April 5, 2017

Insights on Today's Reading

Joshua 16 - One way you can describe Samson's life is "Powerfully Weak!"  Yes, he had great power to do great physical feats.  But his moral weakness was even greater than his physical strength.  His is the kind of life where you just wonder how much good he could have done if he practiced greater self-control?  He could lift up and move an entire city gate but he could not resist the temptations of a certain seductress, Delilah.  She "won" him over "hook, line, and sinker!"  Watch the digression of his joking about where his strength lay.  He went from his muscles to his hair and that's where she got him.  Amidst the sadness of this chapter I can't help but wonder about the Philistines.  Why did they let his hair grow again?

Joshua 17 - Verse 6 of this chapter says a lot about this time period in Israel.  No king, (including not recognizing God as King), and hence, no direction.  Everyone did whatever they thought they should do.  Tragic!  A woman takes silver and thanks God for it but then gives some to a silversmith to make her family a god!?  And to top that, a Levite agrees to be a personal priest to this family!  Israel turned away from God and they lost all sense of right and wrong.

Joshua 18 - Some of the people of the Tribe of Dan were looking for more space for their families.  They encountered the priest of the family mentioned in the previous chapter.  The Danites learned of an unprotected town where they could settle after conquering it.  They did and they took the priest to join them.  But when you look at the last verse of the chapter you realize they sunk into idolatry as a way of life.