On war

A simple note to get started - these are my thoughts and feelings, not my expertise and knowledge.

I had not read the Bible in a long, long time. Maybe a month, maybe six weeks, but I was/am in a period of my life after reading three of Rob Bell's books, especially Velvet Elvis - which is so beautiful - where I did not want to read God, but I wanted to wait on God in a different way. And for the most part, this has been a happy time of life, and I do feel moved by God's spirit in it, without literally intending to read God's words in anything but my heart.

However, I missed reading the Bible, and did feel like I was missing out on wisdom that was beyond my day to day experience. The Bible is a history of the Jewish people and the Jewish man Jesus of Nazareth, and as much as I believe in God's power to intervene in daily trials and circumstance, I do not know anything really about Jewish religious thought and spirituality without it.

So as a change of pace this morning, I flipped to somewhere in the Old Testament - I normally go to Psalms or Proverbs here, but I wanted something that I hadn't read in a while. I honestly think I got something I hadn't read ever - the 3rd quarter of the Book of Joshua. I thought, "Oh, great," when I started out, "here's another chronology of names and people going to war with one another." I do not like to think about war in the Bible. Victory, yes. War, no. But I read it, convinced by countless past experiences that it would be the right thing for me to read that day based on instinct.

Of the 5 or so chapters I read, the verses below stuck out to me. I loved several things about them -

One, that here is a people being given a gift, and they are whining about it.

Two, Joshua does not put up with this; It is the land they were given for a purpose.

Three, the purpose is bigger than the people, and it requires their work to yield the full inheritance.

Four, they are a strong and powerful people who are not supposed to conquer iron with iron. Instead, they are working with their own unique inheritance (the wood and forest) to overcome a material that is arguably, physically, factually speaking, stronger.

I think when I came back to the Bible I was feeling a little bit let down by myself for not keeping up with it more. From this reading, instead of staying let down, I came away with the opposite impression - that I am powerful and my inheritance is not someone else's might, but my own ability to accept the gifts God offers me for what they are and develop them into what God has intended them to be.

I know the Bible is not a fortune cookie or a divination cup. It's a renewal of the spirit that will never leave us. It will pursue our purpose as clearly as Joshua was able to point out the destiny of the people of Joseph.

Joshua 17:14-18

New International Version (NIV)

14 The people of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one allotment and one portion for an inheritance? We are a numerous people, and the LORD has blessed us abundantly.”

15 “If you are so numerous,” Joshua answered, “and if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go up into the forest and clear land for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaites.”

16 The people of Joseph replied, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the plain have chariots fitted with iron, both those in Beth Shan and its settlements and those in the Valley of Jezreel.”

17 But Joshua said to the tribes of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—“You are numerous and very powerful. You will have not only one allotment 

18 but the forested hill country as well. Clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours; though the Canaanites have chariots fitted with iron and though they are strong, you can drive them out.”