Chuck, Chuck...it's Marvin...your cousin Marvin Berry...you know that new blog you lookin' for? Well, click on this!!! Welcome to Tuesday and the only blog (at least the only we know) where you get a dab of diminuendo, a pinch of pizzicato, and a sprinkle of sostenuto mixed well with a full measure of the fifties, spice from the sixties and seventies, a little bit of ego from the eighties, and some New Kids from the nineties. Add to the recipe an occasional ode to the oughts, a twitch toward the teens, and then we'll have a dish set to take on the twenties. Want a bite?
With all the ingredients above we are here to celebrate Tuesday and tunes, music and a message, and rhythm and reminiscing! Welcome to Tuesday and another edition of Tuesday's Musical Notes! So where do we begin? Why not start in Norfolk, Virginia? Our tour guide for today's Tuesday trip? You know him...he's Marvin's cousin Chuck...Chuck Berry!!!
and a bit older with his iconic move
Rock-N-Roll legend Chuck Berry (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Johnny B. Goode" (Chuck Berry)) spent 20 months in prison (Chuck Berry is arrested on Mann Act charges in St. Louis, Missouri - history.com), prior to the release of today's featured song. The song was written during that stay and Berry used maps from the prison library to sketch out the path that the song details. It is a song about finding one's way to the "Promised Land" of California and the cross-country trek it took to arrive there.
Berry's version of "Promised Land" would peak at #41 on Billboard's Hot 100, but would be reclaimed by several artists in later years whose covers have a modicum more of success. Elvis Presley (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Suspicious Minds" (Elvis Presley)) released "Promised Land" as the title cut from his January 8, 1975 album, where it fared much better than the original by peaking at #14. More recently (well, 24 years ago), it was used in the Columbia Pictures/Amblin Entertainment release Men In Black which came out on July 2, 1997,
Elvis wasn't the only musical icon to utilize "Promised Land". From July 1971 through July 1995, The Grateful Dead (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Touch of Grey" (The Grateful Dead)) performed the song 425 times in their concerts, AND "Promised Land" appears on almost 50 of the Dead's live albums beginning with Steal Your Face in 1976. I wonder if Chuck Berry got royalties off of those performances? If he did, he could have well afforded several round trips to the Promised land.
Tuesday's Musical Notes began as a topical blog featuring a variety of subjects and how the Bible expounded on those themes. We have become convicted that our world doesn't know the great stories in the Bible by which these topics are explored. To do our part in communicating these great truths, we began a journey on April 9, 2019, through the great stories of the Bible in Genesis with Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Beginnings" (Chicago). When you get a chance check out that post or any of the following "Great Stories of the Bible" blogs. Maybe just find your favorite tune on Tuesday in the archives to the left of the page. 466 songs are featured over their so you might need a rainy day or Monday to get through several...thanks for checking them out!
A brief recap, if we may, of what's been the most recently said. Moses dead. Joshua led. Jericho fled. Israelites spread. Ai dread. Israelites pled. God led. Ai shred. Enough said.
Today we find our way in the beginning conquest of the Promised Land...and no, we ain't talkin' 'bout California!
Joshua 9-24 New American Standard Bible/The Amplified Bible/King James Version of the Bible parallel
After Ai was defeated, the word about the Israelites taking over the land began to spread. The reputation was so dramatic that a group of people called the Gibeonites deceived the Israelites into a treaty to avoid destruction. This would come back and be a regret for the Israelites, but they kept their word and utilized the Gibeonites as servants.
Joshua now commands the leaders of each tribe of Israel to take their people and go into the Promised Land and take over what God has already given them. Here are a couple of maps to give you a perspective of what some of the turmoil in the Middle East is all about. Note the differences in God's Promised Land and the actual modern-day boundaries.
With this land that God had promised to Abram, the Israelites were given a gift that they did not deserve. The remainder of the book of Joshua tells of the division of the land among the tribes and their attempts to overtake these regions. Some of the tribes succeeded fairly well, others, not so much.
As is the history of this bunch, they didn't obey God fully. The Israelites did not completely remove the inhabitants of the land they were to take over. This results in tumult as they find themselves seduced to the dark side (sorry, May the 4th be with You!). The Israelites eventually succumb to the temptation of the remnants of the people they were supposed to remove. In the long term, this resulted in idol worship and other atrocities because they didn't obey God and follow His plan.
The Israelites are reaffirmed in the paths of God. Joshua continued to diligently lead his family and the new nation during this conquest time. After many of the cities had been taken, and Joshua had gotten old, he calls all of the tribal leaders back to him and recounts Israel's history to them. A practice I fear that many in the west have lost...but I digress. This remembering of God's providence and goodness to Israel will be short-lived. There are however seeds planted among some of the leadership that will survive through the coming dark times.
I don't know about you, but I draw great comfort in my own Spiritual walk when I see how patient God was with the Israelites. This does not come from a place of arrogance (Oh, look at those crazy people, I didn't sacrifice my kids to idols...blah, blah, blah), but comes from gratefulness to God for being as longsuffering with me as He was with the Israelites.
He gave me a gift I did nothing to deserve. I don't remain faithful to the path that He lays before me. But, He reaffirms His pathways to me constantly and reminds me of our history together. (His salvation, my repentance, acceptance, and obedience) He continues to provide through Holy Spirit's discipline, guidance, and leadership over my life. My part? Continue to repent, continue to beg Holy Spirit to make me more like Jesus, and continue to LOVE people, believers, and those yet to believe. And in so doing, this poor boy will leave this home with His promised land on my mind...
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by loving You,
randy
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