The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 85: Fighting for Each Other (2025)

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

As we read about Joshua leading Israel into battle, Fr. Mike helps us comprehend the meaning behind all the destruction God commands. He emphasizes that God ultimately wants us to fight for each other and not against each other. Today's readings are Joshua 12-14, and Psalm 129. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 85 and we're reading today from Joshua chapters 12, 13 and 14. We're also praying Psalm 129. As always, I am reading from the Revised Standard Version, the Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension, which is just such a gift,

especially when we're in the midst of the period of conquest and judges. It gives some backstory, it gives a great summary, you know, at the beginning of every one of these time periods and kind of gives us an orientation of here's where we are, here's where we're going. If you want to also know here's where we are and here's where we're going, you can download your own Bible in a Year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year and you'll be able to cross out those dates and those chapters. I do it every day. I have this blue marker that I just like mark off every day and it's just such a great gift of being able to say yeah

we're moving and we're still cruising along and going through the Bible and marking up our Bibles and writing down these things that These insights that the Lord is giving to us. It's just such an incredible gift You can also subscribe in your podcast app do this podcast to receive the daily episodes which are put out pretty much Every day as you would expect to daily episodes to be put out. So once again is day 85 We're reading from Joshua chapter 12 13 and 14. We'll also be praying Psalm 129 The book of Joshua chapter 12 the Kings conquered by Moses Now these are the kings of the land whom the sons of Israel defeated and took possession of their land beyond the Jordan toward the Sunrising from the valley of Arnon to Mont Hermon

with all the Araba eastward Sihon king of the Amorites who dwelt at Heshban and ruled from Arowar which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon and from the middle of the valley as far as the river Jabak the boundary of the Ammonites that is half of Gilead and the Araba to the sea of Chinaroth eastward and in the direction of Beth Jeshamoth and the Arabah to the Sea of Chinaroth eastward, and in the direction of Beth-Jeshamoth to the Sea of the Arabah, the salt sea, southward to the foot of the slopes of Pisgah, and Agh, king of Bashan, one of the remnant of the Raphaim, who dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edriai, and ruled over Mount Hermon and Salekah, and all Bashan to the boundary of the Geshurites and the Maakathites, and over half of Gilead to the boundary of Sihon, king of Heshbon. Moses the servant of the Lord

and the sons of Israel defeated them, and Moses the servant of the Lord gave their land for a possession to the Rubinites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh. The kings conquered by Joshua, and these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the sons of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak that rises towards Seir. And Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their allotments in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negev, the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

The king of Jericho, one. The king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one. The king of Jerusalem, one. The king of Hebron, one. The king of Jarmuth, one. The king of Lakshish, one. The king of Aglon, one. The king of Giza, one.

The king of Debir, one. The king of Gedir, one. The king of Giza won. The king of Debir won. The king of Gedir won. The king of Hormah won. The king of Arad won. The king of Libna won. The king of Adulam won. The king of Makkah won. The king of Bethel won. The king of Tapua won. The king of Hefer won. The king of Affek won. The king of Lasharon won. The king of Madan won. The king of Hifer one the king of afec one the king of lasharon one the king of madan one the king of hazor one the king of shimran maran one the king of akshraf one the king of Tanakh one the king of Megiddo one the king of Kadesh one the king of Jukni Am in Carmel one the king of Jukniam in Carmel 1, the king of Dor in Nifath Dor 1, the king

of Goim in Galilee 1, the king of Tirzah 1, in all, 31 kings. Chapter 13. Still unconquered parts of Canaan. Now, Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, You are old and advanced in years, and there remains said to him, You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to be possessed. This is the land that yet remains, all the regions of the Philistines, and all those of the Geshurites, from Shirhar, which is east of Egypt, toward the boundary of Ekron.

It is reckoned as Canaanite. There are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkeloth, Gath, and Necron, and those of the Avim in the south. All the land of the Canaanites and Me'ara, which belongs to the Sidonians, to Affek, to the boundary of the Amorites, and the land of the Gebelites, and all Lebanon toward the sun rising from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamath, all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Mishra Foth-Mayim, even all the Sidonians. I will myself drive them out from before the sons of Israel, only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance as I have

commanded you. Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh With the other half of the tribe of Manasseh the Rubenites and the Gaddites received their inheritance which Moses gave them beyond the Jordan eastward as Moses the servant of the Lord gave them from Eroar which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon and The city that is in the middle of the valley and all the table land of the Medeba as far as the bone and All the cities of sihan king of the Amorites who reigned in Heshban as far as-land of the Medibah as far as Dibon, and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites who reigned in Heshbon as far as the boundary of the Ammonites,

and Gilead, and the region of the Geshurites and Mahakathites, and all the Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salekah, and all the kingdom of Og in Bashan who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edriai. He alone was left of the remnant of the Raphaim. These Moses had defeated and driven out, yet the sons of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Ma'akathites. But Geshur and Ma'akath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day.

To the tribe of Levi alone, Moses gave no inheritance. The offerings by fire to the Lord God of Israel are their inheritance, as He said to them. The territory by fire to the Lord God of Israel are their inheritance, as He said to them. The Territory of Reuben And Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of the Reubenites according to their families. So their territory was from Arowar, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley and all the table land by Medeba, with Heshbon and all its cities that are in the table land,

Dibon and Bamoth Baal and Beth Baal-Meon and Jehaz and Kedemath and Mefa'ath and Kiriath A'im and Sibma and Zareth-Shahar on the hill of the valley and Beth Peor and the slopes of Pisgah and Beth Jeshemoth, that is all the cities of the table land and all the kingdom of Sihon, and Beth-Jeshimoth, that is, all the cities of the table land, and all the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, who Moses defeated with the leaders of Midian, Evai, and Rechem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba,

the princes of Sihon who dwelt in the land. Balaam also, the son of Beor, the soothsayer, the sons of Israel killed with the sword among the rest of their slain, and the border of the people of Reuben was the Jordan as a boundary. This was the inheritance of the Reubenites according to their families with their cities and villages. The Territory of Gad And Moses gave an inheritance also to the

tribe of the Gadites according to their families. Their territory was Jizer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites to Erewer, which is east of the Reba, and from Heshbon, Eremoth, Mizpah, and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the territory of Dabir, and in the valley of Beth-Haram, Beth-Nimrah, Sukkoth, and Zaphon, and the rest of the kingdom of Sihon, king of Heshbon, having the Jordan as a boundary to the lower end of the Sea of Chinarath, eastward beyond the Jordan. This is the inheritance of the Gaddites according to their families, with their cities and villages.

The territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh, east. And Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh. It was allotted to the half-tribe of the Manassehites according to their families. Their region extended from Mahanaim, all through Bashan, the whole kingdom of Og, king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities, and half-Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edriai, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. These were allotted to the people of Makir, the son of Manasseh, for the half of the Makkarites, according to their families.

These are the inheritances which Moses distributed in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan, east of Jericho. But to the tribe of Levi, Moses gave no inheritance. The Lord God of Israel is their inheritance, as He said to them. Chapter 14. The Distribution of Territory West of the Jordan. And these are the inheritances which the sons of Israel received in the land of Canaan, which Eliezer the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the sons of Israel distributed to them. Their inheritance was, by lot, as

the Lord had commanded Moses, for the nine and one-half tribes. For Moses had given an inheritance to the two and one-half tribes beyond the Jordan, but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them. For the people of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and no portion was given to the Levites in the land, but only cities to dwell in, with their pasture lands for their cattle and their substance. The sons of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses.

They allotted the land. Hebron allotted to Caleb. Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunah, the Kenazite, said to him, You know what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, and Kadesh Barnea concerning you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the of God, in Kadesh Barnea concerning you and me. I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. But my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt. Yet I wholly followed the Lord my God.

And Moses swore on that day, saying, Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God. And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as he said, all these forty years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong to this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. My strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going

and coming. So now, give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out as the Lord said." Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephenah for an inheritance. So Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephenah the kinesite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord the God of Israel. Now the name of Hebron, formerly, was Kiryath-arba. This arba was the greatest man among the Anakim, and the land had rest from war. Psalm 129. Prayer for the downfall of Israel's enemies.

A song of assents. Sorrily have they afflicted me from my youth. Let Israel now say, Sorrily have they afflicted me from my youth. Let Israel now say, Sorrily have they afflicted me from my youth, Yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back, They made long their furrows. The Lord is righteous, He has cut the cords of the wicked. May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turn backward.

Let them be like the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up, with which the reaper does not feel his hand, or the binder of sheaves his arms. While those who pass by do not say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you. We bless you in the name of the Lord. Father, in heaven, we give you praise and glory. We thank you for bringing us to this day. We thank you for bringing us all the way through this Bible to this point your word to this point And we know that without your word, we won't even know who you are We would not know who we are God without revealing yourself to us and revealing your heart to us

Yes, we could see your traces. We can see your fingerprints in the world around us We can see hints at your truth in the created world, the world you created. As we can see, the person of the artist in the artwork. Yet Lord, we still might not know your heart unless you revealed your heart to us. And so we ask you to please continue to reveal your hearts to us, that we can reveal our hearts to you. We make this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Okay, so it's a couple quick things. I want to, this is where we kind of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Okay, so just a couple quick things. I wanna, this is where we kinda go deep

into this whole thing of like, what's happening when it comes to the battles? What's happening when it comes to this war? And how easily is it for us to misunderstand what is happening? Now, this is clearly, this is not meant to be a whitewashing of history, right? And what I'm about to say is not meant to take away

from the fact that, like I said yesterday, these are troubled times, and it was not part of God's original plan Now not only was this not part of God's original plan is original plan was peace right harmony As I said yesterday harmony in ourselves harmony with each other and harmony with God and now here we live in this broken and divided world but also what we recognize is what I've said before just be reminded of this is that the people of Israel, God is commanding this war, he's commanding this destruction.

And we just think about this kind of warfare that just is so strange and so violent and brutal, not that all war isn't violent or brutal, but is so absolute, is because of the falseness, because of the fickleness of the hearts of the people of israel which is also in our hearts that if they're going to live as god's holy people then God knows that they're not going to be able to live among a people that they um They'd be so tempted to live as the people around them. That's what we heard in numbers

We've heard in deuteronomy again and again god knows that if they just try to coexist with these people they will fail no That's not to say that we don't coexist now In fact, that's what we all want to talk about right now is there's three reasons especially when people will get upset by this I remember coming across this I thought it was so wise that these people had put this together they had said there's at least three reasons or three things to keep in mind as Joshua is leading these people into battle is leading the people of Israel into battle and it talks about Joshua is leading these people into battle is leading the people of Israel into battle and it talks about the first reason is because of the moral corruption of

The people of the Canaanites and in fact if you remember back in Leviticus chapter 18 They had two kinds of crush from the head at least two kinds of corruption One was a sexual corruption that they just took for granted in Leviticus 18 as a whole slew of things that were very very common In the land of Canaan, that's what they were doing That's why God is driving them out is because of this moral corruption. But also, it wasn't just in their sexual lives. In Deuteronomy chapter 12, if you remember this, these people, as I mentioned yesterday,

performed child sacrifice. So there is a judgment that God is extending upon these people. And so their fulfillment of God's judgment at some point, that's the first thing. They're entering into this place of moral corruption But secondly we think okay, but he's got commanding a genocide Is he calling this commandment for the destruction of everybody?

What we have to understand is that this is a bit of hyperbole that Calling for the destruction of everybody is not exactly what happened But it is a way to hyperbolize or to exaggerate the amount of destruction that happens. How do we know this? We know this because in Deuteronomy chapter seven, which we went through a while back, God is calling for the destruction of everybody,

destroy everyone through Moses, he's saying this. But then he also says, but also don't marry them or do business with them and you think oh wait so the scripture itself is giving us a clue into the fact that okay so maybe this is hyperbole when you say destroy everyone and also don't marry them or do business with them it'd be very hard to do business with someone or marry someone that has been completely destroyed not only that but in Joshua chapter 10 which we heard yesterday, it says, leave no survivors in these cities.

But what we're gonna hear tomorrow in Joshua chapter 15, we're gonna hear about the people still being there. And it said that they destroyed everyone in the city, but then they're gonna go back and there are gonna be people in the city. So I left no survivors, it says in chapter 10, but basically chapter 15 of the same book talks about people still being there.

So what we're looking at is we're looking at hyperbole here, that no man was left alive, no woman was left alive, no children were left alive, that is hyperbole. Not only this, but God reveals, he already revealed to us in Deuteronomy chapter 20, that this is a limited engagement. This is completely a limited engagement. This is just for these people of Canaan, the land of Canaan, because God's will is that

Israel has peace with all nations. Remember this, the prophecy is that people come from north and south and east and west and they respond to God's blessing. They respond to his promise of being present to them. God's desire is not division among people. God's desire is not the destruction of people, but God's desire is not division among people God's desire is not the destruction of people because desire is the Reconciliation and union of all people and so that's what God's promises and that's what he's revealing on the way It is incredibly difficult though

But keep these things in mind that there was a reason the land of Canaan was being The people of the land of Canaan were being defeated. There's a reason why they were being driven out, but also it was restrained. Simply you might say hyperbolized or exaggerated about and knowing these things, we know that God's ultimate plan is not the destruction of the world. God's plan is not the destruction of anyone who's different.

God's will is not the destruction of someone who believes something differently, but God's plan, his will is the destruction of anyone who's different guys Will is not the destruction of someone who believes something differently because plan his will is the union of people Harmony back with each other harmony within ourselves a harmony above all with him And so that is God's plan and that is what we're gonna be continuing to get deeper and deeper into as we continue these days Of these journeys and so once again as I said yesterday Since that got that is God's plan, that we are not divided but united, that we're not fighting against each other but we are fighting for each other, let us keep fighting for each other, let's keep praying for each

other, let's keep holding each other up especially, you know, day 85 we've covered a lot of ground, we've come so far, we've got some distance to cover still and so keep each other in prayer, I'm praying for you. My name's Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless. ["Praise the Lord"]