Ah I do love a battle. And I do like to imagine grown men having to be circumcised, it sorta makes up for childbirth, we should take that practice up today.But first things first, we have the little issue of the smarty pants who took the stuff and didn't think God would notice. When when these people learn?
Never apparently. He said "DON'T TAKE ANYTHING"
However, I do find it odd that the next time he tells them to take what they want? Make up your mind Big Guy, it tends to get confusing...
Joshua has big shoes to fill, I would hate to have to follow Moses . So when the guys fled from the battle you know it had to feel like a punch in the gut (and NOT in a good way). He went back, put his face in the dirt, put dirt on his head and felt a bit like a failure. It didn't last long though, God told him what was up, that some smart guy took some stuff and He was sorta mad about the Isrealites breaking thier promise and thats why they fled. Find the guy, find the stuff, burn it and all will be right with the world....
so they do....
and it is...
Now we get to the odd odd Jericho story, in a nutshell it goes like this: horns, yelling, walls come a tumblin down.
And THEN we get the really cool story of the battle for the city of Ai.
Here's the plan, Joshua has his men split with some hidden.
He has the group in front start the attack, the men from the city come out and start fighting. Then Joshua's men pretend to be losing and high tail it for the wilderness...the Ai men chase after them. Once they are far enough away the men in hiding come out take the city and burn it to the ground. As the citizens of Ai stand and watch their city burn the Israelites turn on them and kill them all, except their king who they take back and hang then burn.
Although I could say....for what? What was this for? Why did these people have to die? Just so the promised people could have this land?
I'm really just going to say, HOW awesome was that strategy?!
3 comments:
I thought vs.14 was interesting when the Son of God (Jesus) standing with drawn sword (not the image we usu think of when speaking of Jesus) tells Joshua He isn't for him or his enemy. I don't understand that. Afterall, (to address one of your questions), God was killing two birds with one stone by supplanting the Israelites in this land...He was getting rid of the current inhabitants because of all the evil they were committing AND blessing the Israelites at the same time. So why wouldn't the Son of God declare to be on Joshua's side?
Joshua, is extremely faithful and obedient. In fact, you could say he's a zealot. Did you look that up yet, Miss Crystal. There's a pun there. And, yes, it was intended.
The Israelites soon quickly learn by their defeat that it is due to God's strength that they are able to defeat so many, and so large enemies, not their own. This is evident by God not fighting with them when they had disobeyed Him.
If we stay in obedience to Him and remain faithful, He will fight our battles for us and remain faithful to us. If we do not, we can expect consequences to be as forthcoming as the blessing were.
The strategy was great...in vs. 2 we see that it was God that gave this strategy to Joshua. On Battles BC they went into more detail on the entire battle plan and troop movement. They marched a very impressive distance in a short time over rought terrain (even by today's special forces/super infantry standards). Joshua kept his arm stretched out (towards God) and God kept His arm stretched out toward him. This is the way God is with all of us. He keeps His arm outstretched towards us all the time, all we have to do is the same.
vs. 35 shows us that there are foreigners living among the Israelites. I don't believe these were all slaves or servants. The Promise is already encompassing non-Jews.
Today's is Josh.9-11
After reading the the next reading, I had my question answered. The Son of God was not insinuating that He was impartial in Israel's fighting, but rather should not be considered an ally, a separate entity. He was the Head of the Army. The Israelites were a part of His Army.
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