The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Joshua 3-6
Act 2: God’s Covenant People
Scene 4: The Land: God’s place for his people
Background Information: Joshua 3-6
In chapter five Joshua encounters an angelic warrior and asks, “Whose side are you on, ours or theirs?” The angel’s response is important for us to understand Israel’s warfare in the land of Canaan. “Neither” is his reply. “I have now come as commander of the Lord’s army.”
God is always on his own side; we can choose to join him or not. Israel was selected to make God’s name known to all the nations of the world. The Canaanites suffered God’s judgment at the hands of Israel because they had become altogether corrupt. Their “worship” included the vilest of all human behaviors, child sacrifice. Even in the judgment of God on these people groups, mercy was available to them if they would repent and submit to God. Remember Rahab? She was a Canaanite, and she was allowed to live and become a part of Israel’s community. In Deuteronomy chapter 20 Moses said, “When you approach a city to fight against it, make an offer of peace. If it accepts your offer of peace and opens its gates to you, all the people found in it will become forced laborers for you and serve you.” Forced labor might seem like less than mercy, but it was not. If the people of Canaan were allowed to retain their own “identity,” it would have included practices that would (and did) corrupt Israel. This was a unique moment in history; again, much was at stake. Sitting in our living room or at a coffee shop, reading of the conquest of Canaan, can lead us to make certain judgments on Israel and even on God himself. In the real world of human sin and warfare it is messy and terrible. The Bible does not try to make the complex, simple or the messy, neat. It is a book about real history and the one True God.
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Pray for Cameron to walk closely with God as he teaches English in Japan. Pray for him to have opportunities to share the gospel with his fellow teachers.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call some now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.
Review the Storyline Map: Where we are in the Bible
Act 1 God’s Plan for All People
Scene 1: The Creation: The God of all of life.
Scene 2: The Fall: Rejecting God’s vision for life
Scene 3: The Flood: God judges and makes a covenant to preserve life
Act 2 God’s Covenant People
Scene 1: The People: God calls a Covenant People
Scene 2: Deliverance: God rescues his people.
Scene 3: The Sinai Covenant and law: God embraces and instructs his people
Week 12:
Scene 4: The Land: God’s place for his people
Day 1: Joshua 3-6
Day 2: Joshua 7-10
Day 3: Joshua 11-14
Day 4: Joshua 15-18
Day 5: Joshua 19-22
Day 6: Joshua 23-24, Judges 1
Scene 5: Kings and Prophets: God shapes a kingdom people
Scene 6: Kings and Prophets: God divides the kingdom people.
Scene 7: Kings and Prophets: The southern kingdom as God’s people
Scene 8: Exile: God disciplines his people
Scene 9: Return: God delivers his people again
Act 3 God’s New Covenant People
Scene 1: Christ’s coming: God’s true king arrives
Scene 2: Christ’s ministry: God’s true king manifest his kingdom
Scene 3: Christ’s deliverance of his people: God’s work through the death, resurrection, and enthronement of his king
Scene 4: Christ’s church: God’s people advance the kingdom
Scene 5: Christ second coming: God future for the kingdom