The Promised Land is here at last! Land flowing with milk and honey—Holy Land—Canaan Land. The people of Israel have been given the law, and now they enter the land the God promised. Entering the Promise Land brings so many changes to God’s people! The People of Israel had been landless wanderers for nearly 500 years. Their forefathers—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and families—were nomads in the land of Canaan. That was followed by 400-plus years of slavery in Egypt. Moses led the people through 40 years of wandering that tested, trained and prepared them. Now under Joshua the time comes to be landed and free with God.
During those 500 years, the people had been Apiru’ (ah-pee-ROO)—which literally means "the people WITHOUT the say." (say Apiru five times fast, and you’ll notice what a short transition it is to our word "Hebrew"). No power—no clout—no land—no "say" in life. Now that they are the covenant people of God entering the land God promised, big changes happen. They become the people WITH the "say." The transition from being landless slaves to land-holding free people was huge!
Joshua leads the transition. It is a bloody, messy, military affair—not for the fainthearted. "No survivors" is a term that recurs often. Eugene Peterson states, "People who want God as an escape from reality, from the often hard conditions of this life, don’t find this much to their liking."
The Book of Joshua gives us the geographical boundaries of the Promised Land and how they came into being—and a LOT more. - Dr. Steve Winter, Executive Pastor
I caught up with my readings today, reading Joshua and into Judges. I just had to comment on something that stunned me during my reading. I am using the (now vilified) Living Bible for this year-long reading because it was important to me in my youth, although I am also cross referencing with other Bibles and materials. The reason that is important is because of what I read in Joshua 4:19 referring to the parting of the Jordan River. "This miracle occurred on the 25th of March." That's today. 1 out of 365 chance I would read that today. I think that's a little miracle in itself. :) "The tenth day of the first month" would not have had that impact. Just wanted to share. And, by the way, thanks for giving us this challenge. I've tried in years past to do it but always got bogged down in "why this?" and "why that"? Determined to continue on this time. :)
ReplyDelete-Sheila McCleary