Today’s reading includes Judges 13:1-14:20, John 1:29:51, Psalm 102:1-28, Proverbs 14:15-16.

Today we read a familiar story.  Most of us learned about Samson when we were children. We learned that he had long hair which gave him strength, he was tempted and betrayed by Delilah who cut his hair, and when his hair grew back he killed a bunch of Philistines.  End of story.

But there is a lot more to the story which we can learn.  First of all, as the story begins we see foreshadowing that this will be a big deal.  The chapter begins with these words:

Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines, who oppressed them for forty years.

                                                                        Judges 13:1

Do you see the reflection of the process of God with His people repeated here?  The people did evil in the Lord’s sight, so He allowed them a time of cleansing and preparation—for forty years—just like in the days of Noah, just like the 40 years of wandering in the desert.  And then came a savior figure, just as Noah was, just as Moses and Joshua were.  And these savior figures were a reflection of the Ultimate Savior to come—Jesus.

Next, we see more clues that the story of Samson is an important one, as it reflects other important stories in the Bible.

² In those days a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children. ³ The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, “Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son.

                                                                                    Judges 13:2-3

This process of longing for a child and being unable to produce one is a theme repeated in the lives of several important Biblical figures.  Hannah wept with longing for a child and God intervened and gave her Samuel.  She is famous for giving him back to the Lord in lifelong service.  This story line is also repeated in the life of Elizabeth, who gave birth to John the Baptist.

Samson, as well as all of these other important Biblical characters were also Nazarites.  What was a Nazarite?  A Nazarite was a person who was especially devoted and consecrated and set apart for God’s purposes.  A person could become a Nazarite in two ways:  first, if the individual made a vow to become a Nazarite for a specified amount of time; and secondly, as a lifelong devotion following a vow made on their behalf by a parent before their birth.

A Nazarite would typically be recognized not only by their apparent devotion to God, but also physically, as they did not cut their hair, come into contact with the dead, nor partake of any alcoholic products.  This type of vow made by the parent typically followed a revelation from God which announced the birth of the child.  Obviously, this was the case in the life of Samson.

However, for all the build-up before his birth, Samson disappoints as a savior-like figure.  You would think that he would be set apart as a holy, righteous judge, but instead seems immature at best.  He loves riddles to tease his opponents, casually and foolishly interacts with pagans who worship other gods, and even marries Philistines, whom he is supposed to overcome.  However, at the start of his story, we see a clue that his life will only be a beginning, an appetizer of greater things to come.  Look at what the angel said to Samson’s mother in verse 5.

⁵ You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.

He didn’t say that Samson would rescue Israel.  He said he would begin to rescue Israel.  There were other judges and kings to come who would build upon the work Samson started.

Tomorrow we will study more about this famous judge of the Israelites, but today let’s end with these thoughts.  Before the birth of Samson, the dramatic declarations on his life were given by “the angel of the Lord”. Who was this angel?  Throughout the Bible, we read about angels.  Sometimes we read of “an angel”, sometimes we read of “a host of angels”, and sometimes we read of the angel of the Lord.  When the word the is attached, we can assume it is not just any ole angel.  It is a specific, important, holy being.  Many scholars believe that in this case the angel was Jesus, God in human form.  Manoah confirmed this thought when he exclaimed:

²¹ The angel did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the Lord, ²² and he said to his wife, “We will certainly die, for we have seen God!”

                                                                        Judges 13:21-22

We see further confirmation of the possibility that this angel was indeed Jesus when we see this account:

¹⁵ Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please stay here until we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.”

¹⁶ “I will stay,” the angel of the Lord replied, “but I will not eat anything. However, you may prepare a burnt offering as a sacrifice to the Lord.” (Manoah didn’t realize it was the angel of the Lord.)

¹⁷ Then Manoah asked the angel of the Lord, “What is your name? For when all this comes true, we want to honor you.”

¹⁸ “Why do you ask my name?” the angel of the Lord replied. “It is too wonderful for you to understand.”

¹⁹ Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered it on a rock as a sacrifice to the Lord. And as Manoah and his wife watched, the Lord did an amazing thing. ²⁰ As the flames from the altar shot up toward the sky, the angel of the Lord ascended in the fire. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell with their faces to the ground.

                                                                        Judges 13:15-20

The angel of the Lord requested a sacrifice rather than a supper.  This burnt sacrifice, as we have previously learned, would have been a sin offering.  This is a foreshadowing of the sins of the imperfect son, Samson, to come.  And as a reflection of what was to come, the angel of the Lord, Jesus, entered the flames of the sin offering and ascended into heaven. In the same way, when Jesus died on the cross, rose again, and ascended into heaven, he completed the work needed for the forgiveness of our future sins.

Yes, indeed, His Name was too wonderful to understand.  At His Name every knee will one day bow and every tongue will one day confess that He is Lord and Savior.

⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

                                                                        Philippians 2:8-10

I’m back!  I had to take a week off, but am excited about getting back to studying with you!

Today’s reading includes Judges 11:1-12:15, John 1:1-28, Psalm 101:1-8, Proverbs 14:13-14.

Jephthah was one of the judges of Israel.  He ruled for six years.  His situation was a unique one in that his background was questionable, and his people questioned his association with them until they realized they needed him.  His father was Gilead and his mother was a prostitute.  After Gilead died, his half-brothers disowned him and forced him to leave the area.  Later, they realized they needed him, as he was a great warrior.  Finally, he had a chance to redeem himself and overcome the shadow of suspicion due to his tainted heritage.  In his zeal for victory (and for proving himself), he made a hasty vow to the Lord.  He said that if the Lord gave him victory over the Ammonites, he would sacrifice to the Lord whatever came out of his house to meet him.  Surely, he envisioned a servant or slave being the first one to come out of the house.  But to his dismay, his only child, his beloved daughter, came out joyfully celebrating his return.

He was devastated.  He tore his clothes in anguish and cried out, “You have completely destroyed me!  You’ve brought disaster on me!  For I have made a vow to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.”

Her calm submission and her insistence that he keep his vow is surprising to say the least.  Her only request is for a two-month grace period, so that she and her friends could mourn the fact that she would die a virgin.

This passage is disturbing and confusing.  For Jephthah to offer his only daughter as a sacrifice to the Lord is a bit barbaric.  However, it is a foretaste of what God Himself would do in the future.  Like Abraham called to sacrifice his only son, so Jephthah sacrifices his only child, only this time God does not intervene.  The difference, however, is that Jephthah made a rash vow to the Lord.  This is warned against in several passages in the Bible.

As I studied this passage, I found that there are two main interpretations of Jephthah’s vow.  Some scholars say that Jephthah kept his vow to God (though God did not request that he make this vow) and killed his daughter.  Some scholars, however, bring up some interesting points about the translations of the wording and the customs of the day.  Some believe that Jephthah did not actually kill his daughter, but he killed the seed within her, thus killing her purpose and her future, by dedicating her to the Lord as a life-long virgin.  This view makes sense to a certain degree, as it explains why the daughter asked for two months to mourn the fact that she would die a virgin, rather than mourn the fact that she would lose her life.  In either case—through sacrifice or through dedication—she would die a virgin.  It would also make sense why Jephthah said, “You have completely destroyed me! You’ve brought disaster on me!”  He had worked so hard to overcome his illegitimate heritage.  Whether through death or dedication, his family would end without any future generations.

It is interesting to note that hundreds of years later, Jephthah was listed in the Faith Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11.  What did he do to be acknowledged in this esteemed listing?  We must conclude that he was a sinful man, just as we all are.  We must also conclude that God’s mercy and grace overrides our sinfulness and when that is washed away, he sees the true state of the heart.  That state of Jephthah’s heart was faithful, despite a tainted heritage, despite a sinful past.  Read what Betsy McPeak has to say on the website, www.ethosapologetics.com.

If Jephthah did sin either by making a rash vow or by sacrificing his daughter, he is still listed in Hebrews as one of the faithful.  But then so is Rehab who was also a prostitute.  But then so is Gideon who made a golden ephod with which Israel played the harlot.  But then so is David who took another man’s wife and then had her husband killed.  But does this not give us all hope that we can be considered faithful, even though we make huge mistakes?

We must also remember that just because the Bible reports events does not mean that it sanctions the events.  The narratives of the Bible describe what happened, but we ought not to treat the descriptions as prescriptions.  We find it difficult when particular acts are not commended or rebuked within the historical narratives of the Bible.  But when Scripture is silent in one place we must let the whole counsel of God speak.  The narrative in Joshua does not commentate on the immorality of Rehab’s harlotry.  But the law of God tells us clearly elsewhere that harlotry is wrong.  In Jephthah’s case, it is unclear exactly if and how he was sinful in his vowing, and since there is no internal commentary on those actions, we must look elsewhere for principles on vows.  The Biblical passage does not say that God was bloodthirsty or desirous of a human sacrifice!  Dawkins and other atheists attribute those qualities to God without textual support.

We certainly do not think that CNN approves of every murder it reports, or that historian Robert Leckie approves of every event he records in George Washington’s War.  We must treat the narratives of the Bible as narratives.

We must never be more clear than the Bible is.

UNCLEAR:  Did Jephthah make a rash vow? Did Jephthah’s vow contain an either/or element?  Did Jephthah sacrifice his daughter in the end or did he just devote her to the Lord in temple service?  Did Jephthah sin in making the vow?  Did Jephthah sin in keeping the vow?  What did God think of Jephthah’s post-war actions?

CLEAR:  God’s law prohibited child sacrifice (Leviticus 20:1-5; Deuteronomy 12:29-32; Deuteronomy 18:10). God’s law made a provision to deal with the guilt of rash or thoughtless vows (Leviticus 5:4-13).  Vows to the Lord are not required, but if they are made, they must be kept if lawful (Deuteronomy 23: 22,23).  When a person vows to give persons, cattle, houses, or land to the Lord, ordinarily, there is a way to redeem what was promised through a sacrifice, although the firstborn is not included in the redemption possibility, because the firstborn is already devoted to the Lord (Leviticus 27). Jephthah and other imperfect followers of God are said to be faithful (Hebrews 11).

So how do we make sense of Jephthah when in a conversation with an unbeliever?  Perhaps we could say something like this:

We  know that Jephthah was a valiant man, because the Old Testament tells of his bold leadership and trust in God in a battle defending against those trying to take Israel’s land.  Jephthah is also recorded as being faithful in the book of Hebrews.  But just because he was faithful, does not mean he was perfect.  Hebrew scholars and theologians disagree on the details of the Biblical account of Jephthah’s vow.  But whether or not Jephthah sinned regarding the vow and in whatever happened with his daughter, we can be sure that if he did do wrong, God did not approve of it.  We know this because of the clear passages that tell us what God thinks about vows and human sacrifices.  The Bible does not condone every event that it reports.  Narratives and histories do not always give moral analysis of the accounts they record.  We know from clear passages that God does not approve of child sacrifice or rash vows, therefore if Jephthah did either of those, God did not like it.  That God allows evil, whether that applies to this case or not, shows that God made man in His image – including the dignity of choice – not that He approves of evil.  If God approved of evil, He would not orchestrate such a costly plan to defeat it. 

Today’s reading includes Judges 4:1-5:31, Luke 22:35-53, Psalm 94:1-23, Proverbs 14:3-4.

Today’s assigned reading has us studying about Deborah, the only female Judge mentioned in the Bible. Honestly, I had never studied much about Deborah until recently.  But two days ago, on my birthday, I saw a blog post about Deborah on Facebook.  I actually didn’t read the post, but did see a comment underneath written by a mentor of mine.  She quoted a passage from the story which said, “In the midst of the chaos, Deborah arose.”  Those words came to my mind over and over throughout the day.  I found myself thinking constantly about those words: “In the midst of the chaos, Deborah arose.”  That night, I was enjoying all the birthday wishes on Facebook and stopped short when I read what an acquaintance of mine posted.  He obviously got me mixed up with someone else, but he posted, “Happy birthday, Debbie!”  Here I had been thinking about those words about Deborah all day and he called me Debbie.  I decided that maybe the Lord wanted me to study about Deborah, and two days later, that is the assigned reading.  I learned that she was a righteous judge, a warrior, and a prophet.  She had power and influence and yet we see that she only described herself as a mother.  There was a great battle going on and no one was doing anything—until Deborah arose.

Judges 5:7 says: 

Villagers in Israel would not fight;
    they held back until I, Deborah, arose,
    until I arose, a mother in Israel.

God called Deborah to arise.  But He didn’t call her to change who He had created her to be.  She was a mother.  She was motherly.  She was feminine.  She was a wife.  She saw herself as simply a mother.  But God!  When our extraordinary God steps in, He can take our ordinary lives and do something extraordinary in us and through us.

Are you ready to arise?  Are you ready to let God use you?

Isaiah 60:1-5 says:

“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
² See, darkness covers the earth
    and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
    and his glory appears over you.

 There is blessing in obedience.  I challenge you to arise and shine in this dark world.

As you read this text, I want to pretend you and I are together, maybe having a hot cup of coffee.  As you read my words, pretend I am speaking them just to you—friend to friend.  Listen as I speak the priestly blessing over you.  You know it.  May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord shine upon you…

For many, many years I have spoken this over my children when I put them to bed.  A couple of years ago I studied it out further and I saw that the verse after this tells us that saying this blessing is like putting the name of the Lord upon us.  I like that.

We just took our fourth child to college.  One of his last assignments in his English class as a high school senior was to write his parents a Thank you note.  Now, he probably wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t an assignment, but what he wrote will bless me the rest of my life.  He thanked us for our love and influence and he ended the letter blessing us with the same blessing we had spoken over him throughout his childhood.  And that is how I will end this text, speaking this into your life.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May the Lord make His face shine upon you.

May the Lord be gracious to you.

May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.

Today’s reading includes Judges 1:1-2:9, Luke 21:29-22:13, Psalm 90:1-91:16, Proverbs 13:24-25.

Today’s reading begins a new book of the Old Testament, as well as a new season in the life of the Israelites.  It begins with a big sigh and a question.  It is time to pick up the pieces and go forward, despite the death of the leader.  Upon first glance, I saw that the Israelites are finally seeking the Lord themselves.  They aren’t waiting for a leader to see the Lord on their behalf.

“After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, ‘Which tribe should go first to attack the Canaanites?”

    Judges 1:1

What strikes me as interesting, is that they knew what they must do, and they knew who to ask how to do it.  They had observed Moses and Joshua, and now it was time to follow their example on their own.  Remember, the story of Noah’s sons?  One was cursed because of his behavior towards his dad.  The other two were blessed, with one more blessed than the other.

The blessing Noah bestowed on his sons was distributed in this order:

Shem first

Then Japheth

Then Ham, or Canaan, who received a curse

Why is this information important?  First of all, the Canaanites, Ham’s descendants, became enemies of the Israelites.  The Canaanites occupied the Promised Land, which was promised to the Israelites.  The Canaanites followed false gods, and God warned His people not to be overcome nor influenced by the Canaanites.

The Israelites, on the other hand, were direct descendants of Shem.  Abraham was a direct descendent of Shem, as was Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s sons, which formed the tribes of Israel.  So, now the Israelites are in the Promise land, ready to conqueror what is rightfully theirs.  And they pose the question, “Which tribe will go first to attack the Canaanites?”

The Lord answered, “Judah, for I have given them victory over the land.”

   Judges 1:2

This answer the Lord gave was not only practical—He would give them victory at that time—it was also prophetic.  You will remember that Judah was not the first-born son.  He was actually the fourth son of Jacob.  But it was Judah, whose name meant “This time I will praise the Lord”, who would be in the direct lineage of the only One who can truly defeat our enemies.  Judah was a direct ancestor of Jesus.

In his time of blessing over his son, Jacob spoke these words:

“Judah,^[b] your brothers will praise you;
    your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
    your father’s sons will bow down to you.
⁹ You are a lion’s cub, Judah;
    you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
    like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,^[c]
until he to whom it belongs^[d] shall come
    and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
¹¹ He will tether his donkey to a vine,
    his colt to the choicest branch;
he will wash his garments in wine,
    his robes in the blood of grapes.
¹² His eyes will be darker than wine,
    his teeth whiter than milk.^[e]

                                                                   Genesis 49:8-12

There is so much we could dissect in that blessing, but today I want you to see the prophetic word spoken over Judah, which would have prophetically been passed down to his ancestors.  They were the lions–the “king of the jungle”, the fierce, the brave, the conquerors.  Most importantly, they carried the Seed who would fulfill this part of the prophesy:  “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come…”  He, to whom it belongs, is the Lion of Judah–Jesus the conquering Christ.

And so we read in this passage about God’s chosen tribe, the tribe of Judah, going forth and conquering the Canaanites.  They had great victory, much more than any of the other tribes.  The others tried, and conquered some, but over and over we see that they failed to drive out their enemies.  Perhaps because they were not reliant upon the Lion of Judah to come, as were the tribe of Judah.

Now, the conquering Christ has sent His Holy Spirit to those who believe.  And for this reason, we, too, can conquer our enemies, our sins, our trials, our temptations.  We have the Lion of Judah on our side, and we fight our battles in His strength, not our own.

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”^[j]

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[k]neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

                                                                                                Romans 8:31-39

Today’s reading includes Joshua 24:1-33, Luke 21:1-28, Psalm 89:38-52, Proverbs 13:20-23.

We have made it through another book of the Bible.  At the beginning of the book of Joshua, we found him gathering stones from the middle of the Jordan River, as he led the people into the Promise land.   The purpose of the stones was to be stones of remembrance.  At the Lord’s command, Joshua said to the people.

“In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?  Tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’  

For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over.  The Lord your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over.  He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”

                              Joshua 4:21-24

The Lord wanted them to take the stones from the Jordan because He knew them so well.  He knew they were a forgetful people.  They were forgetful about who He is, what He can do and what He requires.  So for the rest of Joshua’s life, He was called to remember.  Joshua gathered the stones from the River Jordan as they entered the Promised Land, and this was just the beginning.

As we continued studying about Joshua, we found that throughout his time of leadership he and/or the people were called to gather stones of remembrance seven different times.  Notice that holy number seven! The seventh time that Joshua was called to gather stones of remembrance was just before his death.  Here is a list of the seven times of gathering stones of remembrance.

1. Joshua 4:20—Stones from the River Jordan

2. Joshua 7:26—Large pile of rocks gathered as a memorial of how they weeded out sin and evil from among the people.

3. Joshua 8:29—Large pile of rocks gathered as a memorial of victory over their enemies.

4. Joshua 8:32—Gathered large stones and copied the commandments as a memorial of renewed decision to follow God.

5. Joshua 10:27—A pile of stones gathered to cover their defeated enemies.

6. Joshua 22:31—Built an altar of stones as a testimony and reminder that the people and their future generations would stay true to God.

7. Joshua 24:26—Gathered all the people together to remember their great journey, and to renew their covenant with God.

We have already studied the first episode when they gathered the stones from the River Jordan.  Now, let’s look at the last time Joshua was called to gather stones.  This is found in Joshua 23 and 24.

“After a long time had passed and the LORD had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then old and well advanced in years,  summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: “I am old and well advanced in years.  You yourselves have seen everything the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the LORD your God who fought for you. Remember…”          

                                                                                Joshua 23:1-3

And then Joshua began to instruct the people for the last time.  This is what he told them: “Be very strong:  be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left” (Joshua 23:6).  Compare that to what Joshua heard over and over from the Lord himself, when He first became leader:

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go…Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go”                          

                                                             Joshua 1:7, 9

He passed the wisdom on to the others.  And that wisdom had now been tested and proved throughout his lifetime. Then, he goes on to give more instruction:

“But you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have until now. The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you.  One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised.  So be very careful to love the LORD your God…You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed.  Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.”                                                                                                                                            

                                                        Joshua 23:8-11, 14

And then he gathered all the people together, and he called them to remember the great journey on which God had led them.  Then he challenged them, through remembering, to renew their covenant.  He said, “…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord”         Joshua 24:15

The people renewed their covenant to their faithful God.  And then Joshua called them to action.  They were to do two things:

1. They were to throw away and rid themselves from all false gods.
2. They were to yield their hearts to the Lord.

The people enthusiastically agreed.  Joshua drew up a “plan of obedience”…decrees and laws.  He took a large stone and he set it up under the oak, as a stone of remembrance of their moment of decision to follow the Lord wholeheartedly.

This proved to be Joshua’s final assignment from God.  He died right after setting up this final stone of remembrance.  With this seventh Stone, Joshua could rest.  Seven being the number of completeness and perfection signified that with this last stone, Joshua had completed his ministry.  Sounds much like Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

With these seven different piles of stones of remembrance scattered throughout the land, the land itself shouted the story of God’s faithful promises: the wonderful Promised Land.  We can understand with greater clarity the encounter with Jesus found in Luke 19: 37-40:

“When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 

‘“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!’ 

      ‘Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ 

“Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples!’

‘I tell you,’ he replied, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.’”

Joshua learned most of all to remember who God is, what He has and can do.  To remember that He is an extraordinary God who loves to work in the lives of ordinary people.    Gather your own stones of remembrance, that they, too, can cry out the truth of God and His faithfulness.