The Twelve Stones (Joshua 3&4)

The next morning after the spies returned home and reported that the people of Jericho were paralyzed with fear, Joshua led all the people down to the banks of the Jordan River. The promised land was on the other side of the river, just past the city of Jericho. The Israelites couldn’t wait to cross the river. However it was flood season. The river was higher than usual. The people were sure they could make it across, but they had to go right away because the river was getting higher and higher each passing day. But God told Joshua to wait three days!

 Have you ever prayed about a solution or an answer to a problem, but the thing you prayed about got even worse? God’s timing is perfect. Sometimes God allows things to get worse so that He can demonstrate His power even more, so that there is no doubt that it was Him!

 Three days later, the people stood at the banks of the much deeper and wider Jordan River. The only two people that were present when God parted the Red Sea were Joshua and Caleb. Everyone else had died in the desert. I’m sure the israelites heard about it from their parents and grandparents, but they were probably wondering if God would do the same for them.

 The Bible says that God is the same yesterday and today. (Hebrews 13:8) If your parents or grandparents are believers in Jesus, ask them what God has done in their lives. I’m sure He has done some amazing things. And I’m sure that they would love to tell you. Guess what? He can do the same thing for you too. God wants us to share our “God” stories.




 God told Joshua to choose twelve men to carry the Ark of the Covenant ( the gold trunk that held the Ten Commandments) to the edge of the river and then into the river. Imagine being the first two guys walking into the deep water of the Jordan River! They had to have faith that God was going to do something! And God did! The moment the men touched their feet to the river’s edge, the waters parted! The twelve men with the Ark of the Covenant stood in the middle of the river bed while all the Israelites crossed over on dry ground.
 When all the people were across the river (all two million of them) God spoke to Joshua and told him to choose twelve more men and have them each take a large stone from the middle of the river near the Ark of the Covenant and bring it to the bank of the river where the people crossed and put them in a pile.

Now why did God want them to do that you may ask. Well, God tells us why in the Bible. In Joshua chapter 4, verses 6 and seven,  He says. “Do this as a memorial so that, in the future, when your kids ask you what those stones mean, you can tell them how I did an amazing miracle.”

 While the men were building the memorial, Joshua went and built his own memorial right in the middle of the Jordan river. You are probably wondering what good that will do. Right? Since as soon as the water flowed back into the river, the memorial would be under water. That is true, but during a draught, when the water level was low, the memorial would be visible. Then the people could remember that God controlled nature when he parted the river. He controls the rainfall as well. God likes us to remember what He does for us. He likes us to remember the past so that we can trust Him in the present.
 When Joshua was done building the memorial, the men with the Ark of the Covenant crossed the river.
Then the water flowed back and filled up the river.

I like to write down on little pieces of paper the things that I am praying for, and when God answers the prayer. I put it in “the answered prayer jar.” It really builds my faith when I look at that jar filled up with all those answered prayers! It’s a great way of remembering what God has done for me.

 One week from today is the Thursday before Easter. It is the night that Jesus had the last supper with His apostles. The reason I mention this, is because Jesus took the bread and gave it to the apostles and said “Do this in remembrance of me.” Jesus wants us to remember that He suffered and died to pay the price for our sins. This Easter remember what Jesus did and have a Happy and blessed Resurrection Sunday!

Rahab Hides the Spies (Joshua 2)

So now Joshua is leading the Israelites into the promised land. The Israelites are camped out on the other side of the Jordan river. The city of Jericho is standing between them and the promised land. The king of Jericho can see all the Israelites on the other side of the river and he is a little nervous. After all, the Israelites have been conquering every city in their way. God has given them victory after victory.
 So Joshua picks two men to secretly cross the Jordan river and spy out the city of Jericho. The two spies need a place to hide, because somehow the king heard that they were there checking out Jericho. The spies came to the house of a woman name Rahab. Her house was built right into the wall that surrounded the city. Rahab was a woman who had a bad reputation. She did a lot of bad things, but now she was trying to turn her life around. The city of Jericho had turned their backs on God and Rahab didn’t even know where to turn to get her life right with God. When the Israelite spies showed up at her door, it was her opportunity to do the right thing.

 Have you ever got yourself into a lot of trouble when you disobeyed or lied? Sometimes it just seems like it keeps getting worse and worse. God wants us to think about doing the next right thing. One right thing and then another. God will give us opportunities to do the right thing. If we do, He is faithful and He will bless you. (James 1 22-25)

 Rahab hid the spies because the king’s men knew that the spies were seen at her door.  The soldiers searched Rahab’s house but didn’t find the men. Rahab had hidden them on her roof under some hay.
 “I didn’t know that they were Israelite spies.” Rahab said. “They left and went toward the hill country. The city gate is just about ready to close. If you hurry you may be able to catch them.”

 The soldiers bolted to the hill country. They made it to the city gate just before it closed for the night. Then Rahab went up to the roof to check on the two Israelite spies.
 “I know that God has promised you this land. The people in Jericho have all heard about how you crossed the Red Sea on dry ground and how you defeated armies that were larger than you.” Rahab continued. "The people are so terrified of you that they freeze at the mention of your name!”
 The two spies asked her why she helped them. Rahab answered. “I know that it was your God who parted the Red Sea and defeated the armies. Your God is powerful and mighty. I am hoping that by helping you now, you will spare me later when God gives you this city.”

 Rahab was smart. She saw God working in the Israelites. She wasn’t afraid of the people. She feared God. The bible says that “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10)  Have you ever
done something so that someone will like you, even though you knew it was wrong. I have too. When we do that, we are more afraid that someone won’t accept us than we are afraid of God’s anger. That is not too smart.

 Rahab hung a rope out the window so that the two spies could escape. Before they left, they assured Rahab that she and her family would not be harmed if she gathered them all in her house and hung this red rope from her window. So she let the spies down with the rope and they hid in the hills for three days and returned to Joshua telling him that the people in Jericho were terrified of them.

 The red rope hanging from Rahab’s window was a symbol of how Jesus’ blood saves us! Jesus shed His blood to save us from the punishment of sin, if we trust in Him. (1John 2:2)  Rahab trusted that the red rope would save her and her family.

 Have you trusted your life to Jesus? Have you asked Him to come into your heart and be your Lord and Savior?  If you say a prayer something like this (and mean it in your heart) God WILL save you:

 Father God, I know that I am a sinner. I believe that you sent Jesus to suffer and die for my sins. I  make Jesus the Lord over all my life and I accept Him as my Savior. Thank you God. Amen
 If you prayed a prayer like that and meant it in your heart...Guess what? The angels are celebrating in heaven because someday you will be joining them up there...FOREVER! (Luke 15:10)

Joshua Becomes the New Leader (Joshua 1)

Right before Moses died, God told him that Joshua was to be the next leader of the Israelites.  Moses announced to all the people that Joshua would be taking over soon. He didn’t want the people to fight over who would be the next leader after he died.

So now we begin the book of Joshua. (The sixth book of the bible) God spoke to Joshua and told him that now that Moses was dead, the time had come for him to lead the people of Israel. I’m sure that Joshua was sad about losing his friend and teacher, but he had millions of people depending on him to lead them into the promised land.
 God spoke, “In three days you will cross the Jordan river. The promised land is just on the other side. There are men there that will not want you there, but I do. I will be with you so no man will able to stand against you. Be strong and brave. You will lead all the Israelites into the land that I promised to your father, your grandfather and his father. So be strong and brave.”
 Did you notice that God said “be strong and brave” twice?  The bible repeats itself when something is very important. Jesus does this all the time. God told Joshua to be strong and brave while crossing the Jordan River and then again while being a leader. Let’s take a look at those two words.
 STRONG is not how much weight you can lift. STRONG is standing up for what is right. In other words.....standing for God.




 BRAVE is not without fear. BRAVE is doing something even though it scares you. Here is an example. Billy loves to climb trees. Joey is afraid of heights so he stays on the ground. One day Billy climbs a tree and tells Joey to come on up. Joey is shaking with fear as he reaches for branch after another until he his sitting high above the ground with Billy. Who was braver? Billy who had no fear and climbed the tree? Or Joey who, despite being afraid, climbed it?

 Have you ever been in a situation where you had to be Strong (Stand for God) and Brave?  God told Joshua how to do it and He tells us too. First of all God told Joshua His plan. This is God’s will. He tells us His plan too in the Bible. We are all a part of God’s plan and we have a part in God’s plan. Secondly God gives Joshua his promises. God told Joshua that He would be with Him. God has given us over 3000 promises in the Bible! Finally in Joshua 1 verses 7, 8 and 9, God tells Joshua to read the bible, to study it, to meditate on it (which means to stop and think about what it says) and to obey it. Then God gives Joshua a promise of success if he does these things and tells him one more time to be STRONG and BRAVE! (Wow! that’s three times!)
Right away Joshua told all the people that they were to start packing because in three days they were going to cross the Jordan River into the promised land. Then he told them to be STRONG and BRAVE because God was with them.


It is important for us to obey God right away, because if we wait til later, we may forget exactly what we are supposed to do or we may keep saying later I will, but later never comes. Have you ever put off something that you were supposed to do, only to never get around to it? (like cleaning your room) When we put off what God wants us to do, it is disobedience.
The Israelites told Joshua that they would do whatever God told them They knew that God was speaking through Joshua because he spoke with confidence. (strong and brave)
 Then Joshua called two men aside and directed them to go check out the land first, he didn’t want any surprises. Next time we will follow the journey of these two men.


So today we found out a few things.
 God wants us to stand STRONG for Him and to be BRAVE for Him when we feel afraid.
 God tells us how to be STRONG and BRAVE (1) Know God’s will (2) Know God’s promises and (3) Know God’s word (the Bible) read it, study it, think about it and obey it.
The biggest thing God wants from us is to trust Him. Trusting His will, trusting His promises and trusting His Word. If we don’t trust Him in these things ..... we can never really be STRONG and BRAVE.

Mr. BibleHead Coloring Pages

I’ve had some recent requests for more coloring pages, so before we begin the book of Joshua, I wanted to post some coloring pages from the first five books of the Bible.(and one of me :) 

From now on,  I will try to post some coloring pages every couple of posts to correspond to the story we are in. Thanks for your emails and your support. 

May the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)

    

Balaam, Balak and Moses (Numbers23-Deuteronomy 34)

Hi guys! I’m back to finish the story of Balaam and myself. So where did I leave off?...Oh yeah...

...So when Balaam and I finally arrived, king Balak asked, “Why did you turn me down the first time Balaam? Didn’t my men tell you that I was going to make you rich if you would just curse the Israelites? Well at least you are here now. Tomorrow we head up to the top of Bamothbaal . We can see all the Israelites from there and you can curse them there.”

 Balaam remembered with fear the angel and the sword, and how the angel told him to do only what God told him to do. “I can only do what God tells me to do and speak what He tells me to speak.” Balaam said to king Balak.
 The next morning we headed up to Bamothbaal where we could see all the Israelites below.  Balaam had the men build 7 altars there and he made a sacrifice to God on each altar. “Let me go to the top of that hill and see what God wants me to say.” Balaam requested.
 So we went up the hill and God spoke to Balaam. When we came back Balaam told king Balak what God had said and the king was not very happy! God told Balaam that the Israelites were his chosen people and that they were set apart for God’s purposes. And that they would become more numerous than the stars in the sky.
 King Balak turned bright red! “I asked you to curse my enemies and you blessed them instead!”
 “I tried to tell you that I can only speak what God wants me to speak.” Balaam replied.

 King Balak took Balaam to another place where we could see about half of the Israelites. “At least curse half of my enemies.” King Balak said. But again God told Balaam to bless the Israelites. So the king took us to another place and the same thing happened. King Balak was furious. He shouted at us. “I asked you to curse my enemies three times, but all three times you have blessed them instead! Get out of here! I am not going to pay you a single penny! God has just stopped you from becoming a very rich man!”

 Balaam responded to king Balak’s ranting and raving. “Even if you gave me all the gold and silver in your kingdom, I could only do what God wanted me to do and speak what God wanted me to speak. We will go now, but God wants me to say one more thing before we go.... 'The Israelites will conquer many nations on their way to the promised land. The nations will be destroyed by God’s mighty hand including this one!"  Then we left king Balk there and headed home.
 Balaam was right. The Israelites, led by Moses, continued to win one battle after another on the way to the promised land. They took all the gold, silver and animals from each nation that they conquered. Balaam was killed in one of the battles and the Israelites took me and 61,000 other donkeys back to their camp. Moses had divided the Israelites into 12 tribes and then divided all the gold, silver and animals among God and the twelve tribes. God got the first of everything. One tribe took care of God’s stuff. That was the tribe of Levi. I ended up in the tribe of Judah. ( The ancestors of Jesus!)
 Moses called all the Israelites together. He told them that he was 120 years old and that he wouldn’t be with them for too much longer. He appointed Joshua to be the next leader to take the people into the promised land. Then Moses wrote a song about how God had freed them from slavery and all the things that He did for them along the way. The song of Moses is recorded in the Bible in Deuteronomy chapter 32. He wanted everyone to learn the song and teach their children and grandchildren the song so that they would never forget how God freed them, saved them and loved them.  Then Moses blessed the people. After that Moses went to a the top of Mount Nebo where God showed him the promised land. Then Moses died on top of the mountain.
 “There has never been another prophet like Moses whom he Lord knew face to face. The Lord sent Moses to perform miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and the entire land. And it was through Moses that the Lord demonstrated His mighty power and terrifying acts in the sight of all Israel.” (Deuteronomy 34: 10-12)  

Two lessons we can learn today. One: That God has a big plan (His sovereign plan) and nothing or no one can stop it. He also has a small plan (individual plan) for each of us. This is where we can choose to do the will of God or not. God’s small plan for us is part of His big plan. If God can’t use us because we choose not to, he will make life hard for us or find someone else. Either way we lose out on the blessing that God has for us when we do follow Him.
 The second lesson is that God wants us to remember what He has done for us. Moses wrote a song so that the Israelites would never forget. Stop and think about all the great things that God has done for you and has given you. Then thank Him every day.

Some interesting facts about Moses:
 (A) Moses was 120 years old when he died. His life can be broken into three forty year segments. (1) 0-40 He was raised as the son of the Egyptian king. (2) 40-80 He spent these years in the desert after he killed an Egyptian. (3) 80-120 He was the leader of Israel, leading them out of Egypt and to the gate of the promised land.
 (B) Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. They are called The Pentateuch.
 (C) Moses was buried by God on the mountain and no one has ever found his body.
 (D) “Moses” means “taken out of the water"

Balaam’s Donkey (Numbers 21-22)

 Remember when Mr. BibleHead told you that there were some truly amazing stories in the Bible? Well, this is one of them....and it’s about me! My name is Jack (the Bible doesn’t tell you my name) and I’m Balaam’s donkey.  I’m giving Mr. BibleHead a break today and I’m going to tell this story because I was there!

Mr. BibleHead left off in Numbers 20. Aaron had just died at the old age of 123. Moses was still leading the Israelites. Every where they went, there was a country that wouldn’t let Moses and the people pass through on their way to the promised land.  Sometimes the Israelites would turn around or try to go around the country, but a few times they were attacked. Every time, God would give them victory over their attackers. Pretty soon the Israelites had a reputation of destroying any country that stood in their way on the way to the promised land.

 One day Balak, the king of Moab, was looking out his palace window an he saw a mob of Israelites camped out on the other side of the Jordan River. King Balak was terrified! He knew how the Israelites had destroyed anyone that stood between them and the promised land. ( We know that it was actually God that did it.) King Balak knew about a man named Balaam who said he was able to bless people and curse people.
 King Balak called in his messengers and sent them on their way with money to pay Balaam, to deliver his message and bring him back with them. When the messengers arrived at Balaam’s house, they explained how King Balak needed Balaam to curse the Israelites and that he would pay him a lot of money to do so. Balaam had to make it look good, so he said, “Let me pray about it and I’ll let you know in the morning.”

 That night, God showed up to Balaam. I bet he was surprised! God told Balaam not to go with these men because He had chosen the Israelites as His people and He had blessed them.. The next morning Balaam was still in shock that God actually spoke to him. He told the messengers that he could not curse the Israelites. So the messengers returned to King Balak.
 When the king heard what Balaam had said, he was mad. He hand picked a bunch of his officials to go back to Balaam and try again.  When the officials made it to Balaam’s house, they told him what King Balak had said. Balaam replied, “Even if the king gave me his palace filled with silver, I could not curse a people that God has blessed. But I will pray again tonight and see what God says.”
 That night, God spoke to Balaam again. This time God told him he could go with the men. God told Balaam to do only what He directed him to do.  In the morning Balaam told the men that he was going with them. I’m sure Balaam thought in his mind, “Woo Hoo! I’m going to be rich!”
This is where I come into the story. Balaam put a blanket on my back, climbed on and away we went. I could hear Balaam whistling a happy tune as we went along the road to Moab. Suddenly there was someting in the middle of the road. I knew that we couldn’t keep going, so I  bolted off the road and into a field. Balaam was not too happy with me. Couldn’t he see what was standing in the road? I guess not because he grabbed a branch and beat me. Then he tugged me back on the road. We went along a little farther and there it was again! Right as the road narrowed and there were walls on both sides! We would both be dead if we kept going straight, so I tried to squeeze by and crushed Balaam’s foot between my side and the wall. He was furious and began to beat me again. Finally we got on the road again. The road kept getting narrower and narrower. I hoped that I would not see it again, but just as I was thinking that to myself, There it was again! I had no where to run or to squeeze by so I just laid down.

Balaam began to scream at me! “Why are you embarrassing me in front of the king’s officials? You stupid donkey! If I had a sword I would kill you!”He began to beat me again.
Then God did two amazing things. First, he caused me to speak. Yep that’s right, I spoke to Balaam and I let him have an earful! “Haven’t I been faithful to you all these years? Haven’t I always done as you asked and wasn’t I always ready whenever you needed to go somewhere? Do you think that I would embarrass you on purpose without reason? Have I ever done anything like this before?”

 “No.” Said Balaam. (He answered him! I would have been like....wow! a talking donkey!)
 Then God did the second amazing thing. He opened Balaam’s eyes so that he could see what I saw. It was an angel of God standing in the road wielding a large sword!
 Then the angel spoke. “Why did you beat your donkey three times? He saved your life! I would have killed you if you would have continued on your way.”

 Then Balaam cried out to the angel. "I did not know you were there. I will go home if you want.”
 “No, go with these men, but change your attitude and your heart. You are going with these men to do as God says, not to make a lot of money.” The angel said and then he disappeared.
 King Balak was very excited when he heard that Balaam was almost there.

 Even when we do the right thing, if we are doing it out of selfishness or greed or pride, then it is the wrong thing. Balaam was doing what God said, but he was doing it for himself. That’s not good.
Do you know what “motives” are. Motives are the reason in our heart that we do things. God want’s our motives to be pure. When we help someone, or volunteer, or give away something, we do it because we love God. That’s a pure motive. (Proverbs 16:2 and 21:18)

Moses Runs out of Patience. (Numbers 17-20)

When we left last time, Moses had placed 12 staffs (with the names of 12 leaders) out in front of the holy tent where the Ark of the Covenant was. God said that the next morning, one of them would have blossoms on it.
 In the morning, Moses went to get the staffs. The 12 men were excited, because if their name was on the staff with the blossoms, their whole family would be in charge of all the offerings and sacrifices. Aaron wasn’t too worried because God had already chosen him and his family a year earlier, but the people thought that Moses had used his authority to appoint his brother Aaron, as the chief priest.
 Moses walked into the holy tent and grabbed the staffs and brought them out. He handed each man his staff and ... Guess what? Aaron’s staff had not only blossomed, but it had almonds on it as well! God sure does like to amaze us! Ephesians 2:20 says that He is able to do more than we ask, or can even imagine!

 God told Moses to take Aaron’s staff and leave it in front of the holy tent so that everyone will stop arguing and remember that Aaron is the chief priest. So Moses placed Aaron’s staff there. Then God called Aaron to a meeting. He reminded Aaron about  all the things that he and his family (the Levites) would be in charge of. The Levites also had special clothes to wear and they had to keep themselves ceremonially clean.
  The Israelites were in the wilderness for about two years when all this took place. The bible doesn’t say anything about the next 38 years, but when the story picks up again, Moses and his brother Aaron are still leading the people, their sister Miriam had just died and all the Israelites that had doubted God about the promised land had died too. Only four of the men that had left Egypt 40 years earlier were still alive. Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb. Moses was now 120 years old! Aaron was 123!
  This generation of Israelites picked right up where their parents left off. They started grumbling and complaining. “We wish we would have died with our mothers and fathers.” They said. "We don’t have any water and we are sick of eating manna all the time!”
 Moses and Aaron went to God and fell on their faces before him. “God we don’t know how to keep these people happy! They are grumblers just like their parents. Please give them water before they drive us crazy!”
 God replied. “Take your staff and you and Aaron must gather the entire community. As the people are watching, command the rock to pour out water. You will get enough water for all the people and for all the cows and goats too.

 So Moses and Aaron gathered all the people . They people were still complaining and grumbling. Moses was getting very irritated. “Listen! You ungrateful trouble makers! You want water? Here’s some water!” And with that Moses struck the rock with his staff and water came pouring out! Enough for all the people and the animals.

 Did God tell Moses to hit the rock with his staff? No He told Moses to command the rock to spout water. God said to Moses and Aaron. “I know you were angry, but you did not trust me enough to let me demonstrate my holy power. Now you will not lead the people into the promised land.”
 Soon afterwards Aaron died.
God doesn’t want us to get mad and then do the wrong thing. Whenever you get mad at someone or a situation, walk away, talk to God and then act. Moses’ anger prevented him from entering the promised land. Anger can have some serious consequences that we may regret.
“Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry. Anger can lead to sin.” (James 1:19-20)