Joshua 4:6-15

The people of Israel were on the precipice of their journey. The land was ahead of them and they could finally claim what God had promised them. The nations ahead of them were fearful of them and their God.

But God called a halt. Why, when it's all there for the taking did God feel the need to stop their victorious arrival? God wanted the people to be circumcised - He needed the people to remember the promises to Abraham that were made all that time ago. God needed them to show that they were comitted to Him and trusting in His promises. Before they could take one step further they needed to remember that the covenant between them and God was more important than any land or wealth they might own.

They don't need to rush on. Now was the moment to remember that they were people of the promise. We too are people of a covenant and our covenant is so much greater than theirs: forgiveness, righteousness, and the presence of God right before us. We can have assurance that we stand in this covenant.

Are we standing in the covenant of God's grace? God's warning is to be careful for false signs. Circumcision was a sign, but it could be false. Those who were circumcised might not have done it genuinely, with trust in God's promise. Like the initial generations that came out of Egypt, who never got to see this promised land. They were circumcised but in their hearts they didn't really belong in the covenant. So they missed out. You can have the outward sign and still miss everything.

These people are an example. Make certain that you are standing firm in God's promise. You might have the signs, you might come to church, you might have been baptised, you might serve your brothers and sisters and world. But are you truly standing firm in God's promise? The ultimate test is receiving God's word with joy and obeying it.

Your salvation does not come from your obedience. But the saving faith that you have in the death of Jesus always results in obedience. Faith expresses itself in obedience to God's word. The previous generations of Israel had not obeyed God and trusted Him to take the land. They said no and so they were denied the experience of God's promise fulfilled. If we do not trust God when He tells us to go, then we must question whether we truly are standing in God's promise.

Example: Difficult people. Jesus says to love others as Jesus has loved us. So to obey is to do just that when difficult people come into our lives.

Trust in God is never misplaced. While Israel stayed in the desert, Egypt and the powers of the world had the last laugh. But now there they were. In the promised land, at the first city. God would finish what He had done and had rolled away the scorn and reproach of Egypt and the others. God had proved that their faith in all their 40 years of wandering was not misplaced and that His power could bring about anything. This is why the nations were afraid. God showed His provision in the land, so they did not need the manna any more.

All this was simply a foretaste of the covenant we can see. We stand today accepted and complete in the eyes of God and we are granted the Holy Spirit. We know that as we step out in faith He has made a provision for us. One day when Jesus brings us home we will no longer need faith as we will live in God's constant and ultimate glory.

As Joshua stood before the commander of the Lord's army, like Moses before him he removed his shoes and so removed his worries and replaced them with worship. The same goes for us. As we come before the glory of God we can remove our worries and replace them with worship.