WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.140 Ethan: Welcome to Immerse: the daily bible reading experience. 00:00:03.227 --> 00:00:04.767 Day 100 and 63 00:00:05.207 --> 00:00:07.277 Introduction to Kingdoms. 00:00:09.197 --> 00:00:14.057 The Bible's opening books, Genesis to Samuel King's together 00:00:14.057 --> 00:00:16.367 constitute Israel's primary history. 00:00:17.337 --> 00:00:21.647 This opening story covers the events from God's creation of the world 00:00:21.947 --> 00:00:24.017 and his intentions for humanity. 00:00:24.527 --> 00:00:29.117 To the account of Israel's covenant failure and forced exile from the 00:00:29.117 --> 00:00:35.267 Promised Land, the first five books beginnings, take us to the point when 00:00:35.267 --> 00:00:39.947 God's people have been freed from slavery in Egypt and are about to enter the 00:00:39.947 --> 00:00:42.407 land promised to their ancestor Abraham. 00:00:43.837 --> 00:00:46.217 The story continues in the next four books. 00:00:46.592 --> 00:00:52.442 Joshua Judges, Ruth and Samuel Kings, as Israel enters the land and is 00:00:52.442 --> 00:00:56.942 commissioned to be God's light to the nations, it is God's plan for his 00:00:56.947 --> 00:00:59.492 new people to inhabit a new place. 00:00:59.912 --> 00:01:03.752 The template for showing all people what it means to follow God 00:01:04.142 --> 00:01:05.912 and help the world to flourish. 00:01:06.692 --> 00:01:10.802 These books are written in narrative form and have a prophetic viewpoint, 00:01:11.282 --> 00:01:15.332 always calling Israel to be faithful to the Lord their high king. 00:01:16.487 --> 00:01:22.097 As these books begin, God's people are living under God's three earlier covenants 00:01:22.097 --> 00:01:25.007 made with Noah, Abraham, and Moses. 00:01:25.727 --> 00:01:28.937 The story moves ahead with a description of the events 00:01:28.937 --> 00:01:30.527 surrounding the fourth covenant. 00:01:31.577 --> 00:01:37.487 This covenant is with David Israel's second king, and promises a lasting 00:01:37.487 --> 00:01:39.887 dynasty of kings descended from him. 00:01:41.267 --> 00:01:45.557 Originally, the Israelites didn't have a human king because 00:01:45.557 --> 00:01:47.417 God himself was their king. 00:01:48.317 --> 00:01:53.147 Once Abraham's descendants grew into a nation, God sent Moses to be 00:01:53.152 --> 00:01:57.977 their liberator and leader, freeing them from slavery in Egypt and 00:01:57.982 --> 00:02:00.107 guiding them to the land of Canaan. 00:02:00.677 --> 00:02:03.617 But Moses was a prophet, not a king. 00:02:04.277 --> 00:02:08.627 A new leader named Joshua then leads Israel into the Promised Land. 00:02:08.987 --> 00:02:13.517 He defeats their enemies and divides the land among the 12 tribes, 00:02:14.177 --> 00:02:16.667 but Joshua wasn't a king either. 00:02:17.897 --> 00:02:22.907 In the years that follow as described in the Book of Judges, God raises 00:02:22.907 --> 00:02:27.527 up a series of leaders called judges to rescue the Israelites. 00:02:27.527 --> 00:02:32.357 Whenever their disobedience results in their falling under foreign control, 00:02:33.707 --> 00:02:38.057 the Israelites see themselves as a nation consisting of 12 tribes. 00:02:38.912 --> 00:02:44.792 And the tradition of tribal leadership is strong, but still this period shows 00:02:44.792 --> 00:02:49.742 that while they have no king, all the people did whatever seemed right in 00:02:49.742 --> 00:02:54.932 their own eyes, leading to disastrous consequences for the whole nation. 00:02:55.252 --> 00:03:01.172 In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses foresees that the people will want a king. 00:03:01.982 --> 00:03:07.442 When they do, the king will be required to make himself a copy of the law and 00:03:07.622 --> 00:03:10.172 read it daily, as long as he lives. 00:03:10.682 --> 00:03:15.962 Enabling him to lead the people into covenant faithfulness as the period 00:03:15.962 --> 00:03:17.882 of the judges comes to a close. 00:03:18.362 --> 00:03:22.292 The times certainly seems right for a king like this to exert a 00:03:22.292 --> 00:03:26.852 central authority over Israel and restrain the rampant lawlessness. 00:03:28.247 --> 00:03:33.737 So when Samuel, the last of the judges is growing old, the Israelites 00:03:33.737 --> 00:03:35.837 ask him to appoint a king for them. 00:03:36.857 --> 00:03:42.437 God sees this as a rejection of himself as their king, but he relents and tells 00:03:42.437 --> 00:03:44.807 Samuel to anoint a man named Saul. 00:03:46.067 --> 00:03:50.777 Saul eventually proves stubborn self-willed and disobedient. 00:03:51.407 --> 00:03:55.487 So the Lord tells Samuel to anoint David to replace Saul as king. 00:03:56.972 --> 00:04:01.502 After much intrigue and danger, David finally comes to the throne. 00:04:02.252 --> 00:04:07.772 He makes grave mistakes himself, but God still knows David as a man after 00:04:07.772 --> 00:04:12.872 his own heart because he deeply loves and respects God and his covenant. 00:04:13.982 --> 00:04:18.092 David's faithfulness to the Lord serves as the standard by which 00:04:18.092 --> 00:04:22.442 all of his successors are measured in the Long Book of Samuel Kings. 00:04:23.027 --> 00:04:28.847 Which begins with the stories of Samuel, Saul and David, and then traces the whole 00:04:28.847 --> 00:04:31.277 future course of the Israelite kingdom. 00:04:32.417 --> 00:04:37.607 However, because the kings turn away from the Lord and worship, other gods 00:04:38.147 --> 00:04:42.617 violence and oppression are introduced, and the kingdom splits in two. 00:04:43.637 --> 00:04:47.867 Both kingdoms are later conquered by foreign empires, and the 00:04:47.867 --> 00:04:50.117 Israelites are forced into exile. 00:04:51.347 --> 00:04:55.397 At this point, God's plan appears to be deeply threatened. 00:04:56.177 --> 00:05:00.857 His chosen people have failed to fulfill their commitments in the covenant 00:05:00.857 --> 00:05:06.527 relationship and are therefore losing their temple, their king, and their land. 00:05:07.397 --> 00:05:11.837 Just as Adam and Eve were exiled from the garden of God at the beginning 00:05:11.837 --> 00:05:18.437 of the story, so now Israel is exiled from God's new Eden, the Promised land. 00:05:19.502 --> 00:05:23.822 The tension in the overall story rises here to fever Pitch. 00:05:24.422 --> 00:05:28.232 Abraham's descendants are supposed to be the means by which God 00:05:28.237 --> 00:05:30.812 will bless and restore the world. 00:05:31.412 --> 00:05:34.142 But now all seems lost. 00:05:35.132 --> 00:05:36.872 Only one thread is left. 00:05:37.607 --> 00:05:42.137 God's new covenant with King David promises that God will not 00:05:42.137 --> 00:05:44.657 abandon David's family and kingdom. 00:05:45.677 --> 00:05:50.057 Whatever work God will yet do through Israel for the sake of the world, 00:05:50.717 --> 00:05:52.817 he will do through this royal line. 00:05:57.977 --> 00:05:59.267 Immersed in Joshua. 00:06:01.557 --> 00:06:06.267 The story of how the tribes of Israel became a kingdom begins with 00:06:06.267 --> 00:06:08.397 the conquest of the land of Canaan. 00:06:09.387 --> 00:06:14.157 God promised he would give this land to Abraham's descendants, and Moses 00:06:14.157 --> 00:06:16.017 brought them right to its border. 00:06:16.767 --> 00:06:21.117 But Moses' successor Joshua, actually leads Israel into the 00:06:21.117 --> 00:06:23.577 land, defeating the city kingdoms. 00:06:23.577 --> 00:06:28.107 That rule there, the book of Joshua describes how he did this. 00:06:29.852 --> 00:06:34.862 Throughout the land, there are walled cities each ruled by its own king. 00:06:35.642 --> 00:06:41.522 As long as these fortified royal cities remain in hostile hands, the Israelites 00:06:41.522 --> 00:06:46.322 will be under constant threat, the biggest threat of all looms immediately 00:06:46.327 --> 00:06:48.572 before them as they enter Canaan. 00:06:49.892 --> 00:06:54.962 Jericho is an imposing fortress that controls the Fords of the Jordan River. 00:06:55.877 --> 00:07:01.757 If the Israelites managed to cross over but then can't defeat Jericho, the river 00:07:01.757 --> 00:07:05.987 will become a barrier trapping them where their enemies can destroy them. 00:07:07.037 --> 00:07:10.247 The task is daunting, but God promises. 00:07:10.247 --> 00:07:14.507 Joshua, I will be with you as I was with Moses. 00:07:14.837 --> 00:07:17.387 I will not fail you or abandon you. 00:07:17.867 --> 00:07:23.057 Be strong and courageous for you are the one who will lead these people to possess 00:07:23.087 --> 00:07:25.667 all the land I swore to their ancestors. 00:07:25.667 --> 00:07:31.667 I would give them The book of Joshua has three major sections. 00:07:32.327 --> 00:07:34.397 Most of it is in the form of a narrative. 00:07:34.997 --> 00:07:39.467 But at various places, there are important lists, including records 00:07:39.467 --> 00:07:44.447 of defeated cities and kings and of land allotments for Israel's tribes. 00:07:45.917 --> 00:07:50.777 The book opens with a description of how God prepares Joshua and the people 00:07:51.047 --> 00:07:55.517 for entry into the land and then guides them across the Jordan River. 00:07:56.237 --> 00:08:00.947 It begins with God commissioning and encouraging Joshua in his task. 00:08:01.622 --> 00:08:06.452 While also urging Joshua and the people to continually meditate on the 00:08:06.452 --> 00:08:08.792 instructions God has given to Moses. 00:08:09.992 --> 00:08:14.252 Joshua sends spies into Canaan and then leads the people into 00:08:14.257 --> 00:08:19.892 the land crossing the Jordan River on dry ground in their new land. 00:08:19.922 --> 00:08:25.532 They celebrate their Freedom Festival, Passover, and for the first time 00:08:25.922 --> 00:08:28.082 eat food from the land of promise. 00:08:29.132 --> 00:08:34.982 Next, Israel invades the central region of Canaan and then spreads out to both 00:08:34.982 --> 00:08:36.992 the northern and southern regions. 00:08:37.862 --> 00:08:41.942 Key to this section is the realization that God himself is 00:08:41.942 --> 00:08:46.982 fighting for Israel, thus keeping his promises to Israel's ancestors. 00:08:47.372 --> 00:08:53.807 The warfare Joshua conducts is brutal, but in the context of the story, The 00:08:53.807 --> 00:08:58.127 nations are removed from Canaan because they had become utterly corrupt. 00:08:58.817 --> 00:09:03.317 Just as Israel itself will be brutally removed in the future for its own 00:09:03.317 --> 00:09:08.927 detestable practices, these events must be read within the context of 00:09:08.932 --> 00:09:14.447 God's ongoing story of redemption, especially in light of God's supreme 00:09:14.447 --> 00:09:17.207 revelation later in Israel's Messiah. 00:09:18.587 --> 00:09:20.387 Once the land has been conquered. 00:09:20.987 --> 00:09:25.067 The second section explains how Joshua divides it among the tribes. 00:09:25.937 --> 00:09:29.777 We may wonder why there is such a detailed description of the 00:09:29.777 --> 00:09:34.037 allocation of the land, but this gets at the heart of the covenant. 00:09:35.027 --> 00:09:39.467 God's intention has always been for his people to thrive in the 00:09:39.467 --> 00:09:41.657 physical place he set apart for them. 00:09:42.782 --> 00:09:47.972 Israel's conquest of the Promised Land reflects God's overall objective to 00:09:47.972 --> 00:09:53.852 reclaim the entire creation as our good home and his glorious temple. 00:09:55.202 --> 00:09:59.072 The final section of the book focuses on Joshua's leading the people 00:09:59.072 --> 00:10:00.962 in a covenant renewal ceremony. 00:10:02.252 --> 00:10:06.662 The leaders of the various tribes and clans gather at Shechem and 00:10:06.662 --> 00:10:08.732 are challenged to serve God alone. 00:10:09.272 --> 00:10:13.862 Obey the law of Moses and fully claim their inheritance from the Lord. 00:10:15.872 --> 00:10:18.512 Choose today whom you will serve. 00:10:18.932 --> 00:10:20.312 Joshua challenges them. 00:10:21.152 --> 00:10:24.842 As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord. 00:10:25.952 --> 00:10:30.392 The people aware of their story and recognizing that they are to 00:10:30.392 --> 00:10:32.942 continue living it out, respond. 00:10:33.902 --> 00:10:37.412 We would never abandon the Lord and serve other gods. 00:10:37.952 --> 00:10:45.512 We too will serve the Lord for He alone is our God at the end of Joshua's life. 00:10:46.322 --> 00:10:51.002 The people have received God's gift of land as promised, and are poised to 00:10:51.002 --> 00:10:56.912 fulfill their calling as agents in God's mission to all nations, the Lord has 00:10:56.912 --> 00:10:59.702 kept his promises to Abraham and Moses. 00:11:00.482 --> 00:11:05.312 Now, Abraham's family must step up to become God's covenant 00:11:05.312 --> 00:11:07.532 people for the sake of the world. 00:11:09.992 --> 00:11:12.842 This concludes today's immerse reading experience. 00:11:12.962 --> 00:11:13.982 Thank you for joining us.