The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Joshua 6:2,
"Then the Lord said to Joshua, 'See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.'"
Now that Israel has crossed the Jordan into the land the Lord had promised them, the Lord tells Joshua he is handing their first conquest west of the Jordan to them, Jericho. To be sure, Israel will have to fight for it, but it is as good as done since the Lord has told Joshua it is theirs.
What right has God to give Jericho to Israel? What right has God to give any land over to a nation? Who is to decide who gets what? We live in a day where these are the questions that seem to perplex the bewildered international diplomatic community. Do the Palestinians have historical claim to Palestine? Does Israel? Should Israel be free to maintain control over the real estate it captured during the various wars she fought in the last half of the twentieth century?
Closer to home, what of the claim of "guilt-ridden white liberals" that the taking of North America and settling it was somehow an immoral thing relative to the natives living here at the time?
Paul provides an interesting observation relative to this kind of issue when he spoke to the folks at the Areopagus in Athens two millenia ago. He said, "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." Acts 17:24-27.
The Creator decides. He created it and it is all his. He determines the eras for peoples and where they will live. His agenda is to provide all possible means that people may embrace him in faith. Here is where mankind's "rule" and "authority" comes to an end and where mankind must bow to supremacy of his creator. Those who feel they should be the arbiters of such things are mere pip-squeaks before our omnipotent creator. It is his to decide. Where man feels he is doing big things, he is merely doing the bidding of God.
This brings to my mind the great decision God made, one much more profound and important than who gets which real estate at what time. God decided before time began, knowing that man would fall from his lofty position of fellowship with him in the garden, that he would reserve for himself all who embrace him in faith. God paid the penalty of our sins himself, when he sent his Son to die a miserable death on that cross. God predetermined that payment for our sins would be credited to any individual who embraces him in faith. He didn't decide to credit that payment to us if we are good looking, if we succeed in the business world, if we behave ourselves or we join the right church. He decided that he would give us eternal life if we trust in him.
But some simply cannot find the faith to place in God. Is it fair of God that we must trust in him? Hear how Paul answers that, in the similar way he addresses who inhabits which real estate when. "One of you will say to me: 'Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?' But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? 'Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?" ' Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?" Romans 9:19-21.
As Paul makes his point that eternal life will be given to the faithful as opposed to those who would rather earn it than trust in God, he says it is God's choice. He is the Creator and it is his to choose, it is his to give. We don't get to decide despite our efforts of theology to the contrary.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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