Year 1, Week 23, Day 5 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 23, Day 5

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Psalm 91; Joshua 1-2.

Today’s reading includes a Psalm and then launches us into Joshua. Psalm 90 is attributed specifically to Moses, while Psalm 91 does not have any particular authorial designation. However, the themes expressed in Psalm 91 continue from Psalm 90, so it is sometimes thought to be associated with Moses as well. Joshua 1 orients us to Joshua, Israel’s new leader, and his charge to the Israelites, while Joshua 2 records the events surrounding the spying out of the town of Jericho. The Book of Joshua opens with a description of Moses the servant of the LORD and Joshua as Moses’ assistant, but the Book will close with this description of Joshua: “Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD” (Joshua 24:29). 

One of the things that struck me about today’s reading is the LORD’s charge to Joshua concerning the importance of the Scriptures in his life: “Blessed is the man…but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” (Psalm 1:1-3). Of course, at this point in time, the Scriptures were the first five Books that the LORD moved Moses to write. Knowing everything that Moses wrote down was to be the ongoing focus of Joshua’s attention: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8). Everything that Joshua needed as Moses’ successor from the LORD would be found in the Scriptures. The promise of God’s presence was connected to the Word: “I will not leave you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5), and: “Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). Joshua’s intake of the Scriptures is also associated with the LORD’s charge to Joshua: “Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:7, see also 1:6 and 1:9).

Joshua was to lead the people of Israel, by being led by the Word of the LORD. Thus, Joshua led by recalling the Word to the people of Israel: "Remember the word that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, ‘The LORD your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land” (Joshua 1:13). Every Word from the LORD that guided Moses: “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea. No one shall be able to stand against you” (Deuteronomy 11:24-25a); now guided Joshua: “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life.” (Joshua 1:3-5a). And just as the people promised to Moses: “Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say, and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it”(Deuteronomy 5:27); so now they promise before Joshua: “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you” (Joshua 1:16-17a).

As the conquest of the Promised Land is about to begin, Joshua dispatched two spies into the town of Jericho to scope things out. Interestingly, even the Word of the LORD emerges from the mouth of an inhabitant of Jericho, who provides cover for the spies. What Rahab said: “the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you”, and “And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you” (Joshua 2:9b,11a); is reminiscent of a Word penned by Moses: “Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm” (Exodus 15:15-16a). Rahab has learned and is passing back to the spies, what the LORD had done for the ancestors of the spies: “For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.” (Joshua 2:10). Rahab is recounting the mighty works of the LORD, which were done on behalf of Israel, to Israel.

One of the reasons that the Scriptures were so vital to the success of the conquest was that dependence upon the LORD was so indispensable to entering the Land. The LORD would achieve their victory as they trusted in the LORD. Rahab models taking God at His Word: “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.” (Hebrews 11:31). By faith, Israel, along with Rahab, will live in the Land. Trusting the Word accomplishes much.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe