Thurs.’s Devo - Battle of the Kings

Read: Joshua 9:3-10:43; Luke 16:19-17:10; Psalm 83:1-18; Proverbs 13:4 The Israelites were three days journey from the large town of Gibeon which was larger than Ai and full of strong warriors. It would surely be Israel’s next target and the men of Gibeon had heard that the Lord had given Israel all the land and were told to kill its inhabitants so they resorted to deception. They sent men with old wineskins, worn out clothes and moldy bread to the camp of Israel. They told Joshua that they were from a very far land and had heard of their might and their God. They wanted to make a treaty of peace and protection with Israel. The Israelites looked at their evidence but did not ask the Lord about it. Instead, they made a treaty with them and they went back to their town. The king of Jerusalem, King Adone-zedek heard about the treaty and enlisted the help of four other kings to attack Gibeon together. The men of Gibeon immediately sent for Israel to help fight with them. Israel was irate when they learned that Gibeon was so close and that they had been tricked by them but they had sworn in the Lord’s name and they had no choice but to help them. Joshua took his best warriors and set out for Gibeon. The Lord told him not to be afraid because He would give them victory. They rode all night and took the enemy by surprise. They chased them down the road where the Lord destroyed those that go away with a terrible hailstorm from heaven. Joshua prayed that the sun would stand still over Gibeon and the moon would stand still over the valley of Aijalon. (Let this sink in…the sun moves and the moon moves. Joshua didn’t tell the earth to stop rotating around the sun. The truth is it is the opposite.) The five kings hid in a cave where Joshua had the entrance filled with rocks. After the battle, Joshua brought them out and told his commanders to put their feet on the kings’ necks and they obeyed. Joshua told his men to not every be afraid or discouraged because God was going to do this to all their enemies. Then Joshua killed the kings and impaled them on poles where they hung till evening. When the sun went down he had the bodies thrown into the cave they had hidden in and they sealed the opening with rocks. Joshua led his army to the towns of every king that had attacked them and they took their towns then returned to Gilgal. In Luke, yesterday we read where Jesus addressed the Pharisees about wealth. He had made the point that their money did not make them righteous. Righteousness came from God and it manifested out of a heart who was given over to God. He went on to tell the story about a man named Lazareth. Lazareth in the Greek means Eleazar which was the name of the high priest during Moses’ time and the high priest during David’s time. In this story, Jesus depicts Lazareth as a poor man who laid at the gate of a rich man and ate his scraps. The dogs would lick his open sores. Both men died, but Lazareth was carried by angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet. The rich man went to the place of the dead where there was an uncrossable chasm between them. The rich man cried out to Abraham to let Lazareth give him a drop of water but Abraham told him no one could cross the chasm separating them. So the rich man asked Abraham to send Lazareth to his family to tell them about the place of torment he was in. Abraham told him that they had the words of Moses and the prophets and they could read them. But the man persisted that if someone was sent from the dead, they would believe. Abraham answered that if them wouldn’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they would wouldn’t believe if someone rose from the dead. Jesus was talking about them. They were the rich man and He was the one who would rise from the dead and they still wouldn’t believe. Jesus told his disciples one day that all will be tempted but just be sure you are not the tempter. Live in forgiveness and you won’t become the tempter. They asked Jesus how to increase their faith and he told them to not just do what they were told but to go beyond serving as a duty. Seek the kingdom first and all these things will be added. Lord, help us to not be tempted with wealth or the things of this world. Help us to live for the kingdom.

Wed.’s Devo - From Curse to Blessing

Read: Joshua 7:16-9:2; Luke 16:1-18; Psalm 82:1-8; Proverbs 13:2-3 All of the tribes had come before the Lord and He singled out the tribe of Judah. From the tribe of Judah, Achan was chosen. Joshua told him to confess what he had done and Achan did. He had taken 200 silver coins, a bar of gold and a beautiful robe from Babylon and hidden them beneath his tent. They took him with all his stolen goods, his sons, daughters, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, tent and everything he owned to the valley of Achor. Joshua declared that Achan (which means troubler) had brought trouble on Israel so now God was bringing trouble on him. The people then stoned him and all that was his. Then the Lord turned their curse into a blessing and showed Joshua just how to take Ai. Before they had presumptuously taken 3,000 men. God told them to take ten times that many. He showed them the strategy for Ai would be to have an ambush behind the army who would burn the city after the soldiers chased the first army. It worked and they burned the city to the ground and took the plunder for themselves. God had wanted the first fruit of Jericho and the rest of the cities were the people’s. They killed 12,000 of the people from Ai. Joshua impaled the king of Ai until evening then had his body thrown in front of the town gate where they piled a great heap of stones over him. Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord on Mt. Ebal which was the mountain they had spoken the curses from. Joshua offered sacrifices on the altar then wrote the words of the law on the stones of the altar. The Israelites stood half on Mt. Ebal and half on Mt. Gerizim and the priests brought the Ark to the valley between the two mountains. Joshua read to them all the blessings and curses. When the remaining kings of the land heard about what had happened in Ai, they combined their armies to fight against Joshua and the Israelites. In Luke, Jesus told a story about a wise business man who found out he was going to be fired. He invited all of his bosses creditors into his office and lessened their debt so that when he was fired he would have people who would help him. The owner found out what he had done and commended him for being so shrewd. Jesus said that the people of the earth are shrewder that we are and there are some things we can learn from them. It is wise to help others so that when you are in need others will help you but the real lessons is that if you are faithful with a few things, then you will be faithful with much. We are tested with the small things. If we honor God in small things that don’t seem so important, then we will have the same reaction with larger things. You cannot serve God and money. Jesus explained that until then they had used the law and the words of the prophets to be their guide. Now that the Kingdom had come full of forgiveness and grace, it did not lesson the law. The law stands forever. Jesus gave them the example of what they were doing with their wives. They were putting them away without going through the law to divorce them. This was causing them to commit adultery. This was what they were doing with their laws. They had replaced Moses’ law with the Talmud and the Mishna. They were living by man-made laws causing them to commit adultery towards the Lord. Lord, may we fear you and your words and follow you from a heart of love and obedience.

Tues.’s Devo - Defeating Jericho

Read: Joshua 5:1-7:15; Luke 15:1-32; Psalm 81:1-16; Proverbs 13:1 The Amorites were paralyzed with fear when they heard of how God dried up the Jordan for Israel to cross over. The Lord told Joshua to circumcise the men over twenty since no one had be circumcised since leaving Egypt. All of the circumcised had died in the wilderness because of their rebellion and a new group of warriors had arisen. They named the place Gibeath-haaraloth which means “hill of foreskins”. But when they had healed, God called the place Gilgal which means “a wheel” because on that day God rolled their shame of slavery away from them. It was Passover and the next day they celebrated Unleavened Bread from the grains and fruits of the promised land. No longer did they need manna so they never saw manna again. Joshua met a man on his way to Jericho and asked him if he was friend or foe. He answered, neither, he was the commander of the Lord’s army. This was so true; sometimes God used his army to fight with Israel and sometimes against them. Joshua submitted totally to this commander (who was probably Michael) and he gave Joshua the strategy to take Jericho. He was to send the priests with rams’ horns to blow their horns as they marched around the city. The army was to walk silently behind them. They were to circle the city once every day for seven days and on the seventh they were to encircle the city seven times. All the while the priests were blowing their horns. They started at dawn so the people woke up to the sound of horns. How terrifying to wait for an attack day after day. This was intimidating and terrifying for the people of Jericho. On the seventh day, after their seventh time around, the people were to shout as loud as they could and the walls would fall down. They obeyed the Lord’s commands and it happened just as God’s commander had said it would. They were to completely destroy everything living with their swords and save only things made of metal and give them to the Lord’s treasury. Joshua spared Rahab and her relatives. Joshua cursed anyone who would try to rebuild the town of Jericho. They would lose their firstborn son while laying the foundation and their youngest son when setting up its gates. When I went to Israel fifteen years ago, our tour guide told us that a wealthy man decided to rebuild Jericho a few years before this and he lost his oldest son the day he laid the foundation. His youngest son begged his father to stop to save his life and he abandoned the project. Achan secretly kept some of the gold for himself which brought a curse on Israel. The next town they were to take was called Ai. It was small and should have been a piece of cake for them. They sent only 3,000 men to take it and were completely humiliated. Thirty-six men died and Israel was now paralyzed in fear. If others heard of what happened they would ban together and annihilate them. Joshua and the elders went before the Lord and God told them it was because someone had sinned against him and now they had become God’s enemy. They would never win a battle until they had rectified this problem. God told them to meet with him the next morning, along with the leaders of each tribe and He would show them who was guilty. In Luke, the religious leaders complained that Jesus ate with sinners. Jesus gave them three parables explaining the reason he did what he did. One was about a man who lost one in a hundred sheep, the second was about a woman who lost one coin out of ten and the last was the story of a man who had two sons and lost one to sin. In each of the stories he told of the joy of finding the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. The lost son was the greatest joy. Jesus was trying to change their perspective about evangelism and the heart of God. Being found and forgiven is like life from death - it is being born again, which is something to rejoice about! Lord, help us not to be like the prodigal son’s brother and the Pharisees who could only see their worth and not the worth of a person brought out of sin. Help us to rejoice with You because salvation is a gift we have all been given freely.

Mon.’s Devo - Crossing the Jordan

Read: Joshua 3:1-4:24; Luke 14:7-35; Psalm 80:1-19; Proverbs 12; 27-28 The children of Israel came to the Jordan river on the tenth day of Nisan, the first month on the religious calendar. That would be four days before Passover which was the very day the lamb was to be set apart for sacrifice. They were crossing over from death to life and their feast would be eaten in the promised land. God exalted Joshua in the sight of his people and in the sight of their enemies in the land. He also set apart the priests to go a half a mile ahead of the people. They were to carry the Ark on their shoulders and step into the Jordan River a few steps, then stand in the water. Miles up the river, God would stop the water from flowing and it would work its way to them. By the time the people got there the usually overflowing Jordan would be dry and crossable. The priests would then walk into the middle of the riverbed and stop. The people would walk past them to the other side. When they all got to the other side, Joshua had the 12 men he had chosen (one from each tribe) to go back to the middle of the riverbed and choose a stone to represent their tribe. They were to carry it back to the people and set them in a pile as a memorial of what God did for them by stopping the flow of the Jordan and letting them cross. They set up another pile of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan where the priests had stood. When the priests came out of the water it immediately started flowing again. Joshua reminded them that this was the same thing he had done at the Red Sea forty years earlier. He did this so that all the nations of the earth might know that God’s hand was powerful and that they should fear him. In Luke, Jesus was still at the dinner party of the Pharisee when he noticed many of the people trying to get the best seats. Jesus told them not to try to get the best seat because if someone more distinguished than them arrived, the host might ask them to give your seat to him. Then they would end up in a seat in the back. Instead, he told them to sit in the back and let the host promote you. Jesus told the host that the next time he had a dinner party he should not ask his rich friends who could invite him back, but to invite the poor and needy who would never be able to repay him. Then God would reward him. One of the men sitting with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!” Jesus then told them a parable about God and his banquet. God prepared his banquet and sent out many invitations. He got excuses in return so he sent him messengers back out to invite the poor, crippled, blind and lame. When he still had room for more, he sent his messengers to the country land and behind the hedges to urge anyone they could find to come. He filled the room. God then said that not one of the first invitees would even get a small taste of his banquet. Jesus then turn to the crowd and told them that if they wanted to be his disciple, they must die to everything in this life and carry their own cross and follow him. First they must fully count the cost and be prepared to lose it all. This was the complete opposite of what the religious leaders taught. They taught that if God approved of you then you would be rewarded with riches here on earth. To prove that they were God’s best, they made sure they had money even if it meant stealing from the people. They were all about appearances but their hearts were wicked and selfish. Lord, thank you for your mighty hand that is powerful against your enemies. May you arise in our midst and defeat our enemies. May we count the cost of following you and receive your invitation with joy.

Sun.’s Devo - Moes Dies, Joshua Arises

Read: Deuteronomy 34:1-Joshua 2:24; Luke 13:22-14:6; Psalm 79:1-13; Proverbs 12:26 Moses climbed Mt. Nebo up to Pisgah Peak where he was able to survey the whole promised land. He was actually standing in the land given to Reuben on the west side of the Jordan. This was the place that Balak took Balaam the second time and Balaam gave the prophecy about the Messiah, the king was among them. Balaam proclaimed from here that God was not a man that he should lie. His commandment was to bless these people and he was to changing his mind. Moses was 120 years old and yet his eyes were not dim or his strength gone. When he left, the people mourned for him for thirty days. There has never been a prophet like Moses that spoke to God face to face. The Lord had sent him to perform mighty miracles against the Pharaoh of Egypt. Joshua rose up full of the spirit of wisdom he had received when Moses laid his hands upon him. The people vowed to follow him like they had followed Moses. God promised Joshua that he would give him all the land his feet touched and no one would be able to stand against him. He told Joshua to be strong and very courageous because God was going with him and he would be successful. Joshua was to meditate on the law day and night and do everything it said to do and he would have complete success. Joshua sent word throughout the camps to get ready because in three days they would cross into their land. He called the leaders of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh and reminded them of their promise to go help them take the land. They were ready to fulfill their commitment. Joshua secretly sent out two spies to spy out the land. He had learned from the last time that only two came back (he was one) with a positive report so this time he only sent two. They came to Jericho and met Rahab, a prostitute in Jericho. She told them how afraid everyone was of them. She hid them from the officers of Jericho and made them promise to save her and her family when they came to take the city. The spies promised if she left the scarlet thread hanging in her window, they would save the people in her house. She agreed and let them down the rope out of the city. She told them to stay in the mountains for three days then go home. The spies returned to Joshua and told them that God had given them the land. The people in the land were terrified of them. This was the report Joshua wanted to hear. In Luke, a man asked Jesus if only a few people would be saved. Jesus told him that we must work hard to enter the door to God’s kingdom because one day it would be too late. There would come a day when the door would be shut. The people who seemed least now would be great in God’s kingdom and the ones who were important now would be the least then. Immediately, some Pharisees tried to scare Jesus to leave by telling him that Herod Antipas wanted to kill him. Here was an important person on earth that Jesus called a “fox”. Jesus had no respect for him. He had killed John the Baptist over a provocative dance. Jesus told them to tell Herod that he would keep doing what he was doing - healing and casting out devils. Jesus knew Herod would not be able to touch him till he came to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was where the prophets were killed. That would be where he would be killed. One Sabbath day, Jesus was eating at the home of the leader of the Pharisees. There was a man, probably planted there by them, who had swollen legs and arms. Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked them if the law said anything about not healing on the Sabbath. None of them could answer because it doesn’t. Jesus turned it back on them and told them that their cow fell into a pit on the Sabbath, they would get it out, so he healed the man. Lord, help us to see the big picture and not stain at the small stuff. Help us to be strong and courageous and take your land back from the devil. May we help those who have fallen into a pit of sin.

Sat.’s Devo - The Tribal Blessings

Read: Deuteronomy 33:1-29; Luke 13:1-21; Psalm 78:65-72; Proverbs 12:25 After God gave them such a depressing song to sing, He blessed them like a father would bless his beloved sons. God sees his hopes for us and blesses us with a good destiny. It is our choice to walk in it and it was Israel’s choice to become their blessing. Moses depicts God as the sun who rose at Mt. Sinai and shed his rays of light all the way to Canaan. Moses named the tribes and gave them specific blessings. Even though Reuben lost its right to the first born, he was blessed to live and not die. At the time Reuben was more numerous than several other tribes but eventually shrunk to a small nomadic tribe. Simeon is not mentioned although scholars who studied the writings of the Septuagint claim that the second part of Reuben’s blessing was for Simeon. It read “…and let not his men be few”. Judah was blessed with strength to fight their enemies. Judah was the tribe that led them into battles. Levi was commended in their faithfulness to the Lord even when it came to killing their own relatives who rebelled against the Lord with the golden calf. Benjamin was favored and given land bordering Jerusalem. Mt. Zion was in Judah, but Mt. Moriah was in Benjamin. Joseph was in the hills rich in wood, water, olives, grapes and figs. Zebulun was given land by the sea and became a commercial place of imports and exports. Issachar chose to live in their towns and were not as adventurous as Zebulun though both became wealthy because of trade. Gad had chosen the rich land east of the Jordan which was larger than their land would have been in Canaan. They stayed true to their promise to fight for the other tribes in Canaan. Dan was described as a young lion leaping. He was given land in the south but when it was too small, he went to the north and established a colony. This could have been his “leap”. Naptali was blessed with fertile territory to the west of lake Merom and Chinnereth with Dan to the south. Asher was blessed with land full of earthly bounty. He would dip his feet in oil, probably referring to pressing out olives. Then it refers to shoes of iron and brass which could refer to the shoes they wore in rocky coasts and during battle. His territory was located on the coast of Carmel and Sidon. Moses concluded with praise to their God. There was no one like Him. They were privileged to have Jehovah God as their God and protector. He had given them this blessed land because of his great love for his people. In Luke, Jesus made the point that everyone is going to die one day. They may not chose how or when they die, but they can choose where they go when they die. Death is a punishment to some but a promotion for God’s people. Jesus gave a parable about Israel, God’s fig tree. In a nutshell, he was giving it another year before he cursed it and cut it down. Jesus healed a crippled woman and the Pharisees were outraged that he did it on the Sabbath. Jesus gave them examples of how they worked on the Sabbath also. They would release their oxen and donkey’s on the Sabbath to get water, wasn’t it right to release a person who had been in bondage for years. This shamed the religious leaders while the people rejoiced. Jesus explained that the kingdom of God was like a little seed, it started with one person then grew and grew. He was that one person and through him the kingdom would grow and grow. Lord, may we walk in your blessings and spread your kingdom.

Fri.’s Devo - The Rest of the Song -

Read: Deuteronomy 32:28-52; Luke 12:35-59; Psalm 78:56-64; Proverbs 12:24 God’s song continued: God called the children of Israel “void of counsel”. They didn’t understand their purpose on the earth or the importance of God and his laws. They couldn’t comprehend that their whole fate was in the Lord’s hand and no one could harm them unless God allowed or sent them. Their Rock was Jesus and he was nothing like the rocks other nations worshipped. God’s people grew from God’s vine but their enemies were seeds from the vineyards of Sodom and Gomorrah. They were the seed of Satan. They drank from the grapes of poison and serpents. God’s people were suppose to drink from the wine of the Lord. They would rebel and choose to become like their heathen nations so God would become their enemy for the time. When they lost hope and called out to the Lord for help, he would tell them to ask the gods they had chosen. They would come to know that God is the God of all the gods and he is the only one who gives life and heals and rescues with his powerful hand. God will take revenge on his enemies and repay his own people who rejected him. He will repay those who hated him and cleanse his people’s land. This was the end of the song. I bet it didn’t make it on the top ten of their playlist. Moses gave the song to Joshua and told the people to obey the law because it was their life. Then God told Moses to climb Mt. Nebo where he could see the promised land and there he would die. Aaron had also died on a mountain (Mt. Hor). They had both failed to demonstrate God’s holiness at the waters of Meribah when Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it. In Luke, Jesus took a great amount of time and examples to tell them to live their lives ready for his return. We are told to serve God and occupy until he comes. We should live awaiting his return as if it is any moment but making the most of every day to serve him. When he comes back he will serve his servants but those who lived their lives unaware or selfishly will be rewarded accordingly. Lord, may we make the most of our time on earth living for our eternal home with you. Remind us that this is not our home.