Walla Walla University Good Word Broadcasts

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."—2 Corinthians 3:18 Let us suppose that in each of our minds is a natural law: "By beholding, we become changed." —Christ's Object Lessons, p. 355. What themes might we choose to behold? God has offered us a tremendous variety of literature, in style and content. Here is a summary report published in the Review and Herald, June 16, 1994, and written by Marilyn Thomsen, Southern California Conference communication director: John ...

Deuteronomy 20: 10 As you approach a town to attack it, you must first offer its people terms for peace. 11 If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor. 12 But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. 13 When the Lord your God hands the town over to you, use your swords to kill every man in the town. 14 But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the plunder from your ...

Giants of Faith: Joshua and Caleb Moses sent 12 men, one from each tribe, to act as intelligence agents or spies, regarding the land that God had promised to Israel. Text: Numbers 13:17-20. 
17 Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the land: "Go north through the Negev into the hill country.
 18 See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. 
19 See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open ...

Introduction: As with the fictional milkman Tevye, from the village of Anatevka*, God chose to bless Zelophehad not with sons— but instead, with daughters—five of them!
 Unlike Caleb and Joshua, but like all other men "twenty years old and upward" (Numbers 14 and Numbers 32:11), Zelophehad died in the wilderness. 
Joshua, in the firm belief that he was following God's direction, determined to divide his nation's new lands among its men.
 And in ancient Israel's patriarchal society, were these orphaned women to receive no portions of the promised land? And if so, were they to "wait, meekly wait and murmur not?" 
No, I guess ...

Lesson Guide: Of the Israelites: "Their most dangerous enemy was not outside their camp but within their own rank and file." Questions: What are our greatest dangers "within?" Those who interpret the Bible differently than we do? Those who demand perfect performance? Those who tolerate less-than-perfect performance? Those who would enlarge our tents, and open our gates to whomsoever will? Those who would guard our gates, and admit only those judged worthy? Those who believe that any messenger "inspired of God" must have no flaws? Those who delight in pointing out that God's ...

Lesson Guide: "The book of Joshua contains some disturbing scenes. Serious questions are raised by the concept of a divine or holy war portraying a group of people with a God-given mandate to destroy another group." Context: United Nations: 
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of GenocideArticle II:
 In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
 Killing members of the group;
 Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
 Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to ...

Israel's crossing of the Jordan in Lesson 3 was a miraculous success: We have tried to imagine the logistics of getting thousands of people of all ages, across a swollen river, together with their animals But, in last week's lesson, God accomplished all of that. And this miracle had another effect: It turned out to be psychological warfare, highly successful. Text: Joshua 5
 1 "When all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings who lived along the Mediterranean coast heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan River so the people of Israel could cross, they ...

Question: Nowadays the Jordan River has almost ceased to exist. What was so special about crossing this river in the time of Joshua? 
It was spring, when seasonal rains, plus melting snow from Mt. Hermon, put the river at flood stage. Many of the well-known fords were now covered by deep water, swift and dangerous. Questions: Had the two spies returning from Jericho experienced any special trouble in crossing the Jordan from west to east? 
None was recorded.
 So, what could be the problem in crossing from east to west? 
The spies were strong young men. The people of Israel were composed of men, women, and ...

"Grace is simply receiving what we don’t deserve." Question: Or perhaps is "grace" the usual, natural behavior of a gracious person?"Is it a difficult struggle for God to be gracious? Question: Do we get to decide who "deserves" grace?And should we decide that in this case, grace is "deserved," is it still "grace?" Question: Was God also using psychological warfare? Question: If so, was God's psychology proving effective? Joshua wanted to find out:
 Joshua 2 
1 Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia Grove. He instructed them, “Scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho.” Question: Why "especially ...

We have recently studied the book of Exodus: Question:As God led Israel's escape through the Red Sea, how many battles did Moses have to win against the Egyptians? Question:How did Moses respond to an unprovoked attack by Amalekites? Question:On this urgent occasion did Moses ask for specific guidance from God? Question:And did this impromptu battle give Israel lasting protection from raids by Amalekites or from other brigands? Question:On later occasions God would send a destroying angel, or rain down hailstones. He might create auditory hallucinations, produce blindness, plague enemies with "terror," or maybe afflict them with stinging insects. So, was it necessary for God's untrained ...

Key Verses: Exodus 35-40 Key Questions
 Why does the text emphasize Sabbath again—right before the Tabernacle is built? What does this teach about how we balance action and rest? Why is the spinning of yarn by women mentioned specifically? What might this tell us about valuing unseen or domestic labor as spiritual (35:25-26)? What is the significance of all the careful repetition and detail (in all of these chapters)? How do these descriptions help reframe “tedious” tasks as acts of worship? The expression “as the Lord commanded Moses” appear seven times in both chapters 39 and 40. What could this convey about the ...

Key Verses: Exodus 32 Key Questions
 What is more devastating—the loss of the land or the loss of God’s presence? How does this speak to what we truly value in our spiritual lives? Why does Moses ask to see God’s glory—and why does God only reveal God’s “back”? What does this reveal about the limits of human understanding and God’s self-disclosure? What does it say about God that God chooses to rewrite the covenant rather than cancel it? How do we experience “rewriting” moments in our relationship with God? Why is God so emphatic about avoiding assimilation into Canaanite religious life? How do we ...

Key Verses: Exodus 32 Key Questions
 Why do the people make a calf? What does this say about how fear and impatience can cause us to recreate false security from our past, even if it enslaved us? Why does Moses break the tablets? Does this act serve as protest, lament, or judgment? How do we wrestle with the Levites’ violence in the name of loyalty to God? Where is the line between righteous indignation and spiritual extremism? What does it mean that Moses offers to be erased for the people’s sake? How does this point to sacrificial love as the core of godly leadership? What ...

Key Verses: Exodus 24-31 Key Questions
 What are some of the possible connections between the Sanctuary and the creation of the world (and the Garden of Eden)? What is the author trying to convey with these parallels? How is God’s desire to to dwell with the people different from Pharaoh’s rule? What does it mean that God chooses to dwell in a movable tent instead of a fixed temple (and why are these things established in the desert)? How might this shape our understanding of church, presence, and holiness? Why was the Sanctuary to be built exclusively on the basis of voluntary offerings ...

Key Verses: Exodus 21-23 Key Questions
 Why is God so insistent on protecting the widow, orphan, and foreigner? How does your community embody—or fail to embody—this kind of Divine concern? How do these laws about Hebrew servants attempt to limit power and restore dignity? How do we engage critically with texts that still regulate servitude? What do these laws of restitution teach us about making things right? What would a system rooted in restoration, not punishment, look like today? How does Sabbath rest for land and laborers reflect God’s concern for all creation? What systems today deny that kind of rest—and how might we ...

Key Verses: Exodus 19-20 Key Questions
 Why does God call the people to the mountain but also set boundaries around it? What does this tension between intimacy and distance say about the nature of divine holiness? What does it mean for Israel to be a “kingdom of priests”? How does that reshape their role in the world? How was this calling applied to the church in the New Testament and how might this calling apply to faith communities today? Why is physical preparation (like washing clothes and abstaining from sex) required before meeting God? What does this say about how bodies, boundaries, and ...

Key Verses: Exodus 16-18 Key Questions
 What is God teaching the Israelites (and us) through the daily provision of manna and the prohibition on storing it? How does this practice challenge the empire mindset of accumulation and control? How do these wilderness experiences reshape Israel’s understanding of God—not just as deliverer, but as sustainer? How is Sabbath more than a religious observance—how is it a political and social act of resistance? What are modern forms of “Sabbath resistance” in today’s work-driven culture? How does the people’s panic and complaint reflect the difficulty of transitioning from slavery to freedom? How does God’s response show ...

Key Verses: Exodus 13-15 Key Questions
 Why does God ask for the consecration of the firstborn after the Exodus? How might this ritual be understood as a way of remembering that life belongs to God, not Pharaoh? What role does embodied ritual (like eating unleavened bread) play in helping future generations internalize liberation? How do our bodies remember what our minds sometimes forget? How does the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night signify God’s leadership? What might this say about divine guidance in uncertain, in-between spaces in our lives? How does the “Song of Moses” function as a theological and political ...

Key Verses: Exodus 11-12 Key Questions
 How does the Passover ritual help shape a collective identity for the Israelites? What role does the household play in Israel’s liberation? How does the command to share the lamb among neighbors reflect communal values, especially under threat? How does shared ritual function in your own community or faith tradition? What does the use of blood on the doorposts signify? What does this action represent, and how is it developed in the Bible? Why are the people told to eat with sandals on and staff in hand? What does this urgency say about faith in movement? What does ...

Key Verses: Exodus 7-10 Key Questions
 Chapter 7 begins with a clarification of the dynamic between God, Moses and Aaron in terms of prophetic activity followed by an announcement of judgment that God would bring to the land of Egypt. How does this text anticipate later prophetic activity within Israel? How do the miraculous signs performed by Moses and Aaron challenge Pharaoh’s authority? In what ways do the “plagues” challenge the Egyptian worldview and its pantheon of gods? What does Pharaoh’s continued resistance reveal about the nature of human obstinacy in the face of justice? What is the meaning of “hardening of the ...