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Week 12  Joshua 20-21

In chapter 20 Joshua named a) the six urban locations that got the City of Refuge designation (CoR) and b) the tribal districts where those cities were located:
Kedesh (Naphtali)
Shechem (Ephraim)
Hebron (Judah)
Bezer (Reuben)
Ramoth-Gilead (Gad)
Golan in Bashan (Manasseh)
So then I got to the next chapter and was idling my way through the long list of all the cities that were given to the Levite tribe (there were 48 of them – mostly unfamiliar & unrecognizable names).
After a dozen verses I saw that Hebron in Judah was identified as a CoR. Hang on! I had just read that. I glanced back at chapter 20. Sure enough – Hebron in Judah was a CoR.
A bit farther down it said that Shechem in Ephraim was a CoR.
Then that Golan in Manasseh was.
So was Kedesh in Naphtali.
And Ramoth-Gilead in Gad.
I was cross-checking chapter 21 with the list in 20 and so when I only found five cities in 21 I doubled-back to see what I missed. I found this: from the tribe of Reuben they received Bezer. That’s it. It didn’t say anything about Bezer being a CoR – which it definitely did with the other five cities.
So I wondered: what’s going on? Was it an intentional omission by the writer? If it was…then why? If not…then what was it? A glitch? A copying error?
It’s a small thing and not really so important I guess. But it made me wonder.

Note: see Joshua 20:7-8 & 21:9-13 20-21 27 32 38 36 (NLT)

Week 11  Joshua

Everyone living west of the Jordan River hated Israel and decided to fight against them when they crossed the river. With two exceptions: a) Rahab (& her family) and b) the Gibeonites.
Both of them already knew about Israel. Rahab told the spies: I know the Lord has given you this land…We are all afraid of you. Everyone is living in terror. For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea…And we know what you did to Sihon and Og…The Lord your God is the supreme God.
The Gibeonites also knew the backstory: we have heard of the might of the Lord your God and all he did in Egypt. We have also heard what he did to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan – King Sihon and King Og.
Rahab and the Gibeonites had heard the stories. But they weren’t the only ones. For instance:
The Amorite kings heard
The kings west of the Jordan heard
Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, heard
King Jabin of Hazor heard.
So the news had gotten around. Lots of people heard it. It was fearsome news. And now people had a big decision to make.
In the end only Rahab and the Gibeonites joined ranks with Israel. The rest hunkered down. They had their preferred lifestyle and were prepared to defend it.

Note: quotes from Joshua 2:9-11 9:9-10 5:1 9:1 10:1 11:1 (NLT)

Week 11  Joshua 8

I read something today I hadn’t noticed before.
In the second battle at Ai Joshua set up a more complicated strategy than they had used the first time. In my memory of the story Joshua planned-out the ambush and then spent the night with the army and then fought the battle the next day. But today I realized he had a) sent the ambush party ahead then b) travelled with the army the next day then c) spent one more night in camp and then d) stormed the city on the third day. So I’d made a mistake.
Anyway while I was re-reading the passage I also noticed that there was a discrepancy in numbers. Initially: Joshua chose thirty thousand fighting men… to hide in ambush close behind the city. But then the next night: Joshua sent five thousand men to lie in ambush. So which was it? 30,000 or 5,000?
There’s possibilities. It’s possible that the original 30,000 was the total fighting force and the ambush party was a 5,000-soldier subset. Or it’s possible that there were two different ambush parties with different responsibilities. Or it’s possible there was a secretarial-transcriber glitch and whoever hand-copied the original book of Joshua copied the numbers incorrectly.
But the long-and-short is that there’s a problem. I can look for a solution. But if I don’t find one I have to put the numbers in the Unresolved Problems file. And move on.

Note: quotes from Joshua 8:3-4 12 (NLT)

Week 11  Joshua 6-7

When I finished the Achan story I came away with three questions.
The first was: how could Achan have been so idiotic? He had clearly witnessed miraculous events in Israel. He knew the Lord knew everything. He had heard Joshua explicitly & publicly say ‘don’t steal anything from Jericho’. But he stole some loot. Why would he do that?
The second question was: what did he do after he got caught? Well…he admitted his guilt: I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel. This sounds quite a bit like repentance to me. But it didn’t save him. Maybe he was just admitting his theft since he’d been caught red-handed. So was it fake-repentance? But what if it was real & heart-felt & genuine? Would it have changed things?
The third question was about the execution: who all was executed? Achan and his family were taken to the valley of Achor. One bible that I read says: the Israelites stoned Achan and his family. Another version says: then all Israel stoned him. Another version: all Israel stoned them (but in the margin it says that “them” literally means “him”). So who was executed? Just Achan…or his entire family?
My (hesitant) answers to the questions are:
1) Achan was a person. Doing something crazy & inexplicable wasn’t strange
2) If Achan had genuinely repented it could have changed things
3) If the family colluded then they were guilty…but not otherwise.
But really…I’m pretty much just guessing.

Note: quotes from Joshua 7:20 (NLT) & 7:25 (NLT NIV NASB)

Week 11  Deuteronomy 33

Moses was getting very close to the end of his life so he called the tribes together one last time. He was giving them a final blessing. It reminded me of Jacob. At the end he called his sons and gave them a final blessing too.
Moses went through the tribes in this order: Reuben Judah Levi Benjamin Joseph’s Ephraim & Manasseh Zebulun Issachar Gad Dan Naphtali Asher.
The order of Jacob’s list is different: Reuben Simeon Levi Judah Zebulun Issachar Dan Gad Asher Naphtali Joseph Benjamin.
I wonder why Moses organized the names the way he did (if there’s a plausible explanation I don’t know what it is). Another thing I wonder about is Simeon – he’s not even on Moses’ list. Where is Simeon and why isn’t he here? (I know Ephraim & Manasseh weren’t on Jacob’s list but that’s explainable.)
I notice that in both lists Joseph is given high praise. That’s understandable – he was the best of the bros. But Levi also gets quite a bit of space and commendation which seems like an upgrade.
I’m surprised Judah only got one-verse in Deuteronomy after five in Genesis (since his tribe will eventually dominate).
I’d be interested in comparing the blessings. See what things have changed. Check for adjustments or modifications or additions or amendments. For example Jacob compares Dan to a snake but Moses says he’s like a lion’s cub.
But time is short so I’ll have to let that project slide.

Note: compare Genesis 49 & Deuteronomy 33

Week 11  Deuteronomy 32

Chapter 31 ends with the lead-in to 32: Moses spoke…the words of this song. Two other versions say Moses recited the song. So what Moses didn’t do was sing the song.
It’s a very long song – 43 verses – but I took the time to go back and quickly re-read it. I was looking for structural tips. It’s a song so I wondered if I could break it down. Find verses or a chorus. But no luck.
I realized I was at least three steps removed from making any sense of it. A) Moses composed it in a different language. B) I’m totally out of tune with Hebrew tribal life & art & culture. And C) I know zero about ancient near eastern musicology. Bringing my Canadian assumptions about verses & choruses & bridges to Deuteronomy 32 was basically useless.
I guess someone could compose a long musical line that the words could be sung to (that would take some creativity). Alternately the text could be abbreviated (for instance I could select content and then re-write & format it into short verses and a chorus). And as far as that goes the 43-verses could just be read to a background soundtrack.
Anyway at the end Moses added: take to heart all the words I have given you today…These instructions are not mere words – they are your life!
So not having the musical score isn’t necessarily the end of the world. Not having the words is a different story.

Note: quotes from Deuteronomy 31:20 (NASB NIV NLT) & 32:46-47 (NIV)

Week 10  Psalm 69

Unexpectedly I thought about Judas today. I thought about him because last year when I was reading about his suicide in Acts 1 I made a note to myself to look at Acts 1 the next time I read Psalm 69. And I read Psalm 69 today.
The connection is that in Acts Peter told the disciples that they needed to replace Judas: it was necessary for the Scriptures to be fulfilled concerning Judas…This was predicted long ago by the Holy Spirit, speaking through King David…in the book of Psalms, where it says, “Let his home become desolate, with no one living in it”.
And today I read David’s quote: may their homes become desolate and their tents become deserted.
Reading psalm 69 today I wasn’t think about Judas. I was thinking about David’s opponents (the people he’d been talking about in verses 4 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 18 19 20 & 21). And David hoped & prayed that his enemies’ homes would become desolate.
So then hundreds of years later Peter is saying that that verse applied to Judas…that it was a direct prediction about Judas.
I’m pretty sure that as far as David was concerned the ‘desolated houses’ referred to his preferred outcome for his own contemporary opponents. But now Peter says it also had an unexpected and unanticipated application to Judas.
But I’ll admit that reading psalm 69 today I never would have guessed it.

Note: quotes from Acts 1:20 & Psalm 69:25 (NLT)

Week 10  Deuteronomy 22-25

They likely begin in chapter 21 but I really start noticing them in 22. In 22 they’re getting pretty obvious and stay pretty obvious for the next four chapters.
In those four chapters – 96-verses in all – there’s about 34 different regulations laid out (maybe more…but at least 34). So that means one law / regulation every 2.8 verses.
That’s not a huge problem (after all the Ten Commandments only take up 16-verses – one commandment every 1.6 verses). A bigger problem is that the 34-rules are all-over-the-map. It’d be one thing if they were topically consistent – for instance 34-Domestic-Rules or 34-Community-Rules. But they’re rules about everything imaginable. (It’s a guess but I feel pretty confident saying that content classification was not on the writer’s mind.)
But even that’s not the most perplexing thing. What’s surprising is that a) some of the rules actually make pretty good sense but b) other rules sound absolutely wacky. Example a) if I build a flat-roofed house I need to install a guard rail so no one falls off. Example b) if two men are fighting and the wife of one of them grabs the opponents genitals then…she has her hand cut off.
One way to manage the diversity is to selectively categorize the rules according to (let’s say) contemporary Alberta standards (e.g. humane vs. inhumane rules). But I’m not sure how much that helps. So for now my preference is to look for absolutely universal laws…Permanent Fixtures. The rest will land wherever they land.

Note: see Deuteronomy 22:8 & 25:11

Week 10  Deuteronomy 19

There’s quite a bit of death & dying going on and it’s hard to figure out how all the pieces – murder & guilt & revenge & punishment & like that – fit together. But the Cities of Refuge (CoR) are a small part of that whole mix.
Before Israel ever got to the Promised Land Moses was making plans for three CoR. CoR were necessary because people killed other people. And these CoR catered specifically to people who killed someone unintentionally.
Moses gives the example of a couple of friends chopping down trees. Guy #1 swings his axe. The axe head flies off the handle…sails through the air…strikes and kills Guy #2. A tragic fluke. But Guy #2 is dead. So now his brother will be looking for revenge. Guy #1’s only option is to run to the closest City of Refuge – a safe haven from Guy #2’s brother.
But even though he’s safe Guy #1 is also stuck. The city really doubles as a kind of spacious & livable penitentiary. Guy #1 – even with his freedom – can never leave.
Moses admits that the death of Guy #2: had been an accident.  Guy #1 was not guilty. But the CoR were created to prevent revenge killings: that way you will prevent the death of innocent people in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
There’s lots of death & dying going on. And this is one of the mechanisms to manage and contain them.

Note: quotes from Deuteronomy 19:6 10 (NLT)

Week 10  Deuteronomy 17

Moses is talking about Israel’s leaders – the priests and judges – but he suddenly looks forward and predicts that Israel-in-the-Promised-Land will decide they want a king.
Wanting a king is okay. And it’s maybe inevitable. But the Lord has some guidelines. A future king is supposed to:
Be chosen by the Lord
Be a native-born Hebrew
Not collect a lot of horses
Not have a lot of wives
Not use his position to gain personal wealth
Keep a copy of the law on hand
Read that law…and obey it…and fear the Lord
Not be proud or arrogant.
Since I’ve read about the kings I know there’ll be trouble ahead. I think about the Big Three only – Saul-David-Solomon. They check the first two boxes. But look at the three “NOT” guidelines. David and Solomon had a bunch of wives. Solomon collected stables full of horses. And I don’t know how much wealth the others acquired but Solomon had buckets of cash. Fearing the Lord and not being arrogant are harder to assess. But it’s safe to say that Saul & Solomon fell seriously short in those categories.
So even in this short list it’s really only David who makes the cut (and I know the big majority of kings after Saul-David-Solomon fail too).
But the guidelines are there. And like all the other regulations it’s a matter of watching to see who pays attention to them.

Note: Moses’ guidelines for kings are in Deuteronomy 17:15-20.