Dear Azy, Rumi, and Ari,
Today, we’re going to continue our story where we left off with Joshua helping the Israelites enter the promised land. Joshua had been working with Moses for a long time, including going up the mountain with him when Moses talked to God and was given the 10 commandments. Upon Moses dying, God told Moses to appoint Joshua as the new leader of the Israelites.
So the first lesson here is Joshua had the the best mentor in Moses and saw how he made decisions so he knew how to live a life pleasing God. That’s what you’ll have as well with mommy, daddy, and the nice teachers and pastors at the church for you to listen to and follow so you can learn how to live a life that follows God’s teachings, some of which daddy is writing here for you on stories of God’s book, the bible.
Right before entering the promised land, Moses died, or went home to be with God. As they were entering the promised land, God had the Levites, or priests, step into the waters of the Jordan river and they parted so the Israelites could cross. Then before Joshua was going into the battle to start taking over the promised land, which was called Canaan, he told Joshua to be strong and courageous three times. He did so because Joshua was now responsible for leading over 3 million Israelites and he wanted to reassure Joshua he was with him as they went through this journey of conquering the promised land. The first major battle they had was taking over the city of Jericho. Jericho had huge walls, making it very hard for an army of men to attach and be able to get inside. So God told Joshua this is what I want you to do. For six days, have the Levites carry trumpets along with the ark, which was something God had built by the Israelites to hold the ten commandments. On the seventh day, have the Levites march around the city seven times wit them blowing the trumpets. Once they’re done, have them sound the trumpets and the whole army shout, and the wall of Jericho will collapse. Joshua listened to what God said and followed his instructions exactly as he had told him. And when the trumpets sounded the seventh day and the whole army yelled, the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. And Joshua and the army were able to take over the city.
There are several important lessons here. First, God chose Joshua because of his faith to him. He was one of the two scouts that was not afraid to enter the promised land because, he knew with God, they would prevail. Second, God told Joshua to be strong and courageous three times because he knew Joshua was taking on an enormous responsibility and new since taking over the leadership role from Moses. But God was going to be with him each step of the way. So you will deal with things where you may lead people and do new things for God. As long as you have God on your side, you will be able to do anything because all things are possible with him. Speaking of all things possible, God had parted the Jordan river and the walls of Jericho tumble down and use his Levites, the ark, and the trumpet only so the people knew it was not them, but the God of Israel, who was responsible for the victory. The city was going to be hard to conquer if the Israelites tried to do it themselves, but with their God, they were able to do it with ease. The lesson is do things with God and you’ll be able to do anything. Last, when Joshua talked to God, he did exactly as he was told. He was not only fearful but obedient. Be obedient to God in everything you do and you will get a clear picture of how he wants you to serve him and live your purpose here on earth.
After Jericho, Joshua kept God’s instructions as they went through the land of Canaan conquering one land after another. After every victory Joshua gave credit to the lord and never took credit himself or became self-centered. He always stayed humble.
This is another lesson. Always be humble. Give God all the credit when you’re successful in anything. God is responsible for giving us life and he should always get the glory for all the successes and wins in our lives.
Once day, a tribe came to Joshua claiming they were from a land far away, outside the promised land, and asked for a treaty that they would not be attacked by the Israelites. Joshua had been consulting God on all military matters, but thinking this is not a big deal, agreed to the treaty. He came later to find out that was one of the tribes in Canaan, the promised land, that God had instructed Joshua to take over. Because Joshua had given his oath, or solemn word, he could not back out.
The lesson here is consult God on all matters in your life, even the ones you think it’s an easy choice and you think you can make the decision by yourself. God wants to have a relationship with you so talk to him about all your choices, be it easy or hard, before making a decision. This makes sure you don’t miss anything and making the best decision you can to do what he wants you to do.
In a span of seven year, God helped Joshua take over most of the promised land leaving some areas for the tribes to conquer themselves. Then Joshua divided the land among the 12 tribes before the end of his reign and warned the Israelites to not go back to worshipping idols or breaking God’s commandments or God would take away their promised land from them.
Joshua was an amazing leader. What you want to remember from Joshua is he was humble and obedient and faithful. In fact, out of all the people in the bible, he was one of the few that never strayed from God and stayed close to God through his whole life, which makes him one of Daddy’s favorites! 🙂
This is how we want to be like Joshua. So good questions to ask are:
Do I build a relationship with God?
Do I ask him about the choices I make before making a decision?
Do I give him the credit for every win or success I have?
Practice these and remember to be strong and courageous because you’re walking with God just like Joshua! 🙂
After Joshua, despite his warnings, the Israelites went back to worshipping idols and false Gods because of the other people who were still living in the land and had an influence on them. God had warned them to get rid of the people who lived there so they wouldn’t have that influence, but they didn’t do it for many reasons: 1) It was easier to establish trade 2) Their idols and false Gods were easier to worship and didn’t have as many rules 3) So they could do what they deemed fit (Because the idols weren’t really Gods), and 3) This was immediate reward vs. delayed reward of doing things that would build their character and faith to the one true God.
In today’s world, idols could be anything we put before God’s first. This could be TV, social media, work, family, friends, sports, or money. We should always remember to put God as our first priority. While those other things are important, what’s most important is God because when we focus on God, he makes sure we have joy in all those other areas of our lives.
This period after Joshua was called the time of the judges, or people God gave power to serve his purpose. The people would worship idols, then God would allow them to get conquered since they wanted to live a life worshipping something outside of him by letting those same people take over their lives. The Israelites would cry for help and God, because, of his promise to Abraham, would appoint one of their judges to see them free again.
One of these judges was Gideon. God came to Gideon one night and said I want you the help me conquer the Mediantes, one of the idol worshipping groups. Gideon said who am I? I’m the smallest in my family and my family is the weakest of my tribe of Manasseh. God said I will be with you. But Gideon still doubted so he asked God to wait until he could make an offering. He did wait and once the offering was made, God touched it with a staff and the food disappeared. Now Gideon knew it was God and followed his orders. Gideon gathered up 32,000 men but God said there were too much so he told Gideon to ask anyone who doesn’t want to fight to go home. Only 20,000 were left. Then he asked Gideon to have them drink water from the stream and divide the groups between those who stick their face in the stream versus those who kneeled and scoop the water with their hand. Only 300 remained. Then God said that’s good, for now, the people will know it was God that gave them victory and God alone. Before attacking the camp, God told Gideon he had given the victory and sneak into the opposing camp to hear what they were saying so he could rest assured the victory was his. Gideon snook into the camp and heard one of the soldiers dream about Gideon being given the victory from the Israelite God and were scared. Hearing this, Gideon’s confidence grew and he attacked late at night while blowing their horns and confusing the Mediantes where they started fighting each other. Thus, the Lord gave victory to Gideon that day.
There are many lessons here. First, God meets us where we’re at. While he told Joshua to do things and Joshua was obedient and did it the first time, Gideon was a farmer who was small and not in the military. He was thinking how could I defeat an entire army? My family is one of the smallest too and there are much more capable people than I for this task. So God reassured Gideon by making his food disappear and having him go listen to the enemies dreams fearing Gideon so he would be encouraged and have the confidence to lead his men into battle. And it was exactly what Gideon needed. So don’t worry if you feel you’re not up to a task or think there might be someone better suited. As long as God is with you, you’ll have everything you need at the right time to complete the task.
Second, like the parting of the Jordan river and breaking down the walls of Jericho, we see God again doing things to make sure the Israelites know it was him, not Joshua, Gideon, or their men that won the battle. He brought the size of Gideon’s men from 32,000 to 300 so the Israelites would have no doubt it was their God that helped them get this victory. He had heard their cries for help and answered their prayers. By now, you should be seeing God is merciful and forgiving. You’ll continue to see this pattern of the Israelites turning their back on God when times are good and then turning back to him whenever they need his help. Yet God forgave them and helped them each time. That’s how much God loves us. The key is to love and worship God when times are good or when they are bad. To keep our relationship with him no matter what’s going on in our lives, not just when we need him. God just wants to be close to us. It’s when the Israelites turned their back on God that God allowed them to get what they want and be conquered by the other tribes, even though it wasn’t what God wanted for them, because he always has our best interest at heart. Always!
So you’ll keep seeing this pattern as we go through some of the stories of the bible. People keep going back and forth with God. The lesson is to stay close to God throughout your life by building a relationship with him and put him first. You’ll still have challenges but the major difference is you know you’ll have God with you. And you’ll have joy in your heart because you know you’re going on the right path. Any path with God will always be the right path.
Next time, we’ll talk about the strongest Judge, Sampson, to Israel’s first kings, Saul and David, some of Daddy’s favorite stories!
Love you three so much! Till the next adventure! 🙂
Love,
Daddy
3/23/25
