I just love Joshua. Perhaps it’s his name, but I picture him a forever-young, strong soldier who rallies troops and just marches on and on unscathed and glimmering in his armor under the beaming sun of the Middle East. Too far? Ok, but seriously, Joshua has been around a looooong time. He is wise. He is faithful. He is one of the few in close relationship with God. I was looking at the territories God helped Joshua conquer in this chapter. We often (always) associate Joshua with bringing down the walls of Jericho, but actually, this battle was probably 10 times as big, if not bigger. In his writing, though, Joshua didn’t make it out as such a big deal. Curious much? Yes. Jericho is an awesome story, though. Didn’t mean to downplay it at all. Only one person, Rahab (and her family), was spared from Jericho, and only one city (so far), Gibeon, has been spared from defeat in all the lands in the Promised Land. In both instances, the people were spared because of their kindness, humility and obedience. Just a little something to think about today.
You can think, too, about the descendants of Anak, if you want! I am. The Anakites are the giant people we talked about back in Deuteronomy (9:2). Some scholars theorize that they are descendants of one of Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. If you look back in Genesis 9:18-19, you’ll see something like this: “The sons of Noah who came out of the boat with their father were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham is the father of Canaan.) From these three sons of Noah came all the people who now populate the earth. (NLT)” We see in this chapter that Joshua rid the land of Canaan of the Anakites, but there were still a few people from this people group left in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. Some of you know the story of David and Goliath. The experts that be also believe that Goliath may have been one of these giants. The entry in the back of my Bible about the Anakites says they were giant people who used their size for bad rather than good. Sad. What a force they could have been for God!
Writing prompt: they might be giants
I can’t resist a good giant story. I can’t think of too many where the giant is the good guy. Play “what if giants were good guys” today, and write a story about a giant hero. Laugh with God a little as you write! Enjoy.
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