The Small Branch

  Read Joshua 24 Who? Joshua and the people of Israel What? Joshua’s final address to the people Where? Shechem - where they later buried Joseph’s bones and where Jacob had originally purchased land, building an altar, El-Elohe-Israel (God, the God of Israel); Note that this is in the hill country of Ephraim who was Joseph’s son.  Joseph was the oldest son of Jacob’s favorite wife and he received the birthright of the oldest, the double portion. When? At the end of Joshua’s life, after they have been in the land for a while Why? Joshua is already seeing disturbing trends among the people, including much idolatry (see 24:23) and needs to remind them and encourage them concerning the covenant God made with them once again. How? Joshua gathered the people, especially the leaders, and addressed them all The final chapter of Joshua gives us the last words of Joshua, himself.  He reminds the people of all the things that God has done for them, starting in Ur of the Ch...

  Read Joshua 23 Who? Joshua and the people of Israel What? Joshua’s farewell address Where? Most likely at Shiloh, where the tabernacle is set up When? Some scholars say 10-20 years after the apportionment of the land Why? Joshua is advanced in years (110 years old - see 24:29) and needs to address the people one last time, just as Moses did, to remind them of the covenant and their responsibility and God’s faithfulness in keeping His Word How? “Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, their heads, their judges, and their officers,” (23:2a) so that he could address the leaders in particular and all Israel in general. The Promised Land has not been totally conquered, but the people of Israel are settling into their allotted portions of the land and finishing the total occupation of it.  God’s promise is fulfilled.  Joshua calls the people together one final time to encourage, challenge, and remind them.  He is a leader who is always pointing the peo...

  We are back to Joshua for the next three weeks, and then we will move into the book of Judges, beginning with the January 24th meetings.   If you know of any women who are looking for a good time to join us, that would be a good week to tell them about.   Read Joshua 22 Who? Joshua, Phinehas, the elders of Israel, and the people of Israel, especially the eastern tribes (Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh - Josephus says there are about 50,000 warriors from these tribes here) What? The eastern tribes are released to go home and build and altar on their way Where? Shiloh and as they cross the Jordan from the land of Canaan to the land of Gilead When? After the land has been allotted and mostly conquered Why? The eastern tribes have fulfilled their obligation to their brothers and can now return home to their own portion of the land.  The eastern tribes build a monument to remind them all that they are unified under God.  The monument is misunderstood at ...

  Ruth 3 and 4 I have pages and pages of notes on these chapters, but most of them are from THIS SERMON SERIES from Alistair Begg.  I will let you listen to that rather than include all my notes from this, but I highly recommend that you DO listen to this series, especially for these chapters.  You can also read many good insights from John MacArthur in his study Joshua, Judges, & Ruth: Finally in the Land which you can get HERE . Read Ruth 3 and 4 Who? Boaz and the other redeemer, elders of the city, Ruth, and Naomi  What? Ruth approaches Boaz to propose marriage and he does everything needed to be able to marry her Where? At Boaz’s threshing floor, the gate to the city, and in Bethlehem When? This is just a few days time after Ruth has worked in the fields for a few months Why? Boaz redeems Ruth because he loves her, but mostly because he is doing the right thing, the God honoring thing, no matter the cost to him How? Ruth goes to Boaz in secret ...

  We are going to push “pause” on the book of Joshua so that those who are traveling for Christmas do not miss anything.   For this week and the next, we will look at the book of Ruth.   Honestly, two weeks does not give us nearly enough time with this book so we will see this as an introduction and hope that you will study further on your own.   Alistair Begg has a sermon series on Ruth that is very helpful and can be found HERE .   Also, John MacArthur has a sermon on Ruth that contains a lot of helpful background on the Moabites HERE . Let’s start with some background.  The book is written anonymously, so we can’t be sure, but Ruth was probably written by Samuel during the reign of King David.  There are a few scholars who believe that Solomon could have written it.  The story itself takes place during the time of the judges, possibly during Jair’s judgeship (Judges 10:3-5).  Ruth is a historical narrative written to give hope amids...

  Read Joshua 20 and 21. Who? Joshua, all Israel, the tribe of Levi What? The cities of refuge and all the other Levite cities are designated Where? Throughout all of Israel, including both east and west of the Jordan (SEE MAP) When? After all the land is allotted to the twelve tribes Why? The cities of refuge are to maintain grace with justice, the cities of the Levites are to give them a place to live and also to scatter those who teach the Law of God throughout Israel How? Joshua and Eleazar designate the cities of refuge west of the Jordan, Moses designated the cities of refuge east of the Jordan The cities of refuge are designated in order that, while justice is served, it is also tempered with grace.  The Old Testament differentiates between intentional and unintentional sin (see Leviticus 4; 5:15-18; Numbers 15:22-29; 35:22; Deuteronomy 4:41-42; 19:4; Ezekiel 45:20; and Hebrews 9:7).  Intentional sin is usually punished by banishment or death.  Unint...

 Here's a question:  if you have a toddler and he is trying to climb into the fireplace while there is a fire burning in it, is it more loving to let him climb into the fire because he wants to and you want him to be happy OR is it more loving to snatch him away from it and paddle his behind so that he knows not to do that again?   Why do we think God should respond to us "climbing into the flames" of our sin any differently?   And why do we respond to others' sin by excusing it, claiming that we are being loving?  Be loving.  Speak truth.