Joshua 1:1-18.  Remember to read the “Intro to Joshua” for a little background as we look at this piece of Israel’s history.  In today’s reading Joshua takes control.  Or should I say he is given control.  God puts Joshua in command.  And Joshua does just that, they are sitting on the east bank of the Jordan River looking west tot he promised land.  He immediately orders the people to prepare to cross informing them that they will enter within three days. Then he reminds the tribes of Reuben and Gad and a part of the tribe of Manasseh that they need to go too.

As the Israelites came to the end of their wandering in the desert east and mostly south of the promised land they moved north along the eastern edge of the Dead Sea.  This territory was controlled by Canaanites, Amorites, Edomites, Midianites, and Moabite.  These groups fought against the Israelites even though in some cases Moses had tried to pass peacefully.  Although they were instructed not to destroy cities in the promised land when they took it over that was not the case as they traveled east of the River.  They destroyed some cities there and killed much of the population.  This may seem harsh but in Numbers 25 we see the influence that these people could have on the Israelites.  Remember that the Israelites were given certain rule to see if they could honor God in their lives (See “Intro to Joshua”).  The first of these rules was to not have any other god than Yahweh (Exodus 20:2-3).  In that chapter we see these foreign people luring the Israelites away from the LORD (Yahweh)to Baal the Canaanite god  (and remember that these people practices human sacrafices to their gods).  The result was that 24000 Israelites were executed for following the Canaaite god.

When the finally arrived at the place they were going to enter the promised land at the north end of the Dead Sea there was quite a bit of territory on the east of the river that they had conquered.  It was good land for ranching so the tribes of Gad and Reuben asked if they could stay there and live there.  Moses was concerned that they were not being part of the nation that God was forming.  The Gadites and Reubenites agreed to fight along side of their “brothers” (distant cousins really) and so Moses instructed that the land be given to them along with a part of the tribe of Manasseh.  That is what Joshua is reminding them about. And they remember.

Now a couple of things that interested me.  First I think it is important when something is repeated.  In the first 9 verses of Joshua God tells him to be strong and courageous.  But God also tells Joshua the He is giving him and sons of Israel the land.  God tells Joshua that no man will be able to resist him.  Why?  Because God is with him.  There is a condition though, and it seems to be a part of this whole experiment.  Success depends on learning and living by the commandments that God gave to them through Moses.  Remember and do the Law.  Finally I think it is cool that the Reubenites and Gadites and Manassites also tell Joshua to be strong and courageous.

For me today I want to remember to remember.  I need to read and study God’s word.  that’s what we are doing right now.  But I also need to do it.  That’s harder.  Finally I hope that I can repeat God’s words to others.  Ephesians 4:29 says that our words need to be build other people up by being filled with the good news of who God is and what he is doing.  God help me live for you.  Let me stay close to you through your word.  Let me think about it all the time, day and night.  Help me do it. Let me help others by sharign your love with them.  And let me never forget that you are pure and I need to be to.  Thank you for cleaning me up and thank you for your Spirit who helps in all of these things.

Judges 21:16-25.  Yesterday we saw the 11 tribes regretting the fact that they had almost destroyed one of their tribes, Benjamin.  There were 600 Benjamites alive and holed up at the Rock of Rimmon.  After four months the rest of the Israelites decided they needed to make peace and came up with a plan to get wives for these guys.  They had made a vowto each other, before the war,  that if any of them gave their daughters to be wives to the Benjaminites that that person would be put to death.  A stupid vow that they should have repented of.  Instead they came up with their own plan.  There was one city in Gad’s territory that had never come to the war.   The plan?  to kill all the people of that city except for any virgins and give those girls as wives to the Benjamites. More destruction, a stupid plan.  They came up short though, they only found 400 girls that met the qualifications (though that would be a lot of girls from one rural town in those days).  Today we see them still bothered by the fact that there are 200 guys whose names will vanish.  So they come up with another plan.

Have you asked yourself, “Why are they so upset about this?”  I mean after all they did find wives for 400 of the guys so the tribe of Benjamin would not be completely destroyed.  Ironically though saving those 400 families probably came at the cost of several other families in the town that they destroyed.  I’m not sure why losing the other 200 families would have been a problem, or even the whole tribe for that matter.  Maybe it was because of the blessing Moses gave the tribe in Deuteronomy 33:12 (See also “What’s in a Name”).  There are several notable Benjamites in the Bible.  If this happens early in the times of the Judges then Ehud, one of the Judges comes after this.  Saul, the first king of Israel was a Benjamite.  Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, was a Benjamite.  In the New Testament Paul is a Benjamite (Saul.  See “What’s in a Name”).  All after this story.  I’m still looking to see if God made some promise to preserve all of the Israelite tribes. I do know that in Revelations 7 when God brings Israel in for the last part of current history that one tribe, Dan, is not included (See “The Twelve?”).  Whether or not Dan will still exist at that time I don’t know, but they are not included in the final assignment given to Israel.  Although I did not exhaust all the possibilities it does not appear that God really needed this tribe to survive, there do not seem to be any particular promises that he made to them or about them.  It may have been important for them to survive because of things like Moses’ blessing.  Maybe God wanted to honor that.  He did use descendants from the tribe in the future but he could have chosen someone else.  Several time in the history of Israel a leader begged God to preserve the Israelites “for the sake of His name”.  Maybe losing a tribe would have brought dishonor to God in the surrounding nations.  In one of Moses’ final speeches to the Israeilites he reminded them of the relationship they had with God and in that speech he spoke of the possibility of God punishing even a whole tribe for not following Him.  There is hope in the speech too, though, where God will allow people, families, and tribes to return to Him (See Deuteronomy 29-30).

For what ever reason the 11 tribes were upset and were coming up with ways to keep the tribe of Benjamin from vanishing from the face of the earth.  I think they were bothered by the way their original plan had worked out.  We have already looked at the fact that they did not consult God about what to do about the original rape and the people in Gibeah.  The fact that they blamed God for the outcome of the war (Judges 21:15) shows me that they didn’t realize that their actions were sinful (disobedient to God).  They were not repentant (Repent means to turn from the way you are going and go another way.  In the Bible it usually means to turn from our way and go God’s way).  In fact they continued to go their own way, they just kept getting together coming up with plans.  They should have been listening for God’s plan.

The plan they came up with was to kidnap some girls on their way to a festival to honor God.  The festival was at a place called Shiloh.  As I mentioned yesterday Shiloh is where the portable “church” was that they Israelites had used while they wandered around before they took over the land God had promised to them.  Evidently is was set up outside of town (It was pretty big) with vineyards all around it.  As these girls came out of town on their way to “church” the 200 guys were to run out of the vineyards, grab, them, and take them back home.  How wild is that plan?  Even if we consider the fact that marriages were arranged in those days it is still a pretty shocking plan.  Can you imagine being kidnapped and taken away forever, no chance to say goodbye, no wedding feast, no blessing from dad.  And the word used in verse 21 “catch” or sieze” is only used in one other verse in the Bible.  In Psalm 10:9 it is used to describe the actions of a wicked man and compares them to a lion pouncing on it’s prey.  It is clear from Judges 21:22 that these girls were Israelite girls because the leaders of the 11 tribes tell the guys that they will back them up when the dads and brothers come out to complain.  It is sad that the word to describe the actions of these dads and brothers is a legal term.  I was hoping the word would be a word indicating anger.  The answer that the leaders were prepared to give show that this was more about rules that relationships.  The answer was, “You didn’t break the oath we took about not giving wives to these guys because you didn’t “give” your daughters to them, they took them.”  So the men followed through on the plan, went home, and rebuilt their towns.  And the rest of the people returned to his tribe and family.  The section and the book end by telling us that there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in their own eyes.

Did you notice how those last two verses went from nation , to tribe, to family to individual.  That was the problem.  It was all about me, me, me.  Aghhhhh!  It’s just crazy the games we play.  We make messes and try to fix them.  Sometimes we just need to cry out, “Help.  I need help.  I cannot fix this.”  Sometimes?  Always.  We need to get God’s answer and then move forward.  But of course we don’t.  It’s good to know that God is willing to let us correct our course.  If we are going the wrong directions we can change.  No fate, no predetermined outcome, no “Final Destination” here.  Yes disobedience to God results in separation from Him.  And that separation can be forever.  But it does not need to be forever we can turn back (at leas as long as we are alive Hebrews 9:27).  Actions have consequences but God allows us to turn around.  If we don’t, if we do it our way, the result is destruction, pain, suffering, and more.  There was a king in Israel they just were not listening to Him.  They were doing what they wanted to do.  We need to stop trying to fix things.  Repent.  Let God fix things.  This does not mean we do nothing it means that we listen to God and go His way.  god help me listen, listen, listen.  Then I can move forward and listen some more.  Each day I need to listen to you.  Thank you that you allow us to step back, turn around.  Thank you for being kind and forgiving.  Thank you for communicating to me through the Bible.  Thank you for communicating through your Spirit.  Help me listen.  Help me understand.  Help me obey.