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- [00:00]
A
Foreign.
- [00:05]
B
Hey, this is Shelby and Scott. We're walking through the Bible in a year. We're in Joshua chapters 10 through 12. What's going on in these chapters, Scott?
- [00:16]
A
Yeah, so I was reading these chapters and I. I thought about a camp high. Do you know what I'm referring to about that? It's like, you know, maybe you go to a camp with your youth group, some kind of retreat, you come back to normal life, you're all like, I'm on fire for Jesus. Yeah, I'm going to change the world. And then the high kind of just starts to fade as you get settled back in a normal life. And it's not quite exactly the same thing, but I thought about that in this section of Joshua, because I feel like you've got just some great moments in Joshua followed by some pretty low lows. So in chapters four to six, you had, you know, the crossing of the Jordan, they celebrated Passover, they defeated Jericho, but then you had Achan sin, you had them getting defeated at AI because of that. Then you get another high in chapter eight with this covenant renewal ceremony, followed in chapter nine by a failure even on Joshua's part not to inquire of the Lord when the. When the Gibeonites deceived them.
- [01:10]
B
Yeah, so maybe that's becoming like a little bit of a pattern here.
- [01:14]
A
Yeah, highs and lows.
- [01:15]
B
Yeah.
- [01:16]
A
Fortunately for Israel, it's also a pattern is God's faithfulness to them. And we see that all over today's chapters, I think. First, one example, once some of the kings in the region hear about Gibeon's treaty with Israel, they realize they've lost an important ally, and so they attack Gibeon. And the Israelites, true to the treaty they made with them, come to Gibeon's aid and they defeat these five kings. And so God uses this treaty to achieve victory over these various kings for Israel. And then really the rest of the chapters for today swiftly kind of moves through all Israel's various victories. There's a southern campaign mentioned and a northern one. There's a few comments I think are worth mentioning, though. We frequently read in these chapters that God handed over certain kings to Israel. Then in Joshua 10:14 and 10:42, we read that God fought for Israel, which I think is cool. And then I love this comment in Joshua 11:15 about Joshua's faithfulness that Joshua left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses. So you just see in these chapters, God's faithfulness to Israel, he's fighting for them. And then you do see Israel's faithful response to him as well. And personally, I find it helpful to read a chapter like Joshua 12 with that in mind, because remember, the book of Joshua has made it clear so far that victory will only be found in their obedience to the Lord, not in their skills or in their numbers. And so, you know, it might feel tedious in chapter 12 to read, you know, the King of Horma 1, the King of Arad 1, and just remember, though, that every single one of these victories is a testament to God's faithfulness to these people. Each name is a victory. And so each one that's mentioned, each king is an instance that everyday Israelites could point to as proof that God is for them. God is on their side. He's fighting for them. And so I think this is more than just a list of victories. It's a list of reasons for the Israelites to, I think, one, trust God, and two, for them to remember that the good life is a life lived in obedience to Him.
- [03:28]
B
Yeah, and that's something we so easily forget, Right. That the good life isn't in chasing other things. I'm so easily drawn to that. We need that reminder also today that the good life is a life that's lived in obedience to the Lord. Right.
- [03:43]
A
Yeah. You know, I had to be reminded reading these chapters that, like, you know, if I live in ways that God doesn't want me to, it's not going to turn out well for me, which is such an elementary lesson. But that's, you know, I was just reminded of that in these chapters. But, you know, to say that positively, I will never regret being obedient to the Lord. I'll never regret obeying his commands. And sometimes obedience will mean things get harder. Yeah, but. But in the end, it's the best investment I can make. Like, I can trust that God is committed to my flourishing and that the path he calls me to walk is good for me.
- [04:20]
B
Yeah, absolutely. Psalm 1 is a Psalm that I've been meditating on a lot. And just those words, like, blessed are the one who walks in the ways of the Lord. And we talked about that word blessed in previous episodes and what that means. And often I think, like, blessed are the ones who go out and get what they want for themselves. Blessed are the ones who, like, work hard and achieve a lot. But no, blessed are the ones who live in the way that the Lord has asked them to. And so that's my takeaway from today. What a great reminder from the book of Joshua. We're going to have more. Tomorrow we'll be back to keep talking through this book.
- [04:56]
A
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