Joshua 12:1-24
Joshua chapter 12 we just read is divided into two parts. The first part, verses 1 through 6, talks about 2 kings east of Jordan River, King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan both of whom had been killed and their land was taken by the Israelites under the leadership of Moses.
Then the second part, verse 7 through verse 25, talks about 31 kings that Joshua and the Israelite armies defeated on the west side of the Jordan
But, Moses had already described in detail how they had fought and won the battles against the King Og of Bashan and the King Sihon of the Amorites east of Jordan River. And Joshua also had explained in detail how they had fought and won in the battles against Canaanites Kings. Thus they had been involved in so many battles and each battle was so significant and each victory demonstrated how mighty and faithful God was.
Obviously, the summary of all those battles could serve the people as a reminder of God’s love and work in a simple form. I believe remembrance is such a big deal in our spiritual life because we tend to forget so easily important matters unless we keep a record or summary in writing. I would even say our spiritual battle has to do with our memory. If we remember who God is and what he has done then we will overcome. But we tend to forget what we have to remember.
Do you remember how long did it take before the Israelites began to complain after they experienced God’s mighty hand in rescuing them through the 10 plagues and crossing the red sea? It took only several days. Within a few days, they forgot why they left Egypt and how they left and began to complain, and later on, they even wanted to go back to Egypt.
This is why God commanded them to keep Sabbath. “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.” (Deut 5:15)
In addition, God commanded His people to commemorate Passover annually to remember God’s mighty work and His faithfulness. "Honor the LORD your God by celebrating Passover in the month of Abib; it was on a night in that month that he rescued you from Egypt.” (Deut 16:1)
The reason why God made them observe the Sabbath and the Passover was because He wanted them to remember His salvation and His grace for all their life so that whenever they were in doubt and in trouble, they could remind of God's salvation and His grace to restore faith and strength, thus thanking and praising God.
However, the Israelites weren't following God's command. The Bible doesn’t have many records of how the Israelites kept the sabbath, but, concerning Passover do you remember how many times they celebrated Passover while they were in the wilderness for 40 years? Only once as they departed from the mountain Sinai, that's all which means they hadn’t celebrated Passover for almost 40 years in the wilderness.
Not only that, later God rebuked the Israelites through Amos the prophet saying “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?” (Amos 5:25) They didn’t offer offerings or sacrifices even once during the 40 years in the wilderness, meaning they didn’t have any appreciation, gratitude toward God who saved them and was leading them to the promised land. Rather, they kept on complaining and blaming the leaders and even God Himself because they forgot what God had done for them.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t just during the period in the wilderness. The 2nd chapter of the book Judges talks about what happened as soon as Joshua and the people in his generation passed away. The new generation did not acknowledge the LORD or didn’t remember the mighty things God had done for Israel. They abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and They went after other gods.
And since the Passover under the leadership of Joshua, there is no mention of any Judge or King celebrating Passover until Hezekiah. This means for 7 hundred years or so they haven’t celebrated the Passover, except Samuel though there is no clear mention. In fact, the history of the nation Israel is a history of how unfaithful they were while it is a history of how faithful God is in spite of their unfaithfulness.
God is God who is faithful and who wants His people to remember what He has done for them.
So when the whole nation of Israel had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD instructed Joshua to, “Choose twelve men, one from each tribe, to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan and set them down as a memorial to their children so that they might remember the waters of Jordan were cut off when Israel passed through into the land.
So obeying His command, they set up the twelve stones as a reminder at Gilgal. Then God commanded Joshua another thing, to circumcise the Israelites. (5:2-3)
Circumcision was a covenant between God and Abraham’s descendants through which God would be their God and they would be God’s people. So God had even said, “Any uncircumcised male will be cut off from his people because he has broken the covenant.” (Gen 17:14) Circumcision was such a big deal, yet they had ignored it for so long. But, now Joshua in obedience to God’s command started Circumcising people and then celebrating the Passover.
On the other hand, if you neglect or ignore circumcision or the Passover, then you are ignoring God’s covenant and God’s redemption, thus God Himself.
Now we live under the new covenant. Jesus our Lord commanded his followers two ordinances: Baptism and Lord's supper. I don't think baptism is identical with circumcision and I don't think Lord's supper is identical with Passover. But both baptism and circumcision have to do with the covenant and both Lord's supper and the Passover have to do with salvation. If we ignore them we ignore God's covenant and God's salvation, thus God himself. Therefore I would suggest that if any of us hasn't been baptized as a believer, be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as soon as possible. If you are not taking part in the Lord's supper I would strongly suggest you join a church where the gospel is preached
Joshua and His people did circumcision and kept the Passover before they were engaged in any battle, which means they became the people of God’s covenant and they came to know why and how they were saved from slavery in Egypt before they were engaged in the battle.
Thankfully, as the Israelites did under the leadership of Joshua, we also as people of God gather weekly to remember and celebrate our new covenant with God and give our thanks to God for His redemption, which I believe is most important in our practice of Christian life and also the most important preparation for our spiritual battle on our lives.
But, I would like to emphasize that Joshua went beyond that. He not only had his people circumcised and celebrated the Passover, but he also kept all the records of every battle and how God was with them to win the battles, and then in chapter 12 summarized all the Kings and battlefields they won. Because, as I said, each battle and each victory meant God’s being with them with His mighty hand and His faithfulness.
I believe we are called to remember what God has done through Christ Jesus on the cross 2000 years ago, which is no doubt most important just as the Passover was to the Israelites. But, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus who created us and died for us sustains us today. He is right now with us and he prays for us and works for us. So God wants us to remember how faithful and mighty God is not only in his saving us in the past but also in our living today just as God was in his redemption of the Israelites as well as in the battlefield for the Israelites.
Let me ask this. Do you remember any victory in your life last year, last month, even last week? Do you remember any thanksgivings? How many supplications do you remember? How many answered prayers do you remember? How many people do you remember who God has brought to you? How much do you remember what God has said through preaching, conversation, or any other means?
Why am I asking these questions to myself and to you as well? Because, every victory whether small or big, every truth we learned, every person we met, every petition, and every answered prayer could be demonstrations of God’s being with us with His grace and His mighty hand. Don’t you think they are worth remembering?
One of the things that impressed me when I first visited All Nations Church was the church bulletin with the prayer requests of each member. That to me meant you guys take intercession seriously. Let us keep doing it.
But, at the same time, I feel that each preacher in the church summarizes his sermon and leaves the summary somewhere whether church bulletin or church website or even kakao talk, then I believe we can review and remember it better.
Do you think God is as powerful and faithful in our lives as He was in Joshua’s days?
Then our life also would be full of victories, blessings, learnings, answered prayers, supplications, souls to be saved, and souls to care all of which are worth remembering.
This is my conclusion and a word of encouragement. Let’s remember who God is and what God has done as we make it a habit to keep the record.
