August 18 ▪ Day 230

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 21:21
Joshua 1–2
Mark 10
Psalms 46

Verse Focus (Proverbs 21:21)

Whoever pursues righteousness and love
     finds life, prosperity and honor.

Meditation

Today’s verse focus, Proverbs 21:21, says, in the ESV, “Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.” The NIV says that this person will find “life, prosperity and honor,” but has a note that prosperity can also be translated as righteousness. In fact, the Hebrew word used is the same in both the first and the second halves of the proverb: if it means righteousness the first time around, one would assume it means righteousness the second time round as well. 🙂 Still, prosperity is a possible if more rare English translation of this word.

The word that the NIV translates as “love” and the ESV as “kindness” is the word that we are used to hearing in reference to the LORD, translated as “lovingkindness,” or as “steadfast mercy.”

So, those that pursue righteousness and lovingkindness (is this an oblique way of saying those who pursue God?), find life, righteousness, and honor. It’s odd that the first thing you find is life, rather than what you were pursuing — righteousness and kindness. Next, you find righteousness (or prosperity), and finally you find honor. Do you think it’s significant that the proverb doesn’t say that you find the lovingkindness that you were pursuing?

I’ve been wondering about how one pursues righteousness and love. Are you pursuing these by transforming your own character? Or are you pursuing those that you feel will display this behavior in reference to you? God will certainly be both righteous and loving. And you may pursue friends and other people who are righteous and kind. But I have to believe that part of seeking righteousness and kindness has to do with having those attributes become your own characteristics — which is perhaps why what you end up finding first is life.

Father God, it is a noble thing to pursue righteousness and kindness. Help us always to seek you and to seek your goodness. Let us pursue righteousness and lovingkindness both internally and externally, by the grace of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today we begin reading the book of Joshua. After the Torah (Law) or Pentateuch — that is, the first five books of the Bible — come the history books of the Bible. Joshua is the first of these histories, and it continues the story of Israel from just before they leave the wilderness. Traditionally, Joshua himself is considered the author of this book, although some consider it to be a compilation put together many years after the Israelites entered into the land.

Joshua, as you know, was first Moses’ assistant, and then later his successor. After Moses died on the far side of the Jordan River, it was Joshua who led the second generation of Israelites into the Promised Land. The book tells of the conquest of Canaan and the division of the land among the tribes.

Chapter 1 begins with God calling Joshua to lead the nation of Israel into the Promised Land. As God commissions Joshua, He promises to go with Joshua, saying, in verse 5, “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.” Three times in this conversation, in verses 6, 7, and 9, God commands Joshua to “be strong and courageous.” The message is significant, as is the number of times it is repeated.

Verse 8 and verse 9 are both gems, often highlighted, always encouraging. As verse 8 says, in the CSB, “This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.” The second half of verse 9 says, also in the CSB, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” We may not be in Joshua’s position of responsibility, but we may still fear the obstacles that face us in life. God’s assurance of His presence is as necessary to us today as it was for Joshua. Like Joshua, we too will benefit from faithfully meditating upon the Word.

As the chapter ends, the warriors from Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh assure Joshua that they support him and are with him. They promise obedience, threaten death to anyone who rebels against Joshua, and conclude the chapter with a repetition of God’s command to Joshua: “Be strong and courageous (v. 18).”

Chapter 2 tells the story of Rahab, a prostitute in Jericho who protected two Israelite spies that Joshua had sent ahead to scout out the land of Canaan. From the perspective of the Israelites about to enter Promised Land, this was a merciful event. From Rahab, they learned that those in Jericho and all throughout the land of Canaan had heard of the Israelites and how God had parted the Red Sea for them; they were terrified of the Hebrews. As Rahab put it in verse 11, their hearts had “melted.” What could be more encouraging for the Israelites to hear just before they were about to enter the land?

But from the perspective of all of history, there is much more to this story. Rahab gained a reputation for her actions, so much that she is cited in James 2:25 as well as in the Hall of Fame of Faith (Hebrews 11:31). She foreshadows all the prostitutes, tax collectors, and other sinners who were the first to come to Christ Jesus. It was because of her faith in the God of Israel that Rahab hid the two spies. She knew that the LORD was the God of heaven and earth and that He had determined to give the land of Canaan to the Israelites.

Although we don’t get the details here in chapter 2, we know that Rahab was rewarded for this faith. She and her family were saved when Jericho fell. She later married Salmon of the tribe of Judah and became the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth the Moabitess (Matthew 1:5). Rahab was thus the second great-grandmother of David, and an ancestor of Jesus Christ.

Mark chapter 10 tells the story of the rich young ruler who turns away from Jesus, “grieving (v. 22),” because he has many possessions. Jesus comments to his disciples on how difficult it is for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. In verse 25, he tells them, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples are astonished at this comment, and ask then how anyone might be able to be saved. Jesus’ reply is so memorable, that we forget all about the disciples’ assumption that it is easier for the rich to be saved than the poor. Yet we learn elsewhere in the gospels that the poor actually have an advantage when it comes to entering God’s kingdom.

Still, Jesus’ words in verse 27, “All things are possible with God,” speak balm to my soul. Even though I don’t think of myself in the same category as the rich young ruler, I know that my possessions can be a stumbling block to me as well. Yet whatever stands in my way, God is merciful. He is able to draw me to Himself. What is impossible for me is possible for God. He supplies whatever I lack.

Verse 30 struck me today as I read this chapter. Those who have sacrificed possessions, relationships, and even the means to make a living for Jesus will receive those things back again “a hundred times more” in the present time — along with persecutions, no less! — but will also inherit eternal life in the age to come. I know I’ve thought more about what following Christ requires of me, and of the things I might have to give up than I’ve ever thought about what I might gain in this life. The struggle is always with the present relinquishment, rather than with the promise of future blessing. But here again we see that God asks us to give up certain things in order to give us something better later on.

The chapter ends with the story of Jesus healing “Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus (v. 46).” As I read this story, the man’s name struck me. The gospel names him as “Bartimaeus,” which simply means “the son of Timaeus,” since “bar” is the Hebrew way of saying “son of.” Bartimaeus is like a surname, rather than the man’s first name. Since the gospel was written in Greek, it tells us what the name means — the son of Timaeus — but I realized how odd it was that the beggar has no identity of his own. It’s like when he lost his eyesight, he also lost his identity as a unique human being. Now he is reduced to being simply the son of Timaeus. A blind beggar. His namelessness seems symbolic of his spiritual and physical state.

Verse 51 tells us that he asks to “recover” his sight. So he was not always the way he is now. Before, he had a name of his own. An identity. A sense of purpose, and a way to make a living. But by the time he meets Jesus, all that is gone. No wonder he chooses to follow Jesus once he is healed!

Psalm 46 continues to both challenge and comfort us. God has “brought desolations upon the earth (v. 8).” But God is also our help and refuge so — as the psalmist declares — “we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea (v. 2).” This is a psalm for times of turmoil. This is a psalm for those living with uncertainty. The pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the world; having a vaccine has not yet been the cure that we had hoped it would be. Social and political unrest continue to destabilize our society. Everything seems topsy turvy; yet it is God who rules over the world and who allows nations to rage and totter.

The psalmist calls us to stop our own worry and fear and simply be still before the LORD. Recognize that He is sovereign. Remember who He is. God will be exalted.

Father God, thank you that we don’t have to try to solve the problems of the world. You are in control. You are sovereign. You are arranging things so that you will be exalted. We pray for people to turn to you. Many are hurting, many are grieving, many are frightened. Turn hearts toward you. Move over this land in power. May your Spirit cause a great awakening to occur. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.