Day 57: November 11, 2025 – Joshua 22-24 and Acts 22-24

We find ourselves at the end of the life of Joshua and he recounts how it was God who fought the battles of the Israelites, and not him, although it was obvious that he was a primary leader in all of the battles in which the Israelites participated. He is at the end of his life and he wants the Israelites to rededicate themselves to the Lord. But in the midst of this there is a problem, someone sees an altar that has been made by a tribe of the Israelites. God is furious and the people are furious, but those who built the altar have a great reason. They say this is a memorial to our God. They lived on the other side of the Jordan than the other tribes and so if the day came when those on the other side of the river forget their tribes and forgot that they were the people of God, if they were to come on the other side of the river to conquer them they would see the altar and be reminded that these are also people of God. That satisfied God, Joshua, and the people of Israel since it was not a false idol.

In Acts we find Paul who is in chains and bound and is about to be beaten but then he appeals to Rome and they whisk him away from a plot against his life, but he is still bound. He meets some of the muckity mucks who are expecting a bribe from him, but he doesn’t give him, but they still protect him. We see that Paul is still in chains for his faith and he doesn’t hesitate to preach the Gospel even while in chains. He is worried about less protecting himself and more about pronouncing the Gospel to anyone who would hear. What a great lesson for all of us.