Here’s a new (for me) observation from Joshua, read in the context of Jesus always seeming to defy Jewish tradition. This is from the famous Jericho story:

Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD walked on, and they blew the trumpets continually. And the armed men were walking before them, and the rear guard was walking after the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets blew continually. And the second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did for six days. On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. Joshua 6.12 – 15, ESV, emphasis mine)

If they marched around the city for seven consecutive days, one of those days was a Sabbath! This confirms something I’ve always thought: when you’re on mission, you don’t always have to worry about the fine points of the law. Or as they say in the military, “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” As described in the book of Numbers, when the people lost their mission to go into the promised land in chapters 13 and 14, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a large part of chapters 15 through 19 is given to laws. For example,

The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after.” (Numbers 15.37 – 39, ESV)

I guarantee that no one was concerned about tassels when they were conquering the land as described in Joshua. In fact there is no mention of tassels again…except by Jesus in criticizing the Pharisees:

They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,… (Matthew 23.5, ESV)

It’s been said that when churches lose sight of the mission, they start arguing about the color of the carpet in the sanctuary.

And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2.27, 28, ESV)

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6.8, ESV)

It’s April, and my reading plan has me in Joshua – one of the few “success” books in the Bible. I love the way it starts. Ready?

After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, “Moses my servant is dead…” (Joshua 1.1 – 2, ESV)

Inspiring, yes?

What’s inspiring is what follows. “Moses my servant is dead, therefore, build a memorial to him.” Nope. “Moses my servant is dead, and I don’t know what Israel is going to do without him.” Nope.

Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. (Joshua 1.2, ESV)

Moses my servant is dead. THEREFORE, arise and get about the mission I have for you.

What does God have for you and me today?

Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead… (Philippians 3.13, ESV)

Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; (Hebrews 7.23, NIV)

I can’t resist one more blog on Bible reading prompted by a conversation with a friend about his 3-year-old’s toilet training. Apparently, there are a lot of little-kid potties in his house, and about one of them, my friend said:

Of all the potties he doesn’t use, this type is his favorite. He uses all the potties some of the time. He’s more of a potty hobbyist. – A father talking about his 3-year-old son

The kid had also explicitly rejected a pink potty since “Pink is for girls.”

It reminds me of some believers and their preferences for Bible translations. They heartily approve of some and strongly reject others. But none of that matters if they don’t read any of them. And, more importantly, when they read, there are “no points” for reading only and certainly no points for possession only.

And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them… (Deuteronomy 17.18 – 19, ESV, emphasis mine)

But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. (Matthew 7.26, MSG)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1.22, NIV)

I think this will be the last post from Deuteronomy, but it’s been a while since I’ve read it, and I’ve enjoyed discovering new things as well as being reminded of texts I haven’t taught for a long time. Here’s one on the importance of daily Bible reading, talking about their future kings. If the kings had obeyed this teaching, things would have gone A LOT better for the Israelites!

And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel. (Deuteronomy 17.18 – 20, ESV)

• What were they told to do?
  • Have a copy of the Book
  • Keep it with them
  • Read it every day
• Why? So they would…
  • Learn to fear the Lord
  • Obey the law
  • Stay humble
  • Not turn aside
• Result: they would continue long in their kingdom

Read Deuteronomy chapters 10 – 21. There’s a lot in there about not conforming to the cultures around you. Hence the instruction to stay close to the word in Deuteronomy 17. And this counsel is echoed in Romans 12 and Ephesians 4:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12.2, ESV)

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4.17 – 24, ESV)

I wrote yesterday from Moses’ Deuteronomy sermons about how the Ten Commandments (The Big Ten) are for our good. Moses continues with a helpful how-to:

You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. (Deuteronomy 11:18-21, ESV)

The key is the word – “lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul…” “Teach them to your children…” as part of life. I think some of us dropped the ball here – too much TV, for example, which, even at its best, was not promoting a godly lifestyle.

Moses is repeating himself in Chapter 11! Here’s what’s recorded in chapter 6:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6.4 – 9, ESV)

This is the post to which I’ve been assigned—keeping you alert with frequent reminders—and I’m sticking to it as long as I live. (2 Peter 1.13, MSG)

I wrote yesterday about the Big Ten and how that even in an age of grace, this is not a bad list. Moses’ sermons in Deuteronomy continue:

And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good? (Deuteronomy 10.12, 13, ESV)

What does the Lord require?

• Fear the LORD your God
• Walk in all his ways
• Love him
• Serve the LORD your God with all your heart and soul
• Keep his commandments for your good

See, there’s nothing wrong with the Big Ten! They are for my good. “Walk in his ways” implies living as God would have us live. Not like the Pharisees, who tried to keep the commandments but managed to do it without walking in God’s ways.

Moses continues with a helpful how-to, which we’ll look at tomorrow.

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6.8, ESV)

I was reading Deuteronomy (“second law” ) when I discovered one of only three places where the phrase “the Ten Commandments” is used (the others are Exodus 34.28 and Deuteronomy 10.4). Moses is talking:

Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. (Deuteronomy 4.12, 13, ESV)

Just 10. Do you know what they are? If not, or if you want an easy way to remember and teach them, here is a version I learned from John Schmidt, now pastor of CenterPoint Fellowship Church in Prattville, Alabama. I don’t know whether these are original with John or if he borrowed them. Just 33 words:

1. No other gods
2. No idols
3. Honor God’s name
4. Honor God’s day
5. Honor your parents
6. Don’t take your neighbor’s life
7. Don’t take your neighbor’s wife
8. Don’t take your neighbor’s stuff
9. Don’t lie
10. Don’t covet

It’s a good list.

A friend of mine was telling me one day that now we are under grace, the law doesn’t apply. I said, “Of the Ten, which is not worth keeping today?” The only one he could come up with was the fourth – the Sabbath. I said, “So you want to work all the time? Not take a weekly break?” Keeping the law isn’t for earning salvation or favor with God, but which of the Ten would you want to break?

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5.17 – 19, ESV)

Yesterday I talked about our restorative time in the mountains, essentially alone. In addition, God gave us two delightful encounters with wildlife.

The first was two miles before we arrived at Mt Elbert Lodge, our destination. June captured this stunning picture of a female bighorn sheep on her way to join a herd of about 15 more. (About 30 of them came out to see us off as we were on our way home, blocking the road!)

Then, one evening we had a charming encounter with a fox.

The first picture shows my encounter with the fox while I was walking our dog, Babo. The fox was blocking our entrance to the cabin. If you look to the left side of the picture, you can see June taking pictures, including the middle one when the fox started moving toward us. Babo and I are in the background with Babo hiding behind my leg. Finally, the fox moved enough for us to get inside and remained to pose for pictures when I came back out.

A fun experience.

The high mountains are for the wild goats… (Psalm 104.18, ESV)

You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. (Nehemiah 9.6, ESV)

And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Matthew 8.20, ESV)

June and I were in the mountains March 22 – 26 – it’s the way we do spring break here, a cabin in the woods:

We were beginning to question the wisdom of going to the mountains in March. Every day we were there, the temperatures ranged from a low of 12 to a high of 25. We’ve heard that some people go to Phoenix or the beach for spring break!

But if they do, they miss what we had: the mountains to ourselves. NO ONE else was there. No other guests in the lodge, no cars to speak of on the road. We’ve never experienced that level of solitude.

And the solitude was restorative. And that’s not counting a couple of fun encounters with wildlife. More about that tomorrow.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90.2, ESV)

¹  I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
²  My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121.1, 2, ESV)

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 125.2, ESV)

He is risen, indeed!

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed. (John 20.1 – 8, ESV)