Below are the chapters to read this week if you’re following along in my Bible in a year schedule, divided into morning and evening readings. Follow along any way you want: you can just do the evening reading, flip the morning and evening, or read it all. Whatever works for you and your schedule! It doesn’t have to be Bible in a Year for everyone.
This week we finish Song of Solomon and Luke. There will be 3 morning chapters on Friday instead of on Saturday to keep the end of Luke together.
Monday, July 15 Morning: Song of Solomon 5, Luke 18 Evening: Joshua 10
Tuesday, July 16 Morning: Song of Solomon 6, Luke 19 Evening: Joshua 11
Wednesday, July 17 Morning: Song of Solomon 7, Luke 20 Evening: Joshua 12
Thursday, July 18 Morning: Song of Solomon 8, Luke 21 Evening: Joshua 13
Friday, July 19 Morning: Luke 22-24 Evening: Joshua 14
Saturday, July 20 Morning: John 1-2 Evening: Joshua 15
Sunday, July 21 Morning: John 3-5 Evening: Joshua 16
Below are the chapters to read this week if you’re following along in my Bible in a year schedule, divided into morning and evening readings. Follow along any way you want: you can just do the evening reading, flip the morning and evening, or read it all. Whatever works for you and your schedule! It doesn’t have to be Bible in a Year for everyone.
Monday, July 8 Morning: Ecclesiastes 10, Luke 9 Evening: Joshua 3
Tuesday, July 9 Morning: Ecclesiastes 11, Luke 10 Evening: Joshua 4
Wednesday, July 10 Morning: Ecclesiastes 12, Luke 11 Evening: Joshua 5
Thursday, July 11 Morning: Song of Solomon 1, Luke 12 Evening: Joshua 6
Friday, July 12 Morning: Song of Solomon 2, Luke 13 Evening: Joshua 7
Saturday, July 13 Morning: Song of Solomon 3, Luke 14-15 Evening: Joshua 8
Sunday, July 14 Morning: Song of Solomon 4, Luke 16-17 Evening: Joshua 9
Below are the chapters to read this week if you’re following along in my Bible in a year schedule, divided into morning and evening readings. Follow along any way you want: you can just do the evening reading, flip the morning and evening, or read it all. Whatever works for you and your schedule! It doesn’t have to be Bible in a Year for everyone.
This week we finish Mark and Deuteronomy and move on to Luke and Joshua.
Monday, July 1 Morning: Ecclesiastes 3, Mark 16 Evening: Deuteronomy 30
Tuesday, July 2 Morning: Ecclesiastes 4, Luke 1 Evening: Deuteronomy 31
Wednesday, July 3 Morning: Ecclesiastes 5, Luke 1 Evening: Deuteronomy 32
Thursday, July 4 Morning: Ecclesiastes 5, Luke 3 Evening: Deuteronomy 33
Friday, July 5 Morning: Ecclesiastes 6, Luke 4 Evening: Deuteronomy 34
Saturday, July 6 Morning: Ecclesiastes 7, Luke 5-6 Evening: Joshua 1
Sunday, July 7 Morning: Ecclesiastes 8, Luke 7-8 Evening: Joshua 2
Do you have giant problems? Problems that seem too big to overcome, and that just won’t go away? There was a time when Israel had problems with literal giants and that story may encourage us with our own giant problems.
In Deuteronomy, Moses’ re-telling to Israel of their history as they prepared to finally enter the Promised Land, the second verse says, “It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.” This eleven-day journey took Israel 40 years after being delivered from slavery in Egypt because they had giant problems.
40 years earlier, Moses sent spies into the land promised by God, not to say whether or not they should conquer the land (God has already decided that they should), but only to document what they saw. These spies reported back after 40 days in the land at Kadesh, the same place Moses was delivering his address in Deuteronomy. Unfortunately, the spies did more than document what they saw, they also injected their own opinion: “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.”[1]
Although the spies agreed the land was very desirable – “And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” – they added three objections to the report: “However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.”[2] The people are strong, the cities are strong, and some of the people – the descendants of Anak – are actually literal giants. The spies probably thought they were doing the right thing by presenting an “accurate” report of Israel’s military chances in Canaan, but in doing so they were opposing God and His promise. Only two of the twelve spies – Joshua and Caleb – tried to encourage the people to take the land, but the report of the other ten made the people want to stone Joshua and Caleb to death[3] instead of entering Canaan. So, God punished the people by making them wander in the wilderness until the entire rebellious generation died, for 40 years.
However, over that time God would also show His people in specific ways that they could overcome the spies’ objections so they could enter the land as He had promised. It would take time, and more experience of God’s power.
Moses tells that during the wilderness wandering, Israel learned of others who had conquered giants. In Deuteronomy 2:10-11 Moses recounted land taken by the Moabites: “The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim. Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.” In 2:20, he recalled land taken by the Ammonites: “It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place”. These “Emim” and “Zamzummim” were like the “descendants of Anak” the spies were afraid of, but those giants were conquered.
Also, in Deuteronomy 3, Moses reminds Israel of their own victories that happened before entering Canaan. They had defeated Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, object lessons of what God could do, and specifically related to the objections of the spies, who had reported of Canaan that “the cities are fortified and very large.” Deuteronomy 3:5 reports of the conquered cities of Bashan: “All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages.”
While the spies worried about the giant “descendants of Anak,” Moses reminds Israel that Og, Hesbon’s king, was like one of the giants reported by the spies. Deuteronomy 3:11 describes him: “(For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.)” Therefore, before crossing the Jordan into Canaan, Israel had overcome both fortified cities and giants. Why should they worry about the discouraging report of the spies, instead of trusting Joshua and Caleb’s testimony about God?
Therefore, if you have giant problems, seek the testimony of others who have conquered giants, and the testimony of your own experience with God, and be encouraged by the words Moses used to close this section of his message: “You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you.”[4] But overcoming giant problems might take time because He wants to show us His power in ways we can’t imagine. Israel took 40 years to make this 11-day journey because that is what God required to prepare them. Israel was not ready for the Promised Land when they first left Egypt. Allow God the time to prepare you, and He may also show you His power over your giants.
Have you ever used the phrase “Do it for Johnny”? When I was about 10, I yelled this slogan in a soccer game, after one of our best players (named Johnny) left the game with an injury, not even knowing where the line came from. Only recently I found out the line is from the movie version of The Outsiders, based on the book by S.E. Hinton. As the character Dallas, Matt Dillon’s delivery of the line (9 second clip below) is classic and everyone should give it a try at least once. I’ll wait if you want to do it now.
Now let’s return to the scene of yesterday’s post, where Joshua was about to lead Israel over the Jordan. Imagine someone in the crowd yelling “let’s do it for Moses!” In The Outsiders, Dallas was rallying his troops to action against a rival gang, who had killed Johnny, so maybe remembering that Moses didn’t make it would inspire Israel? Sadly, that would be completely missing the point.
Knowing why has to do with knowing why Moses wasn’t there. While leading Israel, he decided out of frustration to add his own input to God’s easy instructions. The story is from Numbers 20, where Israel was in the wilderness, but there was no water (that they knew of). Moses and Aaron, responding to the ongoing grumbling of the people, went to God asking for a solution. God responded not with anger or judgement, but with a provision for His people. Moses was told: “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.”[1] What Moses actually did was to say “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” Then “Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.”[2] Therefore, God told Moses he would die before Israel made it to the promised land “because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled, failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes.”[3]
Why exactly Moses actions deserved such a harsh rebuke is debated, but it’s clear that Moses mixed what he wanted with what God told him to do, and therefore tried to take glory that belonged to God for himself. Moses led God’s people for a time, but their success was from God. Moses learned, and we learn through him, that honoring God first, above all others, is necessary to receive God’s promises. No honor for God; no promised land.
In Joshua 3:5, Joshua tells the people before miraculously crossing the Jordan to “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” He was not telling them to consecrate themselves to Joshua as Moses’ replacement leader. The point wasn’t to transfer loyalty from Moses to Joshua, but the point was to eliminate all loyalty other than to God. Israel wasn’t supposed to consecrate itself to Moses, then when he was gone, consecrate itself to Joshua. Israel needed to focus on glorifying God alone and eliminate any other motives from their hearts. The first time Israel tried to enter the promised land, mixed motives resulted in 40 years wandering the wilderness.
So, whatever your preferred slogan, whether it’s: “Do it for Johnny”, “Do it for [insert any leader]” or “Let’s go [fill in the blank],”[4] it will be replaced with only one in eternity, where God will welcome His people from all tribes and nations:
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” – Revelation 4:8
Therefore, “Consecrate yourselves” because although none of us will achieve perfection this side of paradise, Jesus declared in Matthew 10:33 that “whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
Crossing the Jordan was hard, and sometimes life is hard on purpose. Sometimes if we want to cross a river, God wants to teach us first how to trust Him and Him alone.
Soli Deo Gloria
[1] Numbers 20:8-9 [2] Numbers 20:11-12 [3] Numbers 27:14 [4] Yes, dear Americans, I’m including that sarcastic slogan in this too.
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 