Author: Bryan Richardson

Re:Verse passage – Joshua 7:6-12, 20-21 (day three)

“Why is it that you have fallen on your face?”

God seemed to view Joshua’s posture of humility as a substitute for necessary critical thinking about important matters of moral responsibility. Joshua’s genuflection was a waste of Joshua’s energy and time when, instead, some attention and reflection on Joshua’s part would have made plain to him that he had failed to convey to his soldiers that violations of the ban were placing the nation in danger of spiritual and societal corruption. If total adherence was only a small thing in Joshua’s mind, his thinking would influence the troops to consider their excursions as a free-for-all, devoid of the sober-minded focus on righteous action. This perspective would eventually contaminate all Israel. God said, in effect, “Go do what you know you needed to do in the first place.” Unaddressed sin doesn’t fade away.

Re:Verse passage – Joshua 5:13-15; 6:1-5 (day three)

“The captain of the Lord’s host said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.”

No longer in the future, Canaan was now. Each generation had ordered their lives around this longed-for now. This was the now Moses desired to see but only glimpsed from atop Pisgah. It was the now Joseph yearned for when he asked that his bones find rest there. It was the now revealed by God to Abraham in a frenzied dream that whispered of Egyptian captivity and return. Joshua indicated his willingness to steward this now well. How could he not remove his shoes at the arrival of this moment his people had taught him to yearn for? What we long for is what we will teach.

Re:Verse passage – Joshua 2:1-21 (day three)

“It was told the king of Jericho, saying, ‘Behold, men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.’”

These two spies didn’t do much spying. What happened? Were they novices at reconnaissance? Were they overconfident? Did they intend to indulge in revelry prior to fulfilling their mission? Is that why they ended up at Rahab’s place? Whether they intended to avail themselves of Rahab’s services or not, the jig was up soon enough. Someone figured them out, and the manhunt commenced. The mission never took off, and now they were hemmed in, out of ideas. There is one savvy, resourceful presence in this account – Rahab. This ancestor of Christ ended up as the stealthy, unflappable agent Israel needed. Everyone but God would see only this woman’s outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

Re:Verse passage – Genesis 50:15-20 (day three)

“And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.”

Joseph’s brothers didn’t merely invoke God, but “the God of your father.” Their hopes hung on the appeal to their father Jacob as the last bulwark against disaster. Jacob had held the family together all these years, but he was gone. Now what? Death is an inflection point for families. How will life go on? Who will protect us from each other? Who will anchor the family? Will we just drift apart? Families will develop a delicate balance – often on the shoulders of one individual – so they can navigate the world with the least amount of agony. But the Bible reveals that families can learn a new way. Sometimes, one person’s risking tenderness, like Joseph did in his reply, will begin to move people from isolation to intimacy.

Re:Verse passage – Genesis 22:1-18 (day three)

“God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”

Isaac’s spiritual formation occurred in a family who interacted with heaven regularly. Therefore, whether he was a child, an adolescent, or a young man at the time of these events (the Bible doesn’t specify his age), Isaac understood sacrifice, and he would notice anything amiss. But Abraham’s reply to Isaac’s question was not a diversionary tactic employed to keep Isaac in the dark. Abraham meant what he said. Life with God over the better part of a century had taught Abraham that with God, things were always better than he had imagined. By this time in his life, Abraham knew he could go where he did not know because he had come to know intimately the one calling him to go. That faith experience further formed Isaac that day.

Re:Verse passage – Genesis 6:5-22 (day three)

“The end of all flesh has come before me.”

God’s magnificent creature, the human being, was hurtling towards extinction. This was not clear to man, but it was clear to God. God allows evil; indeed, a sound philosophical argument can be made that if evil were not possible, the universe as we know it would not be possible. If the human creature is to have a will, evil is always an option. But God does not allow all evil; he has set a limit. Scripture reveals this limit in passages such as Matthew 24, where Jesus, speaking of Jerusalem’s destruction and last things, declares, “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive.” God will not allow the destruction of the human race. He saw destruction coming in Noah’s day, and he acted to save.