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Word in the Wild is a one year Bible adventure with friends. Join from anywhere and enjoy a fun, rewarding, and doable 12-month journey through the Bible where you read it from cover to cover and understand it. It’s not a devotional or recap. It’s a guide by your side through God’s Word. With support from a weekly podcast and an online community of fellow travelers, this is the year when you finally explore the Bible in its own words and on its own terms for yourself.
This is Word and the Wild...a one year Bible adventure with friends. My name is Owen. I'm your host and your guide, and together we are on a 12 month journey as a podcast plus community...where we read the Bible for ourselves, but not by ourselves.
We are here in WEEK 13... This week... We follow along with Joshua and the Israelites as they step into the Promised Land and move to clear out Canaan... and some unfinished business puts their future at risk. It's a life and death struggle... and the threats are closer than they think.
So... hello and welcome we're rolling though this journey together. It's not a recap where we feed you bite-sized bits of the Bible... No this is free0-wheeling walk where we watch the story the Bible unfold like the epic movie it is... So, subscribe here on your favorite podcast plant form and share with a friend.
And, a special welcome to our Word and the Wild PLUS community members. Their support of this non-profit endeavor is making space for all of us on this Bible reading adventure. They enjoy access to our private, safe online space where no honest question is a dumb question... along with a weekly livestream Q&A, and bonus content like articles, interactions, meet-ups, and even some livestream teaching gatherings with yours truly.
If any of that sounds like your jam, then check the show notes for how to become a member yourself. Or get all the details over at wordandthewild.com.
So, strap in my friend... let's find our place with Joshua and the Israelites as they cross the border into this Promised Land we've been hearing so much about....
Bring forward: memory and choices
At the end of last week, after a long, long walk through the wilderness the moment we've been waiting for -- a moment that's been anticipated in the story since Abraham -- finally happened.
The Israelites, with Moses' protégé, a man named Joshua, at the lead, planted their sandals in the Promised Land.
With a miracle that mirrors what happened at the Red Sea, God parts the Jordan River, which forms the geographical boundary of the Land, and the Israelites cross over the west bank of the River and set up camp at a place named Gilgal.
That was no small miracle. Nowadays, if you visit the Jordan River, you'll find that it's an underwhelming, muddy, trickle. But, before extensive dams were placed along the Jordan river in the last 100 years, the Jordan River was known to reach more that 10 feet high and a mile wide in flood season. The exact season when the priests stepped foot in the water and everyone walked across on dry ground.
And now, we're officially in the promised land.
New places, new people, new adventures... same challenges same themes. The themes we've picked up on as we've watched the story of the Bible unfold... these themes run right through the middle of this episode of the story like the mighty Jordan itself.
We've been down in the dust and dirt of the wilderness for a while now. Let's lift off from ground level and get a high, sweeping shot of the whole story. Like a fancy drone shot.
As we drift upward, let your mind drift backward to the big plot points in this story.
In the beginning... God. Remember? God is the main character of this story. He's the first character we meet and his story drives the story of the Bible itself.
From the early moments of creation, we picked up some key ideas about God. God:
- is powerful: he speaks and the universe comes into existence
- is personal: he thinks, feels, and acts. He is interactive. He engages with his creation and wants a relationship with it, including humans.
- gives purpose: God gives everything he creates a meaning, a role, and his love for his creation sets its value. And human beings most of all. Human beings are created to represent him and fill every corner of his world with awareness and appreciation of him
- has a plan: In the aftermath of Adam and Eve's fateful choice to eat the forbidden fruit and walk away from him, God reveals he has a plan of rescue and restoration for his beloved creation. Our story has a plot, and this is it.
- makes promises: God moves his plan forward through imperfect people and commits himself to them. Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses and many more. God speaks the these ordinary people, invites them into his rescue plan, and promises to see his rescue plan through.
This is our main character. This is our story. Whenever you get a little lost or fuzzy as we walk out this journey, you can use that character outline to help you get your bearings.
And that's where the descendants of Abraham fit in the story. From a few dozen people in Jacob's time, the grow into a full-scale people group called the Israelites. God's rescue plan for humanity from back in Genesis 3 includes a rescue of these Israelites from Egypt.
And God doesn't merely spring them from enslavement in Egypt and set them loose. He sets them on a path that moves his plan forward.
Remember Exodus 19:
“‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’” (Exodus 19:4–6)
God's plan for human beings to love him and represent him inside creation runs through the Israelites. They are to set up shop in the Promised Land, and function like priests for the world. And not the Catholic kind of priests. Priests like Aaron. To explain what life with God is like, to show the joys of relationship with God, and to help everyone connect with God.
The Israelites' part in the plan is to be those people. A whole nation set apart to represent God, celebrate his goodness and care, and invite others to join them in their love for the Creator God.
They camp at Sinai to learn what it means to live in healthy relationship with God and each other. They walk the wilderness to work out their divided loyalties and prepare to establish that physical presence to represent God in the promised land.
And then, the day comes at long last. The day when they set foot in their home and step into their destiny. And here we are, standing with them on the other side of the Jordan.
As we stand here, it's clear what the Israelites need to focus on and exactly what they need to do.
Imagine a world, for a minute, where Joshua and the Israelites were to hire a team of modern-day consultants to help them prepare for their launch into Canaan. Big project. Big stakes. Perfect time to get some outside help.
Now, imagine those consultants run Joshua and his lead team through a SWOT analysis. Are you familiar with it? It's an acronym. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. A SWOT analysis helps you spot what could tank your project and helps explore potential success.
Anyway, the SWOT analysis for the Israelites as they prepare to clear out Canaan might go something like this:
Strengths: God has promised to lead the way and fight our battles for us. We don't have to worry about being out manned or out gunned. If we're with him, we are unstoppable.
Weaknesses: Our safety and success depends entirely on maintaining our relationship with God. If we neglect and abandon that relationship, we will be on our own in a fight against overwhelming odds.
Opportunities: If we succeed, we have the chance to play a major role in God's plans for human history. We will be at the epicenter of representing God and spreading awareness and love for him around the world
Threats: Memory lapses and stubborn selfishness that could put our relationship with God at risk.
So, there you go. That's what the analysis might look like. And it would be spot on. Moses said as much. The point of Deuteronomy -- Moses VERY detailed recap of the Israelites' relationship with God -- was to highlight those two threats: Failure to remember and failure to choose to love and obey God. God will never fail his people or abandon them.
But, will his people could fail to remember their checkered history, learn from it, and choose to follow the path of making their relationship with God their top priority?
In some of his final words to the Israelites, Moses poses this very question. He says:
““...If your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.
“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!
You can make this choice by loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life.” (Deuteronomy 30:17–20)
This week in the story, the Israelites enter a life and death struggle as they work their way through their battle for the promised land.
But, that struggle is not as much between their soldiers and the solders of the hostile people groups they will encounter along the way. Those physical threats really are no threat at all.
The real struggle... the real battle.... will be won and lost in their hearts. Will they forget their history? Will lapse in memory result in lapse in judgement? Will they make the all-in commitment to love and obey their God?
It's a life and death choice. Will the Israelites choose life?
OUTRO
There's only one way to find out... jump into the journey with us this week. Ready, set, go!
Word and the Wild is a one year Bible adventure with friends. I'm loving it and I hope you are, too.
All you Word and the Wild PLUS community members, I'll be seeing you in THE WILD... our private online community space. Everyone else, don't be a stranger. Subscribe to this podcast and follow Word and the Wild on Facebook for some interaction there.
Word and the Wild is a LineHouse Community. It's part of the LineHouse Community Network, a nonprofit organization with a mission to bring neighbors together to promote awareness, appreciation, and understanding of the Bible.
Because friendship and God's Word change lives and change cities.
And... presented by the LumaVoz podcast network.
And with that, we're out. I'm Owen, I'm your host and your guide. Until next time, I'll see you out there on the trail in the Word and the Wild.