The Bible Recap - March Reflections and Corrections - Year 3

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible recap. Welcome to our March R&C episode. We're aiming to do an episode like this at the end of each month, offering some reflections and some corrections. Let's start with the reflections and look back at all we've covered so far. We just finished the book of Joshua, our seventh book. So let's get the 30,000th view on where we are in the chronological timeline of the Bible's overall meta-narrative. The Bible is one unified story. Way back in Genesis, God set out to build a relationship with one particular family, but things went terribly

Starting point is 00:00:42 wrong when they fractured the relationship through sin. But their sin didn't surprise God. He already had a plan in place to restore this relationship even before it was broken, and he continues working out that plan immediately, undeterred, and unhindered by their rebellion. He sets apart a man named Abraham to be the patriarch of this family, and he gives this family a name, the Israelites. They're a bunch of busted people who lie, cheat, and steal. God blesses them despite their sin, but sin still has its consequences.

Starting point is 00:01:11 One of the long storylines of consequences of the 400 years they spend in Slaived in Egypt. God sent a man named Moses to demonstrate his power over the Egyptian ruler who's enslaving them, and eventually he reluctantly agrees to let the Israelites' slaves go. They flee to the desert, led by God and His servant Moses. Little by little, God gives these people the basic rules of how to have a stable society. All they've ever known is slavery under a cruel dictator. They've never seen good leadership demonstrated.

Starting point is 00:01:41 There are a bunch of uncivilized, ungrateful people who have only just met God and Moses, and they're not keen on obeying either of them. But in the midst of their sin and stubbornness and foolishness, God knows that what their hearts need is Him. So He sets up camp among them in the desert. He's already told them how to have a civil society, so now He begins telling them more about how to interact with Him. That involves establishing a team of people to help mediate this relationship

Starting point is 00:02:08 to make sure everything goes as he commands it. He sets up a system of sacrifices and offerings and puts together a calendar of feasts to celebrate his provision for them. More than anything, he wants them to remember who he is to them, the God who rescued them out of slavery. He's trying to point them back to the truth that people who recognize him as God can rely on his pattern of faithfulness, even when they are unfaithful. But they keep forgetting, and every time they forget, they either get fearful in

Starting point is 00:02:37 disobey or they get prideful in disobey. Their disobedience lands them a 40-year sentence in the desert wilderness. And on top of that, they will not get to move into the land God keeps talking to them about. But the good news is that their kids get to go in. After all the first generation dies off, God raises up a new leader, Joshua, to lead them into that promised land. Joshua learns to listen to God and do what he says. And as a result, they begin to take the land God promised

Starting point is 00:03:06 from their enemies, the Canaanites, who currently live there. This generation of Israelites is living in the fulfillment, at least partially, of the things God promised to Abraham, the first Israelite, way back in Genesis 12. They are numerous, they are a nation in relationship with God, and they're living in the land he promised to give them, even if they're still among their enemies at this point. Now that they're in the Promised Land, Joshua appoints plots of lands for all the tribes,

Starting point is 00:03:33 and remind them that they're supposed to eradicate their enemies who live there. God cares about the intimate details of our lives, even those that might seem beneath his concern. Just as Joshua is about to die, he makes one final push for them to be thorough with this, and he reminds them that they should never worship the Canaanite gods. They should only worship Yahweh. The people agree to this and promise to follow Yahweh alone. Tomorrow we enter the book of Judges. It's a bloody book, but it brings us an important reminder of what happens when people don't follow Yali and follow their hearts instead. Okay, that's all for the reflections part of this episode, and I'm happy to report that

Starting point is 00:04:12 so far in March, by the grace of God, there aren't any glaring mistakes I made or things I want to retract, so we don't have any corrections to add for this month. However, I'm writing this on March 25th, so there's still almost a whole week in the month left for me to make some kind of glaring error. If that happens, we will be sure to address it in the April R&C episode. But as for now, I'm praising God for helping me make fewer mistakes and miscalculations on delivery. From day one until now, I hope you're seeing more and more that he's where the joy is. that he's where the joy is. The Bible Recap is brought to you by D-group.

Starting point is 00:04:50 The Cypleship and Bible study groups that meet in homes and churches around the world each week. For more information on D-group, visit mydeggroup.org. you

The Bible Recap - March Reflections and Corrections - Year 3

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