Friday, 18 July, 2014

Friday, 18 July, 2014

Joshua 4:19 – 5:15 

Today’s text (together with yesterday’s) relates one of the most pivotal moments in the history of ancient Israel: their arrival in the Promised Land after forty years in the wilderness, the leadership transition from Moses to Joshua, and Israel’s crossing the Jordan River (during its flood time) on dry ground – a great miracle performed, as God told Joshua, “to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you [Josh. 3:7].”

Today’s reading shows several deep connections between the story of Joshua leading the people into the Promised Land and the story of Moses leading their parents out of Egypt.  Even the date at the beginning of our text, “the tenth day of the first month,” has great symbolic importance: This is the day of preparation for the Passover [Exodus 12], when a lamb was chosen that would be sacrificed four days later and eaten in the Passover meal that evening.  Passover was followed by the time of unleavened bread.  On that first Passover night in Egypt, the Lord passed over the Israelite households, those marked with the blood of the lamb, but killed all the firstborn in Egypt.  Shortly thereafter, the fleeing Israelites miraculously passed over the Red Sea on dry ground.  Now, forty years later, their children miraculously passed over the Jordan River on dry ground, and four days later they celebrated the Passover in the Promised Land.

For us who belong to Christ, there is yet another rich layer of symbolism in these events.  First, before our Saviour’s birth, the angel announced, “You shall call his name Joshua, for he will save his people from their sins [Matt. 1:21].”  Yes, Joshua is the Hebrew name of our Saviour; Jesus is its Greek form.  The story of Joshua prefigures that of Jesus, especially in regard to the Passover.  The synoptic Gospels tell us that the Last Supper was the Passover meal which Jesus celebrated with his disciples just before his arrest, trial, and sacrificial death for us.  The Bible calls Jesus the Lamb of God.  Indeed, the early church affirms [1 Cor. 5:7-8], “Our Passover lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.  Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Another miracle that prefigures Christ is the manna, the bread that God sent from heaven [Ex. 16:4].  The people who crossed into the Promised Land had grown up in the forty years in the wilderness; all their lives they had manna from heaven to eat.  Now, the very next day after the Passover [Josh. 5:11-12] the manna stopped, and from then on they ate the produce of the land.  Read John 6:31-59 to see how Jesus connects the manna from heaven to his own coming into the world, to his own sacrificial death, and to his presence with us in the Communion.

Today’s reading concludes with Joshua’s vision [Josh. 5:13-15] of a man with a drawn sword who appears before him, neither one of Joshua’s people or an adversary, but the commander of the army of the Lord.  Joshua recognizes him as divine by falling on his face in worship.  Now the commander tells Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy.”  This instruction ties this vision directly with the account of Moses and the Burning Bush [Exodus 3:2-6], where God addresses Moses with these same words – these are the only two incidents in the Bible where this instruction is given.  At the Burning Bush, this visitation by God empowered Moses, who was meek and humble, so he could stand up to Pharaoh and the powers of Egypt to deliver the people of Egypt, and so he could confront and judge the power of evil when it came among his people.  Similarly, God, through Joshua’s vision, empowered him both to lead his people in the coming years and to fight the many battles that lay before him (starting with Jericho) in the power of God.

Where in the New Testament do we learn of people who are frightened and retreating, but suddenly become powerful because of a special visit from God?  It was on the Day of Pentecost, when the disciples, who had been hiding behind locked doors out of fear, suddenly were so equipped by the Holy Spirit that they could preach with power and authority, so they could perform miracles and confront evil.  In their time, Moses and Joshua were specially empowered by God’s Holy Spirit for the great tasks of leadership and confrontation that lay before them.  In the New Testament, Christ promises the Holy Spirit [John 14:15-17, 26] to all his followers.  God’s Holy Spirit is with us to empower every believer, not only great leaders.  The Spirit will teach us and lead us into the truth, will empower us to face every problem and confront evil, and will care for us in every need.  Let us pray and trust God’s Spirit to be our helper through every day.

 -- Robert Kruse