Welcome to the Pauline Family's "Year of the Bible"! I'm reading the Bible clear through this year, and I invite you to read along with me. But first, let us pray:
My God, I adore and thank your loving and wise Providence, manifested on every page of Sacred Scripture. You have always been close to sinful and erring humanity, and have indicated the way and given hope. Amid the shadows of error and corruption, you kindled the light of your truth; amid universal corruption, you are the Just One; amid so much idolatry, humanity in every corner of the earth has cultivated a sincere worship of you.
Let my reading today increase my trust in your goodness, your mercy, and your unfailing faithfulness.
Today's chapters are Joshua 1-3.
That's right! Today we start not only a new book of the Bible, but a new section of the Bible: the historical books. The book of Joshua is kind of a transitional book, just as the story it tells is the story of a transition. The people have finished their trek through the desert and are entering into the long-awaited Promised Land. A generation that has known only a nomadic life will adapt to a settled life in homes they did not build and olive groves they did not plant. They will face new temptations.
Joshua himself is a good transitional leader, since he was one of the initial group of spies sent to investigate the land (remember that? Numbers 13) and was Moses' personal assistant, commissioned as his successor and filled with his spirit.
We will also meet one of Jesus' ancestresses (the great-great-grandmother of King David) in chapter 2. Rahab the harlot is one of the women of faith highlighted in the New Testament: she had heard what God had done for these newcomers, and chooses to ally herself with this God by her protection of the new group of spies. For this her life and that of her family will be spared, and she will enter into God's family tree.
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