A new year.

It's been an unusually busy couple of weeks! I was aware that this blog was being neglected but - it's all a matter of priorities! Anyway, part of the busyness (that included a trip back to Scotland in order to spend Christmas Day with our family; and leaving early on Boxing Day!) was that I was preaching in one of the French-speaking fellowships with which we are involved, yesterday! Being the final Sunday of the year, I wanted to encourage the people and used the situation of the Children of Israel as, under the leadership of Joshua, they prepared to enter Canaan - the land of the promise of Almighty God. The Israelites had been wandering for forty years - the result of their listening to ten weak spies who were overwhelmed by the difficulties they perceived, rather than the two men (Joshua and Caleb) who had true faith in YHWH, the God of the covenant. The land across the River Jordan was as unknown to them as is the year 2020 to us. So how did they face their unknown, and what lessons can we draw from their experience?

The first thing we see is that the Children of Israel went forward with courage in the Lord. You may read the story in Joshua 2. Perhaps remembering that situation forty years earlier, Joshua sent just two men to spy out the land again. Their report was very encouraging! They assured Joshua that "Truly YHWH has given all the land into our hands;" Take a minute or two to compare that report with the one given by the ten fearful spies as you'll find it in Numbers 13. It's the difference between unbelief, and faith!

Unbelief says “Let’s go back to where it’s safe.”; but faith says “Let’s go forward to where God is working.” In his first letter, the apostle John writes: “… this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith.” (5:4).

May I share a very important piece of information? Almighty God has not changed! He tells us so, Himself! “I the Lord do not change;” (Mal.3:6). 

These men of faith were willing to receive this great assurance; to take God at His word. Are you and I willing to do the same as we move forward into a new year? The assurance they were ready to receive, and the assessment they were able to make.  “moreover, all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of us.” was their report. This was a most encouraging report. Not only the inhabitants of Jericho, but of all of the land of Canaan, were afraid of the Children of Israel! The only possible reason for this is that the reputation of the Children of Israel and, of greater importance, of YHWH, their God, had lasted throughout a full generation - that forty years during which they had wandered in the wilderness! The Canaanites took it for granted that nothing could stand before the Children of Israel – and this information was necessary to Joshua to guide him in forming the plan of his campaign.

As we look forward to a new year, let us also recall what the Lord has already done for us – and let us then go into this year, confident that He is still with us, and has a plan for us. It's a plan, of course, that requires us to be led froward by the Lord. For the Children of Israel, that meant being led by priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant - where YHWH had met with Moses. The Ark was symbolic of the presence of YHWH among His chosen people. It was "God with them - Emmanuel"!

Most of us will have heard words like those over recent days. It is the Lord Jesus, Himself, Who is our Emmanuel. It is He Who has promised, “I will never fail you nor forsake you.” (Heb.13:5). It is He Who has said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by Me.” (Jn.14:6). It is He Who will lead us into a new year – if we will but follow! That involves action on our part! You see, Father God does not force us to do anything. He could do – but He chooses not to. That means that I have a responsibility to co-operate with God the Holy Spirit in the work of my sanctification. Writing, this time, to the brothers and sisters in Philippi, Paul encourages them: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Phil 2:12-13). The Christian life is not one of sitting back and leaving everything to the Lord! It is service; it is warfare; it is walking. But we do not travel the road alone – “for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

However, action is not enough. We need also to display a proper attitude. Concerning the Ark, Joshua commanded: “there shall be a space between you and it, a distance of about two thousand cubits; do not come near it.” (v.4^(b)). Why was this? It was a mark of reverence. It was an acknowledgment that no-one may come even close to Almighty God in their own right. It was a recognition that the Creator is different from His creation.

It always concerns me when I hear some, who claim to be disciples of Jesus, saved by His precious blood, treating Him, the Father, the Holy Spirit, as if they are here just for their benefit. I cringe when I hear people refer to the Creator of all that exists in an overly-familiar manner. Of course, He is my heavenly Father; of course, He is my Friend; but He is also God, and I must display my reverence for Him at all times! “Fear (reverence) God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.” counsels the writer of Ecclesiastes (12:13); while Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus, in what we know as the Magnificat, says: “He Who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.” (Lk.1:49-50).

The Children of Israel as they stood on the threshold of Canaan, faced the unknown with courage in the Lord. They were led forward by the Lord. The result was that they saw the power of the Lord, immediately, in the miraculous crossing of the river Jordan. For many, even although they had been but children at the time, this would have been a reminder of the past when, with their parents, perhaps even their grandparents, their siblings, and their friends, they had crossed the Reed Sea – and seen the mighty Egyptian army perish. You see, even the mistakes of the past may provide good lessons for achievements in the future! Writing about these matters, Paul told the Corinthian church that “…  these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come.” (I Cor 10:11).

I wonder if you have experienced the power of Almighty God in your life – individually, and as a fellowship of God’s people? There are those who condemn “experiential Christianity” and, of course, if we are seeking to build our lives as disciples of Jesus solely on spiritual experiences, then that condemnation is deserved. We need to be solidly grounded in the Word of God; we need to be obedient to the Word of God; we need to be fed by the Word of God. But often, the power of Almighty God touches us in such a way that the experience lives with us for a long time afterwards – and may even be with us for the rest of our earthly lives. The Children of Israel were provided with a reminder of the past, and with a reassurance for the present. 

Being reminded of past wonders is one thing – but we live in the present! And Father God knows! So we read: “Joshua said, “Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you," (Josh 3:10). Almighty God was still on the throne – and He still is! Do you remember those words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples as He prepared to leave them and return to the Glory that was, and is, His by right? They are recorded for us by Matthew: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (28:19-20). “I am not just a figure from history,” says Jesus. “I am the living and eternal God, who never leaves, nor forsakes, my true people.”

The writer of the great letter to the Hebrew disciples of Jesus gave to them, and to us, the wonderful assurance: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.” (13:8). With such an assurance, we may step forward, bravely, and confidently, into the new year that beckons. Are you willing to go into the new year depending on His promises? Then go – and know that He goes before you; and with you; and in you. And know that He will accomplish His purposes through you, to bring glory to His most holy Name.

I wish you a truly blessèd 2020.