Blogging Bible Study : Joshua 3 - Crossing the Jordan

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

After the spies returned, Israel moved from Shittim, where they had been camped,  to the east bank of the Jordan, a journey of a little less than ten miles.  They stayed there three days, then were given the command to be ready to move, to watch the ark of the presence of God and follow it,  'Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.' (v. 4, all scripture today from the NIV 84).

I could literally stop right there and do a whole teaching, but I'll content myself with a little observation. Following the presence of God was their only guidance in unfamiliar territory. Now, God could have taken them north into Canaan from Kadesh Barnea,where they failed 40 years earlier.  They were in Kadesh towards the end of their wandering; Miriam died there, and it was there that Moses lost his temper and struck the rock (Numbers 20).  But, instead they went southeast from Kadesh, around the Dead Sea and up through the plains of Moab.  This was not just a re-do; this was new territory and a new paradigm.  The old was gone and dead; it would not just be corrected but replaced.  You have never been this way before.

Joshua also told them to consecrate themselves, '...for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.'  (v. 5).  They were on the east side of the Jordan; they were going to the west side of the Jordan.  And it was at flood stage.  There would have to be amazing things if they really were gonna cross that mess.

The next day, they packed up and formed up...not in their usual marching order, with Judah in front and the Levites bearing all the holy items in the middle.  This time, the priests carrying the Ark were a bit over half a mile in front of the rest of the company.  And they had been instructed to go stand in the middle of the river.

Did I mention it was at flood stage?

Joshua announced to the people: 'This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canannites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.  See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you.... And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD -- the Lord of all the earth -- set foot in the Jordan,  its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.' (vs10-11,13).  He also told them to select one man from each tribe, whose purpose would be made known later.

So they lined up and headed west. And as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off.  So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. (vs. 15b - 16)

Now, I have heard folks discount that statement, saying that, of course, there was a rock slide or some such thing that temporarily dammed the water upstream.  And I'm not going to say that didn't happen.   But even if there was an observable, natural event that caused the water to stop running down the river, isn't it remarkable that it happened just at the moment that the Israelites were crossing the river a good distance downstream?  Why does the possibility that God could have used natural phenomena to do His will want to make folks discount His actions?  The Lord of all the earth could certainly send a rock slide at the precise moment He needed it to happen and it would be no less His doing than blowing a fierce wind right at the river in just one spot so that the water piled up rather than flowing down.  However it happened...He did it at the exact moment He wanted it done.

The priests walked out to the middle of the riverbed and stood there, while the entire nation walked by to the other side.  Which, according to the census recorded at the end of Numbers, taken just before Moses died, included 601,730 men over the age of 20, not counting the Levites, of whom there were 23,000 men and boys over the age of one month,  plus all the women and children.  It probably took a while.

The chapter ends, right there, with the people on the far side and the priests still standing on the river bed.  God wasn't quite done with the Jordan River yet.  What came next...well, that's next week's post.

Do I look for the presence of God to guide me through places I have not walked before?  Do I expect Him to do 'amazing things' to take me to the place He has promised...or do I wander around looking for ways to make those promises happen myself?

Chop the Vines

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Whilst we were walking through the woods at the state park a couple of weeks ago, My Sweet Babboo mentioned a tree that he'd seen along our usual walking route on the greenway that runs beside the creek in our neck of the woods.

Today, when we were walking, he pointed it out to me.

I had to take a photo.  That'll preach, I said.

Look at the photo closely.

I don't know if the trees grew close together or if one blew over against the other, but vines have tangled up a live tree with what is now a remnant of a dead, decaying trunk of another tree.

That's  a powerful image, right there.

How many of us have a dead, decaying thing bound up in our lives somewhere?  Something that is hindering our growth, contributing to ill health (mental, physical or spiritual), weighing us down?

And how many of us have hacked away at that thing but are no closer to being free of it?

It's the vines.  We can't just get rid of the thing itself.  Ya gotta get rid of the vines.

Those habits that  keep us bound up in dysfunction.  Those relationships that pull us away from our relationship with God.   Those little pleasures that distract us from our calling.  The things that, in and of themselves, don't seem such a big deal.

But they are keeping us bound to dead stuff.

Therefore,...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.... (Heb. 12:1)

Yeah, that'll preach.

Blogging Bible Study: Joshua Chapter 2 - Rahab's Choice

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi.

This is a Hollywood script, no doubt about it.

Joshua sent two men to Jericho, secretly, to have a look round and see what they were up against.  They had to cross the Jordan; we know from events shortly to follow that it was a flood stage.

And, at some point, they were spotted.  Probably not by soldiers, who would have nabbed them on the spot, but by someone who reported it to someone who reported it to someone who told the king.

I don't know if they were looking for shelter and deliberately chose a prostitute's house, thinking that would provide cover for them.  Foreign men...just in the city...looking for a little pleasure...not that remarkable.  It wasn't a bad idea. They may have even asked someone for a recommendation.

Maybe it was the person they asked who realized they were Israelites; maybe someone overheard the conversation.  Or maybe they were just spotted going into Rahab's door.  But in any case,  their cover was blown and they were hunted.

How they got wind of it isn't clear.  Maybe they were actually aware someone was on to them and ducked into her house randomly, asking for shelter, since she was on the wall and had a window to the outside.  But I kinda think Rahab invited them in herself; maybe she saw them walking through town and, to anyone who observed, was drumming up business when she invited them to her house.  Or maybe she overheard something  that tipped her off and she went looking for them.  However she found out, she knew they were being hunted and took them home and hid them in pretty short order.

It took a little while for the word to get up to the king and the orders back down to the soldiers; she had a little time to devise a plan.  And, truth be told, she did have the perfect cover.  When the soldiers knocked, she could give them the impression that the two men had come, had their fun, and left: "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from.  At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left.  Go after them quickly.  You may catch up with them."  (Josh. 2:5; all scripture today from the NIV 84).

It appears the soldiers didn't even search the house; they took her word for it and took off on the road out of town, leaving just before the city gates closed behind them.

So, with a bit of a breather, Rahab told the men why she hid them...with a pretty amazing statement from a pagan ..."I know that the LORD has given this land to you." (v. 9)  All her actions, all her risk, was based on that statement.  She knew that God was with them and that they were going to take the land.

Indeed, she went on to explain that everyone knew the history of the Hebrews... that God dried up the Red Sea for them, that they had utterly defeated the kings on the other side of the Jordan, and that the whole city was terrified of them.  Then she made another statement of her personal belief, "...the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below."  (v. 11)

Rahab had just staked her life on the God of the Hebrews.  The actions she'd taken placed her firmly in opposition to the entire city of Jericho.  But, from her point of view, it was the only path to survival. She saved them so that they could save her.  "Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you.  Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."   (vs 12-13)

The guys had been about to catch some z's, but instead, she put a rope out of the window that opened through the city wall (remember, it was after the gates had been closed for the night...it was dark) to let them safely down outside the wall, with instructions to go towards the hills and camp there for three days, since the soldiers were looking for them between Jericho and the river.

Just before they left, they gave her their promise to save her and her family so long as she met the conditions they gave her...to not speak of them to anyone, to gather everyone she wanted to protect into her house, and to hang a red cord from the window.

She agreed and, as soon as they'd gone, she tied the red cord in her window.   The men took off for the hills, waited three days as instructed, then crossed the river and returned to Joshua, relating how terrified the people of the land were.  'God has surely given the whole land into our hands,' they told him.

I wonder if Joshua sent only two because two would not be very conspicuous...or if he sent only two because only two had returned  from a similar look round with those words 40 years earlier.  There were no naysayers to discourage the people this time.

Meanwhile, the red cord innocently hung from Rahab's window.    Some folks say it was the rope she used to let them down, but I think it was a decorative cord used on the window draperies that one of the men noticed as they were heading out the window.  A rope sturdy enough to hold a man would surely have drawn attention...especially since two men disappeared from that house.  No, I think it was exactly as it's described...a red cord. Nothing worth noticing...unless it was looked for.  It was Rahab's life if anyone noticed it and started asking questions.

Rahab believed the God of the Hebrews was able to give them victory.  Everyone else was afraid of the army, but she was afraid of their God.  God saw Rahab.  He saw what she believed; it was no coincidence that the spies ended up on her doorstep, however it happened.  HE gave her the opportunity to act on her belief.  She didn't hesitate; she grabbed that opportunity with both hands and put her life in theirs.  And God's.

Blogging Bible Study: Joshua 1 - Change in Leadership

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

You have to back up just a teeny bit to get context for the first words of  Joshua...in Deuteronomy 34, we see that Moses went up Mount Nebo to meet with God, alone.

And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said.  He buried him in Moab...but to this day no one knows where his grave is.  Deut. 34: 5-6 (all scripture today from the NIV 84).

So, as in times past, Moses went up on the mountain.  But this time he didn't come back down.  Instead, ...the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 'Moses my servant is dead.' (Josh. 1:1b-2a).

I want to hang there for just a moment.  I think all the folks knew what was going to happen to Moses when he climbed that mountain; his last words to them were the blessings of a father to his sons as he pronounced blessings over the tribes.  But...he'd gone off by himself so many times before and always returned.  It had to be hard for them, to not be able to view the body, have a funereal, mourn for Moses as they were accustomed to doing.  You know...the whole closure thing.

But read verse two.  As soon as God announces the death of Moses, He goes on to tell Joshua '...Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them -- to the Israelites.'  (the rest of verse 2).

They didn't have time to process the finality of those words:  Moses my servant is dead.  Moses had been their leader for forty years.  He was the one who interceded for them with God, who taught them how to worship, who gave them the Law.  His leadership was pretty much the only thing that had kept the people intact and moving towards the promises God had given them.

Now he was gone.  And they were on the brink of totally new territory, totally new paradigms and objectives.  They didn't know what the future was going to look like, except that it was not going to be the same as they had known for virtually all their adult lives.  With the exception of Caleb and Joshua, the entire nation was made up of folks under age 60. They had never known any leader other than Moses.  The oldest among them might have memories of being slaves in their teens, but by and large, the only life these folks knew was the life of nomads, following the cloud of God's presence...and Moses.

All that was about to change...and Moses was not there to guide them.

I'm sure Joshua, who had been Moses' aide and closest associate, who had stayed in the tent by himself on many occasions cultivating his own relationship with God, and who was one of two true elders in the camp, had a fair amount of respect and credibility amongst the Israelites.  But he was still unproven as the leader.  Could he really lead them as Moses did?

So it's no wonder that, following that instruction, God pours encouragement into Joshua.

First, regarding territory

I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses...from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates--all the Hittite country-- to the Great Sea on the west.

Then for Joshua himself

No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life.  As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.  Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.

Then instruction for the whole nation

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you...Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Have I not commanded you?  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.  -- vs. 7-9

Joshua gives the people three days to pack up and get ready to cross the Jordan, and reminds the tribes who will take their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan of their commitment to cross the river and help their brothers take the land.

And the people respond,

Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you.  Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses.  Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey  your words, whatever you may command them will be put to death.

Then they say something rather remarkable.  Or maybe it just hit me today that it was the people who said this.  Because the first three times we see this phrase in this chapter, it comes from God. But the people tell Joshua, Only be strong and courageous!  (vs. 16- 18).

Changing leadership is a shaky scenario.  It's hard to make that transition.  But to all appearances here, Joshua stepped in to that position with very little time to mourn his mentor.  Moses had designated him as his successor  in Deuteronomy 31, so there was no question of WHO would be leading...but there had to be questions of HOW he would lead.  His style would be different than Moses...his objectives were different than Moses.  But he had the same God leading him, with the same promises of success.  God doesn't allow a change in leadership without providing for His purpose to go forward; what is amazing here is that we never see anyone refer to 'the way Moses did it'...the people were behind Joshua 100%, and no one tried to make him lead as if he were Moses.

So that is the challenge to those of us who are in the congregation, amongst the followers, when a leader changes.  Can we trust God enough to let the new leader run with the vision God has given?  Or will we keep trying to force the new leader into the mold of the previous one?

Can we say, with conviction, 'Be strong and courageous?'

Wheat vs. Chaff

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Laha Roi

I'mma gonna need you to work with me just a bit on that image...it's soybeans, not wheat, because I didn't have any photos from wheat harvest.  But the principal still applies.


Doing the 3 + 1 reading today; I was in Matthew 3, reading the words of John the Baptist:

...after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. (Matt 3: 11b-12, NIV84)

With my hellfire-and-brimstone background, I had always read that as wheat = godly folks, chaff  = unrepentant folks.  But today, I saw something different there.

As a farm kid, I was intimately acquainted with produce.  Wheat was one of my faves; take the head of ripe wheat, roll it around in your hand to knock the kernels out of the husks, then pour the stuff in your hands back and forth between your hands, blowing on it to blow the chaff away.  Then munch the nutty wheat kernels.

As I read that passage today, I got the image of doing just that as a kid.  And I suddenly realized something.

The wheat and the chaff are produced by the same stalk.

Think about that for a minute.

This ain't about wheat vs. tares (good crop vs weeds; that's discussed elsewhere)...this is about what the good crop produces.

And I can tell you from experience that sometimes those wheat heads don't have much grain in them.  The pods where the grain should grow come up empty.  Husks...but no grain.

Think about that for a minute.

Now let me bring in a companion passage, which occurred to me on the heels of that little thought...

...the fire will test the quality of each man's work.  If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.  If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.  (1 Cor 3:13b-15)

Suddenly, I wondered...what if John wasn't talking about saved vs. unsaved at that point at all, but about what God's people do with themselves?  In the context of the baptism of fire...maybe that wasn't a shift in subject but a description.  Baptized with fire and everything that's not fruit burns up.

Including what looked like fruit but really wasn't.

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance (Matt. 3:8).

Am I really producing fruit for the kingdom, or merely husks that look like fruit but are really only chaff?

A Bit of a Break...then a New Study...

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi 

2/4/18 - before the first service in the still-being-renovated facility; what used to be the cafeteria at the high school, now the lobby....

We made it.  All the stuff.  All the people.  All the equipment.  Well, the guest WIFI still  isn't up and running, but it's in progress.

We're still probably 3 months away from completion of the gym-to-sanctuary conversion; who knows how long before we have all the 'coming soon' features are running as planned and all the functions that are currently in temp spaces moved to their permanent locations.  But we're here.

And our board has done an incredible thing.  They're giving the staff a week off, to catch our breath and rest.  Not all at once...in a rolling rotation of 1/4 of the staff a week for four weeks.

We've been given instructions...make it a mini sabbatical. Spend time in prayer.  Go dark on social media. Get away for a day or two.

Sounds wonderful.

My turn is next week.  So I'm going dark on social media, effective Monday.

Not that that makes a huge difference here; I've been pretty 'dark' for a while.

We have reservations at a state park for the end of the week, but My Sweet Babboo has contracted a rather nasty respiratory bug so I don't know if that's going to happen.  But I'm going to be more or less offline, so even if we don't get over to the river for a couple of days, I'm going to get a break.

I thought I would spend some time pondering the next online Bible study; I haven't done one for a while and I'm feeling the void.  But yesterday in staff prayer I suddenly realized what the next book should be.

We've crossed the Jordan, now it's time to settle in and take the land.

I thought about doing a syllabus; sat down and started putting one together but then I thought, 'What's the hurry? We can do one chapter a week.'

So, starting two weeks from today, join me as we jump in to Joshua.