Author: John Tillman

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Joshua 20-21 Listen: (6:58) Read: Philippians 2 Listen: (3:45)

Scripture Focus: Joshua 20.2-6

2 “Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, 3 so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood. 4 When they flee to one of these cities, they are to stand in the entrance of the city gate and state their case before the elders of that city. Then the elders are to admit the fugitive into their city and provide a place to live among them. 5 If the avenger of blood comes in pursuit, the elders must not surrender the fugitive, because the fugitive killed their neighbor unintentionally and without malice aforethought. 6 They are to stay in that city until they have stood trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest who is serving at that time. Then they may go back to their own home in the town from which they fled.”

Reflection: Balancing Justice and Mercy

By John Tillman

In some ways, Mosaic law is harsher than our current laws because it is more protective of human life. In some ways, Mosaic law is more merciful than our current laws because it is more protective of human life.

The “Cities of Refuge” were strategically placed to be easily reached. If someone accidentally killed someone, they could flee to these cities for protection until the death was investigated. The “Avenger of blood,” a close relative of the victim, would not be allowed to kill them before they stood trial.

When emotions are high, hot tempers can overwhelm evidence or explanations. The designation of “Cities of Refuge” was a way of stopping unintentional, accidental killings from setting off a cycle of violence and revenge. Revenge is best left to God. Justice is best served cold.

The outcome of the trial determined the penalty. The minimum penalty was confinement in the city until the death of the High Priest. Other penalties could include financial compensation or death.

Any law can be bent toward evil. Joab abused the law of the avenger of blood in order to murder a political rival during David’s reign. (2 Samuel 3.24-28) I’m sure Joab wasn’t the only one to abuse the law. Having balanced systems minimizes the opportunity for human corruption, but doesn’t eliminate it. We have a role to play in keeping the balance of justice and mercy.

God takes every human death seriously and demands justice from every community. Whether people in our communities die by neglect of our responsibilities, the malice of our actions or policies, the abuse of our power, or the violence of crime or of excessive punishment, we are responsible to provide justice.

Our power to affect our legal system is limited and slow-working. But that is not the only place to apply these lessons. It’s easy to advocate for mercy toward those who haven’t harmed us directly. It is when we have suffered that the test of our principles begins.

The desire for revenge is a personal, sinful twist of God’s desire for justice. In our personal lives, we need checks on our emotions. We need to make places of refuge for those who may harm us. We can take every harm seriously without seriously harming others.

Let us work in our personal and communal lives to be people who balance loving mercy with doing justice and doing it all in a spirit of humility. (Micah 6.8)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

I call with my whole heart; answer me, O Lord, that I may keep your statutes. — Psalm 119.145

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Cold Case Justice

Establishing justice is a Christian calling and preventing crime is as much a part of it as investigating crime.

Read more: Justice That Protects Even Criminals’ Lives

The life of the criminal matters to God…Let us ensure that we maintain justice that protects life, including the life of the criminal.

Links for today’s readings:

Jul 11 Read: Joshua 14-15 Listen: (7:20) Read: Ephesians 5 Listen: (3:42)

Scripture Focus: Joshua 14.6-12

6 Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8 but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. 9 So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’ 10 “Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”

Reflection: Minority Report Vindicated

By John Tillman

The first time Israel came to the Jordan river, they chose poorly.

Ten of the twelve spies took one look at the Anakites and fear took over. The ten reported to the camp that the size and strength of the Anakites made them feel like they were grasshoppers facing giant warriors. Two spies, Joshua and Caleb, tried to counter the fear, telling the people to trust in God. But their words were drowned out.

Fear spread through the camp.

Fear makes us forgetful. Hearing the story of the Anakites, the people forgot everything God had done for them. The plagues against Egypt were forgotten. The sea swallowing the Egyptian army was forgotten. The other battles they had won already were forgotten.

The fearful majority of Caleb’s generation overwhelmingly forgot God, yet God remembered the faithful. When Israel returned to the Jordan, Joshua and Caleb were the only remnant of their generation.

The remnant is not always a comfortable place to be. The remnant doesn’t usually win the argument, conquer in battle, or save the kingdom. That happens occasionally, but not normally.

Joshua and Caleb were outvoted and spent 40 years wandering the desert before being vindicated. Elijah, even after a great victory, had to hide in a cave. Jeremiah got thrown in a cistern. Isaiah, according to tradition, was sawn in two. Ezekiel, Daniel, Esther, and many others experienced exile, including persecutions and sufferings.

Regardless of what happens to the remnant, their words and work are important. The remnant represent a “minority report” that testifies against the fearful, the unfaithful, and the corrupt.

God is in the business of preserving faithful remnants among each generation. Are you in the remnant? Do you feel your voice is drowned out? Like no one is listening? Like everyone is responding in fear? Like you are trudging through a 40-year desert journey of someone else’s choosing?

When Caleb exited the desert, he asked to take on those Anakites directly, demonstrating that his faith was as strong as it ever had been. May God make you like Caleb, as strong when you exit the desert as when you entered.

God’s remnant is precious to him. May you be faithful, not fearful. Your testimony of faith will be vindicated. May you not turn to the left or the right. He will preserve your strength and walk with you every step.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Our God will come and will not keep silence; before him there is a consuming flame, and round about him a raging storm. — Psalm 50.3

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: The Way of the Remnant

There is a pattern for the remnant that God will protect:
Out of hopelessness, faith. Out of shame, honor. Out of loss, victory.

Read more: It’s Not Over When It’s Over

Can we save falling things? Perhaps. But failing that, we can rise from destruction…endure to the end. All will fall down. We will stand up.

Links for today’s readings:

 Read: Joshua 12-13 Listen: (8:18) Read: Ephesians 4 Listen: (3:58)

Scripture Focus: Joshua 13.1

1 When Joshua had grown old, the Lord said to him, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.

Reflection: Set Up For Success

By John Tillman

Nearing the end of his life, Joshua recognized the next generation would have to complete what he started. He would not live long enough to finish what he set out to do.

From one perspective this may seem a human failure or tragedy. But from another perspective it is natural—even good.

Joshua’s mentor, Moses, fell short. Moses could not lead the people into the land and he himself only glimpsed it from a distance. (Deuteronomy 3.27) Joshua took up the mantle to complete Moses’ dream for Israel.

Joshua fell short. He could not take all of the territory and remove all of the sinful idolatry. The people would have to complete the work themselves. The tribes’ leaders would work together to take the remaining land. Then, when future troubles arose, God would raise up leaders to save the people.

As your mentors, teachers, and role models come to the end of careers or their lives, they will fall short. There will be failed projects and dreams that never came to completion. Perhaps you, if God calls you, will take up their mantle to continue the work.

Previous generations always leave behind undone work, unfinished tasks, and unattainted goals. No generation closes their book with every box ticked “complete.” When we pick up the mantle of those who have gone before us, there will always be messes to clean up and unfinished business.

Like Joshua, when we reach the end of our sojourn, we will also fall short. Our hopes for this world’s work must be passed on to those who follow us. Rather than being a tragedy, this may be how God intends his work to pass from generation to generation.

Jesus left work behind for his disciples. He left people to heal, sermons to preach, Centurions to baptize, and dying girls to bring back to life. (Acts 2.14-17; 3.6; 9.39-42; 10.47-48) He left Jerusalem, Samaria, and the rest of the world to be evangelized—a task still passed down to us. (Matthew 28.19-20; Act 1.8)

Jesus left his followers plenty to do and yet, he was able to say, “It is finished” because he completed his Father’s work. (John 17.4) He also empowered his followers with the Holy Spirit to complete their work.

Have you thought about what you are leaving undone that you pray the next generation can finish? How are you preparing them to take over? Are your actions today setting them up for success in the future?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

You are the  Lord; do not withhold your compassion from me; let your love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever. — Psalm 40.12

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Time to Go

Are we viewing the younger generations…as future leaders? Are we humble enough to step down when God calls us?

Read more: Glimpsing the Promise

Yet, all is not lost…God will be faithful to his purposes for the next generation. God’s grace to us is being able to glimpse it.

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Joshua 10 Listen: (7:23)  Read:  Ephesians 2 Listen: (3:04)

Scripture Focus: Joshua 10.22-26

22 Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me.” 23 So they brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. 24 When they had brought these kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had come with him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came forward and placed their feet on their necks. 25 Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.” 26 Then Joshua put the kings to death and exposed their bodies on five poles, and they were left hanging on the poles until evening.

Reflection: Dethroning Kings and Powers

By John Tillman

In 2003, Saddam Hussein was dragged from a hole in the ground in Iraq, humiliatingly illustrating his fall from power. Three years later, Iraqis convicted Hussein of one of many mass killings from decades of unaccountable brutality, and executed him by hanging.

Across Iraq and the world, people celebrated sang, danced, and cried tears of relief. Victims and families felt a measure of justice. Few mourned Hussein or his brutal regime, even as we mourned the devastation of Iraq required to bring him down.

Like Hussein, five Amorite kings were dragged from a cave where they were hiding from Israel’s army. We aren’t given details of their crimes. We only know that during Abraham’s time, their sin had not “reached its full measure,” but in Joshua’s day, the time of judgment had arrived. (Genesis 15.16)

Joshua had Israelite leaders place their feet on the kings’ necks before he killed them. Kings who spent their lifetimes with their feet on the necks of their subjects and enemies, were treated as they had treated others. For the proud, humiliation is worse than violence and dishonor worse than death.

Knowing these kings were wicked doesn’t make Canaan’s conquest easy reading. Wars and deaths, even when we know the criminality of leaders, peoples, or countries are still tragic. People, wicked or not, suffer, and death is our enemy, not our ally.

From one perspective, Joshua is the story of a king-killer and a god-killer. Just like the plagues of Egypt made theological statements, disarming the gods of Pharaoh, the destruction of Canaanite city states made theological statements, disarming the gods of Canaan’s kings. Joshua was defeating the spiritual powers over the land. Joshua threw down kings but did not take their place. God was the only king or power Israel needed.

We usually don’t mind killing kings when they are wicked. The problem is we want their thrones for ourselves. Like Israel, we want a king “like other nations” (1 Samuel 8.4-7) and we want it to be us. We dethrone sinful despots, then become them. Whether or not there are wicked kings and their gods over us, there are often wicked kings and their idols within us.

The regime change we need is to dethrone the sinful powers in our hearts. We need to drag them out of hiding, where Jesus the seed of Eve will crush their heads under his feet.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.” — Matthew 28.16-20

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Forces and Powers

We don’t resist the world’s powers with worldly weapons or resist demonic powers by attacking humans.

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