Daily Notes & Observations is a 365-part series that follows a chronological daily Bible reading schedule and contains a short article based on something found in the text for each day. This material is also available in paperback.

March 27, 2012

"Why Have You Given Me Only One Lot?" (3/27)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Joshua 16-18.

As the territory in Canaan was being divided among the tribes, those who descended from Joseph complained that their allotment was insufficient for their people.

“Then the sons of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, ‘Why have you given me only one lot and one portion for an inheritance, since I am a numerous people whom the Lord has thus far blessed?’ Joshua said to them, ‘If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.’

“The sons of Joseph said, ‘The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the valley land have chariots of iron, both those who are in Beth-shean and its towns and those who are in the valley of Jezreel.’ Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, saying, ‘You are a numerous people and have great power; you shall not have one lot only, but the hill country shall be yours. For though it is a forest, you shall clear it, and to its farthest borders it shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, even though they have chariots of iron and though they are strong’” (Joshua 17:14-18).

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March 26, 2012

Caleb’s Inheritance (3/26)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Joshua 12-15.

Caleb was one of the twelve spies who believed the Israelites could conquer the land of Canaan because God was with them. Though he and Joshua were unable to convince the people, he was promised an inheritance in the land. After the land was divided among the tribes, Caleb asked Joshua to grant him what he was promised.

“You know the word which the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh-barnea. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the Lord my God fully. So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God fully.’

“Now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. […] Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken” (Joshua 14:6-12).

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March 25, 2012

Too Quick to Make Peace (3/25)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Joshua 9-11.

The Israelites were given instructions to not make a covenant with any of the inhabitants of Canaan (Deuteronomy 7:2). Yet they let their guard down and allowed themselves to be tricked by the inhabitants of Gibeon into making peace with them.

“They went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, ‘We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us,’ The men of Israel said to the Hivites, ‘Perhaps you are living within our land; how then shall we make a covenant with you?’ But they said to Joshua, ‘We are your servants.’ Then Joshua said to them, ‘Who are you and where do you come from?’ They said to him, ‘Your servants have come from a very far country because of the fame of the Lord your God… So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, “Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them and say to them, ‘We are your servants; now then, make a covenant with us.'”‘ […]

“So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the Lord. Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.

“It came about at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were neighbors and that they were living within their land” (Joshua 9:6-16).

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March 24, 2012

Rahab Lived in the Midst of Israel (3/24)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Joshua 5-8.

Yesterday we noticed Rahab’s faith which led her to help the Israelite spies who had come to Jericho. Because of her actions, her life was spared when the city was destroyed.

“However, Rahab the harlot and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, for she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho” (Joshua 6:25).

Her life was spared. But what did she do next? Did she simply go her own way, leaving Jericho and departing from the nation of Israel? No. She remained with Israel and lived among the people of God.
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March 23, 2012

What Rahab Knew (3/23)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Joshua 1-4.

When Joshua sent spies to Jericho, they received help from an unlikely ally – a harlot named Rahab. Despite her past, she would prove to be a valuable and faithful friend to God and the Israelites.

But why did she help the spies? It was because of the things she knew about God and His aid for the Israelites.

“Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men, ‘I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath’” (Joshua 2:8-11).

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March 22, 2012

"It Is Not an Idle Word for You" (3/22)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Deuteronomy 32-34; Psalm 91.

“When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he said to them, ‘Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law. For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess’” (Deuteronomy 32:45-47).

Why has God revealed His will to man? Why did He give the Israelites all of the commands and statutes in the Law of Moses? Why has the gospel been preached and preserved for us today?
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March 21, 2012

"The Word is Very Near You" (3/21)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Deuteronomy 30-31.

“For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14).

Many people spend a lifetime searching for truth. They do not know where to find it, so they explore the myriad religions and philosophies from around the world as they move along their journey toward enlightenment.
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