Today's Scripture Reading (February 21, 2022): Joshua 17
"If you do not change
direction, you may end up where you are heading." The words belong to
Siddhārtha Gautama, a wise man who lived in the fifth century B.C.E., who is
better known as the Buddha. I have to admit that I love the imagery presented
here. Too often, we think we know where we want to go, but the truth is we
often don't want what we think we want. So, if we don't dare to change our
path, we may get exactly what we think we want. And while we might think that
getting what we want is a blessing, in reality, it is a curse and one from
which we should run away.
The descendants of Joseph were
numerous and powerful. But their curse was the path that they had chosen to
walk. They looked at their inheritance, and they weren't satisfied. The people
who lived on the plain had chariots fitted with iron, indicating that the
chariots contained both offensive and defensive weapons made of iron. These
chariots were the height of innovation in the ancient world designed to make
their owners an undefeatable force. And when they looked at the hill country,
they found even more strength. The phrase "the hill country is not enough
for us" is often interpreted as the descendants of Joshua complaining that
even they completely took the hill country, it was not big enough. But the
actual Hebrew Phrase is "the hills will not be found by us." The
hills are unobtainable. Regardless of what the descendants of Jacob do, they
will not be able to take the hill country, and therefore the important
resources there for making weapons and defensive structures are beyond them.
They are a large and powerful tribe, but they feel they deserve an easier path.
The demand of the descendants of
Joseph is the reverse of the commitment made by Caleb of Judah, who told
Joshua:
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! 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. 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 (Joshua
14:10-12).
The descendants of Joshua wanted the easy path; Caleb was
willing to take the difficult path, knowing that God was with him.
Ephraim and Manasseh, the descendants of Joshua,
would get precisely what they wanted. They believed that they deserved the easy path and would not turn away from what they thought they deserved. The descendants of Jacob would
eventually get what they wanted. And as
a result, Ephraim would lead the northern nation straight into exile in
Assyria. They would not change directions and ended up precisely where they were headed.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Joshua 18
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