Judges 4-5; Psalm 57:1-6; John 4:43-5:15 "Deutsche Bauernkunst, I" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Acrylic on Panel In Judges 4, we see that “the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan” (verses 1-2). In the book of Judges, we will see this as a pattern that recurs over and over again. After twenty years of Jabin’s oppression, the Israelites “cried to the LORD for help” (verse 4). We wonder

Judges 2:6-3:31 ; Psalm 56 ; John 4:27-42 "Heaven's Garden" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Acrylic on Panel Now in Judges 2, we already see the awful cycle of sin beginning to grip the Israelites. Under “Joshua and the elders,” the nation of Israel had been generally obedient and “served the LORD” (verse 7). In verses 8-15, we see a brief, mini-history about the “generation who grew up and knew neither the LORD nor what He had done for Israel … they did evil in the eye

Judges 1:1-2:5 ; Proverbs 11:9-18 ; John 4:1-26 "Nadja at 14" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Colored Pencil on Paper Today we come to the book of Judges, and we want to look at chapters 1:1-2:5. The book of Judges takes its name from the twelve different judges that we will meet here, and interestingly, the book of Judges is everything that the book of Joshua is not . Notice the differences : in Joshua we saw the victories of the Israelites in the land; in Judges, we

Joshua 23-24; Psalm 55:12-23: John 3:22-36 "In the Black Forest" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Watercolor on Paper The major theme that resounds through all of our passages today is making wise choices. Our choices have consequences. In Joshua 23-24, we see that Joshua is “about to go the way of all the earth” (verse 14), and he testifies that “you know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every prom

Joshua 21:20-22:34 ; Psalm 55:1-11 ; John 3:1-21 "Yellow Flower, I" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Colored Pencil on Paper Once again, today’s readings are filled with wonderful truths that we need to apply to our hearts and our daily lives. In Joshua 21:20-22:34, we read about the further division of the Israelite land inheritances. Yesterday, we saw how the Levites (the Kohathites, Gershonites, and the Merarites) received towns from within the various other Israelite

Joshua 19:1-21:9; Psalm 54; John 2 "Inspiration for a Later Triptych" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Mixed-Media on Paper In Joshua 19:1-21:9, we see that apportionment of the land continues for the last seven tribes of Israelites who have been slow to stake their claims. These tribes include Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan. Their slowness can only be accounted for by their unbelief, disobedience, and unwillingness to go in and claim what w

Joshua 17-18 ; Proverbs 10:31-11:8 ; John 1:29-51 "Back to Our Homestead" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Ink & Watercolor on Paper One of the main themes of today’s readings relates to our possessions – especially those that we already own. In our western culture, most of us own way more than we need and far more than we actually realize. Unless we maintain a current inventory of our things, we barely remember all that is ours. Actually, most of us own more than we