1 Cor 1:2 – “to those SANCTIFIED in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people…”. Isn’t it wonderful that we are Jesus’ little Saints. This gives me a whole new perspective and purpose. ✨
Here is where I put all of my expired web 2.0 accounts.
I scrape massive lists and then check to see if they’re expired.
I think you’ll be surprised by the number of accounts that I
come across. Hopefully, you’ll be able to put these expired accounts to good use.
Why did God have his people kill others? Couldn’t he have just made the city sterile? What about the mothers and children that lived there? Why was there so much blood shed
I honestly do struggle with this too. I’m not sure I’ll ever get it. But maybe our modern society really wants to believe death isn’t as real as it is. Whereas Maybe death was way too real, present, and common in old days. Now-if we can help it -we won’t think about death, or what it means, and what would be beyond it. I’ve been a Christian a long time. But I certainly still have questions. When I do -I just go back to the conversation with Jesus when the disciples asked, “Lord, to whom else would we go?” He has the answers. Maybe some day He will help us understand.
Also, God is a God of His word. According to scripture, all nations stemmed from one point in the world. They were all given the truth at the time of Noah (and countless times before) and chose not to heed it then. They were warned time and time again before this point, but refused to obey. It’s hard to take, but it also brings so much security to know that God is who He says He is, does what He says He will do, and He will not abide where evil lives. But He didn’t leave it there. He sent His Son, to all nations, to cover over our sins, so that those who choose to believe He is Lord of all have the covering of His blood to purify us and put us in right standing again. The brutality of the Old Testament makes me SO grateful for the New!
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Sooooooo beautiful!!! I love how at the beginning he starts out by encouraging the people and telling them their strengths and then out of LOVE lays this truth bomb on them. Sooooooo fantastic. Then after that truth bomb again he encourages them with this!!! What beauty! Every piece! That beautiful conviction they must’ve felt when reading this letter! Thrusting them forward into movement! Rejoicing in knowing what area to grow next whilst still. Wing so wonderfully encouraged by the Lord. Wow.. wow wow.
12 Here is our bread. It was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey on the day we set out to come to you, but now, behold, it is dry and crumbly. 13 These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they have burst. And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.” 14 So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord.
Dangerous! Not seeking the Lord first!! This won’t be good ha!
17 And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the Zerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. 18 And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel and give praise to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” 20 And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. 23 And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the Lord. 24 And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. 26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.
So I’m confused… they killed him for his mistake? Does somebody have understanding here I’m not getting?
It wasn’t a mistake- he coveted and stole items, then hid them. That was directly going against what God had told them to do when they overtook the city
Joshua 6: 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”
1 Cor 1:28 God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world — what is viewed as nothing — to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, 29 so that no one can boast in His presence. 30 But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became God-given wisdom for us — our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written: The one who boasts must boast in the Lord.
Whether we think we have ‘something’ or ‘nothing’, we can only boast in the Lord. Thankful for Jesus’ gift, that it is not from anything I have, say, or do. It is all HIM!
Thank you for that reminder SarahMay! I needed to remember that it’s only in Christ that we are in Him!
Also, Would you ladies offer up a prayer for me as I try to figure some things out in my life?
Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel…. I WANTED THEM SO MUCH that I took them.” – Joshua 7:20, 21b (NLT))
“You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you.” – Joshua 7:13b
— My sins will hinder God from winning victories for me, eventually entering my Promised Land… Lord, please remove Idolatry, greed and disobedience in my heart… help we not to want anything or anyone more than I want you… In Jesus Name. Amen.
Sin is sin throughout the entirety of the bible. The OT was fulfilled through Christ yes but it does provide a foundation of laws that are relevant still today.
Encouraged by 1 Cor that my hope is completely in Christ and his faithfulness – that, even when I attempt to share the gospel with others, my hope is not in my eloquence or wisdom, but is in the power of the cross.
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
1 Cor. 1:18 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”. Foolishness to unbelievers. Precious wisdom to believers. How I view, treat, and respond to the Bible says a lot about the state of my soul
Josh 7:10-11 “So the Lord said to Joshua, “Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things.
27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.
31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
When bad things happen I wonder if it’s God humbling me and reminding who is in control. May I sacrifice my pride at the cross and remember that I only boast in the croas
I think about the sin of one man destroying his whole family. There were consequences to their behavior. These people lived under the and when it was broken they paid a heavy price for the offense. I am so glad we now live under grace throughJesus.
Really makes you think about the contagion and consequences of sin in the world around us, even in our own lives! I wonder how many times I’ve accidentally made someone stumble or caused consequences on another person because of sin in my life that I’ve refused to repent from or put aside
The battles in Joshua are all punishments for very sinful nations, not just wars of conquest. Total destruction of the culture insured less rebellions later as well which actually saves life. I would also had that most ancient societies would’ve been far crueler in their warfare, especially towards women and this would’ve been clear. All you need to do is look at Ancient Persian practices or even Roman. But it’s important to remember that it is all God and the difference between the old and new testaments is a human face to explain the reasoning. Many people think the “Old Testament God” is cruel but he’s not. What we don’t have recorded are decades ( at least 4 when the Israelites were wandering and probably more) that were given to these nations to change and repent. Eventually evil must be dealt with by a truly just God. Jesus did not erase that justice just gave it a human face so that we could better understand it.
I’m going to go a little geeky now. Think about how a fish must think about the hand that feeds it. It’s mysterious, may seem cruel because it only gives measured food at certain times, moves him around to clean his water, etc. to the fish it all seems capricious because there’s no explanation. But send the hand in as a fish to explain why these things happen and suddenly things all seem differently, done in love and care. We are lucky because we get to read the Old Testament with this in mind the writers didn’t have that luxury.
Thank you amber. I’ve been plagued in my Mind about the same thing. I’ve been repenting about questioning God’s Word as I know he does everything for good not evil, but still the same thoughts creep in. Thanking God for you and your wisdom and thanking God for this group that allows us to study his Word together
Great explanation, Amber! And yes, the cities that the Lord commanded to be totally destroyed were cities that were involved in worshipping gods by doing things like sacrificing their own children. There are also examples of God commanding the Israelites to leave some cities alone like in Numbers 20 with Edom. God was not just out for total destruction, nothing about God is random or chaotic. God in the OT is the same God in the NT, just working in different ways.
It feels heartbreaking and harsh. But in truth, our God is so perfectly Holy that every bit of that brutality was deserved. We still deserve that. We have such an incredibly undeserved gift in grace, in Jesus.
Our Pastor once said, if the Doctor tells you that your hand must be cut off in order for the cancer not to spread throughout your body, do not think that he is bad… he is doing this for greater good..
I’m totally behind, forgive my very late comment… But, as I was reading these comments I thought of basically the same example, but from the Bible, lol! I believe it’s Matthew where Jesus tells the people if a man sins with his body (paraphrasing of course!) to cut that body part off or pluck it out (eye) for it is better for the man for the body part to suffer than the entire body. Same concept here both with Achin as well as with the cities being destroyed.
Behind, but still going! Loved the note about how Joshua didn’t go to the Lord before the treaty…a needed reminder that we need to seek his wisdom
Let him boast boast in the Lord
❤️
❤️
✅
❤️
When we follow God we are blessed. When we turn away and are sinning we fail. Gods will cannot be changed by man.
Our calling is to follow the Lord, to live following Jesus
✔️
1 Cor 1:2 – “to those SANCTIFIED in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people…”. Isn’t it wonderful that we are Jesus’ little Saints. This gives me a whole new perspective and purpose. ✨
✅
❤️
He chooses the lowly things of the world to shame the great
18For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
God is faithful !! -ellie
God chose, God chose, God chose, that no human being may boast, except to boast in the Lord.
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Here is where I put all of my expired web 2.0 accounts.
I scrape massive lists and then check to see if they’re expired.
I think you’ll be surprised by the number of accounts that I
come across. Hopefully, you’ll be able to put these expired accounts to good use.
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Why did God have his people kill others? Couldn’t he have just made the city sterile? What about the mothers and children that lived there? Why was there so much blood shed
I honestly do struggle with this too. I’m not sure I’ll ever get it. But maybe our modern society really wants to believe death isn’t as real as it is. Whereas Maybe death was way too real, present, and common in old days. Now-if we can help it -we won’t think about death, or what it means, and what would be beyond it. I’ve been a Christian a long time. But I certainly still have questions. When I do -I just go back to the conversation with Jesus when the disciples asked, “Lord, to whom else would we go?” He has the answers. Maybe some day He will help us understand.
Also, God is a God of His word. According to scripture, all nations stemmed from one point in the world. They were all given the truth at the time of Noah (and countless times before) and chose not to heed it then. They were warned time and time again before this point, but refused to obey. It’s hard to take, but it also brings so much security to know that God is who He says He is, does what He says He will do, and He will not abide where evil lives. But He didn’t leave it there. He sent His Son, to all nations, to cover over our sins, so that those who choose to believe He is Lord of all have the covering of His blood to purify us and put us in right standing again. The brutality of the Old Testament makes me SO grateful for the New!
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Sooooooo beautiful!!! I love how at the beginning he starts out by encouraging the people and telling them their strengths and then out of LOVE lays this truth bomb on them. Sooooooo fantastic. Then after that truth bomb again he encourages them with this!!! What beauty! Every piece! That beautiful conviction they must’ve felt when reading this letter! Thrusting them forward into movement! Rejoicing in knowing what area to grow next whilst still. Wing so wonderfully encouraged by the Lord. Wow.. wow wow.
12 Here is our bread. It was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey on the day we set out to come to you, but now, behold, it is dry and crumbly. 13 These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they have burst. And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.” 14 So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord.
Dangerous! Not seeking the Lord first!! This won’t be good ha!
17 And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the Zerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. 18 And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel and give praise to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” 20 And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. 23 And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the Lord. 24 And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. 26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.
So I’m confused… they killed him for his mistake? Does somebody have understanding here I’m not getting?
It wasn’t a mistake- he coveted and stole items, then hid them. That was directly going against what God had told them to do when they overtook the city
Joshua 6: 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”
1 Cor 1:28 God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world — what is viewed as nothing — to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, 29 so that no one can boast in His presence. 30 But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became God-given wisdom for us — our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written: The one who boasts must boast in the Lord.
Whether we think we have ‘something’ or ‘nothing’, we can only boast in the Lord. Thankful for Jesus’ gift, that it is not from anything I have, say, or do. It is all HIM!
Thank you for that reminder SarahMay! I needed to remember that it’s only in Christ that we are in Him!
Also, Would you ladies offer up a prayer for me as I try to figure some things out in my life?
Praying now Liesl.
Thank you so much, Annie!
Absolutely praying for you, Liesl. So glad to have you reading along with us.
– Stormye
I’m a bit behind… but prayed for you tonight :)
he made us to love and worship him; not to argue over the “rights and wrongs” of our beliefs, therefore be kind, smile, and remain full of joy!!
he made us to love and worship him; not to argue over over the “rights and
I pray that God will use my weaknesses to showcase His power
Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel…. I WANTED THEM SO MUCH that I took them.” – Joshua 7:20, 21b (NLT))
“You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you.” – Joshua 7:13b
— My sins will hinder God from winning victories for me, eventually entering my Promised Land… Lord, please remove Idolatry, greed and disobedience in my heart… help we not to want anything or anyone more than I want you… In Jesus Name. Amen.
Amen! Well put!
This is so true! Thanks for your encouraging prayer.
Amen!
Ladies, remember this is the Old Testament version of sin, not our new found grace through Jesus.
Sin is sin throughout the entirety of the bible. The OT was fulfilled through Christ yes but it does provide a foundation of laws that are relevant still today.
Encouraged by 1 Cor that my hope is completely in Christ and his faithfulness – that, even when I attempt to share the gospel with others, my hope is not in my eloquence or wisdom, but is in the power of the cross.
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Amen :)
1 Cor. 1:18 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”. Foolishness to unbelievers. Precious wisdom to believers. How I view, treat, and respond to the Bible says a lot about the state of my soul
Josh 7:10-11 “So the Lord said to Joshua, “Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things.
27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.
31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
When bad things happen I wonder if it’s God humbling me and reminding who is in control. May I sacrifice my pride at the cross and remember that I only boast in the croas
I think about the sin of one man destroying his whole family. There were consequences to their behavior. These people lived under the and when it was broken they paid a heavy price for the offense. I am so glad we now live under grace throughJesus.
Yes, it also reminded me that there is nothing hidden from God. He already knows all our sins.
Really makes you think about the contagion and consequences of sin in the world around us, even in our own lives! I wonder how many times I’ve accidentally made someone stumble or caused consequences on another person because of sin in my life that I’ve refused to repent from or put aside
I’m struggling to understand how God can command so much brutality.
if you’re tslking about Joshua’s verses, it was a way for God to answer His People’s prayers
Lauren I often wonder the same thing. Hopefully soon I will be able to wrap my mind around it.
The battles in Joshua are all punishments for very sinful nations, not just wars of conquest. Total destruction of the culture insured less rebellions later as well which actually saves life. I would also had that most ancient societies would’ve been far crueler in their warfare, especially towards women and this would’ve been clear. All you need to do is look at Ancient Persian practices or even Roman. But it’s important to remember that it is all God and the difference between the old and new testaments is a human face to explain the reasoning. Many people think the “Old Testament God” is cruel but he’s not. What we don’t have recorded are decades ( at least 4 when the Israelites were wandering and probably more) that were given to these nations to change and repent. Eventually evil must be dealt with by a truly just God. Jesus did not erase that justice just gave it a human face so that we could better understand it.
I’m going to go a little geeky now. Think about how a fish must think about the hand that feeds it. It’s mysterious, may seem cruel because it only gives measured food at certain times, moves him around to clean his water, etc. to the fish it all seems capricious because there’s no explanation. But send the hand in as a fish to explain why these things happen and suddenly things all seem differently, done in love and care. We are lucky because we get to read the Old Testament with this in mind the writers didn’t have that luxury.
Thank you amber. I’ve been plagued in my Mind about the same thing. I’ve been repenting about questioning God’s Word as I know he does everything for good not evil, but still the same thoughts creep in. Thanking God for you and your wisdom and thanking God for this group that allows us to study his Word together
This really helped me to understand some of the Old Testament better. Thank you!
So good, Amber. So so good!
Wow, that was good Amber. Thank you!
Great explanation, Amber! And yes, the cities that the Lord commanded to be totally destroyed were cities that were involved in worshipping gods by doing things like sacrificing their own children. There are also examples of God commanding the Israelites to leave some cities alone like in Numbers 20 with Edom. God was not just out for total destruction, nothing about God is random or chaotic. God in the OT is the same God in the NT, just working in different ways.
It feels heartbreaking and harsh. But in truth, our God is so perfectly Holy that every bit of that brutality was deserved. We still deserve that. We have such an incredibly undeserved gift in grace, in Jesus.
Our Pastor once said, if the Doctor tells you that your hand must be cut off in order for the cancer not to spread throughout your body, do not think that he is bad… he is doing this for greater good..
Great example!
I’m totally behind, forgive my very late comment… But, as I was reading these comments I thought of basically the same example, but from the Bible, lol! I believe it’s Matthew where Jesus tells the people if a man sins with his body (paraphrasing of course!) to cut that body part off or pluck it out (eye) for it is better for the man for the body part to suffer than the entire body. Same concept here both with Achin as well as with the cities being destroyed.