest land of the Perizzites, but they decline to go up out of fear of "chariots of iron," specifically in "Beth-Shean and its villages" as well as in the Valley of Jezreel. We see a mirror of this in the letters of the Canaanites to the Pharoah in Egypt. Letter EA 289 from the Amarna Tablets, written by Abdi-Heba the servant of Pharaoh at Jerusalem, also mentions "the garrison at Bitsanu" (Bit-Sanu = Beth-Shean) acting as a protection of that area against the Habiru. In both these tablets, and in the pages of Scripture, there is no indication at this time that the city was ever taken.

(B) Not a process driven by man. Joshua, as part of the people of Joseph and the tribe of Ephraim, would have naturally been inclined to give his own tribe the best land. But this process was not driven by the will of man. Joshua, as a leader, had to submit his desires and wishes to what God wanted him to do--even if the result was strained relationships with those whom he was close with (the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh) and that he cared about.

(C) What God commands, God will enable. The people of Joseph in Joshua 17 neglected to go into the land of the Perizzites, because they feared the garrison and the chariots of iron that were stationed at Beth-Shean. But if they had gone up, God would have enabled them to carry out their mission. Either he would have given them the exact right tactic to use, or he would have caused some kind of miraculously timed natural disaster, or he would have turned the enemy against themselves, or he would have caused them to abandon their city and chase after a portion of the people of Israel foolishly to leave their city undefended--all of these are things that he had done at other times. An old pastor of mine used to talk about getting "under the waterfall of grace," which meant to get moving in a certain direction and see what doors God opened up along the way. If we stay put until we have everything all worked out, then we're not getting under the waterfall. But if we go, and we're attentive, we can often see God begin to do amazing things that we had never anticipated.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? In our worship we can apply these things to our own lives. For (A) We can see the truth of God's Word through all the other little things that line up with it, and this can increase our trust in God and ability to walk with him by faith. For (B) We can trust God even when he calls us to accept circumstances that we don't like, or rules that we don't want to follow. The tribe of Ephraim that complained in Joshua's time went on to become the most prominent tribe of Northern Israel. They did well for themselves. And even more than this, God's specific division of the land ended up helping in many situations throughout Israel's history. (C) In "getting under the waterfall of grace," we are specifically leading our lives in such a way that we expect God to be active and working in our own lives. We can worship God knowing that he is watching over us.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS LEAD US TO CONNECT WITH GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, help me to worship you with an expectant faith. Give me certainty that you are watching over all my ways. Give me the peace to accept things from you that I don't understand. Move in my heart, and help me to know you to such a degree that my life wouldn't make sense if I did not know you."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 76 | Joshua 14-15, 1 Chronicles 2 + 4

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Joshua 14:1-15:63 and 1 Chronicles 2:5-55 and 4:1-23

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

(A) Teaching about fairness. Just by reading these lists, you can see the land that God divided up for Israel by lot wasn't divided equally. More and better land was given to some tribes (more on that in a minute), and a smaller and less desirable portion of land was assigned to others. The temptation here for some tribes would have been to look over at the lands received by other tribes and to complain. But the truth is that God had adequately provided for everyone. In the words of one famous comedian, speaking in a more serious moment, "The only time you look in your neighbor's bowl is to make sure that they have enough. You don't look in your neighbor's bowl to see if you have as much as them."

(B) Love for the foreigner. Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, the only man besides Joshua to live throughout the entire journey in the wilderness and enter the Promised Land (Numbers 32:12), and the man who led the tribe of Judah during that time (Numbers 34:18-19), was not an Israelite. He was actually a Canaanite (see Genesis 15:19; Numbers 32:12; Joshua 14:14). For unknown reasons, Salmon the son of Nahshon "the prince of the sons of Judah" (1 Chronicles 2:10) was not a leader of the tribe in those days, and so the tribe of Judah selected this foreign Canaanite man and elevated him up to the place of leader in their midst as one of their own, sometime between Numbers 10:14 and Numbers 13:6. This man left his home and heritage to worship God and be united to his purpose, and God moved the hearts of the people to prophetically elevate his testimony within the literal family of Jesus. The account of Joshua 14:6-15 proves that for all those who are far off, if they unite themselves to God, they too will be given a portion in the Kingdom of God. It also shows us, as God's people, that we are not to consider anyone to be an "outsider" because they don't share our background: After all, the most faithful Israelite, besides Joshua, was Caleb the Canaanite.

(C) Jesus is hidden in the boring parts of the story. At this time in history, Judah was just another tribe of Israel, led by a man who was not even an Israelite. The prophecy of the Promised Deliverer throughout Genesis, who was foretold in Genesis 49 to descend from the line of Judah, did not seem to be likely to come any time in the future. But then we have this list of the portioning out of the land in today's reading. And do you know who God overwhelmingly blesses, over and above the other tribes? The tribe of Judah. In the words of Richard Pratt, "Judah received more land than any other tribe. This list draws attention to the far-reaching boundaries within which every family of Judah received its portion... Our author continues to exalt Judah by noting that a total of 112 cities were given to Judah’s clans. He also repeats ten times that Judah received 'cities with their villages,' cities that were large enough to have villages around them (15:32, 36, 41, 44, 51, 54, 57, 59, 60, 62; see also 18:24, 28; 19:6, 7, 15, 16, 22, 23, 30, 31, 38, 39, 48). He does this to raise Judah’s profile as the tribe that the Lord blessed beyond measure (see 24:2–13)." Included in this inheritance was the city of Hebron, where the patriarchs and matriarchs of Israel were buried. It was big enough to be its own country, and eventually that's what it became. This was obviously the land of the leading tribe of Israel--though Joshua of the tribe of Ephraim was leading at this time. This was God's way of showing that he was still working to bring the Promised Deliverer to the world out of the tribe of Judah.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? In our attitudes we can apply this reading to ourselves. (A) We can be thankful for the things that God has blessed us with, and choose not to be jealous of how God has blessed someone else. (B) We can accept those who are outsiders, not only as people in our midst to be thrown some care to every once in a while, but as those who might even teach, bless, and challenge us as leaders in our midst. (C) We can be encouraged that God works in the details. Even when it seems like the world is going one way, God is at work to bring things around to his purposes.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS LEAD US TO CONNECT WITH GOD?

For the last few days, we've explored a few different formats for prayer. I liked this one so much that I wanted to use it again, one more time, before we move on to the next.

C = Confess. Confess your trust in God, and your need for him.

A = Ask. Ask God to move--there is nothing that he can't do.

L = Love. Thank God for the many ways that he shown his providential grace.

L = Listen. Ask God to bring to mind a necessary word (thought, Scripture, idea) for you today.

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 75 | Joshua 10-13, 1 Chronicles 5

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Joshua 10:28-13:33 and 1 Chronicles 5:1-24

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

The Battle Belongs to God. Throughout these chapters, we see in incredible detail how the Hebrews (Habiru?) overcame the odds to take the Promised Land. We even see the same account from the point of view of the Canaanites. (In historical context, all the lands of Canaan were subject kingdoms to the Pharaoh of Egypt at this time. So the "kings" of the cities of the Canaanites in Joshua will be described as "mayors" in the Amarna letters, and the Pharaoh will be addressed there as the king.) Look at how Abdi-Heba, overseeing Jerusalem in the wake of the curious absence of its rightful leader (Joshua 10:1-28), describes the situation in Canaan to Pharaoh:

"Message of Abdi-Heba [to the Pharaoh], your servant. I fall at the feet of the king, my lord, seven times and seven times... I am not a mayor [of Jerusalem]; I am a soldier of the king, my lord... May the king give thought to his land: the land of the king is lost... the Habiru have taken the very cities of the king.  Not a single mayor remains to the king, my lord; all are lost. Behold, Turbazu was slain in the city gate of Silu. The king did nothing. Behold, servants who were joined to the Habiru smote Zimredda of Lakisu, and Yaptih-Hadda was slain in the city gate of Silu. The king did nothing... May the king provide for his land and may he see to it that archers come out to his land. If there are no archers this year, all the lands of the king, my lord, are lost... all the mayors are lost." 

-Abdi-Heba, acting mayor(?) of Jerusalem, to the Pharaoh, Amarna Tablets EA 288

The situation as described in Joshua seems incredibly difficult for Israel, but when we look at it in historical context, the situation was even more miraculous. Not only were the cities of the Canaanites overcome, but Pharaoh and the Egyptians were simultaneously held at bay and somehow kept from intervening. (Abdi-Heba's unanswered letters, found neatly stored in the remains of the Egyptian administrative center at Amarna, become increasingly desperate as they remain ignored.)

There are no odds that are too difficult for God. When we see what must be done, we should move forward by asking God for wisdom. And we should trust that God, who knows the 1,000 variables in the situation that we could never know, is handling more than we know.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? In our attitude I believe we can be enabled to have greater boldness as we pursue the purpose of God in our lives. The same God that helped Israel to take the land also watches over you and me.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS LEAD US TO CONNECT WITH GOD?

For the last few days, we've explored a few different formats for prayer. I liked this one so much that I wanted to use it again.

C = Confess. Confess your trust in God, and your need for him.

A = Ask. Ask God to move--there is nothing that he can't do.

L = Love. Thank God for the many ways that he shown his providential grace.

L = Listen. Ask God to bring to mind a necessary word (thought, Scripture, idea) for you today.

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 74 | Joshua 8-10

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Joshua 8:1-10:27

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Nothing is impossible with God. It seems highly improbable that a group of wanderers and nomads could overrun whole walled cities and alliances of kings all throughout the land of Canaan. But that's what happened! When Joshua captured five of the kings of the Canaanites alive all at once, and then summoned the men of Israel to put their feet on the necks of the kings (Joshua 10:24-25), essentially he was doing for them what God was doing for all Israel. What is impossible from a human standpoint is possible with God. As the people listened to and followed God, he gave them military strategies, altered the weather and the length of day to provide favorable conditions, and caused the wisdom of the Canaanites to fail them so that they did unwise things (like chasing after Israel so greedily that they left their cities open) which would benefit Israel. As we walk forward and obey God, there is nothing that he is unable to do.

Archaeological background to the conquest of Canaan. Unfortunately, as I write this, I am not around my books where I have a copy of a translation of the Amarna Tablets. However these correspond in a number of remarkably specific ways to the conquest of the land recorded in Joshua. These are written from the point of view of the kings of the Canaanites, each of whom is writing to Egypt for support as they are increasingly put on the defensive, and they become increasingly panicked as the land is quickly conquered by a group of nomadic armies known as the Habiru (or Apiru). One letter, written by Abdi-Heba -the acting ruler of Jerusalem, though he denies that he was in that position officially- writes to the Pharaoh who had some ownership over the land of Canaan:“May the king give thought to his land; the land of the king is lost. All of it has attacked me. … I am situated like a ship in the midst of the sea... [N]ow the Habiru have taken the very cities of the king. Not a single mayor remains to the king, my lord; all are lost" (EA 288).

Spoil from Ai. In the previous reading, the people were defeated at Ai, and Achan was harshly judged for taking some of the spoil of a previous conquest which God had forbidden. But here, in a sad irony, God allowed the people to take the spoil of war from their battle with Ai at the beginning of Joshua 8. There was nothing wrong with taking the spoils of war itself. The thing that was wrong was disobeying the Lord. Sometimes we look at what God has forbidden and we rationalize how it could be good, and that it should be fine to take. Not only is it a bad idea for us to trust the highly motivated judgment of a clearly biased person in that situation (ourselves!), but even if we were right, the fact that God has given us clear instructions should be enough. Even if there were nothing wrong with a certain choice or course of action, other than God's command against it, that would be reason enough to steer clear.

Things unmentioned. Each day's reading is incredibly rich. Even in this entry, I haven't touched on the Gibeonite deception, the book of Jasher, the sun standing still, or the covenant renewal ceremony from Mount Ebal--which also involves another interesting archaeological site. Be encouraged in your own reading to find things not mentioned in these posts.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? In our actions, I think there are a few things that we could do with this reading. (1) The links are provided to take anyone who is interested "down the rabbit hole" to begin to see some of the interesting evidence for Scripture. (The Armstrong Institute, so far, appears to be a very good resource in that it acknowledges the range of scholarly discussion currently going on around each archaeological find--they're not jumping to any wild conclusions, or if they do, they seem so far to be able to acknowledge where they are stepping out on a limb and why there is disagreement on that point.) This could be a good resource to prepare for conversations with a non-Christian friend or neighbor who might be a little more intellectual and would be interested in something like this. (2) We can faithfully follow God, even when we don't know how that will turn out. God led Joshua and the Israelites into some pretty shaky situations, and he made it all work out. He still does this. Sometimes by trying to over-engineer our own plan, we can end up quenching the work of the Spirit. (3) We should trust God even when he tells us not to do something -or when our friends and family are doing something- that on our own we see no problem with. Look: I'm an ethnic Jew, and my favorite food is bacon. There is nothing wrong with the delicious, salty, surprisingly versatile harvest of the meat of the swine. But if God told me, as he taught all Old Testament Jews, not to eat of it, I would trust that there is a good reason. (It turns out there was, but I'll save that for now.) God is worthy of our trust, the fruit of which is obedience.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS LEAD US TO CONNECT WITH GOD?

For the last few days, we've explored a few different formats for prayer. Here is one that a friend who is a camp speaker came up with.

C = Confess. Confess who you believe God to be, and who he has made you to be. Admit to the things in your life that are holding you back from him.

A = Ask. These are the usual prayers where we ask God for his help in various areas of our lives. We can pray for ourselves, those we know, our church, our city, and the country--as God has placed the burden for doing so on you today.

L = Love. Thank God for the many ways that he shows his grace.

L = Listen. Ask God to speak to you and to bring things to mind, and then just be silent for a little while. Everything that happens here will require more discernment later. But, you might find yourself (as I did, on my own prayer time yesterday afternoon) with sudden clarity on an issue. Or you might have some Bible verses come to mind which are timely reminders of something you've been thinking about. Or you may just gain a fresh appreciation for who God is. Whichever of these happens, just end off your prayer time by taking some time to listen.

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 73 | Joshua 5-7

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Joshua 5:1-7:26

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

(A) The archaeology of the fall of Jericho. The archaeological site of Jericho (Joshua 5) is incredible to look at and study. There are many different things about the site that line up specifically with the Bible's description of the conquest. We see a totally collapsed outer wall, above a slope, where the rubble of the wall would have acted as a ramp heading into the city. We  see large stores of carbonized (burned) grain--showing that the city was burned with fire, that it was taken at harvest time around when passover takes place, that the city was taken suddenly before the grain could be used, and that the group who took the city inexplicably (unless you are reading the Bible) decided to burn the city with all its belongings rather than taking the grain for themselves to eat. You can see more here. As we go through the books of Joshua and Judges, we're going to see with a little more regularity how the archaeological record and the Biblical history line up and lock together in incredible ways.

(B) The commander of the Lord's armies. I really find this interaction from Joshua 5 interesting, where Joshua encounters the commander of the Lord's armies. That angelic(?) commander makes it clear that he is not for Israel's armies, or for the armies of Canaan, but rather that he is on God's side. Then he tells Joshua to remove his sandals and to worship God, for he is standing on holy ground. Some will say that this is an Old Testament appearance of Jesus--the "Angel of the LORD" who often speaks in first person as God, many times in Genesis and then also in other parts of Biblical history. That could be true here, but I don't see anything in this passage that would specifically make me think that's the case here. Instead the commander of God's armies is here to show Joshua that this battle is God's, and that's why Joshua will succeed: because he's doing what God is already choosing to bless. How often do we seek to have God bless us and what we are doing, rather than trying to do what God appears to be blessing? How often have we asked whether God is on our side, rather than trying to discern what he is up to and attempting to get on his side?

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? In our worship, we can thank God for arranging all of this archaeological evidence to support us in our faith. That so much of the history that pertains to the Bible has actually been preserved is, I would say, miraculous. In our actions, we can look for what God is blessing -if it lines up with his word- and join what he is doing in each new season. In our attitudes, we can be firm in our faith and resolute to go out to whatever God would call us to.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS LEAD US TO CONNECT WITH GOD?

P = Praise. Thank God for his provision, his goodness, and his willingness to enter into human history and to act on our behalf.

R = Repent. Is there anything in your thoughts, attitudes, or actions that today's reading is highlighting for you as something to take to God so that he can transform you in that area? Spend some time in repentance and give that over to God in humility.

A = Ask. There are probably many things that you need today. Don't be afraid to ask him.

Y = Yield. Now that you have asked, remember that God is a good father. He knows what you need most. So tell him, "not my will, but yours be done."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 72 | Joshua 1-4

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Joshua 1:1-4:24

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings begin our time in the book of Joshua. So far, our chronological journey through the Bible has been mostly the same as it otherwise would have been--except for we have encountered the book of Job a little earlier, and read the Psalm of Moses (Psalm 90) in yesterday's reading. But soon, we're going to see this start to change a little bit as we go through the book of Joshua, and then quite a bit more as we start to enter the book of Judges on Day #80. Hold on for the ride.

God initiates, and we respond. In (almost) each of the first eight books of the Bible, before we get into the royal history of the Kingdom of Israel, the opening words of each book are about what God has done. God is the initiator, and everything else comes in response to him. In Genesis ("In the beginning, God"), Leviticus ("The Lord called Moses"), Numbers ("The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai"), Deuteronomy ("These are the words that Moses spoke... according to all that the Lord had given him"), Joshua ("After the death of Moses... the Lord said") and Judges ("After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord..."), God's initiating work is highlighted in a way that it just isn't afterwards in the rest of the historical books--except Ezra, which signals an end to the absence of God, and celebrates God's rescue of Israel from exile. But the only two books in this first group of eight which don't begin with God are Exodus and Ruth, which each highlight a crisis: the seeming absence of God, and the need for him to intervene in human history in order to rescue. (Exodus is more obvious, and we have covered it, but I think we'll find together that this chronological plan brings out some treasures from Ruth that make you read it differently than you have before.) Here is the takeaway: Joshua 1:1-9 shows us that if God initiates, if God establishes the mission, if God equips his people with strength, and if God tells us to go, then we can go boldly into all that God commands of us to do. If we are "strong and courageous," and yet also paying careful attention to serving God with humility and obedience (Joshua 1:7), then we can go out boldly in response to God, knowing that if he leads us out of the spiritual wilderness, then he also means for us to take the Promised Land as well.

Repentance and reinventing history. The first sign that Moses' warnings to the people of Israel have gone unheeded is this bit of revisionist history (or else, some kind of veiled threat!) in Joshua 1:17 - "Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so also we will obey you." This is how I picture Joshua's internal response:

There really is no moving forward without repentance. One part of repentance is doing better going forward. However, that kind of repentance is not going to have any staying power without admitting to, and committing to correcting, the past.

Salvation is for every kind of person. Rahab (Joshua 2) is the kind of person who no one would expect could be welcome in Israel. She was a Canaanite and a prostitute. By living in the wall of the city, she literally seemed like she was ready to be one of the first people that God would judge (when "the walls came tumbling down," that wall was where she lived!). But she took in God's people, and recognized the God of Israel, and asked humbly that she would be accepted into God's Kingdom. And God responded in a way that she never could have asked or expected--God transformed her from a Canaanite prostitute into (see Ruth 4:18-22 and compare to Matthew 1:5) the wife of the chief of the clan of Judah, the great-great-grandmother of King David, and an ancestor of Jesus, the Promised Deliverer, the foretold Messiah of Israel. Rahab was the ultimate outsider, and God made her, literally, a part of his own family. What a picture of the Gospel that is!

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? In our worship, we can respond to God, humble ourselves before him, and freely put our trust in him. In our attitudes, we can look to God's word for understanding about what he is calling us to do, and then we can respond with an attitude of boldness and obedience. We can also pursue humility by being willing to face our past thoughts and actions when they were not right. And we can be encouraged that our past does not prevent us from being known and accepted by God! And in our actions, we can imitate God by accepting the outsider. We can also spend time reading God's word, allowing him to initiate a call in us through prayer and meditation on God's Word. And we can be quick to confess to others and to God when we have done something wrong.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS LEAD US TO CONNECT WITH GOD?

We can take this all to God in prayer. We can adore God for his wonderful nature, being a forgiving and initiating God who speaks to us and takes us in whatever our past was. We can confess where things are holding us back in our walk with God. We can express thanks for all that God has done in saving and pursuing us. And we can seek God's help as we move forward through the challenges of life.

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 71 | Deuteronomy 32-34, Psalm 90

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Deuteronomy 31:30-34:12

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings finish off our time in the book of Deuteronomy, and in the first five books of the Bible -often called the Books of Moses, the Torah, the Law, or the Pentateuch- as a whole. To see the outline for Deuteronomy again, you can see the write-up for that in Day 62, here. For a free and modern, online commentary from a trustworthy and reputable resource, The Gospel Coalition Commentaries are once again a good resource--specifically this commentary written by J. Gary Millar.

(A) Who or what is Jeshurun? Several times in today's reading, a place or people named "Jeshurun" is referred to (Deuteronomy 32:15, 33:5, 33:26). This appears to be an alternate name for Israel, only used here and in Isaiah 44:2, where Israel is called "Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen."

(B) They sacrificed to demons that were no gods. Deuteronomy 32:17 predicts that Israel will abandon the "Rock," the firm foundation of a relationship with God, to chase after "demons that were no gods." With the possible exception of Leviticus 17:7, this is the first explicit reference to demons in the Bible. According to this, the gods of other religions are not just simply "fake" gods, but they are actually "false" gods--demonic influences that put themselves in the position of God in other people's lives. 1 Corinthians 10:19-20 echoes this as well, when Paul says "What do I imply then?... that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God." 

So according to Paul an idol is nothing, but the spiritual power that promises an alternate, earthly form of salvation through that idol is demonic. The statue set up in a pagan temple is nothing, but the system of rituals and beliefs that offers a different path to peace, or salvation, or blessing, is influenced and inhabited by demons. The promises of the world are nothing, but the call to abandon God for the things of the world is demonic. When we submit ourselves to the empty promises of "sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5), to the extent that we allow those things into our lives to become our idols, we are also inviting demonic spirits into our lives to assert their influence and control over our hearts and our homes. We are tempted continuously to invite the demonic into our lives and to neglect the things of God. The solution to this is to return to God, the Rock of our salvation, who seeks us out.

(C) The blessing of Moses and the coming of Jesus. These blessings of Deuteronomy 33 call back to Jacob's blessings over his sons in Genesis 49--where it was finally made clear that the Promised Deliverer would come through Judah. That promise was picked up again -by Balaam, of all people- in Numbers 24. Now, here, Moses calls back to Genesis 49 yet again, but the new development is that Judah doesn't get much attention. Gary Millar writes that "The blessing pronounced by Moses has only one parallel—that of Jacob himself, the father of the nation in Genesis 49. Moses’s benediction, however, does not follow birth order... The most striking feature, however, is the prominence of Levi and Joseph and the corresponding lack of attention paid to Judah." So it is true that the blessings of Moses call back to Genesis 49, but they emphasize the current reality on the ground at the time: the Promised Deliverer had not yet come, and Judah at this point was just another tribe of Israel--the leaders at that time came from the tribes of Levi (Moses) and Joseph (Joshua). And yet one of the few things said about Judah is the desire that God would "bring him in to his people" (Deuteronomy 33:7). Who is this referring to? The same person that was revealed in Genesis 49 and Numbers 24. Though the promise does not seem to be anywhere on the horizon, the Promised Deliverer is coming. And he will come to his people. He will return humanity to the peace of the garden. He will crush the head of the serpent. He will be born the seed of the woman. He will die in his effort, yet live on to rule over an eternal global kingdom. His name is Jesus. He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. He is the Prophet Like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15, contrasted with 34:10-12). He is the true King and Savior of the people of God. And he is the point of the entire Old Testament.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? In our worship, we can turn away from the false gods represented by the idols that draw our focus away from God. We can also cast our gaze upon God as he is revealed in the Promised Deliverer, who has now been revealed--upon "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). In our attitude, we can cultivate a heart of thankfulness. Like Eve in the garden of Eden, often we are drawn away from God by neglecting to remember God's many blessings, and instead focusing on what he has not given. In our actions, we can take our desires and hopes and dreams, and lay them at the feet of Jesus, committing ourselves to do as he modeled for us, saying "not my will, but yours be done."

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS LEAD US TO CONNECT WITH GOD?

Before you finish your time today, take these things to God in prayer. Ask him to reveal himself to you, to transform your heart, to show you truth, and to desire greater things.

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 70 | Deuteronomy 28-31

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Deuteronomy 28:1-31:29

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings are from the blessings and curses in Moses' third speech (Deuteronomy 28), as well as a couple of features unique to Deuteronomy that are not found in other ancient treaty documents: a description of how the covenant can be renewed (Deuteronomy 29), an offer for forgiveness ahead of time should the covenant be broken again (Deuteronomy 30:1-10), and -a very Jewish feature- a heartfelt plea to choose the way of life instead of the way of death (Deuteronomy 30:11-20). Finally we see a transfer of leadership (Deuteronomy 31:1-8) and the document clause (Deuteronomy 31:9-29). To see the outline for Deuteronomy again, you can see the write-up for that in Day 62, here. For a free and easily accessible, modern, online commentary from a trustworthy and reputable resource, The Gospel Coalition Commentaries are once again a good resource--specifically this commentary written by J. Gary Millar.

(A) God's desire is to bless. I love the phrasing of Deuteronomy 28:2: "all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you"--like a picture of being overrun with blessings from the hand of God. We serve a generous God who does not withhold things from his children except out of love. True, we encounter a number of difficulties and struggles in this life. But in the worst case scenario,  just on the other side of the very end of this life, awaits a new life in the Kingdom of God where all of God's blessings will overflow towards us for all eternity. That place is not some vague, dream-like space. That's our eternal home; where we are now is temporary. That place rests on a firm foundation; this space is fleeting. When we open our eyes there for the first time, it will feel like having woken up from a dream--and what you and I experience now will seem like a dream compared to the reality of life in the Kingdom of God. There, God's blessings shall come upon us and overtake us, if today we heed the voice of the Lord.

(B) The worst of the curses of Israel. For my part, I'm going to name "the itch, for which there is no cure" (Deuteronomy 28:27) as particularly worrying. Just imagine...!

(C) Secret and revealed things. This verse in Deuteronomy 29:29, which says "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law," has come up in conversation and personal thinking many times over the last decade and a half. The Bible doesn't actually reveal everything to us. We have precious little about how things work in the spiritual realm, about what else God has done outside of human history, or about God's own ultimate aim in the story of humanity. There are many questions that we might have -and which we should pursue an answer to!- which might, in the end, come down to having to accept that some things have simply not been revealed. And yet there are also many revealed things. The Bible is absolutely full of incredible insight for us regarding wisdom for this life, hope for the next, the nature and character of God (so far as language can convey it), knowledge about what our purpose as people is, along with many specific stories about God's work in human history which we can verify independently through archaeology, so that we can know these things are true.

(D) The king of grace and mercy. Deuteronomy 30:1-10 is an incredible part of the book. Ancient treaty documents did not offer forgiveness in case the subject party decided to rebel. They did not, ahead of time, commit to be merciful and gracious and to restore the fortunes of rebels. That just wasn't done. But here is God, the Lord of lords and King of kings, letting Israel know ahead of time--if you fail, and if you are judged, you may still return to God, because he loves you and wants to show you his kindness and grace. Exactly how God is able to remain both a righteous judge who punishes sin, and a merciful king who forgives the rebels, is a puzzle that would only go on to eventually be resolved in the cross of Jesus Christ.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? Today we'll focus on worship. In terms of worship, I think that (A) gives me a sense of God's incredible generosity; but also of his majesty: he can be generous because everything is his. He has no need of anything, and therefore no reason to hold back. However, (B) also reminds me that God is also a judge of sin, and that he is not just like a kindly old man who gives out candies; this King may be incredibly generous, but he is still the King. The sword that he holds, which comes from his mouth, is not for decoration. I also look at (C) and this makes me think of the mysterious, unknowable, hidden aspects of God's nature. As much as God reveals, as Job reminds us, "behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?" (Job 26:14). The Eastern Church has a tradition called the way of negation (via negativa) which refers to a way of speaking about God and his attributes. Because God is far beyond our capacity as human beings to comprehend, anything we can say of him is necessarily limited by our finite human understanding, and his reality far surpasses our power of expression. Therefore the most true things we can say about him are by way of negation--by saying what he is not rather than what he is. We therefore can come to know God better through meditating on how much greater he is than anything we can conceive. Finally, (D) reminds us that God, in all of his surpassing greatness and majesty and power and unknowability, is caring and generious towards you and me. We are his children. And he loves us--so we may freely come to him, no matter what we've done.

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 69 | Deuteronomy 25-27

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Deuteronomy 25:1-27:26

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings are from the specific stipulations in Moses' second speech (Deuteronomy 25-26) and the beginning of the blessings and curses in Moses' third speech (Deuteronomy 27). To see the outline for Deuteronomy again, you can see the write-up for that in Day 62, here. For a free and easily accessible, modern, online commentary from a trustworthy and reputable resource, The Gospel Coalition Commentaries are once again a good resource--specifically this commentary written by J. Gary Millar.

(A) What is the deal with Levirate marriage? According to the very good site GotQuestions.org, the article on this topic reads in part: 'A levirate marriage is literally a “marriage with a brother-in-law.” The word levirate, which has nothing to do with the tribe of Levi, comes from the Latin word levir, “a husband’s brother.” In ancient times, if a man died without a child, it was common for the man’s unmarried brother to marry the widow in order to provide an heir for the deceased. A widow would marry a brother-in-law, and the first son produced in that union was considered the legal descendant of her dead husband... Levirate marriage became part of the Law in Deuteronomy 25:5–6. There, the Israelites are commanded to care for women whose husbands died before they had children. An unmarried brother of the deceased man bore a responsibility to marry his sister-in-law: God called it “the duty of a brother-in-law” (Deuteronomy 25:5). God’s purpose for levirate marriage is stated: “The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel” (verse 6). In ancient Israel the passing on of the family name and the inheritance within a tribe were vitally important (see Numbers 36:7 and 1 Kings 21:3).'

(B) The Mount Ebal curse tablet. This is part of a current, ongoing discussion in the archaeological scholarly community. There may be a lead tablet found at Mt. Ebal which invokes the name of Yahweh (translated as all-caps "LORD" in most Old Testament translations), from the late Bronze Age II period (c. 1400-1200 BC). A reconstruction of the Mount Ebal tablet reads in part "You are cursed by the God yhw [Yahweh], cursed. You will die, cursed--cursed, you will surely die. Cursed you are by yhw [Yahweh]--cursed." It would seem to be written in an archaic proto-Hebrew script, and it is from the right time period and location to be closely connected to the words of Deuteronomy 27. But scholars are still vigorously debating what can be known about the find at this time--it is tough to know what to make of it right now.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? In terms of worship, regardless of whether this Mount Ebal curse tablet turns out to be legitimate, there are many other archaeological finds which prove the veracity of the Bible in ways great and small (I wrote about this a little bit more, here). This is a great affirmation of faith, which is founded upon the actions of God carried out in real human history. In terms of actions, while I would not recommend reviving the practice of levirate marriage, the existence of the laws surrounding that kind of arrangement in the Old Testament are a reminder to us to care for others who are part of our family, and to carry on their name and promote their reputation to others where we can--though there are, of course some situations where doing so would be inappropriate.

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 68 | Deuteronomy 22-24

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Deuteronomy 22:1-24:22

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings are from the specific stipulations in Moses' second speech (Deuteronomy 22-24). Supposedly this section (Deuteronomy 12-26) loosely follows the outline of the Ten Commandments, but there is disagreement and I haven't been able to look further. For a free and easily accessible, modern, online commentary from a trustworthy and reputable resource, The Gospel Coalition Commentaries are once again a good resource--specifically this commentary written by J. Gary Millar.

An interesting mix. When I read the book of Deuteronomy, I am keeping in mind that what I am reading are God's laws. They are given by him, and they reflect his own character. They are a window into his own heart. In the process, I see tensions held together in unity, in God's law, that normally don't coexist elsewhere. On one hand there is a serious concern with preventing harmful social contagion, upholding institutions, and making sharp distinctions between right vs. wrong, holy vs. unholy, clean vs. unclean. These concerns are supported with harsh punishments. On the other hand, there is simultaneously an incredible awareness and value regarding the dignity of those that ancient societies didn't value, specifically the woman and the slave in these chapters. Gary Millar writes that "uniquely in the Ancient Near East, the process in [Deuteronomy 22] 13-19 is designed to protect and exonerate the woman." (Laws which give unique rights to slaves will be mentioned below.) As individuals, we usually tend toward one extreme or the other: either we lift the value of the individual above that of society or institutions, or norms, and we think in simplistic binaries: "people over process," or "love over law," or something similar. Or, other more conservative types will go the other way, and often point out that when we uphold our institutions and rule of law, and protect the sanctity of the family, and control sources of social contagion, we are building a stronger, more functional, more healthy society in which individuals can actually flourish--and then they will describe efforts to care for and value the outsider as some kind of dangerous liberalism. This is not the case in God's law.

The rights of the slave. Today, how the Bible talks about slaves is one of the things that makes people question whether Christianity is good. Shouldn’t the Bible condemn slavery if it’s really from God? When hostile groups attack the Bible on the basis of it not condemning slavery, however, they intentionally leave out a lot of important details. There are some additional facts which are not well known, but which we find a couple of examples of in our reading today. Not only was ancient slavery much different than modern slavery, but Biblical law even undermines the ancient variety. (1) The condition of slavery is consistently portrayed as oppressive, as in Israel’s slavery under Egypt; (2) Most of those who received the NT letters were, themselves, currently slaves; (3) The ideal was presented as the end of slavery—Job notes that in death, “the slave is free from his master” (Job 3:19). (4) If anyone abducted a man to sell him, the one found in possession of him would be put to death, Ex. 21:16, Deut. 24:27; (5) Paul instructs slaves to gain their freedom if they can, 1 Cor. 7:21; (6) The Bible actually forbids returning escaped slaves to their former masters, Deut. 23:15-16. (7) Regarding abuse—The Bible mandates that if anyone was physically harmed by their master, they would automatically be set free, Ex. 21:27; (8) If a man struck a slave and the slave died, the Bible says plainly “he shall be avenged,” Ex. 21:20; (9) In the case of female slaves, the Bible seems to assume the possibility of sexual activity, and so automatically gives the female slave the rights of a wife—and mandates that she not be sold, only divorced and set free.All of this would also make it less likely for a family to sell a daughter into slavery in the first place—not only that, but she has marital rights which if they are not fulfilled would allow her to divorce her master/husband (Ex. 21:7-11). In these ways, Biblical law limits slavery to something that would eventually, and ideally, become more like modern employment today, where a slave is able to voluntarily and suddenly break ties with their master at will, get compensated for mistreatment and injury on the job, and the master would be put to death if he ever killed a slave. In these ways, the Bible's laws regarding slavery undermine and modernize the institution from within.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? In my worship, I find myself responding to these laws by, on one hand, realizing that we serve a holy God whose wrath against sin and social contagion is real. And at the same time, I feel invited into his presence, because in his warmth and grace he looks upon even the least of people and feels compassion for them. He understands the messiness of life. In my actions, I can't come away from reading these laws without feeling convicted that if God prescribes kindness and dignity for the "least of these," I should be giving a bigger part of my life to caring for those whom God cares for. In my attitude I want to invite within myself the concerns that coexist within the heart of God. At different times in my life, I have tended towards being more concerned about right and wrong and institutions than I am about people; at other times I feel a pull on the heart strings and I can go the other way. God's law shows me that it's not impossible to deeply care about both at the same time.

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 67 | Deuteronomy 19-21

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Deuteronomy 19:1-21:23

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings are from the specific stipulations in Moses' second speech (Deuteronomy 19-21). Supposedly this section (Deuteronomy 12-26) loosely follows the outline of the Ten Commandments, but there is disagreement and I haven't been able to look further. For a free and easily accessible, modern, online commentary from a trustworthy and reputable resource, The Gospel Coalition Commentaries are once again a good resource--specifically this commentary written by J. Gary Millar.

Divine Law Grounded in Human Reality. Throughout the following laws, we see that this is not an idealistic law which imagines an ideal society: people are complicated, and this law anticipates the messiness of life. Here are a few realities that Moses' law, given by God, had to consider:

(1) At this time there were no large-capacity prisons--which even today present their own sets of problems. Notice that there is never a jail term prescribed for anything in these laws. And if there were a prison, it would not be the place of punishment--it would have been a holding place to keep the accused while those in charge were inquiring into the situation and determing what would actually be the punishment. Pretty much the only way of dealing with a situation was through [A] death; [B] exile; [C] maiming; [D] forced restitution--confiscating belongings and reallocating them; or [E] managing the scope of the situation. So as you read the laws in this section and are having a personal, gut-level discomfort with what you are reading, that is a natural reaction to having to consider the messiness of life and how it is dealt with under these kinds of conditions. Lawyers and cops have a high turnover rate for a reason. 

(2) Civil law can't govern the heart. Bad people will always corrupt good law, and people will convince themselves that another person is a terrible person just so that they can feel justified in harming them. That's why cities of refuge are provided in Deuteronomy 19, to separate an angry vengeful person away from the unintentional killer. It's why Deuteronomy 21 has a law governing marrying female captives, and provides some protection for them in the event that some hard-hearted soldier uses this as a legal excuse to use and discard the enemy ("you shall let her go where she wants. But you shall not sell her for money, nor shall you treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her," Deut. 21:14). 

(3) The character of the populace needs to be protected. This is not so much of a value for modern people, but in the ancient world this would have been the top concern. What makes society work is a social contract where everyone agrees on a shared set of values and commits to upholding them. These values do not get re-negotiated and do not shift around, they are not up for debate, and there are no movements to try to change them. Without this, in the ancient world, the alternative is rioting and chaos and actual fighting and battles in the streets, as some other group within the society fights with the others to achieve supremacy. (We got away from this, the French philosopher Michael Foucault says, by creating a new societal system of total surveillance and mass incarceration--he wasn't convinced that this was an improvement.) In this context, the example of the rebellious son in Deuteronomy 21:18-21 isn't just a terrible situation; it's a threat to the character of the entire society in which the people of God live. In a society without mass taxation and a large-scale adequate police force outfitted with all the things that enable officers to get to a place quickly, with backup, and be well-prepared for whatever they encounter when they arrive, the local leadership fell under the categories of elders of the city or town or village, and governing heads of households, who governed those within their houses. A rebellious, drunk, gluttonous, stubborn, outspoken, and wilful son needs to be dealt with because he's bucking the entire system of how the society functions and creating a likelihood for others to do the same. In a place like that, this is a crisis. Can't throw him in prison. Can't maim him, as that would just make him even less able to be a contributing member of society. Can't confiscate his belongings, he hasn't worked to earn any. You could exile him, but he'll either die in the wilderness or end up in another nation where he will be a black mark on the reputation of what Israelites are like. So what's left?

Uncharacteristic mercy in the ancient world. All of that said, these laws are uncharacteristically merciful for the ancient world. The provision of cities of refuge in Deuteronomy 19, the laws governing -uniquely in the entire world at the time!- the scope of warfare in the ancient world in Deuteronomy 20, and the protection for the first-born children of unloved wives in Deuteronomy 21, all demonstrate a unique amount of care for the manslaughterer, the members of an enemy nation, and the son of the unloved married woman, which just was not present elsewhere in the ancient world. This reveals God's character--the law is more kind than the standard laws of the ancient world, because God himself cares for those who are not cared for.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? In our worship, I think we can look at these laws and see both God's wisdom and his care. Law is an ugly thing because it deals with ugly realities (yet it holds everything together); and yet God's law consistently points the one who studies it to value the foreigner, the slave, the enemy combatant, the manslaughterer, the falsely accused, and the unloved. This is a law which, the more that you study it, would place in you the conviction that we are to value those whom God values. It demonstrates both wisdom and kindness, and I think that right there leads us into worship. In our attitudes, I think we're supposed to value what God values. Can you look at the person who is working a menial job for low pay (the slave), or the guy who doesn't speak your language with proficiency (the foreigner), or the person working for a cause that you oppose (the enemy combatant), or the person who is being named in the media for terrible things but who everyone around him says didn't do it (possibly falsely accused), or the person whose marriage is struggling (the unloved), or the guy just out of jail through accidentally killing someone through reckless endangerment and negligence (the manslaughterer), and see them as just as valuable, as a person, as you are--worthy of care and consideration? If not, then the laws of Deuteronomy might have some things to teach you about grace. In our actions, maybe we could make a list of people that we find that we struggle to love, and we just pick a couple of people of that list to (a) pray for, (b) show some practical kindness to, and (c) learn something from--with this comes the realization that you are not better than them, and they could even show you a thing or two.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, help me to trust in you, because you are wise and kind. I don't see everything that you see. So as I walk with you, grant me a sense of calm and humility. And give me greater discernment to see things well, as well as compassion for others, so that I can reflect in some small way those aspects of who you are."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 66 | Deuteronomy 15-18

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Deuteronomy 15:1-18:32

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings are from the specific stipulations in Moses' second speech (Deuteronomy 15-18). For a free and easily accessible, modern, online commentary from a trustworthy and reputable resource, The Gospel Coalition Commentaries are once again a good resource--specifically this commentary written by J. Gary Millar.

Keeping Time by Looking to God. It is really interesting to see how the whole structure of Israelite life was centered around their identity as God's people. In Deuteronomy 15 we see the Year of Release, which was practiced every seven years. And then in Deuteronomy 16 we see the pilgrimage festivals of Passover, Shavuot (also called Pentecost), and Sukkot (the Feast of Booths). Significant planning had to be done to account for these events. If I am reading this right, there was no way that Israelite society could accomodate something like a 40-year mortgage; the laws of Deuteronomy 15 would not have allowed a creditor to provide a loan that took longer than seven years to pay off (at least not without being severely disappointed when all debts were cleared in the sabbatical year). So at all points, the economical decisions of Israelites had to account for the reality that they lived on time that was structured by God's commands. The same thing was seen in the Jubilee Year (Leviticus 25) and the Sabbath year for the land (Exodus 23). In the case of the pilgrimage festivals, whole features of Israelite society and customs also had to be set up to account for God's command to have all the males gather in Jerusalem for three festivals each year in Deuteronomy 16.  The reminders for the people were constant. Maybe it's worth leaning into some holidays and regular rhythms of life to remind ourselves that we belong to God as well! It is my hope that as we journey through the month of March this year, that we will also have a sense of keeping time marked by our relationship with God, in which we are journeying with Jesus to Jerusalem together, that we are entering through the gates amidst the triumphal entry of Palm Sunday, that we weep at the foot of the cross on Good Friday, and that we celebrate the news of the empty tomb together with the disciples on Easter.

There will be no poor... there will never cease to be poor. Deuteronomy 15:4 and 11 shows the difference between realism and idealism, and demonstrates that both have a place within the instructions of God. On the idealistic side, we are told in 15:4 that "there will be no poor" in the land of Israel. But due to human factors and the facts of life, the reality was that according to 15:11 "there will never cease to be poor" in the land. Here we see the groundedness and wisdom of God's law. God's Word avoids both the airy, detached expectation that everything will just go fantastic, while at the same time avoiding cynical defeatism. Sure, there will always be poor in the land--so, it seems to say, we'll just continually work to wipe out poverty. But on the other hand: Sure, we've got a plan to eradicate poverty--but we'll reexamine it every 5 years, because of course there will still be poverty. It's this balance that helps us to swing for the fences without getting crushed when things don't go as far or as fast as we feel like they should. We need the idealists to lead us out to do the impossible, and we need the realists to come along behind to build structures for dealing with the reality that we might fall a bit short of the mark. That's how progress happens.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? In our attitudes, I at least feel pretty convicted of my own tendency to fall into either idealism or cynicism. While we will never reach perfection in ourselves or in society on this side of glory, it's still worth it to head out and see how far we can get towards the goal. In our actions it might be worth it to do little things to make our schedules reflect that we are God's people, like Deuteronomy 15 and 16 portray. One option could be to adopt the Jewish Calendar. But more realistically, we could try other ways. What if we scheduled an hour with God this week the way that we would for a meeting, by putting a place and time into our Google calendars or printed daily planners? What if I could look at my schedule and see by what I've got booked in it that I belong to God's people?

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "I spend my time on so many things, and I schedule myself around other important things in my life. I make time for meetings and shows and books and gatherings. But God, help me to make time to spend in your presence, reflecting on what you are saying to me through your Word."