Joshua – The Noontimes

Hosea 4: Open to Newness

Hosea 4: Open to Newness

Sunday, August 24, 2025

A re-post from August 1, 2011.

We will need to look at notes in order to understand the references in today’s Noontime and the following information is from THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. Ephraim (note verse 17) was the tribal area that remained in the northern kingdom of Israel after the Assyrian invasion. The wood and wand (note verse 12) refer to any carved idol or utensil used in the practice of divination. Ritual prostitution practiced in Canaanite shrines was introduced into sanctuaries dedicated to Yahweh (note verse 14). Gilgal here (note verse 15) is in reference to a sanctuary in the north in Bethel where there was an association of cult prophets (2 Kings 2 and 4:38); it is not a reference to Gilgal in the south where Joshua sets up memorial standing stones (Joshua 4). Finally, the priests are in for heavy criticism because they are seen as the ones who lead the people away from God as they set up a schism between genuine and cult prophets. All of this information helps to clarify the link between the prophet Hosea’s deep sorrow over his wife Gomer’s prostitution of herself and the descent of the nation of Israel into this same harlotry. Hosea sees the individual and collective return to idolatry as a seal of the fate of the nation and its people. They are all caught up in the coming whirlwind of disaster. (Senior 1112-1113)

The psalmist reminds us that: The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths but speak not; they have ears but see not; they have ears but hear not; no breath is in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all those who trust in them. (Psalm 135:15-18) If only we humans might remember that in the end these little gods cannot forgive us, save us, redeem us or love us as God does.

We have reflected during our Noontimes that little gods creep into our lives without notice and it is in this way that we become unwitting collaborators in the creation of an illusion; today we look at how a nation of people who have been blessed by God turn away from God’s goodness. The children’s story of The Emperor’s New Clothes from the Hans Christian Anderson collection is an apt allegory not only for Hosea’s society but for our society today. We have only to determine if we number among the adults who have ceased to think for themselves or if we are the astonished child who announces: The emperor is naked! Like the child, Hosea cries out to the people of Israel. And like the child, our prophets of today cry out against the obtuse among us.

When we become frustrated with a herd mentality that drives idiotically toward the precipice or when we give up all hope that the small voice of truth might be heard above the clamor of a self-deceiving crowd, we must turn away from our little gods of anxiety and desperation and turn to God, for it is God who best understands what is to be disbelieved and dispossessed. And it is God who knows well how to convert the darkness of despair into the beauty of joy, for it is in the darkness that God plants the seeds of new life.

And so we pray . . . Good and forgiving God, remind us that we have only to be open to a newness that you will bring out of the ignorance and despair we witness today. Show us the newness born of the dark that is your compassionate healing and eternal transformation. Amen.

Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.1112-1113. Print.

Images from: https://www.boldcafe.org/transitions-open-us-up-to-newness/ and https://americanliterature.com/author/hans-christian-andersen/short-story/the-emperors-new-clothes and https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/red-poppy-flower-blooming-cracked-earth-resilience-hope.html

August 24, 2025

2 Kings 2 and 4:38, Gilgal, idols, illusion, Joshua, little gods, newness, Psalm 135:15-18, The Emperor’s New Clothes, truth

Judges: 6: Gideon’s Call

Judges 6: Gideon’s Call

*James Tissot: The Angel Puts Fire on the Altar of Gideon*

Friday, June 28, 2024

We have spent several days with this Old Testament Book in which we watch the Israelites enter into a cycle: neglect of their covenant with God, the worship of idols, repentance, a petition to God for help, God’s generous response, silence as God waits for the people to respond. God always sends a hero to save the faithful – and this particular hero is Gideon.

We find the following when we read commentary.

God asks Joshua, in the book preceding Judges, to lead the people into the Promised Land and he does.
God asks the people to wipe out those who worship pagan idols but they do not; and this sows the seed of future problems.
Prior to God’s intercession in the life of the faithful, the people are forced to run away from invading armies and literally “head for the hills” when these invaders arrived with chariots.
Once the people share a loving relationship with God, they have a rock of refuge, a bulwark of safety.
When the people neglect their relationship with God, the cycle of idol worship begins anew.
God always has a hero in mind.
God’s silence is the space we are given to respond to God’s deep and abiding love.

God calls Gideon while he is in the middle of his work, and Gideon, like many of those called, has many questions. He wants to understand why and how should go about the work God has in mind. God answers, as God always does, “I will be with you, do not worry.” Gideon praises and worships God when he realizes what is happening, that he will be an instrument of redemption in the people’s cycle of sin and repentance.

Like Gideon, we are likewise fearful in our response to God. We know what we are asked to do; yet frequently we are too frightened to step out of our comfort zone. In the end, however, no find that no other course of action is worth taking.

The story of Gideon also demonstrates for us that silence can be entirely appropriate when it is patient, loving, merciful, and just. A silence that waits, that whispers to the beloved, that calls the beloved back to the covenant, is a silence that heals.

So like Gideon, let us sit beneath our terebinth and call on God. For God will surely answer.

Image from: http://www.jesuswalk.com/gideon/gideon-artwork.htm

Adapted from a Noontime written on January 31, 2007.

June 28, 2024

fear, God’s love, Joshua, repentance, silence

Sirach 46: In Praise of Ancestors

Sirach 46: In Praise of Ancestors

Friday, February 2, 2024

A Favorite from January 25, 2010.

In this Noontime we find ourselves in the chapters of the Book of Sirach in which the writer spends time praising the Hebrew ancestors for their openness to God’s message and for their fidelity in following God. In this particular chapter, we relive the Hebrew transition from nomadic tribe to settled people. Joshua and Caleb, two leaders who have always been loyal to Yahweh and who have followed Moses from the beginning of their journey out of Egypt, now lead the people into the place of promise – the territory God secured for his people. The Judges are the leaders who continued to shepherd the Twelve Tribes until the time of the Davidic Kingdom. Samuel is the last of these and we may read more about this federation at the following site if we are looking for more information. http://www.jcpa.org/dje/articles/judges.htm

Notes will tell us that Joshua’s name means: The Lord is savior and this is apt since it is through Joshua’s wisdom and leadership that the Hebrew people are able to conquer enemies and receive their inheritance. The Book of Joshua will give us the details of this story. Caleb, whose name means wholehearted faith and devotion, is also appropriately named. Here is a site with a synopsis of the interesting story these men share. If you like espionage and are intrigued by the seamy parts of life, read about how these two friends who were able to secure a legacy for a people through some very unusual means. http://www.bible-knowledge.com/Joshua-and-Caleb.html

Samuel’s story is well known and the books named for him will remind us of the story read out to us on Sundays during particular times of the liturgical year. We will remember that his mother Hannah prayed for children and was rewarded for her fidelity with the birth of this child and others. We will remember how as a boy he ran to Eli in the temple, thinking that the priest was calling him in the night when all the while it was the voice of God he was hearing. Eli tells him to respond to this voice by replying: Speak, Lord, your servant is listening. Samuel serves God as a prophet, and he becomes the final judge of Israel who ushers in the kingdom by first anointing Saul and later David – all at God’s bidding.

What do these stories mean to us and for us? They tell us about our spiritual roots. They remind us of how and why we are created. They are our link to a past which brings us to this present. They are an opportunity to re-investigate who we are and what we mean.

These stories also bring another opportunity. They are the chance to think about our own immediate ancestors – who they were and what they mean to our own lives. Our forbears may have had a great influence on our spiritual life – either because of their dedication and fidelity to God, or perhaps because of their lack of any spiritual direction. In either case, our predecessors are the flesh from whom we come, they have given to us the habits and gestures we have inherited. Theirs may well be the message that we continue. As we reflect on our roots, we will want to think about whom we praise. And why.

Let us take a few moments sometime during this hectic day to reflect on the stories we have heard about the people in our family tree. What message does the story of their lives leave for us? And what part of their story do we wish to pass on as part of the great Story of the World? What or who will our own lives praise?

Image from: http://www.familyrootscounseling.com/read-me-aviator/

February 2, 2024

Caleb, Hannah, Joshua, Samuel, Twelve Tribes

Daniel 12:6: How Long?

Saturday, January 29, 2015

Daniel 12:6

How Long?

How long shall it be to the end of these appalling things?

Exodus 10:3: Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me’.”

Exodus 10:7: Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not realize that Egypt is destroyed?”

Exodus 16:28: Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my instructions?”

Numbers 14:11: The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn me? And how long will they not believe in me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?”

Joshua asks the men of Israel how long they will delay in moving into the Promised Land. (Joshua 18:3)

The priest Eli asks the barren Hannah how long she continue with her drunken babbling (1 Samuel 1:14) and the Lord asks Samuel how long he will grieve over the loss of Saul as king of Israel (1 Samuel 16:1).

In 1 Kings 18:21 Elijah asks the people how long their will vacillate between the Living God Yahweh and the false gods of the Baals.

Job’s companion, Bildad, asks Job how long he will refuse to acknowledge his sin – which he, in fact, did not commit (Job 8:2). He asks how long Job will put off speaking truth (Job 18:2). To this, Job replies: How long will you torment me and crush me with lies? (Job 19:1)

In these Old Testament verses we read the words we ourselves use when we are overwhelmed. We hear the human and divine plea for understanding; and we feel the urgent desire for resolution in all that seems precarious and unjust. Let us gather our moments of plight and petition, and bring them to the one who holds the answer to our prayers of supplication.

Tomorrow . . . a response.

Image from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gerard_Seghers_-_The_Patient_Job_-_WGA21132.jpg

For more reflections on the words of this prophet, enter the words Daniel or Apocalypse into the blog search bar and explore.

January 29, 2022

Eli, Elijah, grief, Hannah, Job, Joshua, petition, Samuel, Saul, suffering, the Baals

Jeremiah 4: Jerusalem’s Story as Our Own

Monday, March 23, 2020

Jeremiah 4: Jerusalem’s Story as Our Own

When people gathered in on a western hilltop above the Jordan River sometime between the years 4300 to 3300 B.C.E., the city of Jerusalem came into being; her early artisans were known for their stone and copper work. During the Middle Bronze Era (3300-2100 B.C.E.) the people fortified the city then known as Jebus and her people in the surrounding hills, known as the Jebusites (1 Chronicles 11) began to form a confederation with other peoples in the area. It was this tribe that fought against Joshua and the Israelites (Joshua 9).

In the Late Bronze and Iron Ages (1600-332 B.C.E.) Jerusalem’s people increased the city walls and size that changed only slightly and remained until the time of Nehemiah (about 445 B.C.E.) The city was a 12 acre site just south of today’s Temple mount bordered by the Kidron and Tyropoeon Valleys when captured by David; King Solomon nearly tripled the city to an area of about 32 acres when the temple-palace complex was built over a converted threshing floor. Jerusalem’s city and Temple become a center of worship, trade, culture and power until she was taken by the Babylonians and many of her people sent into exile. Re-built by Nehemiah she struggled to return to her former fame but was taken by Alexander the Great in 333 B.C.E. and later by the Romans. She was again destroyed in the year 70 C.E.

Western history records the centuries of struggle between Christians and Muslims for control of Jerusalem until 1948 when the state of Israel is formed and the Jewish people are called “home,” but Jerusalem today still remains a city in conflict, divided and troubled yet also united and renowned.

As we move through the Lenten season, we are invited to visit with Jerusalem for a short time each noon to explore her days of glory, her times of trial, her humiliations and her celebrations. In so many ways her history might be ours. Born out of a desire to flourish, nurtured by a hope for the eternal, and struggling through faith and doubt, Jerusalem offers us a tour of her life; she brings us her story full and open. Last week we prayed as we went up to Jerusalem. Now that we are within God’s holy precinct, let us offer our own lives back to the Creator. Let us spend time with God as we examine the life of Jerusalem as our own life in macrocosm. And let us return to God honestly, fully and openly . . . to examine the story of our own lives.

Each day this week, visit Jesus’s last journey at: https://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney1/6-jesuss-last-journey-to-jerusalem/

Damascus Gate image from a Times of Israel blog at: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/jerusalem-then-and-now-a-journey-in-photos/ to visit Jerusalem then and now.

“The Jebusites.” and “Jerusalem.” ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY BIBLE (NIV). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2005. Print.

For atlas references visit: http://bibleatlas.org/jerusalem.htm

March 23, 2020

1 Chronicles 11, Alexander the Great, David, Jebus, Joshua, Psalm 137:5, Romans, Solomon

Tag: Joshua

Hosea 4: Open to Newness

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Judges: 6: Gideon’s Call

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Sirach 46: In Praise of Ancestors

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Daniel 12:6: How Long?

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Jeremiah 4: Jerusalem’s Story as Our Own

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