Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

Reflections: In today’s readings we again see 3 different time periods, and 3 different aspects God’s relationship to His people. Again chronologically, we start with Joshua and the Israelites, as they start over again after their failed attempt to overthrow Ai, because of the corruption in the camp through Achan. Today the Lord assures Joshua that they will have complete victory, and also tells them that they may take the possessions from the ambush to themselves. The men and Joshua completely wipe out the town of Ai, and Joshua himself kills the king. The rocks under which the king was buried were a sign to this day of the conquest. Then, we see the psalmist Ethan, completing Psalm 89, a psalm of lament. Because of Israel’s sin, the people were not experiencing the favor or the presence of the Lord. The psalmist wonders how long they will be in this state. He calls upon the Lord to remember His covenant love for the people and restore them to their former position. He reaso...

Reflections: Today we see two judgments that are in some ways related. Sticking to a chronological order, we first see the sin of Achan. Joshua and the Israelites had just defeated Jericho in striking fashion, and it was unmistakably clear the victory came by the Lord’s hand. Then, they were instructed clearly not to take any of the spoils for themselves. Yet, Achan gave in to covetousness and took some of the booty for himself. As the Israelites went up a much lesser foe with a smaller army, there were defeated soundly. Joshua was confused about this so he went to the Lord. This is a good model for us when we see something that is not quite right. As he interceded, the Lord intervened and made it abundantly clear why they had such poor success and even defeat. The Lord made it known that they had already broken the covenant. So Joshua summons the whole people, and by lot Achan’s family is singled out. Achan confesses his sin, and he and his whole family and possessions a...

Reflections: All three of today’s passages have to do with the main ingredient in our relationship with God, trust! The psalmist reflects on the covenant God made with David to make an everlasting kingdom with them. As part of the covenant, God gave them the law, which if they did not listen to they would be punished. But notice it says “I will never take my love from them”. God, like a good parent, disciplines His children to bring them back; but His love is unconditional. God will not go back on His part of the Covenant, though at times we go back on ours, in the form of disobedience, which is basically just a lack of trust. Then, we see why Joshua was such a great leader and why he was chosen to lead the people. Right before he gets ready to lead the men in for the conquest, God realizes that the next generation of men have not been circumcised, since they were wandering around and were born in the wilderness. So he commands Joshua to prepare “flinty knives”, can you say...

Reflections: Today’s readings again focus on the subject of leadership. The psalmist (Ethan) speaks about the leader God anointed to lead the people. A man after God’s own heart King David, the first and greatest king of Israel. David’s success was because God’s hand was with him, and God went before him. And we see expressed here, the 3rd major covenant God made with His people in the Davidic Covenant (the first two covenants being the Noachic Covenant and the Covenant with Abraham). In this covenant God promised that King David would begin a line of royalty that would last forever. An everlasting kingdom that would be fulfilled in the Jesus the Messiah, the King of all kings. Though David failed in his life, God’s covenant with him and by application with us will never fail. Then in Joshua 3-4, we see the newly appointed leader Joshua leading the people through the Jordan. And for this moment God told Joshua that the river would stand in a heap, as a sign that God was wit...

Reflections: In today’s passages we see two different kinds of leaders. First we have Joshua, the newly anointed leader of the people of Israel as they prepare to go into the Promised Land. Notice it starts with the call that God has given him to lead the people, and the promise that God will be with him just as He was with Moses. This is the most important part of spiritual leadership, being led by the Lord and Him only. But then He gives him two additional exhortations. First be strong and courageous and be careful to do everything written in the Law of life, don’t turn from the left or the right so you may be successful in all you do. Finally, in order to be equipped to be God’s leader, he is encouraged to meditate day and night on the book of the Law. He is also encouraged to have it on his lips i.e. to talk about it all the time. Notice the relationship between God being with him, obedience and the role of the Word in His life. They are all inexorably tied together. Thes...

Reflections: The psalm is presumably penned by Ethan (where we got my son’s name!), who was a contemporary of King Solomon, and to which Solomon’s wisdom was compared. We also see his name mentioned quite a bit in the Chronicles. This psalm starts in great praise of God for His faithful and mercy, and His perpetual honoring of the covenant He made with King David. Eventually the seed of that covenant would come in the form of King Jesus, who descended from the house and line of David. So even though we see the earthly kingdom fail after a slew of Davidic kings who don’t honor the stipulations of the covenant, it is ultimately renewed in Jesus; who blessed the world with the inauguration of the Kingdom, which would have no end. As believers of Jesus, we are sons and daughters of the King, and through the covenant He has made through His body broken and blood poured out, we are inheritors of all that is the Father and the Son, through the power of the Holy Spirit. As we back up ...

Reflections: We see the psalmist continuing his lament psalm, and how he has not stopped praying for God’s intervention in his life. In his deep relationship with God, he has suffered from youth a kind of melancholy or depression, and yet he continues to seek God in his state. Even those close to him have seemed to abandon him, and he has been stripped of all he has, except for his crying out to God. The lament psalms are a good reminder to us that there are times some have termed, “the dark night of the soul”, when all creaturely comforts have been stripped, and it even seems as though God has abandoned us as well. These times of apparent withdrawl of God’s presence and hand, refine our faith in deeper ways than when all is well. In Deuteronomy, Moses comes to the end of his life and speaks his last words to the Israelites, namely that they should take to heart and obey all the words, which he had given to them which the Lord had instructed him. Perhaps learning from his own e...

Reflections: After reading the Psalm and the passage from Deuteronomy, one realizes the challenges of following God consistently, and the many low points in the Old Testament for the people of God. Of course, God was merciful and gracious, but over time the stubbornness of the Israelites and their desire to worship other gods, led to their demise. The psalmist reflects more of his own personal spiritual depression, whereas the Deuteronomy passage speaks more of the national fall from grace. We see that God was both jealous and angry that Israel had so quickly gone to worship after other gods, when God had delivered them in such grandiose ways reflecting His love for them and His purpose to set them apart for His purposes. Then in our Gospel lesson, we see the greatest antidote toward a bad relationship with God, prayer! The disciples see Jesus praying early and often; and want to learn more about Jesus’ prayer life. We see Luke’s gospel we a strong emphasis on prayer and the ...

Reflections: Today at the end of Deuteronomy (which means 2nd Law), Moses concludes his ministry and it is passed on to Joshua with the words, “Be strong and courageous for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I will be with you”. But with this promise, there is also the ominous prophecy that the people will become corrupt. If they people were stubborn with Moses and all that God had done through him, how much more after he went on to be with the Lord. So Joshua has quite a job ahead of him, but fortunately God promises that He will be with him. God commands Moses to write a song that will be sung as a testimony to them that this will happen. In Luke, some 1,400 years later an expert in the law comes to test/trap Jesus by asking him the question “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” To answer his question Jesus tells the story commonly known today as the “Good Samaritan”. In the story there is a man who is robbed, stripped and beaten a...

Reflections: Moses ends his teaching the Israelites by making it clear that they have two paths before them. They have seen what happens when they disobey the Lord. They have seen the blessings of following God and obeying His law, and all the provisions God had made for them to take the Promised Land. Although he would not be the one who would be leading them into it, he still had a heart for the people he had shepherded through so many ups and downs. Although he can lay out the terms for the people, like any leader, he could not change the way they responded. He could only lay out the vision God had for them, but they needed to own it and walk in it. He also gives the vision that one day God would circumcise their hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, in our gospel lesson, the disciples return from their first mission trip and see that even the demons submit to the authority they have in Jesus’ name. Jesus has gone from empowering 12 people to 72, and we see th...

Reflections: In the readings today, we see the power of the covenant and God’s faithfulness to it, as the Israelites trust in God and obey its terms. Our psalmist is King David, and though not perfect, we see his heart cry is to trust in God’s unfailing love and mercy to deliver him from his enemies. He has seen God’s deliverance before and knows God will never let him down. As Moses continues to share the terms of the covenant with the Israelites as they get ready to enter into the Promised Land, we see that God has set forth blessings and curses. If they obey the terms of the covenant they will have everything they need, land, protection, food and blessings upon their offspring. But if they choose to worship and follow other gods they will get what they desire. God wants them to ruthless in protecting the community from corruption through worship of other gods. It will be like a cancer that will spread in the community and cause harm to those who follow its ways. Finally,...

Reflections : In our first two readings, we see the contrast between the heart of King David, and the heart of the Israelites, as they would eventually decide to trust in other gods. We see David’s heart cry to God to deliver him in the time of trial, and how He finds joy as puts his trust in God! He like other men, he has made mistakes, but He repents and turns to the Lord for forgiveness. By contrast the Israelites are realizing what life is like without God. All the things they have taken for granted have been taken from them. All the provisions and daily bread that God had given them were now gone. Even the good nature of the people and how they treat each other will go south. Because they did not realize how much of their prosperity was tied to God, they had a very big wake-up call coming. Jesus then challenges His disciples with the cost of following him. As Jesus is treated badly the disciples want him to call down power from heaven to wipe out those who oppose him. ...