Journey Of The Seed - Catch The Bible's Big Picture In 60 DaysНамуна
FICKLE FAITH CYCLE
[Scheduled Reading: Joshua 9-14, 22-24]
There’s a familiar pattern for the Israelites and we need to get used to it. It lasts throughout the entire Old Testament. It looks like this.
- God protects, provides and prospers His children.
- His children become content, complacent, and then turn from God in their sin.
- God withdraws His favor, punishes His children.
- The children are humbled, then repentant, then back on good terms with God again.
And the fickle faith cycle continues. This is the cycle for the nation as a whole, and for individuals as well. At times, even one man’s sins could doom the entire nation.
Consider Joshua 7 & 8.
- One man (Achan) sins, God becomes angry.
- God withdraws protection and Israel is humiliated in a small battle.
- Israel calls out to God, repents, and punishes the offender (they stone Achan’s family!)
- God’s protection returns. Israel kicks tail in the next battle.
That’s pretty much the life cycle of the Israelites ever since they escaped slavery in Egypt.
God rescues them from slavery. They become content. Then they complain about not having better food to eat. God strikes them with plagues. They repent. Then the cycle starts over again.
Under Joshua, things are mostly stable. Joshua was both a great military commander and spiritual leader. Like Moses, he closes out his leadership life admonishing the people to cling close to the words of God (Joshua 23 & 24).
His leadership chant is among the most inspiring rally calls in scriptures. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15). Joshua’s impressive leadership legacy is summed up by this single verse.
Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel. (Joshua 24:31)
Wow! But then just a few pages away in your Bible, you’ll find a very sad passage.
And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel (Judges 2:10).
The fickle faith journey continues.
Family Talk
Remember our discussion of Leviticus 26 & Deuteronomy 28 regarding blessings and curses?
Read Judges 2:1-3 & 11-15 and discuss how God’s pattern for dealing with the Israelites fits this theme.
About this Plan
Grasp the overall Bible story in 60 days! This reading challenge takes you from Genesis to Revelation with four important features: (1) focus on the Seed - the ancestry from Adam to Jesus, (2) a daily Bible reading plan yielding about 33% of the Bible, (3) daily guidance and insights, (4) discussion points for you and your family. (Approximately 20-25 minutes reading/listening per day.)
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