Live-Wire Bible Study - Day 63 - Joshua 1–4 · Luke 14 · Psalm 143 - FeedTheGoodHorse
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Day 63: Joshua 1–4 · Luke 14 · Psalm 143 · Commentary · Commentary² · Audio
The Bible text is included for reading continuity; it is accurate in substance, aligned with major modern translations, and may be read alongside any Bible you prefer.1
Special Note about the following Bible text: The following translation uses the Hebrew terms tamé (טָמֵא) and tahor (טָהוֹר) instead of the traditional “unclean” and “clean.” These terms describe ritual status in relation to sanctuary access, not moral fault, shame, or physical dirtiness. A fuller explanation will follow in a dedicated article.
Joshua 1
After the death of Moses, the servant of Jehovah, Jehovah spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, “Moses my servant is dead. Now rise and cross this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place the sole of your foot steps I have given to you, just as I spoke to Moses. Their territory will extend from the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the Euphrates River, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea where the sun sets.
No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, I will be with you. I will not fail you or abandon you. Be strong and steady, because you will cause this people to take possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give to them. Only be strong and very steady, carefully keeping all the instruction that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you will act wisely wherever you go. This scroll of instruction must not depart from your mouth. You must speak it quietly to yourself day and night, so that you carefully do everything written in it. Then you will make your way succeed, and then you will act wisely.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and steady. Do not be terrified or discouraged, because Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go.”
Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people to pass through the camp and instruct the people to prepare provisions for themselves, because within three days they would cross this Jordan to go in and take possession of the land that Jehovah their God is giving them to possess.
Joshua spoke to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, reminding them of the word that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded them. He said that Jehovah their God was giving them rest and was giving them this land. Their wives, their children, and their livestock would remain in the land that Moses gave them beyond the Jordan, but all the strong fighters among them would cross over armed ahead of their fellow Israelites and would help them until Jehovah gave rest to their fellow Israelites just as to them, and until they also took possession of the land that Jehovah their God was giving them. After that they could return to the land of their possession and possess it, the land that Moses the servant of Jehovah gave them beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.
They answered Joshua, saying that everything he commanded them they would do, and wherever he sent them they would go. Just as they listened to Moses in everything, so they would listen to Joshua. Only may Jehovah your God be with you just as he was with Moses. Anyone who rebelled against Joshua’s command and did not listen to his words in everything he commanded would be put to death. Only be strong and steady.
Joshua 2
Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as scouts. He told them to go and look over the land, especially Jericho. So they went and entered the house of a woman named Rahab, who was a prostitute, and they lay down there.
It was reported to the king of Jericho that men from the people of Israel had come there that night to search out the land. Then the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, telling her to bring out the men who had come to her and entered her house, because they had come to search out all the land.
But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said that men had come to her, but she did not know where they came from. She said that when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out, and she did not know where they went. She urged them to pursue quickly, because they would overtake them.
But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had arranged there on the roof. So the men pursued them along the road toward the Jordan, toward the fords, and the gate was shut as soon as those pursuing them went out.
Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said that she knew Jehovah had given them the land, that dread of them had fallen on the inhabitants, and that all the inhabitants of the land were melting in fear before them. She said that they had heard how Jehovah dried up the water of the Red Sea before them when they came out of Egypt, and what they did to the two kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom they completely destroyed. When they heard this, their hearts melted, and no courage remained in anyone because of them, because Jehovah their God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below.
Now she asked them to swear to her by Jehovah that just as she had shown loyalty to them, they also would show loyalty to her father’s household. She asked them to give her a reliable sign and to preserve alive her father, her mother, her brothers, her sisters, and all who belonged to them, and to rescue their lives from death.
The men said to her that their lives were pledged in place of hers, if she did not reveal this matter. When Jehovah gives them the land, they will act toward her with loyalty and faithfulness.
Then she let them down by a rope through the window, because her house was built into the wall and she lived in the wall. She told them to go toward the hill country so that those pursuing them would not encounter them, and to hide there three days until those pursuing them returned. Afterward they could go on their way.
The men said to her that they would be free from the oath she made them swear, unless when they came into the land she tied this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which she let them down and gathered into her house her father, her mother, her brothers, and all her father’s household. Anyone who went outside the doors of her house into the street—his blood would be on his own head, and they would be free from guilt. But anyone who was with her in the house—his blood would be on our head if a hand was laid on him. If she revealed this matter, they would be free from the oath she made them swear.
She said that it would be according to their words. Then she sent them away, and they departed. She tied the scarlet cord in the window.
They departed and went into the hill country and remained there three days until those pursuing them returned. Those pursuing searched along all the roads but did not find them. Then the two men returned, came down from the hill country, crossed over, and came to Joshua son of Nun. They reported to him everything that had happened to them. They said to Joshua that Jehovah will give all the land into their hands, and that all the inhabitants of the land are melting in fear before them.
Joshua 3
Joshua rose early in the morning, and he and all the people of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan. They stayed there before crossing.
After three days the officers passed through the camp and commanded the people. They told them that when they saw the ark of the covenant of Jehovah their God carried by the Levitical priests, they must set out from their place and follow it. Yet there must be a distance between them and it, about two thousand cubits. They must not come near it, so that they would know the way they should go, because they had not passed this way before.
Joshua said to the people that they must set themselves apart, because tomorrow Jehovah will do extraordinary things among them.
Joshua spoke to the priests and told them to take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people. So they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.
Jehovah said to Joshua that this day he would begin to make Joshua great in the sight of all Israel, so that they would know that just as he was with Moses, so he would be with Joshua. Joshua was to command the priests who carried the ark of the covenant that when they came to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, they must stand still in the Jordan.
Joshua said to the people of Israel to come near and listen to the words of Jehovah their God. He said that by this they would know that the living God was among them and that he will certainly drive out before them the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. He told them to look: the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, is crossing ahead of them into the Jordan.
Now they were to take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe. When the soles of the feet of the priests who carried the ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off. The waters flowing down from upstream will stand in one heap.
So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant ahead of the people, the waters flowing from upstream stood still and rose in one heap far away at Adam, the city beside Zarethan. The waters flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. Then the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Jehovah stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until the entire nation finished crossing the Jordan.
Joshua 4
When the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan, Jehovah spoke to Joshua and told him to take twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, and command them to take twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firmly. They were to carry the stones across and set them down at the place where they would stay that night.
Joshua called the twelve men he had appointed from the people of Israel, one man from each tribe. He told them to pass ahead of the ark of Jehovah their God into the middle of the Jordan and to lift up each man a stone onto his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel. This was to serve as a sign among them. In the future, when their children asked what these stones meant, they were to tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters were cut off. These stones were to serve as a memorial for the people of Israel for all time.
So the people of Israel did as Joshua commanded. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as Jehovah had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel. They carried them across to the place where they stayed and set them down there.
Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood, and they remain there to this day.
The priests who carried the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything was finished that Jehovah commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to everything Moses had commanded Joshua. Meanwhile, the people hurried and crossed.
When the entire people had finished crossing, the ark of Jehovah crossed over, along with the priests, in full view of the people.
The sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed ahead of the people of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them. About forty thousand equipped for battle crossed before Jehovah to the plains of Jericho for war.
On that day Jehovah made Joshua great in the sight of all Israel, and they held him in awe just as they had held Moses in awe all the days of his life.
Jehovah spoke to Joshua and told him to command the priests who carried the ark of the testimony to come up out of the Jordan. So Joshua commanded the priests to come up out of the Jordan.
When the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of Jehovah came up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted onto dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks as before.
The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho.
Joshua set up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan at Gilgal. He told the people of Israel that in the future, when their children asked their fathers what these stones meant, they were to inform their children that Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground. Jehovah their God dried up the waters of the Jordan before them until they crossed, just as Jehovah their God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up before them until they crossed. This happened so that all the peoples of the earth would know that the hand of Jehovah is strong, and so that they would fear Jehovah their God always.
Luke 14
On one of the Sabbaths he went to eat at the house of a leader of the Pharisees, and they were watching him closely. A man suffering from swelling was there in front of him. Jesus said to the legal experts and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took the man, healed him, and sent him away.
He said to them, “Which of you, if your child or your ox falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will not immediately pull it out?” And they could not answer.
He told a parable to those who had been invited because he noticed how they were choosing places of honor. He said, “When you are invited to a wedding feast, do not sit in a place of honor, in case someone more honored than you has been invited. Then the one who invited both of you may come and say, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. Instead, when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place. Then the one who invited you may say, ‘Friend, move up higher,’ and you will have honor in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For everyone who exalts themselves will be humbled, and the one who humbles themselves will be exalted.”
He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they invite you in return and you are repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the disabled, the lame, and the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
When one of those reclining with him heard this, he said, “Blessed is the one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
He said, “A man was giving a great banquet and invited many. At the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say, ‘Come, because everything is ready.’ But they all began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go see it. I ask you, excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five pairs of oxen, and I am going to examine them. I ask you, excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and so I cannot come.’
“The servant came and reported this. Then the master of the house became angry and said, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor, the disabled, the blind, and the lame.’ And the servant said, ‘What you commanded has been done, and there is still room.’ And the master said, ‘Go out into the roads and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my banquet.’”
Large crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and said, “If anyone comes to me and does not set aside their father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even their own life, they cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
“For which of you, wanting to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if they have enough to complete it? Otherwise, when they have laid a foundation and are not able to finish, all who see it will begin to mock them, saying, ‘This person began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to meet another king in war, will not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to face the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If not, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So then, none of you can be my disciple unless you give up all your possessions.
“Salt is good, but if salt loses its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. Let the one who has ears to hear, hear.”
Psalm 143
Lord, hear my prayer;
listen to my pleas for mercy.
In your faithfulness answer me,
in your righteousness.
Do not enter into judgment with your servant,
for no living human is righteous before you.
For the enemy has pursued my life;
he has crushed my life to the ground;
he has made me sit in darkness
like those long dead.
My spirit grows faint within me;
my heart within me is stunned.
I remember the days long ago;
I meditate on all you have done;
I consider the work of your hands.
I stretch out my hands to you;
my life thirsts for you
like dry land.
Answer me quickly, Lord;
my spirit is failing.
Do not hide your face from me,
or I will become like those who go down to the pit.
Let me hear of your loyalty in the morning,
for I trust in you.
Make known to me the way I should go,
for I lift up my life to you.
Rescue me from my enemies, Lord;
I come to you for protection.
Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
Let your good spirit lead me
on level ground.
For the sake of your name, Lord, give me life;
in your righteousness bring my life out of trouble.
In your loyalty cut off my enemies
and destroy all who trouble my life,
for I am your servant.
Commentary - Day 63
Joshua 1–4 · Luke 14 · Psalm 143
A river ahead. Stones lifted from its bed. A scarlet cord in a wall. A table in a Pharisee’s house. Hands stretched upward in a darkened land.
Joshua begins with succession marked by death. Moses is named first as servant, then as gone, and movement follows immediately. The command to cross the Jordan comes before any visible path appears. Territory is described while the people still stand outside it, as though possession is first spoken and only later walked. Strength is repeated beside instruction, binding courage to remembrance rather than to force. The scroll of instruction is not stored away but kept in the mouth, spoken quietly day and night, so that movement remains governed by words already given.
Preparation spreads through the camp with measured time. Three days stand between command and crossing. Those who already possess land east of the Jordan are summoned forward again, crossing ahead of their brothers though their own rest has begun. Their wives, children, and livestock remain behind while their fighters move first. Rest is delayed until others receive what was promised. Obedience echoes from the people back toward Joshua, linking present leadership to what Moses had commanded before him.
Joshua 2 shifts the scene to the city of Jericho and to a house built into its wall. Rahab hides the two spies under stalks of flax laid across her roof. The men searching the city pass by without finding them. Fear travels ahead of battle, shaped by memory of waters once divided at the Red Sea. Rahab ties a scarlet cord in her window so that her household will be recognized when the city falls. Protection gathers inside that marked house, and survival remains tied to staying within what has been identified.
Joshua 3 brings the people to the edge of the Jordan River. The priests carry the ark of the covenant ahead of the people and step into water that is still flowing. Only when their feet stand in the current do the waters pull back, rising far upstream. Dry ground appears in the middle of the Jordan where the river had been flowing moments before. The priests stand motionless in the center of the river while the nation crosses, remaining there until the last person has passed to the far side.
Joshua 4 turns the crossing into memory carried forward. Twelve stones are lifted from the middle of the Jordan and carried to the camp at Gilgal. Another set of stones remains in the river where the priests had stood. When the priests step out, the water returns to its course and flows as before, leaving nothing visible at the crossing point itself. The stones set at the camp remain where children will later ask what they mean. If the story is not told, the crossing will fade from memory. If the stones are not seen, the path already opened could be forgotten even while the land still lies ahead.
Luke 14 gathers movement around a meal in the house of a Pharisee, where the guests watch closely as a man suffering from swelling stands nearby. Jesus heals the man before the question about healing on the Sabbath receives any answer. Guests choose places of honor at the table, and a parable follows about taking the lowest seat so that honor may come later from the host. Invitations extend beyond friends and relatives to include the poor, the disabled, the lame, and the blind—those unable to repay. Those first invited to a great banquet give excuses and refuse to come, leaving empty places that others are brought in to fill. Jesus speaks of counting the cost before building a tower or going to war, measuring strength before committing to the task. Salt that loses its taste remains present yet useless, thrown aside because it no longer preserves what surrounds it.
Psalm 143 gathers the strain of pursuit into prayer. The speaker describes sitting in darkness like those long dead while enemies press against him. Memory reaches backward to earlier works of deliverance already known. Hands stretch outward like dry land waiting for rain. Morning becomes the time when loyalty is heard again. Enemies remain present in the words of the prayer, yet the speaker continues to name himself as servant, placing survival alongside belonging rather than separation.
Across river, wall, table, and open sky, movement passes through marked places that remain visible after the moment has passed. Stones stay at the camp in Gilgal, the scarlet cord hangs in the window of the wall, seats at the table are taken and surrendered, hands remain lifted toward heaven. The Jordan flows again, Jericho still stands for the moment, meals continue, and prayer rises while danger remains. What has been marked stays in place so it will not be lost when memory begins to fade.
Joshua begins after Moses dies, and the people gather provisions for three days before crossing the Jordan. The tribes already settled send their armed men ahead to help the rest. Rahab hides the spies under flax on her roof and ties a scarlet cord in her window so her household will be spared. The priests step into the Jordan while it is still flowing, and the water stops upstream. Twelve stones are taken from the river and set at Gilgal so future children will ask what happened.
In Luke, Jesus eats in a Pharisee’s house, heals a man with swelling on the Sabbath, and tells guests to take the lower seat at the table. Those first invited to a banquet make excuses, and others are brought in. He speaks of counting the cost like building a tower or preparing for war.
Psalm 143 speaks from darkness and pursuit, remembering past deliverance while waiting for morning.
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