39...ENTER ELIJAH
Based on 1Kings Chs. 12-18...Read more there

At this point, the kingdom united under David unravels quickly. Solomon's son & successor Rehoboam (N1) has none of the wisdom his father was noted for early in his reign. He foolishly takes the advice of equally foolish young friends to treat his people harshly, with the result that the Northern tribes walk out on him leaving him only the Southern tribe of Judah. Jeroboam (N1) who had earlier unsuccessfully rebelled against Solomon now returns & is proclaimed king of Israel by the breakaways. Not only is there now political schism, but Jeroboam causes religious schism too by having two golden calves (N2) cast & set up one in Bethel & one in Dan, diverting attention from the Temple in Jerusalem. There is an odd story in Ch.13. Make of it what you will - but the way it's told, few of us would want much to do with the sneaky God portrayed in it! Like many accounts of the way things happen, it is an interpretation & we may well reject it in the light of the God Jesus later reveals! There follow accounts of the reigns of kings in both Judah & Israel. One of many low points in Jeroboam's reign in Judah is a raid on Jerusalem by an Egyptian Pharaoh who loots the Temple. Jeroboam's reign in Israel is summarised too, Then their successors on both sides of the newly created borders are reviewed. Only one of those listed gets the tick of approval from God & their subjects! Most of it isn't edifying, least of all the reign of Ahab in Israel (N4). Ahab, married to the legendary Jezebel, goes further than anyone else when he supplants the worship of YHWH with worship of the pagan god Baal. But Ahab will meet his match & get his comeuppance when the great Prophet Elijah (N3) comes on the scene in Ch.17.

Enter Elijah, who appears on the scene [Ch.17:1] confronting Ahab, & warning him of a severe drought. The implication is clearly that this is a punishment from YHWH for Ahab's apostasy & his people's. YHWH instructs Elijah to hide east of the Jordan & arranges for ravens to feed him out in this wilderness (N5). As the drought intensifies, Elijah is sent to a foreign widow & her son in Zarephath in today's Lebanon. Let's call them Zara & Zaron. Everyone deserves a name! There a miraculous stretching of their meagre resources of a little flour & a little oil takes place (N6) so the three of them have enough to live on till the drought breaks. While Elijah is there Zaron dies, but in another foreshadowingof a Jesus event, Elijah restores him to life. Any lingering doubt Zara has that Elijah is genuinely a man of God is dispelled. In Ch.18 with the drought still biting the scene shifts to Ahab's palace where we find his steward, still faithful to YHWH, has sheltered & saved many 'small p' prophets from Jezebel's vendetta against anything smacking of YHWH! Ch.18:13 tells us Jezebel has already 'slaughtered the prophets of YHWH' (NJB). However, Elijah confronts Ahab  again & sets up a contest between himself & the hundreds of 'prophets' of Baal on top of Mt. Carmel. Each side is given a bullock & the object of the competition is to call down fire from your god or God to burn the animal as a sacrifice. The prophets of Baal call on 'him' for hours & hours with Elijah mocking them a treat. When they end in total failure, Elijah rebuilds an old destroyed altar to YHWH & proceeds to douse it & its surrounds & of course his bull liberally with water. Fire from heaven - no doubt a well-timed lightning strike - burns the sacrificial bull & YHWH wins! Then in a gesture we must be glad Jesus doesn't repeat, Elijah has all the 'prophets' of Baal put to death. He then taunts Ahab into driving his chariot back to the city before the enveloping storm clogs his wheels leaving him stuck in the mud! To add insult to injury, Elijah runs ahead of Ahab all the way back to his palace! Here endeth the drought! But not Jezebel's burning hatred of both Elijah & YHWH!... But that's another story...40 Sounds of Silence

(N1) For some unknown reason both Rehoboam (4.5.lit.) & Jeroboam (3 lit.) had large bottles of bubbly named after them. Maybe it's a joke - neither of them being 'full bottle'! (N2) See EX 32.(N3) Jesus will be hugely influenced by Elijah & his successor as Prophet, Elisha. (Don't get those two mixed up!) (N4) Ahab reigns in Israel 874-853 B.C. (N5) Some suggest 'ravens' is a translating mistake for 'arabs', but opinion is in favour of 'ravens' - whatever we make of that. (N6) A kind of fore-shadowing of Jesus' later feeding a great crowd with minute resources (MT 14: 15-21 et al.) (N7) By the time of the last of the Prophet Malachi, early in the 400s BC, Hebrews came to believe Elijah would re-appear before the Messiah came [MAL 3:23]. Jesus later makes it clear [MT17:10-13] John the Baptiser was that expected 'Elijah'.  Question: Whose responsibility is it to challenge today's rulers?

38...THE GETTING & UN-GETTING OF WISDOM
 Based on 1 Kings (1K) (N1) Chs. 1-11...Read more there

As the aged & frail David is dying one of his sons, Adonijah, tries to usurp the throne. However the Prophet Nathan allies himself with Solomon's mother, Bathsheba, to thwart this. They plead with David to name Solomon as his successor. When David does this, Solomon is promptly taken into Jerusalem on David's mule & anointed king by Zadok the Priest (of later coronation music fame!) (N2). Adonijah's support immediately collapses. Solomon waits till David dies [Ch. 2:10] then has Adonijah executed to ensure his kingship is secure. That it is now secure we're told twice, (vv.12 & 46). Ch. 3 begins with the odd & unpromising news that Solomon marries a daughter of Egypt's Pharaoh - the Egyptians being former enslavers of the Hebrews. Is this a cynical political manoeuvre, a wise strategy, or a love-match? Who knows! We also learn that though Solomon loves YHWH, like many of his people he offers incense at altars set up on significant hill tops, 'high places', as there is no Temple yet & therefore no really centralised religion either. Then come two key events that set a pattern for the earlier part Solomon's reign. In the first he has a dream in which YHWH asks him what gifts he would like. Rather than power, wealth, etc. Solomon asks for an understanding mind & a discerning heart, & YHWH God grants these. Even though this is a dream, the reality is put to the test soon after in a famous story that in itself ensures we remember Solomon for his wisdom. Two women appear before him each claiming a male baby as their own. Solomon calls for a sword & orders the child to be cut in two & a half given to each of the women. He then wisely awards the child to the woman who begs him to give the child to the other woman rather than have her son killed! When word of this spreads, Solomon's stocks rise very high indeed!

Administrative matters take up Chs. 4 & 5 till Solomon prepares for the building of the Temple for God & a palace for himself. In Chs. 6--9 the Temple is built by conscripted labour. Then, with its furnishings, including the Ark of the Covenant, now, it is completed & dedicated. In Ch. 9 YHWH appears again to Solomon (cf. Ch. 3) & dedicates the Temple Himself but with a clear in-built threat! The famed Queen of Sheba - probably either in Arabia or North East Africa - visits Solomon to 'suss out' her new & powerful neighbour. She is very likely to have trade & treaties on her mind as well as anything else. She is impressed!

But by Ch. 11 Solomon falls from grace. With a vengeance! He becomes a womaniser on an unprecedented scale & allows pagan wives to sway him into following foreign pagan deities they bring with them as religious baggage. He seems to be placing an 'each-way' bet! YHWH God is not amused, & triggers the threat of Ch. 9 above. Solomon unbelievably rapidly fades from view, & dies seemingly without fanfare. One of Solomon's sons, Rehoboam succeeds to the throne. The royal family, though, has become dysfunctional & so has the country (N3).  But that's another story...39...Enter Elijah   

(N1) 1 & 2 Kings were originally one book.  (N2)  About 970 B.C.  (N3) Ch.11:41 refers to a 'Book of the Acts of Solomon'. Though long lost this is no doubt reflected in these early chapters of 1 K. 

Question: Does turning away from YHWH God personally & nationally still cause us to become dysfunctional?  

37: DAVID: KING - WARTS & ALL
Based on the 2nd Book of Samuel (2SAM, 2S)... Read more there...

2 SAM begins with a different version of Saul's death (N1) then focuses on David, who in keeping with the musical skills mentioned in Ep.36 sings a moving lament for Saul despite the history between them! Later, David will become known as a leader among those who compose the Psalms, but for now we're in a time of rival politics & civil war. A pro-house-of-Saul 'party' led by Abner, an ambitious general instals one of Saul's sons, Ishbaal, as puppet king reflecting Abner's own ambitions & Israelite (Northern) interests. For now the men (!) of Judah anoint David as their king either to confirm, or in ignorance of Samuel's earlier secret anointing of David [1SAM Ch.16]. After some nasty goings-on Abner & Ishbaal are both murdered (not by David) & not long after [Ch. 5: 1-5] we hear David being acknowledged & anointed king of Israel as well. Soon after David makes Jerusalem his capital, & in Ch.6, in a calculated move to consolidate his position David has the Ark of the Covenant (N2) moved from Shiloh to Jerusalem, recently captured from the Jebusites. Jerusalem now becomes both the religious & political capital of the emerging nation. In Ch. 7 David tells the Prophet Nathan that he wants to build a Temple for YHWH. However God makes it clear through Nathan that it is He, YHWH who will build David a 'house', i.e. a dynasty, & not vice-versa! Chs. 8-10 are about more warfaring except that in Ch. 9 David makes compassionate provision for Jonathan's disabled son Meribbaal.

Ch. 11 marks a turning point - for the bad - for David. Maybe seduced by Bathsheba, wife of Uriah, one of his best & loyalest troops, David commits adultery with her. But worse is to come! When Bathsheba becomes pregnant David compounds their evil by deviously trying to arrange 'home-leave' for Uriah to make it look as though the child to be born is his, Uriah's. But Uriah's loyalty thwarts him. In desperation David then treacherously arranges for Uriah to be killed in battle so he can marry Bathsheba. Not only is this a treacherous & murderous act on David's part, it is a total failure on his part to live up to his responsibilities as king to govern justly in God's name! Ch. 12 brings an example of the role of a true Prophet having little to do with fore-telling the future & everything to do with tackling the present! Nathan fronts David who repents & is forgiven, however the child born to Bathsheba & David dies. But then another child, Solomon, is born who will be the next king & renowned for his wisdom. But all that's a long way off yet.

Chs. 13-19: 9 are a litany of family & internal strife centring on one of David's sons, Absalom, who leads a revolt against his father. In the end, Absalom is killed, but David has to snap out of mourning him or risk losing the support of those who've remained loyal to him. There come more strife & revolts. For one revered as a great king, David is certainly a shaky one! After the strife has died down, in Ch. 22 David celebrates his deliverance from the clutches of all his enemies with a great Psalm (N3). In CH. 23 we read what are said to be David's 'last words', but a less pleasant alternative version of his 'last words' appears at [1K2:5-9] (N4). These 'last words' are followed by a kind of 'Honour Roll' of 'heroes' (N5). The book ends with a strange story of a census in which God seemingly sets both David & the people up (!) & David buying a threshing floor adjacent to Jerusalem. He has an altar built there, & this will later become the site for Solomon's Temple. But that's another story...38...The Wisdom of Solomon
 
(N1) An illustration of how conflicting texts of some books can be. (N2) Recovered from the Philistines years before [1SAM 7:1]. (N3) Almost identical with PS 118 q.v. (N4) Perhaps this first represents the better side of David & the second the other side of him, though some scholars think the first is not genuinely Davidic. (N5) This roll, like Ch.24 that follows it, probably originally came after Ch.21.    

Question: What do we make of God 'using' bad things people do to bring good out of it / them? 

36: SAMUEL: PROPHET, JUDGE, KING-MAKER
Based on The 1st Book of Samuel (1SAM or 1S)...Read more there...(N1)

The books bearing Samuel's name cover the story of the Hebrews as they develop as a people through the last of the Judges to the establishment of the monarchy. But remember that history is usually told through the eyes of the victors in any conflict. Even then it can be one faction's point of view. Samuel is born in unusual circumstances, like many others who feature in the Scriptures. He is born to a devout couple named Elkanah & Hannah. Ch. 1 tells us another of Elkanah's wives has children by him, but Hannah has none. So she goes to pray for a child at the sanctuary of Shiloh, site of the Ark of the Covenant (N2) at this time, & fore-runner to the eventual Jerusalem Temple. Hannah prays to YHWH Sabaoth, 'God of Hosts' (N3). This might mean God of the hosts of angels, of the stars of the heavens, of earthly armies, all three, or a whole lot more than any or all of these. Hannah's praying pretty powerful stuff to a pretty powerful God! At Shiloh she has a confrontation with Eli, the resident priest. At first Eli takes her fervent praying as the outpourings of a drunkard (it is festival time, after all!) but eventually asks God to grant Hannah's prayer. Hannah goes back home & conceives Samuel! Once he's weaned though, with Elkanah's blessing she takes Samuel back to Shiloh to the sanctuary & offers Samuel back to God to reside there with Eli. He is to be brought up to serve at the shrine as a kind of apprentice to Eli as a thanksgiving to God for his birth. Ch. 2 begins with Hannah singing a heartfelt hymn of praise to YHWH. Blessed Mary is later much influenced by Hannah's song when she herself sings what we know as the Magnificat [LK 1:46+] in praise of God when she is pregnant with Jesus. But back to Samuel! One night YHWH calls to Samuel as he lies sleeping near the Ark [Ch. 3] but Samuel thinks it is Eli calling, & goes to him to see what he wants. When this happens three times, Eli realizes that it is God who is calling Samuel & tells him to answer YHWH next time this happens. Samuel does, & God reveals to him that Eli's bad-egg sons are to die. When he reluctantly tells Eli this, Eli realises that in Samuel we have the makings of a prophet! Chs. 4-7 centre on the Ark, its capture by the Philistines & its return to the Hebrews after the Philistines associate it with an outbreak of plague in their midst.
Ch. 8 marks a turning point in Israelite history. After Eli's death, the by now adult Samuel becomes the influential figure in Israel. The people petition him in his role as prophet & judge to appoint them a king. Neither YHWH nor Samuel want this [Ch.8:10-18] but the people insist. YHWH agrees now, seemingly to let the people discover the hard way that He is their only true king. In Chs. 9-10 we find that after being anointed by Samuel & chosen by the casting of the lot (N4) from among the people, Saul is appointed king. Chs. 11-15 are pretty much about war-mongering, & the many flaws in Saul's character appearing. Ch. 16 is about Samuel secretly anointing David, a young shepherd, to replace Saul eventually. David joins Saul's court, in this version as a harpist to soothe Saul's troubled mind. However the following tale [Ch. 17] in which David kills the Philistine champion Goliath with a well placed sling- shot & saves the honour of Saul's army & the Israelites clearly comes from a different source. It isn't long before Saul becomes increasingly jealous of David & his achievements [Chs. 18+]; a jealousy that comes in fits & starts for the rest of Saul's life & raising questions about the state of his physical & mental well-being. Saul is a very flawed character & this will be his undoing, but soon we'll be seeing David warts & all too! Chs. 19-20 tell of the growing friendship between David & one of Saul's sons, Jonathan, including Jonathan helping David escape his father's clutches. In Chs. 21-27 David, a hunted outlaw now, is mostly on the run from Saul. On one occasion David spares Saul's life when he could easily have killed him. Samuel dies & is mourned [Ch. 25], & again David spares Saul's life [Ch. 26]. The book draws to an end [Ch.31] with the Philistines inflicting an ignominious defeat on the Israelites, with both Saul & Jonathan dying in battle together with most of Saul's other sons. So the story continues...37...David: King - Warts & All.
(N1) The two books bearing Samuel's name were originally one book. (N2) See Ep. 29, All Heaven Breaks Loose. (N3) This seems to be the first use of this title for God in the Hebrew Bible. (N4) Making decisions by casting a lot (a marked stone or similar) was common practice in ancient times. Acts 1:15-26 is an example from early Christianity (later replaced by asking guidance of Holy Spirit). Question: Is God obvious in the way we're governed today?

35: GREAT GRANDMOTHER TO THE GREATS
Based on RUTH (Rt)...Read more there.

Ruth is a very short book; barely 4 1/2 pages. But Ruth, who comes across as one of the nicest & best people in the Hebrew Scriptures, is a far more important person than that brevity might suggest. Even that she's not a Hebrew, but a Moabite (a descendant of a tribe springing from Abraham's nephew Lot) does not affect the place of honour she holds in both Hebrew & Christian traditions. Ruth marries a Hebrew man, Mahlon, a son of Elimelech & Naomi, Hebrews who had migrated from Bethlehem to Moab during a famine. Elimelech & Mahlon both die, leaving Naomi & Ruth widowed. Naomi elects to return to live among her own people, the Hebrews, & Ruth chooses to accompany her rather than remain among her Moabite tribes-people. Naomi's other daughter-in-law, also a widow now, chooses to stay. When Naomi tries to persuade Ruth to remain in Moab too, Ruth's response is: "Where you go I will go; wherever you choose to stay, I will stay; your people will be my people; your God will be my God......" [Ch.1:16-17)].

Naomi & Ruth arrive back in Bethlehem at the time of the barley harvest. Ruth, needing to provide food for them both, goes gleaning, as the poor are allowed to do by law [DT 24:19] but not always by property-owners! Ruth goes to glean in the fields of a well-to-do man named Boaz, who orders she be given preferential treatment so she can glean more abundantly. More, he generously provides her with food & drink. Something other than food & drink is clearly brewing here! Boaz tells Ruth to remain gleaning in his fields. When she takes home to Naomi what she's gleaned, & tells her the name of the man who has taken her under his wing, Naomi says, "Oh, he's a close relative of our late husbands. Blessed be God!" So Ruth gleans on into the wheat harvest. Naomi appears to put Ruth up to acting seductively [Ch.3] - & very effectively! - all in a good cause as things transpire! However, under Hebrew law another closer male relative has first right of refusal of buying Naomi's property & the widowed Ruth who is part of it! In a complicated process of tradition, law, & manoeuvring, Boaz persuades the other man to surrender his rights to him [Ch.4] & promptly marries Ruth [4:13]. And they all live happily ever after...

The book of Ruth is not simply a nice story of love & faithfulness at a human level. As often in the case in Scripture it is also a demonstration of God's love & faithfulness to Israel & its outworking down through the generations.The author wants to show God's will unfolding, working itself out through making connection after connection down the years. We can trace that through a land promised to Abraham (who pre-dates both Judaism & mono-theism), Captivity in Egypt, Exodus, Journeying in the wilderness, Taking possession of the long-Promised Land & all the other stages that unfold as the story is told on further & further. There's a lot still to come! We are left to ponder that there are no such things as co-incidences in this process; only God-incidents, encompassing those who remain faithful as God is faithful. Ruth's story is an important link in this out-working of the overall biblical picture. For instance, Boaz turns out to be the son of Rahab, the Canaanite woman who, discerning the way the Wind of God is blowing, betrays the town of Jericho into the hands of the invading Hebrews [JSH Chs.2 & 6]. With her family, Rahab is spared, & they are allowed as a reward to live among Hebrew society as 'honorary members'.
Ruth & Boaz produce a son they name Obed; Obed & his wife, a son called Jesse; & Jesse & his wife, a son named David! Great king of the Hebrew people! Even more importantly, David becomes great, great, umpteen greats grand-father of Jesus the Christ! All of which of course makes Ruth not only David's great grand-mother, but Jesus' great, great, umpteen greats... grand-mother too! [MT 1:5]  Before leaving Ruth, & looking further ahead, we might consider whether despite the importance of racial purity to the Jewish people from whom He springs, Jesus has Rahab, a Canaanite (& a prostitute & traitor to boot!) as an ancestor, & Ruth, a Moabite, too, among other 'iffy' people. Maybe YHWH's horizons are wider & broader than people who see religion through strait-jacketed hearts?! The story continues...36: Samuel... Prophet, Judge, & King-Maker...

Question: Have we been blessed as a result of God's will taking its course through choices people have made down the years?

                                                 34...MAKING GOD JUDGMENTS
                          Based on the book of Judges (Judg, Jd, or Jg)....Read more there.
Judges is a series of accounts of people who play a lead role when the Hebrews are settling or settled in Canaan, the 'Promised Land' (N1). After Joshua & his generation die, despite the Covenant made at Shechem tribal & religious observance deteriorate to the point of chaos & the people have to be rescued by YHWH (N2). The Judges, who feature over a long period rule on civil matters & often lead the people into battle. They operate in the void that exists between tribal & more centralised government. The latter doesn't emerge for some time yet. Moreover YHWH is often portrayed putting the Hebrews up to acts of violence we would not want to attribute to God today! In some judges we also have a glimpse of a prophet thrown in for good measure. More, the judges' influence is almost wholly limited to local, tribal affairs. Two of the earlier ones who rise to the occasion - or are raised by YHWH God - are Barak & Deborah (Chs. 4, 5). Yes, a woman! Deborah is actually referred to as a prophet! Barak seems unsure of himself in his role, & leans on Deborah as go-between between God & himself. Deborah blurs the lines between judging & prophesying when she becomes Barak's inspiration as he leads the Hebrews to defeat the local Canaanites in battle. Afterwards, the pair sing a long & bloodthirsty victory song (N3) as Moses & Miriam had done after the crossing of the Sea of Reeds [EX Ch. 15].

The next Judge to warrant attention is Gideon who wages war on the neighbouring Midianites, followers of the pagan god Baal (Chs.6-8). 'Highlights' might be Gideon's call by God (6:11+); his destruction of a pagan altar (6:25+); & the way in which YHWH orders him to reduce the size of the war party he is to lead against Midian (7:1+). The religious message conveyed by this reduction & its outcome is to make sure YHWH gets the glory for victory, not the Hebrew troops,  but see (N4).  After some 'lesser lights', Jephthah, though a 'lesser light' himself (Chs. 10-12) leads the Hebrews to victory over the Ammonites. It's one skirmish after another as local tribes continue to resist the migrating (invading) Hebrews. Reminiscent of today's Middle East still? The Hebrews' failure to remain faithful to YHWH for any length of time is usually cited as the reason this warfare is so ongoing, but in the end they see YHWH as sticking with them & in most cases giving them victory despite their failure to keep the covenant they have made with Him.

In Ch.13, we  are introduced to Samson who has been dedicated to God from birth as a Nazirite (Ch.13:1+). This involved among other things abstaining from wine & leaving your hair uncut. Honestly, Samson comes over more as a womanising, folk-hero kind of lout than a Judge. He's probably remembered as one of the latter only for his fighting prowess against Philistines! Best known to us as part of the Samson & Delilah drama maybe still showing in some format in a theatre near us, Samson is mostly all brawn & no brain. However, his encounter with a lion (Ch.14) & the riddle he poses as a result of that shows another side to him. He can also be a smart operator! Maybe he's another example of God being able to use anyone to do His will. Samson harries the Philistines at every opportunity (Ch.15), but his downfall comes (Ch.16) when they enlist his latest paramour, Delilah, herself a Philistine, & pay her to betray him. After some failed attempts, Delilah eventually brings Samson undone by lulling him to sleep so the Philistines can cut off his long Nazirite hair, supposedly the secret to his strength. Lo & behold, Samson's strength disappears with his hair! He is then captured, blinded & chained as a slave. His mostly unedifying time as Judge ends when his captors trot him out to amuse them with his feats of strength. He brings the house down! Literally. He has recovered enough strength to bring the building down killing them & himself in the process! The rest of the book appears to be a collection of add-ons from later times, probably not really relevant to most of us today. But that's another story...Great Grandmother to the Greatest.
(N1) Like most of the stories we've already heard, Judges in the form we know it has been edited much later. (N2) As in the case of 'major' & 'minor' Prophets, some Judges come to be known as more important than others. (N3) This song is regarded as being one of the oldest works of poetry in the Hebrew Bible (JB notes.). (N4) A little teaser: Can we see a possible pragmatic & military explanation for the choice Gideon is told to make here?
Question:  Are the 'good' judgments we think of ourselves making necessarily 'God' judgments? 

33: JOSHUA NOT ONLY FIT THE BATTLE OF JERICHO
Based on the Book of Joshua (JOSH) ...Read more there.

We've already seen in Ep. 31 that Joshua, son of Nun, has been appointed to succeed Moses before the latter's death. The Hebrews are still on the wrong side of the Jordan River. Still on the way to Canaan, the land promised to Abraham centuries earlier. The book named after Joshua is history told from a religious perspective. It's about the relationship between YHWH God & the Hebrew people as they move on (N1). The story of the conquest of the Promised Land as it's told here makes it clear that it wasn't completed in one fell swoop. Nor is it a completely joint effort. Individual tribes sometimes make their own thrusts according to their own agendas (N2).  Chs. 1-12 are taken up with the conquest of Canaan, with special reference to the famous siege, walls 'falling down' (as the result of a timely earthquake?), & taking of Jericho (Chs.2-6) in which Hebrew spies are aided & abetted by an insider, a woman named Rahab who discerns which way the wind of God's Spirit is blowing! Her reward? She & her family are spared the inevitable slaughter when the Hebrews take the town, & are allowed to assimilate to a degree within the Hebrew community. There is also an impressive & 'miraculous' crossing of the Jordan with echoes of the Sea of Reeds (Chs.3 & 4). The story then moves to the division of the land between the tribes, & issues relating to that dividing up (Chs.13-21). 

Before Joshua eventually dies, a highly significant religious assembly takes place at Shechem (Ch. 24). Not all the tribes have been fully 'on board' before this. Some had not even migrated to Egypt in the first place, so they have not experienced being enslaved there, & have no knowledge of Passover, nor the Exodus, all events that shaped the Hebrew national, cultural & religious mind-set from that time on. The other serious consequence for  those tribes left out of that big 'loop' is that they have neither been introduced to YHWH as their God, nor have they received the Commandments given to Moses, the basis of all Hebrew Law. So these tribes now find themselves out on a limb, a world apart from those who have experienced, or descended from those who have experienced, these momentous happenings. In a master stroke, under the wise guidance of Joshua at a human level holding the great assembly at Shechem welds all the tribes together in a new way with YHWH God at their centre. This will be nation-building. Christians might describe this as an out-pouring of Holy Spirit. Shechem is ancient family & tribal territory from the time of Abraham & Sarah, a bridge between pre- & post- Egypt experiences. Also, several of the most important & revered figures in Hebrew history have been buried at or in the vicinity of Shechem, & Joseph's bones, brought back from Egypt with the emigrants, now join his forbears' here too. So all the Israelites, whether they 'left home' or not, have common roots there. The great assembly agrees on & makes a new covenant that unites all the people in serving YHWH God.  And so the story continues... 34: Making God Judgments 

(N1) Some scholars think the preceding book, Deuteronomy (Ep. 32), is actually the first in a series, with Josh as second, & continuing on through the books of KINGS. JB has useful notes here. (N2) Not all the tribes of Israel had migrated to Egypt in the first place, or at least not in their entirety. Moreover, Moses had already pre-allocated lands to some [NUM 32].

Question: Is God at the centre of both our personal & 'tribal' life?