Deuteronomy 28-Joshua 12/Luke 8-10

Luke
8: Jesus shows his power. The disciples are left wondering, "Who is this guy." It is an astonishing moment. He also proclaims a different kind of family. This is a radical departure from the culture at hand and offered to people a different kind of community based on Jesus' vision of the kingdom.

9: It is important to pivot in the story of Jesus. This is the first time he speaks of his inevitable death. Jesus is transfigured before the disciples, and again the voice from heaven comes pronouncing blessing upon Jesus. He is the one God has chosen as his representative and spokesperson. Finally, in v. 51, Jesus "sets his face to go to Jerusalem." This is a Semitic figure of speech which speaks of resolve and determination. What Jesus does is not easy for him to do.

10: After we hear of the difficult demands of Jesus ministry, we get the commissioning of the twelve who are sent out on an urgent mission. Jesus has a vision of Satan, the accuser and opponent, falling from heaven: ie being ejected from God's court. He gives thanks for this sign of the vindication of his mission.

The lawyer would have been someone educated in the intricacies of the Law - that is the Torah. Luke (and only Luke) then gives us the story of the Good Samaritan - a story with great intricacies that in fact turn the question the lawyer asks in upon itself. He asks, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus responds: "Be a neighbor." Not exactly the question he asks, but then Jesus was in a habit of shaking the foundation from which those questions arose.


Deuteronomy
28: A long chapter, but the point is clear: If you do not follow the Law you will lose the land, you will be taken away by foreign invaders and (in a kind of reverse Exodus) the plagues of Egypt will come upon you.

29-30: The ratification of the covenant and a restatement of blessing and cursings. There are several sections here which seem to speak of another time, specifically after the exile, which we will read of later. There is a hope, even at the end of a tumultuous future, for restoration.

31-33: Moses prepares for his death. Joshua is sworn in as the new leader; Moses prophesies about the future of the people. This intricate and beautiful poem is likely a later addition that recalls the history of Israel from the exile. He then speaks blessing on each of the twelve tribes.

34: The death of Moses. Notice he ascends to the top of Pisgah (yes just like south of Eugene). He is able to see the Holy Land, but he is not able to enter it. He is given an epitaph we could all desire: whom the Lord knew face to face.

Joshua
We are out of the Torah now. We have entered the history books. These books tell the story of how the children of Israel conquered Canaan, built an empire, lost it, and returned again. It covers the books of Joshua through Ezra/Nehemiah and Esther. But we cannot imagine that the people who told these stories, who recorded and edited them thought of "history" in the same way as we do today. As I have pointed out before, no one thought that way until very recently in the Western world. These stories are told to make a point.

These books are of totally different nature than the preceding one. God is still intertwined in the lives of the people, but not in the same way as before. There are differences also of how people understand God and their relationship with him. Many of the stories are idealistic retellings that were recorded during the exile, but most of them contain, without a doubt, many kernels of truth. They are above all descriptions of what happened and less prescriptions of how things should happen or how God might be acting. This is important to remember when we get to certain places.

We start with Joshua, which is perhaps the most idealistic of all the books. Good and evil are very obvious and presented in black and white - and anything with a taint of evil was utterly destroyed. It is a brutal and bloody book, but it took place in a brutal and bloody land. There are two things you should remember: first the warfare that was practiced was not unusual at the time; second, the stories are almost certainly untrue in their absoluteness. We know these people that Joshua fought were not utterly destroyed because they pop up again and again in later stories. For further notes on the herem or ban, see my previous posts.

As always for more information check out wikipedia.

1: Introduction and Joshua is encouraged by God to be courageous and tells the people that they will be successful as long as they follow the law and remain loyal to God.

2: An interlude in which spies are sent into the land. People had heard about the Israelites and their victorious battles with other people in the land. We also get the introduction of the story of Rahab the prostitute, who is also an ancestor of Jesus in Matthew's genealogy.

3-4: The people cross the Jordan. There are various rituals which recall the covenant and God's faithfulness to the people. The largest of which, of course, is the echo of their crossing of the Red Sea.

5: Before they go to Jericho they a ritually made holy. Those who are uncircumcised are now circumcised. They hold a passover and eat the produce of the land they are encamped at, Gilgal. On that day, the manna stops. They are no longer being fed by the bread that comes from heaven, but by the food of the land they have been promised. Joshua has a vision of the commander of God's army which is going to aid them in their conquest.

6: Jericho. We all know the story.

7: Someone did not follow the law to destroy everything. We tend to concentrate on the human part of the herem or ban, that everyone was killed. Yet it was not just people. The Israelites were not to take the wealth of the people put to the herem. They were to destroy everything. Achan got greedy and so he and all that he had taken is put to the herem.

8: Ai is conquered through some military cleverness and put to the herem. Joshua makes sacrifices and inscribes and reads the Law.

9: The campaign continues. The Gibeonites deceive the Israelites, but eventually fall under their rule. They are the only people to escape the herem in this early campaign.

10: The defeat of the Amorite alliance and putting the towns in the south to the herem.

11: The northern campaign and defeat of Canaanite coalition. Putting the towns to the herem.

By the end of 11 Joshua had pretty much captured the central hills of Canaan, securing a power base in the land. This would prove an important strategic move in that area of the world. Remember in Deuteronomy God tells the people that the land they are going to is one of hills - not a flat land that could be irrigated. They would have to depend on God for the rain to grow their crops. Joshua has captured these hills and will use them as a power base in the future.

12: A list of the conquests beginning with Moses campaigns in the Transjordan.