Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Joshua then pronounced this oath, saying, “Cursed before the Lord be anyone who tries to build this city—this Jericho! At the cost of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest he shall set up its gates!” So the Lord was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, October 15, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Honestly. What, exactly, did Jericho do that was so awful as to warrant its entire obliteration from the face of the earth? Survey says? Nothing. There’s nothing in the biblical text, nothing in the historical record (in fact, Jericho was probably uninhabited when Joshua was supposed to have shown up). The story is simply one more example of the narrative that God would utterly destroy anything in the way of Israel becoming its own nation. These stories are so hard for our modern ears—that genocide would be acceptable God, or that God couldn’t think of an alternative for giving God’s people a place to call home.
This is why one should never read the Bible in isolation. God calls us into community as we struggle with scripture, as we try to find gospel in the midst of unspeakable trauma. Otherwise we are in danger of taking such stories literally and as a call to violence toward anyone who doesn’t agree with our particular view of God.
Identity is important as it is a key component in a human person’s deep need to belong. But individual identity should move us toward interdependence rather than “us” and “them” mentality. The truth is that we are each unique and precious, that we are all beloved, and that we all belong to God, without exception.
How do I identify myself? Into which communities? How does my identity help and hinder my relationship to the greater world?
