Renewal of Covenant with God
Dr. Andres Tang
Joshua 3:3-4, 4:19-24, 5:2-7
This year marks HKBTS’s 60th anniversary and incidentally, the Spiritual Revival Bible Study Conference of the Baptist Convention of Hong Kong also celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The entire Hong Kong Baptist community has marched forward for quite a distance, which makes us pause to ask how must we continue on our march? How will we experience a future different from the past? Through the testimonies of the Bible as revealed in the book of Joshua, let us consider what is most crucial for the local Baptist community as we march forward.
Yahweh is Lord Forever
In Joshua 3:3-4, Joshua gave orders to all the Israelites to follow the ark of the covenant so that “you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.” A man often likes to plan his course himself, just like the generation of Israelites who had walked through the Red Sea but later died in the desert. They died simply because they had their own way of figuring out the road ahead but then got lost. Now the second generation of Israelites crossed the Jordan River as the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth led their way (v. 11, 14, 17). Yahweh is indeed the Lord of history. We must therefore take heed not to reverse the order and assume that Yahweh divided the Jordan River in order to tie in with the Israelites’ plan to create their new history.
The end of the fifth chapter is a reminder: Yahweh is the Lord who belongs neither to the Israelites nor their enemies. Joshua obviously asked the wrong question: “Are you for us or for our enemies?” (5:13b) The commander of the Lord’s army was quick to correct in unequivocal terms, “Neither!” He belonged to neither side but to the army of Yahweh, the one who has the power to rule over the history of all the earth. In all of the battles, God is not there to fit in what we have planned in advance, but on the contrary, we have to take part in His battle and come to realize His ideal plan. Therefore, we must first ask: what is the will of the Lord of all the earth and the Lord of history? What kind of Christian community life must our Baptist community live out?
Commemorate and Preach Renew the Covenant with God
Crossing the Jordan River means forsaking the old and welcoming the new. God led the Israelites to cross the Jordan River on the tenth day of the first month, surpassing their ancestors’ failure and disbelief. God ordered the Israelites to take up stones serving as a sign and to proclaim to their descendants this incident so that they would clearly understand “these stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever” (4:7). The commemoration and preaching of God’s power of deliverance needs to be the starting point of renewal of both the covenant between God and man and of our relationship with God. In the process of commemoration and preaching, we once again acknowledge the God of eternity is our Lord, and this God of great power walks before us, leading us to cross over from death to life. He is the one who still commands the Jordan River to stop flowing in our lives.
Besides piling up twelve stones as a memorial, the Israelites performed circumcision and observed the Passover. Circumcision marks not only a bodily symbol but also signifies the offering up of the whole person to Yahweh so that we can be a holy people of God. It signifies that we cut ourselves a way from the sinful world to which our old selves belonged as we lead our new lives on earth. It is through circumcision and Passover observance that the Israelites would once again renew their relationship with God so that they could enter into a new chapter in history.
The Whole Community Must Humble before God
What lessons can the Baptist community learn from Joshua chapter 3 to 5? First, the whole community must be humble before God. To be humble is to focus on God’s leadership, seeking only His will. We ought to remind one another that we need to focus on the Bible and learn from the scriptures together, seeing only God and not ourselves. Only then can we walk on the right path. Second, living a life of humility requires a willingness to undergo a process of constantly letting go one’s possessions under God’s leadership so that we can constantly experience the work of God, a new life in Christ and a new era. Third, to be humble before God also involves a process of constantly renewing the covenant with God. The Baptist community needs to commemorate God’s leadership and deliverance so as to constantly renew its covenant with God, being aware of their identity as God’s people and acknowledging that only God can lead us to experience a life of constant renewal as we walk toward the future.