Chapter Six: Conqueror   Israel is also a Conqueror.  After 40 years of wandering, the Main Scripture children of Israel finally get their act together and arrive on the east bank of the flooded Jordan. Across the river waits the promised land of Canaan. However, the land’s already occupied by a numerous and warlike people that can rely on the protection of strongly fortified cities—a tall order for the descendants of ex-slaves. However, the Israelites have one big advantage—God.Let’s see what it means that the God of Meeting God in the Old Testament  Questions: Joshua 

-8:22  1. If you were the commanding general of an ancient army and had to take a walled city, how would you go about doing it? List at least three different possible approaches. Feel free to steal ideas from The Lord of the Rings.    2. Does God’s plan as described in Joshua 6:1-5 appear on your list of ideas? To our human logic, does it even seem like a GOOD plan? What does this tell us about God? 3. Why does God’s plan work? 4. How well do things work for the Israelites WITHOUT God’s help? Consider Joshua 7:2-5. What does this tell us? Meeting God in the Old Testament: Chapter Six According to Joshua 7:1, who sinned? In Joshua 7:11, to whom does God attribute this sin? Why does God do this? What can we learn from God’s reaction? Why does God prescribe such a harsh punishment for Achan in Joshua 7:15? What should we take from God’s judgment? 7. In Joshua 8:1, have the people actually taken Ai yet? Then why does God tell Joshua that He HAS given Ai into Joshua’s hand? What does this tell us about what God’s people must do to achieve victory? 1. Put yourself in Joshua’s shoes in Joshua 1:5. Why is God’s promise in that verse significant? 2. Why is the statement of Joshua 1:6 important to our understanding of God?  Questions: Other Scriptures 2-5.6. 3. In the middle of the warlike exhortation of Joshua 1:1-9, why does God bring up obedience to the law? What does this tell us about the nature of God’s conquests? 4. What’s the purpose of God’s instructions in Joshua 4:19-24? What does this tell us about God? 5. In light of the rest of the Psalm, answer David’s question in Psalm 144:3. 1. Do we still need God as Conqueror in our lives today? Where? 2. How will we live differently if we understand this aspect of God’s nature?

160217 Lesson 7 - Meeting God in the Old Testament as Protector IPad

Genesis 33:18, 20 reads:  “Now Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped before the city. . .  Then he erected an altar there and called it El-Elohe-Israel.”Translated, the name of Jacob’s altar is “God, the God of Israel.”  When Jacob chooses this name for his new altar, he probably doesn’t intend to make a statement of huge Scriptural significance.  His new name is Israel, God is his God, and he’s quite happy about that.  However, the name that Jacob applies to his altar can  be  applied  equally  well  to  the  entire  Old  Testament.    Those  thirty-nine  books  of  the  Bible  are  about God and how He is defined by His relationship with His chosen people.  God is the hero of the story.Often,  when  we  study  the  Old  Law,  we  do  so  on  a  small  scale  as  we  become  entranced  by  the  stories  of godly  men  ranging  from Abraham  to  Nehemiah.    Although  these  stories  are  instructive  and  important, sometimes they distract us from understanding God.  This textbook aims to correct that mistaken focus.  It divides  the  history  of  God’s  ancient  dealings  with  mankind  into  twelve  segments and  describes  each segment in terms of the aspect of God’s cha