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- [00:00]
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Foreign.
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Hey, this is Shelby and Scott. You're listening to A Year in the Bible With Daily Grace. And today is our final day in the book of Joshua. We've said it multiple times throughout this book. This is the book of highs, and this is a book of lows. But we are wrapping it up today. So we want to talk about these final few chapters of Joshua, chapters 22 through 24, and then also just kind of our overall takeaways from Joshua as a whole. Let's start with chapters 22 through 24. What's happening in these chapters, Scott?
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So, all right. I just, I love how chapter 21 ends on this beautiful note about God's been faithful to keep his promises, how the Israelites are now at rest in the land. And then in chapter 22, you have this, like, near civil war breakout among the tribes. It's just very, very jarring. But, you know, to really appreciate what's happening in these chapters, again, we've said it so many times in Deuteronomy and in Joshua, but there's just been a huge emphasis throughout this section of scripture on Israel being faithful to God when they're in the land. And these last three chapters are functioning pretty much along the same lines. Like, if there's a thread that unites these last chapters, it's the importance of obedience now that they're settling into the land. And that's why the western tribes freak out, though, at the Eastern tribes when they construct this tabernacle. And they're like, what are you doing? You can only sacrifice at one altar, which at this point is in the city of Shiloh. But as the eastern tribes explained, this altar was actually a reminder to them that the only altar they could sacrifice at would be at Shiloh. So this is not an altar for them to make sacrifices on. And this scene is actually really. This is another funny moment to me in scripture because of how just quickly the tension is resolved. This scene is like the chief men give this super long speech about how stupid the Eastern tribes are to build this altar. They remind them of all these moments in their past when people rebelled against God and what happened, happened to them. Eastern tribes are like, yeah, we, we know. That's what this all search is supposed to remind us of. And the other people are just like, oh, okay, cool. And they go home. It's just like, all right, well, that was, that was quick. Hey, at least they're. At least they're concerned about being faithful to the Lord.
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Yeah, exactly. That was kind of my takeaway from that. Is you have, like, both the Eastern and Western tribes. They're showing some concern for faithfulness and obedience to God, as they're now just, like, dwelling in the land that they have been allotted. So I guess we can take that as a hopeful sign.
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Totally.
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Okay, so as we wrap up Joshua as a whole, any kind of, like, overarching thoughts, big takeaways for you?
- [02:40]
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Yeah, I think the last two chapters, really, for me even, just serve as some reminders for the entire book. Like, you know, these last couple chapters, there's a constant reminder of God's faithfulness to his promises. He's made them into a large nation. They now dwell in the land of Canaanite. There's the reminders to be faithful. You have that famous verse in Joshua 24 where Joshua says, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. As for me and my household, we'll serve the Lord. Gosh, I love the note, too. It's brief about Joseph's bones being buried. So at long last, these people are now home, which they've been longing for for so long. They've become this great nation. They're in a homeland. And now the big question is, what will they do now that they're in their lands? Will they be a blessing to the nations surrounding them by being faithful to God? And these last chapters show us how important it is in our walks with the Lord to not just look forward, but to look backwards, too. And we've talked about this, the importance of remembering, like, just to consider, to remind ourselves of all the ways we've seen God be faithful to us in our lives, which in turn should give us confidence that he'll continue to be faithful in our lives in the future, moving forward. And, yeah, that reminder of what God has done in the past should always be in our minds, giving us confidence that he'll continue to be with us moving forward.
- [04:04]
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Yeah, absolutely. And we've talked so much about that throughout, even these last few books of the Bible. Just like remembering, looking back and remembering God's faithfulness. I think in the book of Joshua as a whole, what sticks out to me is God's sovereignty, His might, his faithfulness, and seeing God's promises fulfilled based on that, rather than on the people always doing the right thing or even them having the power or authority or strength to do any of the things that God has called them to. And so Joshua is always just a book that reminds me that my courage as a believer, as someone who is in Christ, is based on God's character. And so I'm thankful for this book. It's been great to walk through it for the last several episodes. We're gonna be entering a much different book, the Book of Judges, tomorrow. There's a lot happening in Jud,
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not
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a lot good happening in Judges, but there's a lot we can take away from it. And it is a book that's confusing, and so we're going to help you make sense of it. C.J. is going to be joining me for that book, so we'll be back for that tomorrow. Scott, thanks for taking us through. Joshua, this has been awesome.
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Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
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Yeah. Okay. We'll see you back tomorrow for Judges.