Lesson 9: Joshua, Judges, & Ruth

-Joshua (y’shewa) and Jesus are the same name (Jesus is a Greek form of the name)- this is significant because Joshua is a type of Jesus.

Contrast between Moses and Joshua: Moses: 1) Largely unsuccessful in getting the people to behave 2) He does not circumcise the people (didn’t even circumcise his son until God almost killed him) 3) He does not lead the people into the Promised Land Joshua: 1) gets the people to behave (except Achan) 2) He circumcises the people- an exterior sign of interior holiness (Josh. 5) 3) He brings them into the land

Their relationship is a foreshadowing of the relationship between Moses and the Greater Y’shewa-Jesus! 1.) Moses gave the law, but not the power to carry it out; Christ gives a new law AND the Holy Spirit -The Holy Spirit gives the strength to obey and ‘behave’ 2.) Moses can’t circumcise the people or their hearts- Jesus can circumcise their hearts through the power of the Spirit (Acts 2:37) 3.) Jesus brings us into ‘the land’ (a type of the life in the Spirit, the Kingdom of Heaven) -the contrast between Moses and Joshua shows inadequacy of Mosaic law and the need for a Savior-a Y’shewa!

We can read Joshua historically--but more importantly as a type of the spiritual life Spiritual analogies: 1) To get ‘into the land’, Joshua must lead the people through the Jordan (baptism) -this is one reason why baptismal fonts are usually at the entrance of churches 2) When they enter the land-there are walls and evil people that need to be cleared out -this is symbolic of the “wall” of concupiscence and bad habits that aren’t wiped out by baptism. Therefore, there remains something for us to do in the spiritual life after we are baptized—contrast this with a “once saved always saved” mentality in some sects of Protestantism. 3-fold concupiscence: a) Lust of eyes-Avarice, Greed, etc. b) Lust of flesh-Lust, gluttony c) Pride of life-Pride, arrogance -if we are faithful, God gives us grace to knock the walls down 3) The Israelites fight their enemy through liturgy “ -“March 7 times”- follows liturgical cycle of their feasts (many are 7 days), -This is also a type of the 7 sacraments which can overcome concupiscence, destroying the “Canaanite cities” from our lives. 2 foreign “groups” that enter into the covenant from outside: Rahab: -despite her profession as a harlot, she fears the Lord and makes the spies promise to save her -she ties a scarlet cord out of her window (a type of the blood of the lamb, red mark on the door-when the ‘angel of death’ destroys Jericho, her house is passed over) -after this event, she actually becomes an ancestor of the Christ! (See Matthew 1) Gibeonites: -by trickery, they convince the Israelites to make an alliance and a covenant with them -Joshua honors this oath even when he discovers their deception; but he makes them servants of the priests to bring water and chop wood (who does this in our day? Altar servers at mass) -This is incredible because they should have been wiped out; but, because of their desire to enter the covenant-God honors their desire even though they lie (however, even Jacob lied to enter the covenant-and he is the father of the Israelites!) What pleases God is not the lie, but the desire for union with Him -their position as ‘servers’ puts them closer to the divine presence then the Israelites themselves

More Joshua-Jesus analogies: 1) Joshua hung the kings on trees (Josh 8:29, 10:26), making them a curse—Jesus hangs our sins on the cross with Him, taking on the curse meant for us. 2) Joshua proclaims the law on Mt. Ebal, reading “all that Moses commanded”(Josh 8:36)—Jesus gives the “Sermon on the Mt.” summarizing all the teaching of the Law and perfecting it (Mt. 5ff) 3) Joshua prayed, and the sun stood still (Josh 10)—All creation bows at the name of Jesus -on this note, see John Chrysostom excerpt for a great exegesis of Joshua 10

Covenant ratification at the end -Ch 23-24 there is a covenant renewal—Joshua isn’t very optimistic -Joshua gives them an option to back out of the covenant -says ‘you cannot serve the Lord’ (funny) and ‘he will not forgive your sins’ -this is ironic because he seems to say that its better to be a Gentile; you won’t have the curses of the covenant if you are wicked. -however, the people insist and renew their commitment to the covenant. We will see the beginnings of decline in the book of Judges.

The Book of Judges -after Joshua, Moses name is not mentioned very much in the Bible (before was about 700 times), but David’s name is mentioned over a thousand times-we are looking for David in this book Themes of Judges I. Anarchy/relativism: “No king…everyone does what’s right in their own eyes.” (17:6, 21:25) -everyone makes their own standard of right and wrong (like today) a) Baal worship is encouraged-(people are mad at Gideon for destroying altar) II. An apology for the need for a king -the people are not righteous enough to live directly under God a) this looks forward to David, the good king III. The Inversion of Norms -normally accepted standards are turned on their head a) Ehud-the ‘left-handed’ judge -being left-handed gave you an advantage in war (and other things); he was able to sneak a weapon into the king’s presence (knife on the ‘wrong’ thigh -left is ‘sinister’ in Latin b) Deborah- the woman Judge -she is the only woman judge; not because of chauvinism but because of survival-men are expendable, only the women can reproduce -Jael is also important in this story (crushing Sisera’s head with a tent peg-type of Mary) -there is an inversion of norms because the general Barak is begging Deborah to come along (men acting like women, women acting like men) c) Gideon-youngest son of littlest tribe -not very courageous -‘beating out wheat in a winepress’-supposed to be a threshing floor; a winepress has sides on it so he can hide -he requires many miracles to firm up his faith…even after sacrifice and being told to knock down the altar-he does it at night out of fear, then hides behind daddy in the morning -God decides to use the weak and the lowly-starts with 30,000 and decreases to 300 social outcasts d) Samson- the nazorite who doesn’t live as one would expect. -never drank or cut his hair; however, he was a big womanizer and not too bright -he is a tragic hero; great natural abilities, but very rash and not very smart -Meets his match with Delilah (Samson-means ‘sunny’, Delilah-‘night’) -she tries 3 times to get him to tell his secrets and then he tells her—this is a type of how temptation works, we ‘play around’ with it and eventually we will lose. -but he is given one last chance and dies taking out about 3000 with him

All of these inversions can be summed up with 1 Cor 1:26- “God chose what is low and despised…to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” IV. Descriptive, not prescriptive Descriptive- ‘is’ Prescriptive- ‘ought’ -some things in the bible stories are not prescriptive-some of the things that the judges and Israelites do are not meant to be followed; merely saying what happened -these stories are included to intentionally paint a bad picture to show the need for a righteous king Ie. The story of Jepthah’s daughter being sacrificed-some scholars say that he does not sacrifice her, but rather dedicates her to a life of virginity (because she does not mourn her death, but her virginity) i.e. a nazorite; however, most would say that he does in fact kill her.

The Book of Ruth -If this story were a movie: we could image the main characters being Sandra Bullock and Arnold ;) -Boaz-name means “in him is strength” -first thing he says is ‘the Lord be with you’-very pious Chapter 1 -Bethlehem-‘house of bread’-richest grain growing fields, and there is a famine (ironic) Also, true to its name, the ‘Bread of Life’ will be born there in a stable -Elimilech’s sons marry Moabite wives (which is technically wrong) -Naomi, after the deaths of her 2 sons and her husband, she is totally alone-Ruth decides to take care of her, leave her pagan ways, and accompany her back to Bethlehem Chapter 2 -Ruth goes gleaning and just happens to find Boaz’s field; she is a hard worker and Boaz takes a liking to her -Naomi is wise to this and plays the matchmaker Chapter 3 -Ruth goes to the threshing floor and lays at his feet (lot o’ euphemism going on here—equivalent to ‘take me now’) -if they would have ‘gone ahead’ it wouldn’t have been immoral, (it would be a valid marriage agreement and consummation) but it would have been about the equivalent of ‘eloping’-not a solemn occasion with witnesses -Boaz is pious and wants to do things right-contends for her with the next of kin -not certain why other guy doesn’t want her-possibly because he was afraid that this ‘moabite’ would take away the inheritance from his other wife -This books ends on a great note-the grandfather of David (Obed) is born! This is a light shining in the darkness of the time of the Judges that comes from Bethlehem -Boaz repeatedly is following the law in an orthodox way (caring for the widows, letting them glean, marrying your next of kin). The blessing that flows from this is a child whose descendent will be the great king.