Joshua gathered together all the tribes of
Israel at Shechem, summoning their elders, their leaders, their judges and
their officers. When they stood in ranks before God, Joshua addressed all the
people: “Thus says the LORD, the God of
Israel: In times past your fathers, down
to Terah, father of Abraham and Nahor, dwelt beyond the River and served other
gods. But I brought your father Abraham from the region beyond the River and
led him through the entire land of Canaan. I made his descendants numerous, and
gave him Isaac. To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I assigned the mountain
region of Seir in which to settle, while Jacob and his children went down to
Egypt.
“Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and smote
Egypt with the prodigies which I wrought in her midst. Afterward I led you out
of Egypt, and when you reached the sea, the Egyptians pursued your fathers to
the Red Sea with chariots and horsemen. Because
they cried out to the LORD, We should call
out to God when we are in distress he put
darkness between your people and the Egyptians, upon whom he brought the sea so
that it engulfed them. After you witnessed what I did to Egypt, and dwelt a
long time in the desert, I brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived
east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I delivered them into your
power. You took possession of their land, and I destroyed them, the two kings
of the Amorites, before you. Then Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab, prepared
to war against Israel. He summoned Balaam, son of Beor, to curse you; but I
would not listen to Balaam. On the contrary, he had to bless you, and I saved
you from him. Once you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho, the men of
Jericho fought against you, but I delivered them also into your power. And I
sent the hornets ahead of you that drove them (the Amorites, Perizzites,
Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites) out of your way; it
was not your sword or your bow.
God works over long periods of time, longer
than human generations.
- Therefore, the fact that we do not see the
ultimate result of what He gives us to do does not meant that our efforts are
for naught. See 1 Peter 1:10-12 . If we do
not see the Results in our earthly life times, we will see them over the course
of our eternal lives.
-
We each have our part to play in executing
God’s plan, some of those parts are mundane (think of Joseph serving in
Potipher’s house & the prison), but they all must get done to bring God’s
plan to fruition. This seems to be a variation on the dynamic
reflected in Romans 12:3-8, and 1 Corinthians 12:4-31. These passages each address the fact that each
of us have different parts to play in the execution of God’s plan. JOS 24:1-13 speaks to the different parts we are assigned
over the entire history of His plan, while Romans
12:3-8, and 1
Corinthians 12:4-31 speak to the differing parts different
believers have at any particular time during the unfolding of that plan.
-
We should therefore faithfully attend to what
He gives us to do, trusting that it will bear fruit in due time, if not for us,
then for others God has chosen. See Sirach 2:2-4 & 9-10
- The fact that we encounter difficulties and
mess up as we execute our part of God’s plan should not surprise us; Those dynamic’s
were present in the lives of each of the folks mentioned in the 1st
& second paragraphs of this reading
“I gave you a land that you had not tilled
and cities that you had not built, to dwell in; you have eaten of vineyards and
olive groves which you did not plant.”
God gives us graces, sustains us, along the
way as we execute our part of His overarching plan.
R. His mercy endures forever.
Give
thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures
forever;
Give
thanks to the God of gods, for his mercy endures forever; Give thanks to the LORD of lords,
for his mercy endures forever. We have a LOT to be
thankful for, as just discussed in JOS
24:1-13 and the much,
much, more that has transpired since then.
R. His mercy endures forever.
Who led his people through the wilderness,
for his mercy endures forever;
Who smote great kings, for his mercy
endures forever; And slew powerful kings, for his mercy endures forever.
R. His mercy endures forever.
And made their land a heritage, for his
mercy endures forever; The heritage of Israel his servant, for his mercy
endures forever; And freed us from our foes,
for his mercy endures forever.
R. His mercy endures forever.
Receive
the word of God, not as the word of men, but, as it truly is, the word of God.
Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and
tested him, saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause
whatever?”
He said in reply, “Have you not read that
from the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, For
this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his
wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but
one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.”
They said to him, “Then why did Moses
command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?”
He said to them, “Because of the hardness
of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning
it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is
unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.”
His disciples said to him, “If that is the
case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”
He answered, “Not all can accept this
word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage
because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some,
because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever
can accept this ought to accept it.” This seems to
address the same dynamic as JOS 24:1-13, Romans
12:3-8, and 1 Corinthians 12:4-31. These passages each address the fact that each
of us have different parts to play in the execution of God’s plan. JOS 24:1-13 speaks to the different
parts we are assigned over the entire history of His plan, while Romans
12:3-8, and 1
Corinthians 12:4-31 speak to the differing parts different
believers have at any particular time during the unfolding of that plan.
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