The Exodus-Episode II

Dear Bible Readers,

Last Sunday I talked about shows that are broken up into two episodes. Well, Joshua is sorta like Episode II of the Exodus. God not only promised to deliver his people from bondage, He also promised to lead his people into a land flowing with mile and honey. Exodus 3:8 says as much. "So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites." The space between step number one (deliverance) and step number two (arrival) consisted of sin, punishment, intercession, repentance, all repeated so many times we lose count.

When we get to the book of Joshua, the people have wandered long enough and now stand ready to take hold of God's promise. Moses died outside the land because of his disobedience and Joshua now prepares to take the lead role in Episode II. If you like lots of action, you'll love the book of Joshua.

The following are some things to think about as you make your way through this amazing story. As you have thoughts, ideas, or questions, please post them to the blog or send an email and we'll discuss it as we go.

• How do we make sense of the instructions God gave Israel relating to holy war (7:1-26; 20:1-20; 21:10-14; 25:17-19)? What do we think about when we hear the phrase holy war, and how does that color our understanding of Joshua's message?
• Moses played the leading role in Episode I. Joshua plays the leading role in Episode 2. Are there any noticeable differences between these two leaders?
• Joshua was leading Israel into "rest," or the land (Deut 3:20; 12:10; 25:19; Josh 1:13, 15; 14:15, 21:44; 22:4; 23:1). But that rest was temporary at best. God eventually took it away from them when they sinned; they were deported by Assyria and Babylon. The New Testament argues that Jesus came to lead the people into rest that could not be taken away (1Peter 1:3-5) and that Joshua had not been able to fully secure (Heb 3:11, 18; 4:1-11). How does that affect our ideas of the land?
• How can we understand Rahab the prostitute as a model of faith, which is how she's presented in Hebrews 11?
• The Hebrew name for Jesus is Joshua. Are there points of connection between these two leaders?

I trust these questions will give you something to think about along the way.

Pastor Jared

Questions & Comments

Hey all, here are a couple questions from your fellow-readers.

What is a Nazirite?

Numbers 6:1-21 describes a Nazirite as a man or woman who consecrated themselves to God for a set time with a vow. As a part of the vow, they could not drink alcohol, cut their hair, or touch a dead body (even if a family member died). When the time of their consecration ended, they cut their hair, which was used as part of an offering made to God for well-being. Although some chose the Nazirite vow, others were consecrated as Nazirites from birth, like Samson (Judges 13:4-14) and Samuel (1Samuel 1:11). The vow continued to be made up to the time of the New Testament. Although Acts 18:18 and 21:20-26 do not use the word Nazirite, they describe Paul as being under a vow that required him to cut his hair.

What's the deal with Deuteronomy 25:11-12, which reads, "If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity."

This is one of those passages that people point to and say, "why is that in there?" I'm not sure there is a truly satisfying answer to the question, but let me at least offer some context. One, the word for fighting means...fighting. This situation describes one man who is physically fighting with another. This is not a heated disagreement--that would be too easy to explain. Two, the woman appears to be trying to rescue her husband from one that is too strong for him, which seems noble.

More than likely, the issue probably has to do with the importance of of men and women being able to raise up a family, since that is how God said he would bless the nation of Israel. If she were to hit him with a frying pan, stab him with a weapon, or throw dirt in his face, she would not be guilty, but to grab the assailant by his private parts was an offense to the other person, but more importantly prevented the man from raising up a family. Men and women would have both known this was the case. The other factor that should at least merit consideration is that the woman was not alone; she was fighting with her husband. If she were alone she would have few other options.

I realize, as I said, that is not very satisfying, but we must remember that this was written more than three thousand years ago and the original recipients would have understood it very well and not been at all surprised by it. I hope that helps.

Pastor Jared

Press On

Dear Bible-Reading Companions,

Why spend our time reading, studying, meditating on, and memorizing God’s Word? In the beginning of Deuteronomy, Moses warned the Israelites that their only hope of prospering in the land God was giving them was to fully and care-fully keep all the commands God was giving them. If they would, Moses said, the people around them would not only marvel how blessed they were, but would also give glory to God. So here’s what Moses said in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, “4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates.”

Moses instructed the people to make God’s Word a part of every part of their life. First, God’s commands should be internalized—they should be in our hearts. There’s no way to internalize God’s Word without regular doses of it or times of reflecting and meditating on it. Second, God’s Word should be the foundation of what we pass on to our children and grandchildren. They must be impressed upon the next generation. Third, they should fill our conversations. Moses offers four examples of times when God’s Word makes for good conversation—1) sitting at home 2) walking on the road 3) lying down to go to bed 4) and waking up. That pretty much covers every part of our lives—the times we spend at home during the day, the times when we travel or run errands, and the routines we establish when we get up and go to bed. Finally, Moses instructs the people to leave visual reminders of God’s Word all around their homes so that they will be reminded of God’s commands.

I want to encourage you to press on in your quest to fill your life with God’s Word. It will bear fruit not only in your life, but in the life of your family.

Happy Reading!

Pastor Jared

Question/Comment

Pastor Jared,
What are your thoughts on how grace has saved us and that we are no longer living under the regimented laws of the Old Testament?

Sometimes I think that God still wants us following these rules, and we've brushed it aside saying, "But Christ made a way for us". I know Christ said he wasn't here to abolish the law, but we're SO FAR from removed from what the Israelites had to do. Just something I wrestle with.

--Sara Seipp

There are lots of different opinions on that one. Although there are some exceptions, I personally believe that the moral code of the Old Testament has not changed, although the ceremonially code has. So God's standards of morality have not changed, but the expressions of that morality have. Mark says that Jesus "declared all food good (Mark 7:19)," which was a radical departure from the ceremonial code of the Old Testament, but he still said that what goes into a person, their thoughts, had the ability to make them unclean; in that way Jesus upheld the moral code. I would say the same of things like wearing cloths made of more than one material, etc.--Jesus set those aside. But he did not set aside God's standards of morality.

But even more than setting those things aside, Jesus fulfilled them. He became unclean so that we could be clean. He kept every Law for us so that we fulfill God's Law in God's sight. And then, on the other hand, he made things even more difficult for us. He gave us the Sermon On The Mount, which suggests that we can break God's Law by having murderous thoughts, even if we don't murder someone. We can break God's Law by have adulterous thoughts, even if we don't physically commit adultery, etc. So, on the one hand we don't have to do as much as the Israelites did (and we can be thankful), but on the other hand, God has raised the bar because now we have been renewed and filled with God's Spirit.

The biggest problem I have with the difference between the Old and New Testament, or Law and Grace, is that some people seem to talk like God has made it easy on us and now we don't have to be nearly as careful in our spiritual life as the ancient Israelites did. Just the opposite--we are now held to a higher standard, and I think that might be what you're saying.

I hope that helps,

Pastor Jared

Questions/Comments

Here are some thoughts and questions from your fellow-readers:

I am reading thru the Bible this year in a Historical manor, but as thus far we are still together in sequence. As for the first question (the ceremony to test a wife’s faithfulness): I think this is included to show how seriously god takes commitment. Commitment to him and to our spouse, as well as to each other. Maybe I’m trying to read something in that is not there but this is how it spoke to me.

--Linda Wyatt

I see the ceremony showing God's grace to the woman in comparison to the fierce ordeals prescribed in pagan circles, where it is said hardly are you innocent, but lead into guilt. The question I have is - In the 10 commandments it says “Thou shall not commit adultery.” It sounds like this was only for women in the ancient world. I know God meant it for everyone. What's the deal??????

--Caroline Birkner

Pastor Jared,

I had a few questions this morning.

Numbers 4:? What is a sea cow?

The short answer: it is some kind of sea animal, probably related to a dolphin (if it’s related to the Arabic word that is close to the Hebrew word) or a manatee. Whatever it’s closest to, it’s skin was one type of skin used to cover the tabernacle and its equipment (Exod 25:5, etc.)

Numbers 3:15 Why count males from one month old and not newborns, too?

I would guess that it has to do with the number of babies that did not survive the first month of life. The conditions in ancient Israel, like most places in the ancient world, were very difficult and the number of children that survived the first month of life was significantly lower than today.

Numbers 3:39 - 42 I've been trying to figure this out mathematically. There were 22,000 male Levites and out of the remaining 11 tribes, there were 22,273 first born males? That tells me that there were only 1,117 families in each tribe, so the families must have been quite large. What am I missing here? Thanks!

--Debbie

I’ve never tried to figure this out mathematically to see how many would have been in each family, but families were significantly bigger then (look at the Patriarchs) partly because they had as many children as they could, but also partly because many men had multiple wives. The family would also have included servants, so you can see how the numbers could begin to grow quickly.

Hope that helps!

The ceremony to test an unfaithful wife seems rather harsh and ancient by most standards. However, most people (not you all) fail to realize that this was actually protection for the women against unjustifiably jealous husbands. There was no such test in other ancient cultures and women could be divorced or killed if the husband suspected unfaithfulness. The ancient world was VERY patriarchal—this was meant to protect women.

Happy reading!

Pastor Jared