Day 51: November 4, 2025 – Joshua 4-6 and Acts 4-6

In our Joshua Scripture the writer works hard to establish Joshua as the rightful ruler and someone who was just as powerful as Moses and even as powerful as the other patriarchs that went before him. Here, he is told to circumcise all of the people of Israel, just like what Abraham was commanded to do. You see as they wandered in the wilderness and babies were being born they were not circumcised, which had to be done eventually. That eventually was now. They cross over into the promised land through the Jordan, with the feet of the priests in the Jordan so that it stopped flowing. This was just like Moses. They conquer Jericho without any trouble at all with the wall of Jericho tumbling down, which was uniquely Joshua. At some point we read that the people of Israel considered Joshua with awe, much like they did Moses who met with God face to face.

In Acts we can’t avoid the fact that the earliest disciples and the earliest church lived so differently than we did. Not one of them owned anything, but together, they owned everything. This was so crucial to how the church grew. We also see the important choosing of the deacons as they went out and did the work of the Lord of waiting on tables for the needy which was so different from the work that the apostles did which was preaching the Gospel to anyone who might hear. This preaching of the Gospel was forbidden by the religious leaders, but they kept doing it and we see the church grow and grow.