Joshua 9:3-10:43
Joshua 9:3-27
This is a great portion of Scripture, not because Joshua and Co. were tricked by the Gibeonites, but because it shows something of their faith and the understanding of the people of Israel.
Notice verse 14. This is the only negative thing there is in the Bible against Joshua, and God doesn't make a big deal about it. I'll bet they never failed to ask the Lord again.
Notice in verse 18 that when the people of Israel found out what their leaders had done, they were upset. Why? Because they had internalized the message that if one person sinned, the entire nation suffered. They knew they were not to make peace. God took care of this situation for Israel and covered this oversight of the leaders, bringing something good out of it. Later, after Joshua and these leaders are gone, the people will use this incident as precedence to disobey God and form alliances with people in the land. That will be sin, since they are not tricked, and it is what will launch them into the tragedy that is the book of Judges.
Notice verses 24-25. These people, the leaders, the entire city had amazing faith. Remember that Abraham and Sons had lived in the land long before that and it is possible, besides the information the Gibeonites had of Egypt, etc…, they also understood something of the history of Abraham and the promise. That's speculation, I know, but it makes you wonder.
In 10:2 is says that this was a great city with real fighters, yet they had the faith to try to make peace. God rewarded them for this.
Joshua 10:1-43
There's lots of action here, so it's easy reading. I only want to mention a couple things.
First, in verse 11, God "threw down large stones." God made sure they knew that He was involved and that they weren't just winning by their own strength. In light of Joshua's request, this must have been a passing, isolated thunderstorm since the sky was clear enough to see the sun. I can imagine the guys running from Joshua saying, "Is it me, or does it seem to you that that cloud is following us? Ouch!"
Second, verses 12-14 are something to make you think about. It was a good thing Joshua didn't know a lot about physics or natural law or anything, because if he had, he would never have asked this because it is "impossible." Apparently God isn't impressed with that stuff either, because He did it. Just think about what had to happen for the earth to stop moving. Those hours on earth, everywhere on earth, would have been strange hours. It is no different than when Jesus raised Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha. It was creation, not resuscitation. In creation, light existed for 3 days before God made the Sun and solar systems. He was that light. On the fourth day, it says the solar system, planets, stars, moon and sun were made for light and for us to be able to mark off seasons and times. They aren't really necessary. God's power is beyond. It is absolute. He creates. He stops. He resumes. It works because He makes it work and life can and will exist (someday) without the sun.
It is interesting on this point that Luther tried to teach science with this section and called Copernicus a fool to say that the earth revolved around the sun because Joshua clearly asked that the sun stand still. Obviously God knew what Joshua meant, and in the same way, we still call it a "sunrise" and a "sunset" although we know better.
Finally, all of these nations knew what the Gibeonites knew. They could have fled, they could have repented and asked God for mercy. Who knows what would have happened? What we do know is that the Gibeonites prove that the nations knew what God was about to do and only their own sin and stubbornness kept them from following the lead of these people whom God spared.
Luke 16:19-17:10
Luke 16:19-31
Since Jesus was just talking to the Pharisees, this story would have been aimed at them and also would have been good teaching for the disciples.
The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus falls into a different category than Jesus' parables. The parables are faceless object lessons. They are examples of "that woman" or a "certain man." No names of historical people are ever used. Names of known people throw the meaning of the story into a historical or fictional framework. For example, if Jesus had told the story of the prodigal son, and Abraham had been the father, we would have immediately asked the question of the story being real or being something Jesus just made up using the historical figure. If the story didn't jibe with what we knew was historical, it would open the question of what, in fact, is historical in the Bible. That would be a nasty can of worms. BUT, that didn't happen. When Jesus told a parable, he used no names and didn't use historical figures.
So, what's going on here? The obvious implication is that this is an historical event. Jesus was not only the man, the Spirit indwelt Son of God, but He was also God the Son. He not only had earthly illustrations to draw upon, but as God, having seen the dramas on earth and how they were concluded when men left the earth, He knew what happened to these people when they finally entered the next life. Jesus, as God the Son, had witnessed every person who had ever lived enter the presence of God. Actually, it is a place of waiting. The waiting was for the time when the justice and righteousness of God would be fulfilled by Jesus living the perfect life and making payment for sin. The question, "Could God really provide salvation for sinners righteously, according to His own rules," was answered in Jesus' sacrifice, payment and resurrection. Until that event, there was a place of waiting, that was divided into two parts: A place of punishment and a place of comfort in the presence of God. If you read the book of Revelation, people being resurrected to judgment and being thrown into the lake of fire (hell) is still future (Rev.20). The new heavens and new earth (heaven) is also still future (Rev. 21). So for now, even on the spiritual side of life, things are temporary until the final judgments and new creations are finished.
As a real event, this story provides us with real learning about what happens immediately after death, what it looks like and what the awareness of life is like after leaving this part of life. So, for my part, I treat this story as an historical event.
Notice that the two parts have names: Hades being the place of punishment and Abraham's side being the good place. Why Abraham's side? I can only guess that God's redemptive purpose was tied into the promise to Abraham. Though the promise of redemption goes back to the Fall, it is first at God's call to Abraham that the plan is mentioned in detail. The promise to Abraham was the object of faith in God for many generations of Israel's history. Today the object of faith is the Gospel of Christ. Anyway, God calls the good place, Abraham's bosom, or "At Abraham's Side."
Notice that Abraham knows about the Law of Moses and the Prophets. You wonder by that if Abe was able to hear or view some of that history.
Notice that the response of the man in Hades is concern for his brothers. We often feel very uncomfortable talking about Christ and commitment to God when an unbeliever has lost an equally unsaved loved one. I get that and there should be concern and tact. But in reality, that lost person who has just stepped into reality, and that being the place of punishment, is consumed with begging that someone will go to that other person on this side of life and tell them about Christ. What shocking reality! Not only is heaven cheering us on to share the Gospel of Christ, but hell is rooting for us, too, and maybe with more emotion and desperation.
Notice that if a person will not accept the Word, they will not be impressed by miracles. The Pharisees put their hope in Moses but as Jesus told them in John 5:45-47 "Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; it is Moses who accuses you, on whom you set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"
The same goes for miracles. I remember saying, "If God shows me something, then I'll believe." Not so. The preaching of the Word is sufficient and goes to the heart and soul. If people will not believe what God has said, they will not be moved by miracles. We've seen that the miracles of God bringing Israel out of Egypt and the miracles of His daily provision didn't do much for them.
Luke 17:1-4
It might be that Jesus was still thinking about the pride of the Pharisees, how they were like the rich man and made faith and acceptance very difficult for poor men like Lazarus, that he launched into this lesson that He has told them before regarding the simple faith of a child. Now, "little ones" could mean humble, simple and poor like Lazarus. The word for sin, means "stumble." I was reading Romans 14 and 15 this morning, and not making people stumble was a big part of what the Spirit said through Paul. And when you get to the end of Romans, it says in Romans 16:17-18, "I appeal to you, brethren, to take note of those who create dissensions and difficulties, in opposition to the doctrine which you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by fair and flattering words they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded." The word "difficulties" means a stumbling block.
Jesus was warning the disciples about this problem and Paul was fighting against it in churches.
Verse 3 seems to be Jesus warning His disciples not to be like the Pharisees, holding prejudices and grudges. They are to forgive and thereby not give people cause to stumble in their steps with or toward God. Notice what Paul says to Timothy and how that sounds like this: 2 Timothy 2:24 And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to every one, an apt teacher, forbearing, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth, 26 and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
This gentle spirit, willing to forgive and be patient with the aggressive, sinning and frustrating was something that Jesus was trying to ingrain in His disciples, and something Paul knew Timothy needed. And, hey, I need it too.
Notice that if the conditions are met, Jesus commands, "you must forgive him." I take it that the rejection of this person would cause the stumbling.
Luke 17:5-10
It seems that with this command, Jesus pushed them to realize He was asking something of them that wasn't easy. So they ask Him for the faith to trust Him in order to do what He commanded.
In this context, where Jesus has just talked about forgiving in a complicated situation, it is interesting that He uses the illustration of a mulberry tree. As I understand it, they make a very dense and complicated network of roots. I know from living in Texas that if you had clay or cast iron sewer piping and you had a mulberry tree in the yard, the pipes were full of roots.
Jesus is saying that even the tiniest amount of faith would cause, in this image, the tree to rise up and this complicated root system to release and unravel. Of course, if you do this, remember that in cities there is often restricted airspace around international airports so be careful of how high you throw the tree through the air into the sea. Just a helpful suggestion. :)
So the promise of faith is that the most impossible thing and the most complicated relationships can be overcome with faith.
Now comes the faith itself, and how simple. Faith is increased simply by obeying with gratefulness, without questioning or thought as to what we deserve. We think our service for God is above and beyond the call of duty, but it's not. I struggle with this all the time, but I'm inspired by this example. In light of all that we've been given as disciples, our salvation, the Spirit, eternity with Christ, this work in the harvest is nothing and we are unworthy servants and have only done what was required of us.
Psalm 83
It's hard to know when this was written. At the destruction of Jerusalem many of the neighboring nations were happy and were judged by God for their acts during that time. After David and Solomon, there were a lot of rocky times.
Notice the references to chapters 4-8 in the book of Judges. That period of time was also a time when the neighbors made frequent "shopping trips" to Israel.
Notice the crying out. Earlier in the year, most of the psalms were the "cry out" kind. You might conclude by the mere frequency of those kinds of psalms, that that should be our normal state before God: asking, seeking, knocking.
Proverbs 13:4
What occurs to me reading this is the difference between knowing God's will and doing it. We may need to question what His direction for us is, but we don't need to ask what our sense of interest and energy should be once we know.
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link Every Day in the Word. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.
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