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March 4th -- Joshua 1-4
Yes, there are FOUR WHOLE CHAPTERS to read today. But, they're short. Read them now at http://www.bible.com/ or with the BIBLE READER widget to the left of this post.

How is everyone this fine day? The sun is shining more, it seems. But, enough about the weather. Let's talk about Joshua!

As you know, Moses died a few chapters ago, in the book of Deuteronomy. Am I supposed to say "May he rest in peace?" now? I'm not really sure the rules on that. But anyway, Moses died, and then the fate of the Israelites was on Joshua's shoulders, along with God :)

I can't imagine what it would be like to have that kind of responsibility. Of course, knowing that God was with you would be a plus... but it would still be very nerve-wrecking. For me, anyhow. But once again, God followed through with his promises and did some pretty awesome miracles to help the Israelites along the way.

First off, Joshua decided to send some spies to make sure the land was, I don't know... acceptable? I guess Joshua just wanted to check out the people there, and see how they'd react to a huge group of people who claim to be God's chosen people, that were promised the land. So, Joshua sent two super secret spies into the unknown land.

Turns out, they weren't as secretive as they planned. The spies were housed in some prostitute lady's house, and the King of Jericho somehow found out that there were Israelite spies among the land. They tried to find the spies, and once they arrived at the prostitute's house, she covered for them, just like in the movies.

I won't lie, when I first read this in the Bible, I was pretty sceptical about this mysterious lady. She was a pretty sketchy character, right? And if God had a plan for His chosen people, why didn't he have the spies staying in a palace? Or, at least at a normal person's home. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks like this. Regardless... most people might wonder why the spies stayed where they stayed, and why she covered for them...

Which brings me to my next point! God always has a plan! Always, always, always, always, always, always. (Always.) The next thing that happened in the Bible was that the prostitute told the spies that she and her people were actually SCARED of the Israelites!

She explained how she'd heard stories about God doing miracles for them, and how her land was supposed to be given to the Israelites, because it was promised by God. Instead of getting all defensive and ratting these "intruders" out to the king, she kept their secret in return for the Israelite's God to bless her and her family.

It's pretty confusing to try and paraphrase, but basically, God brought the spies to the prostitute's house, she kept their secret, and told them how she believed in their God and how she knew he could do awesome miracles. She asked the spies to save her family, the spies agreed, and went back to Joshua.

Joshua probably wasn't expecting for the news to be so good, but when the spies told him that the people were afraid of them and their God... he began to start preparing for the people to enter the land. They, of course, had yet another obstacle to overcome... the Jordan River. Duh duh duhhhhhhhh. (That was my interpretation of scary music.)

BUT GUESS WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?!? God saved the day. Again. Because He has a plan.
God actually stopped the water from flowing, people! That way, all the thousands of people could cross the land without a huge river in the way. Think this is too good to be true? Well, it's not. It's in the Bible, clear as day.

The Israelites crossed the Jordan, the river began flowing again, and Joshua made a little memorial site out of rocks to commemorate God and all his amazing miracles.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? Will the Israelites make it to the promised land after all? What will happen to the prostitute's family? Will there be a war?

Find out tomorrow, or... you can continue reading the Bible if you want to. You don't have to wait on me.

Also, try not to judge people today, (or ever... if possible,) because even if they seem sketchy, they could need God the most, and YOU could be the person to show them that. Peace.

Comments

Robynn said…
Carly, you retell this story so well and so comfortably. Not many people are gifted at
discussing the Bible. You have a natural voice.

You don't sound stilted and pedantic, like so many people do.

I fully believe in judging others. The world would be a kinder, saner place if everyone followed this rule.
March 4, 2010 at 8:52 PM
Robynn said…
Ooops, I meant to say NOT judging others. What
a typo! :-)
March 4, 2010 at 8:53 PM
Granny said…
God uses the most "unlikely" people, and Jesus hung out with the "unlikely," but maybe they needed Him the most! He always has the game plan. We just have to trust in Him.
March 5, 2010 at 3:09 PM
Carly said…
FINALLY-- The purpose of this blog is coming into view! I'm happy to have such good friends/family to help me discuss the Bible!! I agree with both of you, too. Jesus is always using people to help us through tough times, sometimes we just dont realize it. We need to open our eyes more! Most times, the people we judge end up being the people we can help the most!
March 5, 2010 at 4:58 PM
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