Walking with the Way

After reading how the land was divided between the tribes in this week's reading, I bet some of you were thinking...."Do I really need to read all these names? I can't find a lot of practical application for myself in this reading, do I really need to keep reading?....." Come on, be honest, did you have any of those thoughts?  Well, I have a challenge for you! If you feel you got nothing out of the reading take a look again, looking for these subjects: Thoughts on women's rights (chapter 17)?   An acknowledgment for the need for capital punishment yet  there is a time for not implementing capital punishment (chapter 19)? Did you notice to whom the cities of refuge were given? I thought it was interesting that the one's designate to be the priests (the intercessor between the people and God) would be the ones to receive those who needed mercy. Maybe God felt they were the best equipped to deal wtih the emotions involved in those cases, who knows, I jus

This week we read how Joshua, along with all the Israelites, engaged in the conquest and "moving in" to the territory that made up "the Promised Land". If one just skims over these chapters, it can leave a feeling of, 😱"Ugg!  How horrific!"  The killing of "all who had breath" (10:40)- that sounds barbaric and merciless by today's standards! What kind of God do we serve who would be so harsh?!😦 Yet, while I was reading, a verse came to me that I remember reading a while back.  I'm so glad God brought it back to the forefront of my mind as I read these chapters!   I remember a scene in Genesis where God was talking with Abraham.  Abraham is at a scenic lookout point, a view that eventual became what we know today as Israel.  God and Abraham just had an exchange about the promise of a son, a promised land, and an explanation of the timing of those events.   In fact, God told Abraham exactly what would happen over the next 400 years!

If you have been reading along with me for any length of time, you may have heard me say that everything in the Old Testament points to Jesus.  Did you see any of that in this week's reading? Once again, I did! I read one commentary that pointed out how Joshua himself was a "Christ-like" figure.  Joshua in Hebrew means Savior and we read how he was the one designated to deliver the Israelites to the Promised Land.  In the same way,  the name Jesus means Savior in Greek and we know that he is the one who will deliver his people to the heavenly Promised Land. I can say more on this foreshadowing to Christ, but to be honest, my attention was caught more in how God expects the same from us today as he did of his true followers back in the time of Joshua. While I was reading about Rehab in chapter 2, I thought, "Boy, God does not change! (Hebrews 13:8). He is always looking for a heart that is open to him and when he finds it, He blesses that person. Rehab is a perf

I have to say, I really enjoyed reading Deuteronomy! I hope you did too! This week I was reminded: 1.  The only way to do things is God's way!  We can not create our own way of doing things and think we will get to heaven that way.  It's God's way or no way (Deut. 29:20)!  Jesus reiterates that idea when he says, "No one comes to the Father except through me."(John 14:6). There is just one way, God's way! 2. I saw foreshadowing in Deut. 30:4, "Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back." to the words Jesus says in Matthew 24:3 when he says he will send his angels to "gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."  This is going to happen, people! I can't wait!  Are you excited for that day? 3. I saw the first reference to God being our Rock in Deut.32.  Moses makes that reference 7x's in the s