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April 20 - Joshua 8 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here, it's Monday, it's the 20th of
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  April, and how good are you for inviting me into your day so
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  that we can do well? Friends, what it is that we do
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  together, which is read God's word.
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  And you might remember from last week that we are ploughing our
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  way through this fascinating adventure as God's people into
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  the promised land in this book of Joshua.
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  And God hands it over to them. And we left off the story after
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  someone had stolen goods from Jericho after God explicitly
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  said not to do that. And God has dealt with them.
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  And now, now the Israelite army will go back to I where they
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  were soundly spanked and possessed that land.
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  And then of course, the locals are going to be terrified and
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  they're going to start forming allegiances and alliances
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  amongst each other to try to do whatever they can to keep these
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  Israelites out. And we are going to see God's
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  people take possession of their land.
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  So Holy Spirit, open us up to learn more about you, to
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  experience you even in this strange story from the Old
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  Testament that feels so long ago.
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  Lord, I pray that you speak to us and reveal yourself to us in
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  a new and fresh way. Alright friends, let's do it.
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  Let's read together Joshua chapter 8.
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  Then the Lord said to Joshua, Do not be afraid or discouraged.
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  Take all your fighting men and attack I, For I have given you
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  the king of I, his people, his town, and his land.
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  You will destroy them as you destroyed Jericho and its king,
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  but this time you may keep the plunder and the livestock for
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  yourselves. Set an ambush behind the town.
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  So Joshua and all the fighting men set out to attack I Joshua
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  chose 30,000 of his best warriors and sent them out at
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  night with these orders. Hide in ambush close behind the
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  town and be ready for action. When our main army attacks, the
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  men of I will come out to fight as they did before, and we will
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  run away from them. We will let them chase us until
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  we have drawn them away from the town, for they will say the
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  Israelites are running away from us as they did before.
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  Then while we are running from them, you will jump up from your
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  ambush and take possession of the town, for the Lord your God
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  will give it to you. Set the town on fire as the lawn
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  has commanded you. Have your orders.
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  So the left and went to the place of ambush between Bethel
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  and the West side of I. But Joshua remained among the
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  people in the camp that night. Early the next morning Joshua
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  roused his men and started toward I, accompanied by the
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  elders of Israel. All the fighting men who were
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  with Joshua marched in front of the town and camped on the north
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  side of I with a valley between them and the town.
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  That night Joshua sent about 5000 men to lie in ambush
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  between Bethel and I on the West side of the town.
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  So they're stationed the main army north of the town and the
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  ambush West of the town. Joshua himself spent that night
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  in the valley. When the king of I saw the
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  Israelites across the valley, he and all his army hurried out
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  early in the morning and attacked the Israelites at a
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  place overlooking the Jordan Valley.
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  But he didn't realise there was an ambush behind the town.
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  Joshua and the Israelite army fled toward the wilderness as
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  though they were badly beaten. Then all the men in the town
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  were called out to chase after them.
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  In this way they were lured away from the town.
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  There was not a man left in I or Bethel who did not chase after
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  the Israelites, and the town was left wide open.
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  Then the Lord said to Joshua, Point a spear in your hand
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  toward I, for I will hand the town over to you.
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  Joshua did as he was commanded. As soon as Joshua gave the
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  signal, all the men in ambush jumped up from their position
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  and poured into the town. They quickly captured it and set
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  it on fire. When the men of I look behind
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  them, smoke from the town was filling the sky, and they had
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  nowhere to go, for the Israelites who had fled in the
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  direction of the wilderness now turned on their pursuers.
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  When Joshua and all the other Israelites saw that the ambush
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  had succeeded and that smoke was rising from the town, they
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  turned and attacked the men of I.
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  Meanwhile the Israelites who were inside the town came out
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  and attacked the enemy from the rear.
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  So the men of I were caught in the middle, with Israelite
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  fighters on both sides. Israel attacked them and not a
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  single person survived or escaped.
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  Only the king of I was taken alive and brought to Joshua.
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  When the Israelite army finished chasing and killing all the men
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  of I in the open fields, they went back and finished off
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  everyone inside. So the entire population of I,
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  including men and women, was wiped out that day, 12,000 in
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  all, For Joshua kept holding out his spear until everyone who had
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  lived in I was completely destroyed.
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  Only the livestock and the treasures of the town were not
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  destroyed, for the Israelites kept these as plunder for
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  themselves. As the Lord had commanded
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  Joshua. Sir Joshua burned the town of I
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  and it became a permanent mound of ruins, desolate to this very
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  day. Joshua impaled the King of Eye
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  on a sharpened pole and left him there until evening.
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  At sunset, the Israelites took down the body as Joshua
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  commanded and threw it in front of the town gate.
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  They piled the great heap of stones over him that can still
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  be seen today. Then Joshua built an altar to
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  the Lord the God of Israel on Mount Ebal.
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  He followed the commands that Moses, the Lord's servant, had
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  written in the Book of Instruction.
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  Make me an altar from stones that are uncut and have not been
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  shaped with iron tools. Then on the altar they presented
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  burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord.
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  And as the Israelites watched, Joshua copied on to the stones
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  of the altar the instructions Moses had given him.
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  Then all the Israelites, foreigners and native born
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  alike, along with the elders, officers, and judges, were
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  divided into two groups. One group stood in front of
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  Mount Gerizim, the other in front of Mount Ebal.
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  Each group faced the other, and between them stood the Levitical
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  priests carrying the ark of the Lord's covenant.
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  This was all done according to the commands that Moses, the
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  servant of the Lord, had previously given for blessing
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  the people of Israel. Joshua then read to them all the
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  blessings and curses Moses had written in the Book of
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  Instruction. Every word of every command that
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  Moses had ever given was read to the entire assembly of Israel,
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  including the women and children and the foreigners who lived
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  among them. Our Lord, as we read this
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  chapter, we see that your plans are unexpected and the way that
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  you achieve your outcome, while it might not be what we
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  anticipate, is absolute. Thank you that when you have won
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  victory for us, you have won it absolutely, and that you have
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  invited us into your family and into your Kingdom.
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  And Lord, as we hear about Moses, every time we hear his
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  name, it's Moses the servant of the Lord our Lord.
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  I pray that that would be what people know about us too when
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  they refer to us, that they would refer to us as Your
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  servants. May we just follow you and serve
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  you every day of our life so that we can truly be known for
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  bringing about Your Kingdom and that we can make this world a
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  place just like You want it to be.
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  One act of generosity and grace at a time.
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  We love you and we're so grateful for all that you have
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  done for us, Jesus. And we pray all of this in your
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  saving name, Amen.