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12 March. Joshua chapters 5-8
After crossing the river, the hard work of conquest begins. Most of today’s reading is taken up with the account of the battles to conquer two cities – Jericho (achieved by psychological warfare, plus God’s miraculous flattening of the city walls, but without fighting), and Ai (conquered at the second attempt, following God’s instructions rather than the recommendations of the scouts).
But around these victories are accounts of actions of ritual significance – circumcision, Passover, and an appearance of an armed angel before the military campaign, and renewal of the covenant afterwards. These remind us that Joshua is not just a book of military history, but the account of God claiming the holy land for his own people. They themselves had to be holy in order to receive it, and so there had to be ceremonies of dedication to God (circumcision), remembrance of God’s previous victories (Passover being a re-enactment of the night before the Exodus), and receiving the law. The vision of an angel was given only to Joshua himself to encourage him as leader.
But one man’s sin in hiding booty for his own family was enough to lead to defeat of the whole army. So the lesson is, that our plans alone, even if we believe them to be in line with Christian teaching, are not enough. We need to be personally close to God in the way we live, the principles we live by, and in our religious communities, if we are to achieve what he calls us to.