Shaun Groves
I’m the speaker guy at church this Sunday. And I’m scared. I haven’t read the bible aiming to teach it to someone else in many months and it’s uncomfortable, nerve racking really. It’s especially difficult because I don’t get to choose what I’m speaking about. I’ve been asked to speak about Joshua – the guy that “fit” the battle of Jericho, remember?
So I’ve read his book a dozen times in a few translations looking for the theme. The story is mostly about Israel warring with other kingdoms in the land of Canaan. But there’s a thread running underneath the plot I think: remember.
Yes, the thing I’ve asked you to do next is impossible, God says, but remember what I did for you in Egypt.
Yes, you’re only a man, God says to Joshua, but remember what I did with Moses.
Yes, it’s just a few trinkets, God says to Aikan, but remember what I told you about taking these things from the kingdoms you defeat.
God is constantly reminding the People to be brave and courageous and obedient – in a word, to trust Him, to remember who He is and what He has already accomplished. And their brain, like an Etch-a-Sketch, is constantly forgetting.
I found this instance this morning – I missed it the other eleven times my eyeballs passed over it:
Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over…(Joshua 4:10)
They hurried. Why? No one told them too. Were they excited to get their tents set up after crossing the Jordan? Were they eager to go to war? Were they hurrying to something or away from something?
No expert I can find answers the question. So I’m doing something dangerous – I’m inferring. I’m inferring from the track record of the People of God and from my own story that they were hurrying away from something – away from a wall of water that might come crashing down at any moment. I’m inferring that maybe, just maybe, they’d forgotten about that day back at the Red Sea. After all, none of them were there. They only heard about the miracle from granddad in a bed time story. Now granddad is dead, along with Moses, and the new guy Joshua is a little green, and the water is menacingly tall and so I think they hurried. Because they forgot.
And once again God seems to be saying, Yes, I know this is more than a little weird, appears to be dangerous, but remember who I am and what I’ve done already and the promises I’ve made and kept. I won’t talk about this on Sunday – the whole reason I think they hurried. It’s all inference, after all. But I’m talking to myself about it today as I study. As I fear. Because my memory could use some work.
How’s yours?
Kenyon says:
A lot like me…pretty short. Need more gingko balobao?
carl thomas says:
Clearly what Joshua teaches is that we should all sponsor a child from Compassion. can’t you see that?
Nancy Tyler says:
Joshua, the book of fear. lol
I like that “Be strong and courageous” is echoed over and over, five or six times in that book. Josh is a slow learner like I am, I guess.
I always marveled how God’s chosen ones had to often be encouraged to buck up: Joshua, Timothy, Moses—unsure of their words and afraid of their callings and the people to whom they were called. Those guys actually heard and witnessed the unmistakable words and works of God. How much more so does a neurotic chicken like me, so many generations removed from Bible days, need to hear that encouragement?
I can understand why those people would hurry through that water-walled path God opened up: they were outside their comfort zone. Unless someone’s being intentional about it, who lingers where they feel unnatural or unsafe? Guided by my faith, I can walk through hard situations confidently. Guided by my eyes though, I’m more apt to turn tail and run.
anon4him says:
Regardless of whether the inference is accurate, you are correct in that we ought to remember what God has done rather than looking at the wall in front of us and saying “it’s impossible.” Can’t we trust the God who created the stars to hang in the sky to be stronger than anything that comes against us?
Jessica says:
This post made me laugh… and cry… because it’s exactly what I didn’t want to hear, and exactly what God wanted to say. Thank you, Shaun, for reminding me not to be near-sighted!
Veretax says:
Thanks Shaun, I had to dig through Joshua to find the verse in question. I thought they crossed over well before the 4th chapter, and they do, but that section is dealing about the command to build those memorial stones so that they would have something to remember.
I don’t have my study bible with me at work, but I remember in some of the children cartoons that covered this event that I watched when I was little. In one in particular they actually showed either some or a large part of Jehrico’s army waiting to ambush them as they crossed. IIRC when they saw what the Lord did they were greatly terrified and fled back to the city. So I wonder if perhaps that’s what happened. Maybe they could see the Jehrico army not far off, and did not want to be caught in the river. But I suppose your inferrance about them forgetting could be equally a good reason as well.
There is another possibility. Israel was quite large at this point, it may not be fair to characterize all of Israel as ‘nervous’ about what God said he would do, but you know how people are in a crowd like that. It only takes one or two to take off, and then you are usually forced to run to keep up or else be trod under foot (think stampede). So I think its likely that at least a few of them did have fears or doubts about the Lord at that point.
scott campbell says:
Read Hosea 13:4-6… and Jeremiah 2
I believe this is a strong commentary of the church (organization – not the organism) today. It’s forgotten God…
keith says:
Yes, I… uh… what were we talking about?
scott campbell says:
“Remember what I did for you in Egypt” –
“to trust Him, to remember who He is and what He has already accomplished. And their brain, like an Etch-a-Sketch, is constantly forgetting.”
Diana says:
Having never studied the bible to teach ever … what I came away with after reading your post was this:
The message that already found “be brave and courageous and obedient – in a word, to trust Him” says all you need to know.
Trust Him. You’ll be fine.
scott campbell says:
I apologize…I’m not trying to sound crazy. I just spent the last several months teaching through Exodus and then bumped into this blog (I’m a fan of Shaun’s music) It seems that the two main themes across the board are “Trust Me” and “Don’t forget about Me”
Deuteronomy 7-12. Which seems to be the same two things we struggle with today. “Trusting Him” and “Remembering just who He is” and what He has done. That’s what Hosea 13 and Jeremiah are speaking of: A people that have forgotten who he is – Jeremiah 2:13
Mark says:
As a kid, I used to look at the Israelites and the Disciples and wonder how they could be so stupid to constantly question God and doubt Him after all the miracles they’d seen.
Then I grew up and watched myself do the exact same thing. Time after time after time.
My memory is horrid when it comes to God’s goodness. I am always needing reminders.
Angie says:
Right now, thanks to a battle with cancer, God is infusing my memory with His goodness and steps of gratitude every day. And I pray every day that I won’t be like the Israelites and forget these past months of His presence with me… that’s one of my biggest fears. Yet I know it is what we are prone to do. Praise Him for His grace and mercy shown over and over and over again to them and to me!
Grovesfan says:
Memory? What’s that?
Beth
Shaun Groves says:
Angie, please drop by here often and let us know specifically how we can pray for you.
scott campbell says:
Angie, One of the greatest encouragements I found while going through the book of Exodus was realizing that God lead Israel out of Egypt the long and hard way (Exodus 13:17-18). They could have been in the promise land in a matter of weeks having gone along the coast… but they were not ready for the wars they would have to fight. God took them into the wilderness and backed them into a corner with the Red Sea so all they would see was Him as there deliverer. The hard circumstances lead us to a greater awareness of Him. And He is what it is all about. He is in control of every circumstance…Use the illness to drive yourself closer to Him…We may forget Him at times, but He never forgets us. God bless you…I will pray for you as well.
Veretax says:
One of my favorite passages of encouragement, comes from Luke. Its particularly memorable because I remember watching Bruce Kuhn perform Luke in a one man act during Jesus week at my university.
Luke 12:27-34
“27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
28 If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? 29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. 32 “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Angela C. says:
Loved the post!
Remembering God has been a theme for me lately. I love 1 Sam. 17:34-37 where David remembers God’s faithfulness in the past as he encounters Goliath. Also Psalm 78 gives us good picture of what happens when we forget God. It would be interesting study to go through the whole bible looking for the times God’s people “remembered” and the times they “forgot.” We are no different.
Psalm 20:7 says, “Some trust in horses, and some in chariots; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”
The Hebrew word for “remember” here and almost everywhere that the English word remember is used…..is—zakar (2142)
Zakar means: to mark (so as to be recognized), i.e. to remember;
(make) mention (of), be mindful, recount, record (-er), remember, make to be remembered,
to bring…or call, keep, or put…in remembrance,
to still, or think on…
Vine’s: (To) Remember
The first occurrence of zākar is in Gen. 8:1 with God as the subject: “God remembered Noah…: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged.”
In Gen. 9:15 God said to Noah: “And I will remember my covenant…; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.”
As in these two cases (cf. Gen. 6:18), “remember” is used of God in respect to His covenant promises and is followed by an action to fulfill His covenant.
Usage Notes: “remembrance; memorial.” Of His covenant name, YHWH (“Lord”), God said: “… This is my memorial unto all generations” (Exod. 3:15; cf. Psa. 30:4; Psa. 135:13). The name would recall His acts of covenant fulfillment.
In the New Testament, as Christians are directed to celebrate Passover (or The Lord’s Supper), Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor. 11:24-25).
Beth Moore says that when God remembers, He acts. I believe we do the same thing. My remembrance of God (or lack of it) will show up in how I live my life (what I do and what I say).
Thanks for your ministry and your blog, and for helping me REMEMBER God today!!!
Biblefanmaryann says:
I forget sometimes that He won’t abandon us in the desert, even if we are there wandering for a very long time.