The Bible

One of the prominent themes speaking to me in these chapters of Joshua is Obedience. That's why Moses didn't get to enter the promised land. Its also why battles were lost and future problems occurred. The command was to take the land and destroy all the people and idols they worshiped. The Israelites didn't obey fully, made some of the captured people slaves and it came back to haunt them in the form of temptation and the falling away in future years.

I may be a little ahead. I read the whole book last week. Good thread!

 

During our classroom discussions we like to draw paralels between the Israelites of then and the USA today. Back when we were a young nation, uncertain about our future we depended on and served God more than we, as a nation, do today. In fact, we are trying to kick God outta all aspects of our lives. We have risen to to a status of world power and wealth. We dont need God anymore. We can survive on our own now. We have forgotten the blessings that he gave us BECAUSE we called upon him when we were young. We know what happened to Israel when they fell away from serving God. Does anybody else see the US headed down that same path?

 

The USA probably has a stronger parallel with the Roman Empire of the time of Christ. We are the most powerful super power in the world. Israel was outnumbered often in Joshua. Having God on their side made all the difference.

 

What's more amazing, to me, is that he wasn't called to go free the Israelites until he was about 80 years old. This was after God put a limit on the length of years we can live to 120, like it is today.

How many times do we want God's direction today, not realizing God's plan for us may be years down the road.

 

That speaks to brokenness. God has little use for Christians who are puffed up and proud thinking they are doing the work of God. Remember with Moses what happened right before the 40 years in the wilderness. He killed an Egyptian who was abusing a Jewish slave. He essentially took things into his own hands to try to help his people. 40 years of exile later he was sufficiently broken to allow God to work through him. God can do anything and so can we if God empowers us. We just have to let go of the us.

 

good post rob

 

That's true, but there's a major difference. Moses didn't cross into the promised land because of his own mistake. Sometimes that's true in the evangelistic process, but not always.

In fact, it's usually the exception rather than the rule that we get to see an evangelistic effort through to completion. Most of the time our efforts fall somewhere in the middle of the process.

 

Well put, Sly. I agree completly.

 

Agreed. And not just obedience, but complete obedience. "Close enough" just wasn't in God's eyes, and it cost the Israelites dearly both in the short term and ultimately. This was a reoccurring problem for Israel.

 

True, but the same could be said about the USA during the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the incident against the Barbary Pirates, and perhaps even the Spanish-American War. We weren't really a dominant world power I don't think until after WWII.

I think VI's parallel between America and ancient Israel has a lot of merit. In fact, some people believe that America is the new Israel (i.e. God's chosen people). I don't agree with that at all, BTW. Israel is Israel, and always will be. I don't see Jesus changing His mind and setting up his millenial reign in Washington D.C.

But yes, we're making some of the same mistakes Israel did, and I think there's a better than average chance we could meet the same fate.