8 Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan; they fought with you, and I handed them over to you, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. 9 Then King Balak son of Zippor of Moab set out to fight against Israel. He sent and invited Balaam son of Beor to curse you, 10 but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you, so I rescued you out of his hand. 11 When you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, the citizens of Jericho fought against you, as well as the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I handed them over to you. 12 I sent swarms of hornets ahead of you that drove out before you the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored and towns that you had not built, and you live in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards that you did not plant.
Prayer Focus: Reading the book of Joshua and the “conquest” of the land of promise today can be problematic. For we have to hold in tension God’s promise of a particular place to Abraham and the conquest of other people who also made their home in that land. There are not many today who would support, especially through violence and force, the displacement of one people so that another could live in towns they had not built and eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards they did not plant. As you pray today, confess the ways in which you have benefited from the labor of others. Seek opportunities for all to grow and flourish, not to raise up one group through the displacement of another.
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