DAY 85    Read Joshua 13 through 15:19.

Today's reading, concerned as it is with dividing the Land of Canaan among the tribes, contains a heartwarming story about faithful old Caleb and his family.

Memory gem:  "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord"  (Matthew 25:23).

Thought for today:
"Before the distribution of the land had been entered upon, Caleb, accompanied by the heads of his tribe, came forward with a special claim.  Except for Joshua, Calen was now the oldest man in Israel.  Caleb and Joshua were the only ones among the spies who had brought a good report of the Land of Promise, encouraging the people to go up and possess it in the name of the Lord.  Caleb now reminded Joshua of the promise then made, as the reward of his faithfulness....He therefore presented a request that Hebron be given him for a possession.  Here had been for many years the home of Abrahaam, Isaac, and Jacob; and here, in the cave of Machpelah, they were buried.  Hebron was the seat of the dreaded Anakim, whose formidable appearance had so terrified the spies, and through them destroyed the courage of all Israel.  This, above all others, was the place which Caleb, trusting in the strength of God, chose for his inheritance.

"His claim was immediately granted.  To none could the conquest of this giant stronghold be more solely entrusted.

"Caleb's  faith now was just what it was when his testimony had contradicted the evil report of the spies....Caleb did not ask for himself a land already conquered, but the place which above all others the spies had thought it impossible to subdue.  By the help of God he would wrest this stronghold from the very giants whose power had staggered the faith of Israel.  It was no desire for honor or aggrandizement that prompted Caleb's request.  The brave ole warrior was desirous of giving the people an example that would honor God, and encourage the tribes fully to subdue the land which their fathers had deemed unconquerable.``--Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 511-513.

DAY 84    Read Joshua 10 through 12.

Today's reading condenses into three chapters the account of Joshua's campaigns to conquer the whole of Canaan.  It includes the famous episode of the long day.

Memory gem:  "There was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel"  (Joshua 10:14).

Thought for today:
We owe our present calendar to the Romans, as is clearly shown by the Latin names given to the twelve months.  Although several different systems of calendation have been and still are used in the world, yet the continuity of the cycle of the seven-day week has been preserved without disruption, and in perfect synchronization by nations around the world.

In Bible times the Jews had a sacred or ecclesiastical year which began in the month Abib, about our April, and civil year which began six months later in the fall.  New Year's day might fall on any day of the week, just as our January 1 may come on Sunday, Monday, or any other day of the week.  The seven-day cycle of days has come down to us unaltered from the beginning of history.  It has been unaffected by the many changes that have otherwise taken place in the calendar.

Dates may change; new calendars, new calendar arrangements come and go, but they have not broken the weekly cycle.  Yesterday, today, and tomorrow are established in their natural order: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday go on their way, unmovably and fixedly.  As the seventh-day Sabbath is in this changeless weekly cycle, men have never lost track of it.

Note:  Nothing in the record of the long day indicates any disruption of the weekly cycle.  The day is measured by the complete period between one sunset and the next.  The extension of daylight several extra hours simply delayed the beginning of the next day; therefore, the order of the days of the week was not altered.

DAY 83    Read Joshua 8 and 9.

Today's reading tells of a quick plunge from the flush of victory (under the Lord's direction) to the chagrin of falling into a clever deception (without consulting the Lord).

Memory gem:  "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding"  (Proverbs 3:5).

Thought for today:
"The Gibeonites had pledged themselves to renounce idolatry, and accept the worship of Jehovah; and the preservation of their lives was not a violation of God's command to destroy the idolatrous Canaanites.  Hence the Hebrews had not by their oath pledged themselves to commit sin.  And though the oath had been secured by deception, it was not to be disregarded.  The obligation to which one's word is pledged--if it does not bind him to perform a wrong act--should be sacred.  No consideration of gain, of revenge, or of self-interest can in any way affect the inviolability of an oath or pledge.  'Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.'  Proverbs 12:22.  He that 'shall ascend into the hill of the Lord,' and 'stand in his holy place,' is 'he that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.'  Psalm 24:3; 15:4.

"The Gibeonites were permitted to live, but were attached as bondmen to the sanctuary, to perform all menial services.  'Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the Lord' [Joshua 9:27].  These conditions they gratefully accepted, conscious that they had been at fault, and glad to purchase life on any terms.  'Behold, we are in thine hand,' they said to Joshua; 'as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do [Joshua 9:25].  For centuries their descendants were connected with the service of the sanctuary....

"They had adapted the garb of poverty for the purpose of deception, and it was fastened upon them as a badge of perpetual servitude.  Thus through all their generations their servile condition would testify to God's hatred of falsehood."--Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 506, 507.

DAY 82    Read Joshua 5 through 7.

Today's reading recounts the dramatic fall of Jericho and the results of Acha's tragic sin.

Memory gem:  "Take heed, and beware of covetousness: a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth"  (Luke 12:15).

Thought for today:
Covetousness is a "respectable" sin.  It is a sin we are afraid to mention.  It is like pride.  Even church members can be guilty of it and not know it.  No doubt many who are covetous do not realize that they are.  That is why they never confess their sin of covetousness.  It is deceitful and prevalent.


Covetousness dries up the resources of the church, holds back the gospel, paralyzes foreign missions.  Covetousness deadens the soul to the influence of the Holy Spirit, dries up the milk of human kindness.  Covetousness, being a form of idolatry, sets up another god in the heart (see Colossians 3:5).  This is why it is such a great sin--it takes the place of the true God and Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Covetousness caused the fall of Lucifer and made the cross necessary.  Covetousness has ruined churches and homes and nations.  It has blighted millions.  Covetousness, the original sin of Lucifer in heaven and Eve in Eden, is the fundamental rebellion against God.

God gave heaven's greatest gift for our salvation.  Jesus Christ, our Lord, gave Himself for our redemption.  The cure of covetousness is true regeneration and conversion by the power of the Spirit of God.  Then, those who are born as the sons of God may walk in the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He was rich, became poor that we through His poverty might become rich (see 2 Corinthians 8:9).

Let us seek God for victory over selfishness and the sin we are afraid to mention.

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Difficult or obscure words:
Joshua 6:9.  "Rereward"--an obsolete English word meaning rear guard.

DAY 81    Read Joshua 1 through 4.

Today's reading includes Joshua's initiation as the new leader, the episode of the two spies in Jericho, and the dramatic crossing of Jordan.

Memory gem:  "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest"  (Joshua 1:9).

Thought for today:
In a real Christian home the children have the right to hear the voice of prayer, to hear Father and Mother pray for them, and to be taught to pray.  When Robert Burns wrote his famous poem, "The Cotter's Saturday Night," in which he describes the scene of family worship in a humble cottage of Scotland, family prayers were commonplace.  Read that wonderful poem again for yourself, and if you can do it with dry eyes, I'll be surprised.  A real home should have family worship.  It holds Father and Mother together, it makes every home a house of prayer.

When the people of Israel came into the Holy Land, they were instructed to destroy the military fortresses of Jericho.  Only one family was saved, a family that lived in a house on the city wall.  Here are the instructions to the head of that house.  They are found in Joshua 2:18: "Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee."

Let us notice this one point: The folks who came to that home and shut the doors about them in wicked old Jericho were safe when the scarlet thread was in the window.  And so every true home is a place of safety when the scarlet thread of Christ's blood is in the window, and where those in charge of the home are Christians whose hope is in the sacrifice of Jesus upon Calvary.  When the home is protected by this scarlet thread, there is safety within.  Gather the children in, fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, and protect them with the scarlet thread of faith in Christ as our Redeemer.  That is the only hope of a lost and ruined world, but it is a gloriously sufficient hope.

DAY 80    Read Psalm 119:89-176.

Today's reading:  We read the last half of this longest chapter in the Bible--a poetic tribute to the value of God's Word.

Memory gem:  "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path"  (Psalm 119:105).

Thought for today:
The Bible changes things.  When the crew of the Bounty mutinied and landed on lonely Pitcairn Island, they burned the ship to hide all trace of their existence.  There were nine white sailors and seventeen Polynesians--six men and eleven women.  One of the sailors discovered a method of making alcohol, and the island was soon debauched with drunkenness, vice, and bloodshed.  Finally only one of the sailors survived, Alexander Smith, surrounded by the women and children.  In one of the chests taken from the Bounty, he found a Bible and began to teach its principles to the people on the island, with the result that his own life was changed, and at last the life of the whole colony.

In 1808, nearly twenty years after the mutineers with their followers had landed on Pitcairn Island, the S.S. Topaz put a boat ashore there and found a prosperous community without drunkenness, without crime, without a jail, and with no insanity.  The Bible had changed the life of that island, and it has remained a monument of God's grace to this day.

So it is in every age--the Holy Scriptures make things safe.  They change things, they illuminate the dark places of the earth, as it is written in Psalm 119:130: "The entrance of thy words giveth light."

DAY 79    Read Psalm 119:1-88.

Today's reading takes another departure from the strictly historical narrative.  We have finished the books of Moses; it is appropriate that we consider the psalmist's evaluation of God's Word--His recorded communication with humanity.

Memory gem:  "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law"  (Psalm 119:18).

Thought for today:
A colporteur selling Bible portions was held up at the point of a revolver in a Sicillian forest in the dead of night and ordered to light a bonfire and burn his books.  Having made the fire, he asked if he might read a brief selection from each book before consigning it to the flames.  From one he read the twenty-third psalm, from another the parable of the Good Samaritan, from another the Sermon on the Mount, from another Paul's hymn of love, and so on.

After the reading of each extract the brigand who had held him up exclaimed: "That's a good book.  We won't burn that one.  Give it to me."  In the end, not a book was burned but passed, one by one, into the brigand's hands.  He then went off, books and all, into the darkness.

Years later this same man happened to meet the colporteur, but this time as an ordained Christian minister.  Telling his story, he said, "It was the reading of your books that did it."

Yes, the Bible is a book that changes things--it changes people.  Victor Hugo once said, "England has two books--one which she made, and the other which made her--Shakespeare and the Bible."

Wherever the Bible has gone it has changed civilization by changing people.  Why is this?  If you want to start life over, if you want a new birth, then read the Bible, believe the Bible, obey the Bible.  It is the living Word of God.  Faith will grow in your heart.  You will see that the Bible reveals a man--the Man, Christ Jesus--from Genesis to Revelation.  If you will accept Him, the living Word of God, as your atoning sacrifice, as your Saviour and Lord, you will find salvation here and now.  You will have joy here, and the certainty of everlasting life in the world to come.  So, read the Bible!

DAY 78    Read Deuteronomy 32 through 34.

Today's reading brings us the song of Moses, his last blessing on Israel, and a sequel probably written by Joshua (chapter 34).

Memory gem:  "There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face"  (Deuteronomy 34:10).

Thought for today:
Moses climbed the mountain, from the top of which he could look across the Jordan into the Promised Land.  He saw the land, but could not enter it.  After this wonderful vision, he died there alone, with God Himself.  "Moses the servant of the Lord died there....And he [the Lord] buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day"  (Deuteronomy 34:5, 6).

What a story!  No man was with Moses when he died.  No man dug his grave.  Satan knew his grave.  Satan, the enemy of God and man, who had led Moses to commit the one sin that kept him out of the Land of Promise, contended for his body, as it written: "Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee"  (Jude 9).

Moses, the man of God, did arrive at last in the Land of Canaan.  He was resurrected from the dead.  How do we know this?  The answer is, he appeared with Elijah (who never died and was taken to heaven by translation) on the mount of transfiguration, to speak with Jesus Christ, our Lord, as recorded in Luke 9.

Just think of it, Moses, who was not permitted to enter the Promised Land because of his sin at the waters of strife, was by the grace of God raised from the dead and permitted to appear on the mount of transfiguration in the Land of Canaan.  He encouraged Jesus as He faced His death on the cross.  Moses, a man raised from the dead, could speak with Jesus and encourage Him.

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Difficult or obscure words:
Deuteronomy 32:4.  "Rock"--the first of thirty Old Testament uses of this word in reference to the Lord.  The Bible specifically states that the Rock was Christ.  See 1 Corinthians 10:4.
Deuteronomy 32:15.  "Jeshurun"--a poetical name for Israel.
Deuteronomy 32:44.  "Hoshea"--Joshua.

DAY 77    Read Deuteronomy 29 through 31.

Today's reading:  Moses foretells the conditions that would come as a result of obedience or of disobedience.

Memory gem:  "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil"  (Deuteronomy 30:15).

Thought for today:
Are there things in the Bible hard to understand?  That is the way it ought to be.  If the Bible were a common book, we would read it through once and understand everything in it.  In Deuteronomy 29:20 we read: "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever."

Sometimes young people go through a stage in which they feel confident of success in attacking any problem.  They have an idea that things are different now from what they have ever been before.  Of course, this is really a good thing, or they wouldn't have the faith and courage to tackle many great problems, to bring fresh viewpoints and energy to the task before them.  This doesn't mean, however, that they are always wise and can settle every question.  There is a great mysterious world around us which can be known only by revelation, and that from God.  So it is good in youth to accept the Word of God and to find in it the answers to all life's problems.

Oh, friend, open up the Book of God and go deeper down for the truth and the light.  From the dark unknown comes the light.  In the beginning God caused the light to shine out of darkness (see Genesis 1:3).  So in this great Book you will find where man came from--God created him.  You will find where is going--to heaven or hell.  You will find how he should live--in the way of God's commandments.  You will find how he may be saved--"by grace...through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God"  (Ephesians 2:8).

DAY 76    Read Deuteronomy 27 and 28.

Today's reading:  Moses gives explicit instructions, including the words of blessing and of cursing that were to be used for the solemn service on Mount Ebal and Mount Gerazim when the Israelites entered the Promised Land.

Memory gem:  "Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out"  (Deuteronomy 28:6).

Thought for today:
In the Rocky Mountains of western Canada one comes to the Great Divide.  In fact, you see a sign by the road, "The Great Divide"; but there is no great mountain.  You are not climbing up a ragged cliff and looking thousands of feet on either side.  You are not on top of a gigantic ridge.  The change is so gradual you don't notice it.  A little spring comes forth and trickles along and strikes a rock.  Each drop of water seems to hesitate--one goes to the right side of this little stone, one to the left.  That which goes to the left goes down to those great rivers which flow into the Arctic Ocean--into the frozen zone of ice and snow and cold, the long winter midnight.  The other drop that hesitates finally turns to the right and goes down to the Fraser River into the Pacific Ocean and washes the shores of Hawaii and islands of the tropics.

There might be a Great Divide for you, just now.  You may not know it, you may not feel it, and you may not even see it.  You may be trembling on the great decision, the width of a hair, as it were, in your own heart.  You might be a church member; but still some decision,which here and not at this moment may seem little, but could change your whole life for all eternity, for all ages to come.

Make that decision now.  May the good Lord speak to your heart through His Holy Spirit.  I only wish I could speak to you with the love and kindness and blessing and power of Jesus.  May our dear heavenly Father help you to put Christ above all and at last be with Him forever.