Wow, what happened to Joshua? The people came, they saw, they conquered. that's how Joshua went, in quick couple of days of reading. There were a few battles mentioned (remember Jericho?), and the Israelites came in and took possession. They divided up the land. Joshua said, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." The people promised.
So, now I'm in the middle of Judges. The judges were the tribal leaders God sent from time to time to guide, and fight battles, and get the people back on track. Because remember Baal? The people kept turning away from God and following Baal.
Do they ever learn?
Do we ever learn?
(instead of Baal, insert: money, sports, success, your nice house, Target or any other retail establishment, your own particular brand of politics, war, etc. etc. etc.)
So we've had several stories of judges, including Deborah (had to mention her) and Gideon. Reasons I like Gideon: he doesn't think he's the likeliest candidate for a judge. He asks God to do the fleece test TWICE, once where the fleece is wet and the ground is dry, and one where the ground is wet all EXCEPT the fleece. I also like that God tells him to take fewer and fewer people with him into battle, because, as God puts it, "I don't want you to say that it's because we're so great and so strong that we won. I want it to be clear that you won this battle because of my guidance."
Now, we're in the middle of the story of Samson, one of the unlikeliest instruments of God Ever, in my humble opinion.
Tomorrow: Judges 16-1st Samuel 2.
pssst (the short, lovely book of Ruth is right in the middle of that reading)
Monday: 1st Samuel 3 - 15
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