Darash Chai - Seek Life!

The idea of covenant is central recurring themes of Scripture. From the covenants with Noah, Abraham, and David, to the Old and New Covenants with Israel, covenants are found throughout. Every time that we find a covenant it is binding on all parties, and breaking the covenant comes with serious consequences. So what do you do when you are tricked into making a covenant with your enemy?

After the crushing defeat at Ai, and the removal of the offense from the camp of Israel, the army is now ready to attack this small fortress once a second time. But this time, rather than making the decision on how to attack Ai on their own, they consult God on the strategy to use, and from this we can learn a lot about how to wage our own battles.

Just after the victory at Jericho, Israel presses on to their next target. A small fortress town called simply Ai. After what had happened in the first victory, this small town should pose no real threat. And yet, in their first encounter with this city, Israel is defeated and driven back. The reason that Israel loses is quite simple. Commands had been given regarding what was to be done with the plunder from Jericho, but one man got greedy and decided to take some for himself.

The battle for Jericho is one of the more memorable stories in the Bible. The armies of God march around a city and in the end the wall fall down and Israel is able to defeat the first city of Canaan without any sort of opposition. Most people are at least passingly familiar with this story. But when we dig into the story in the context of the narrative, and in the context of scripture, there are several things that are revealed that shed a new light on this old story.

The first thing that Israel does after crossing the Jordan is to engage in a practice that would leave them in physical pain and vulnerable to attack. This cutting of the flesh is then followed up by a memorial festival of Passover. The reason that these steps are necessary might seem shocking, but let's just say that Israel in the wilderness was not as faithful to God's commands as we might think. Even this second generation had left things undone, and that needed to be remedied.

While Israel is still crossing the Jordan, God asks Joshua to build something. A memorial to the event that is currently happening in the narrative. Just one of many memorials that we find being commanded in the Bible. Why is it that God commands people to create and enact memorials? Because we are human, and we trust our senses of the current world more than we trust our memories of what God has done. And a memorial bridges the gap to act as a current physical reminder of that past to propel us forward into the unknown.

The time has come for Israel to cross the Jordan river into the land of Canaan. Normally this would not be a great undertaking, until you consider the size of the Israeli army, and that it was flood season for the Jordan. There was no reasonable way to get the army across the river. That is, until God intervened. He had parted the water before, and He does so again in spectacular fashion. But that is just the setting of this narrative. There is something more going on here, just below the surface. Pun fully intended.

Before the conquest begins, Joshua sends two spies into Jericho. While in the city, these spies encounter a woman who engaged in an inherently sinful profession. And in this woman we find a microcosm of the larger story at play in the book of Joshua. Two forces. Two leaders. Two nations. Two Spies. And one woman with two lives. It is in this contrast of twos that we find the second step on the journey toward the inheritance.

The book of Joshua is often seen as a book of history in the modern world. Simply a recounting of historical facts with little theological implications to be drawn from it. But in the Jewish tradition, Joshua is a book of prophecy. It is a book with a revelation to the people of God. As such, it contains a message that is applicable today. As such, it contains a pattern. A pattern that culminates in inheritance, but it begins with a call to faith.

The final chapters of Job include one of the more fascinating depictions in the Bible. Two grand creatures that appear out of mythology and onto the pages of scripture. It is extremely easy, while in these last chapters, to get distracted by the Behemoth and Leviathan and miss the concepts that are present in the last chapter. Concepts that are meant to be central to the life of every believer in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

God finally speaks. Job has asked for this moment. He has wished for a chance to make his case before God, and God has responded. The response Job gets, however, is not what anyone was expecting. Rather than receiving an answer to suffering, Job is simply presented a host of unanswerable questions.

As Elihu ends his speech much of what he has to say sounds good. In fact, vast portions of his speech are repeated in the upcoming chapters by God Himself. And yet, when God arrives on the scene He accuses Elihu of being without knowledge and of dark speech. What is it in this speech that is so far off from the truth? Well, Elihu reveals something about himself in these closing chapters. He reveals a double-minded nature that is so easy to fall into. Fortunately we have this example to look at so that we can avoid making the same trap.

Job's friends have finished their arguments. Job has finally laid to rest his defense. Out of nowhere comes a zealous young man who feels it is his duty to defend God from Job's assertions. There is a problem. Elihu's certainty of how God is capable of acting blinds him of how God has actually acted. This is a trap that anyone and everyone can and likely has fallen into, and when we do so, we do this to our own detriment.

Last Episode Job's friends rested their case against Job, but how did it come to this? Job suffered a great loss and was a victim, and yet, as his friends tried to comfort him, their comfort turned into an attack against Job's character. In response He was forced to defend himself. This week Job rests his defense with a series of speeches that address this state of affairs. How did this person tragedy of loss turn into a direct indictment of Job, and did he in some way deserve this treatment?

With one last short shot across the bow, Bildad and the rest of Job's friends have had their say. This leaves Job open to finally be able to speak his mind. As Job begins to speak, at first he simply repeats what has already been said, but then, in a surprising move, Job begins to question the source of wisdom. It is at this point that, in this abstract discussion that we find the turning point in the book.

Job has turned a corner and is beginning to gain his footing once again. And it is a good thing that Job is thinking more clearly once again, because the confrontation of Job's friends is about to get real personal. Before, the comments about the evil person have been rather generalized. "They do this," and "he does that." Now Eliphaz changes these statements into a direct attack against Job. "You are doing these things, Job." In response, Job doesn't get angry. Rather he offers a contrast between himself and the wicked.

Job's friends continue to cast accusations at Job by comparing Job's current situation to their own ideas of how God should work in the world. Their only understanding of God as the one who punishes the wicked and rewards the righteous does not allow for a righteous man to experience tragedy. Up until now, Job has been floundering. At first these attacks left him reeling and grasping for a defense, but as the same accusations continue to be thrown at him he is slowly getting his bearing. This week, Job changes tactics. His previous defenses have fallen on deaf ears, but now Job takes a different approach.

Round and round the condemning thoughts go. Accusing and condemning and circling around and around without ceasing. Bildad is back and this time he is pulling no punches. The tactic that Bildad takes in attacking Job is all too common. How can we ensure that we don't fall into the pattern of Bildad when confronted with those who are on the downward spiral?

At this point in the book of Job we begin to encounter a lot of repetition. Everything that is being said seems to have been said already? Why is it that this ancient scroll would spend so much ink rehashing these same arguments over and over? Unless there is something of profound importance that we can learn from the nuances that are found in the midst of this repetition.

The three friends of Job have had their say. Each of them have been less than helpful in their own way. For the next three chapters Job responds to the friends and in doing so we see him turn the page on his grief. Through some subtle clues we find that Job is no longer in the stage of depression. He is moving on as the reality sets in, and as he finds a closer target for his anger than God.