2018, August 26 ~ Joshua 24:1-2a,14-18 and Ephesians 6:10-20

Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18

The authors of the Book of Joshua (called “the Deuteronomists”) were also the authors of the books of Deuteronomy, Judges, Samuel and Kings. These books were given their final form around 550 BCE – long after the events they described.

The Deuteronomists used the stories in these five books to make the case that it was the failures of the people and the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judea to worship YHWH and obey God’s commands that led to the conquest of Northern Israel in 722 BCE by the Assyrians and the conquest of Judea by the Babylonians in 597 BCE. (The conquests were not seen as the result of the Assyrians’ and Babylonians’ greater wealth and more powerful armies.)

The Book of Joshua is part of this “Deuteronomic History.” It covers the entry of the Israelites into the Promised Land by crossing the River Jordan (around 1225 BCE, if the account is historical), the swift conquest by Joshua of the people that were in the land (starting with Jericho), the allocation of the lands among the tribes, and concludes with the “Covenant at Shechem” by which the people swear (acting as their own witnesses) to be faithful to YHWH.

In today’s reading, Joshua assembles the tribes in Shechem (an important religious and political center) and challenges them whether they will serve YHWH. The people promise to serve YHWH and put away foreign gods in this Covenant at Shechem.

The Deuteronomist used this Covenant at Shechem to “convict” the Israelites of their own later failures to worship YHWH as the cause of their conquests by foreign powers. YHWH is presented by the Deuteronomists as faithful to YHWH’s promises (such as the promise to Abraham of the land and the promise that David’s “house” would rule forever). The later failures of the people (and their kings) to worship YHWH was a breach of their own Covenant.

Ephesians 6:10-20

Ephesus was a large and prosperous city in what is now western Turkey. In the Acts of the Apostles and 1 Corinthians, Paul is said to have visited there. In Ephesus, there were Jesus Followers who were Jews and Jesus Followers who were Gentiles, and they didn’t always agree on what it meant to be a Jesus Follower.

Because the letter contains a number of terms not used in Paul’s other letters and gives new meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms, most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. The letter was intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus.

Today’s reading is the last of the six portions of the Letter to the Ephesians that have been presented in recent weeks.

Today, the author portrayed life as a Jesus Follower as a struggle against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers and the spiritual forces of evil. He urged that believers put on the armor of God, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and use one offensive weapon, the sword of the Spirit (which the author says is the word of God).