Joshua 5 & 6: A New Beginning!

It must have been painful, especially when there was no such thing as anesthesia back then… Ouch! But the Jews did it… as God commanded them to. They circumcised themselves. With the exception of Joshua and Caleb, the older generation of Israelites had died in the wilderness. This was a new generation. And they had not been circumcised till now. YHWH was now giving them a chance to renew that covenant. It would serve as an outward sign that they agreed with God’s terms and conditions of the covenant. It became a symbol of being set apart for God, a promise that they would live like God’s people. And this was demonstrated in their unwavering obedience to God leading up to the conquest of Jericho as they marched round and round the city.

While the people were renewing their covenant promises, God was already beginning to fulfill His. As they celebrated the Passover, in remembrance of their salvation from Egypt, God finally rolled away the reproach of Egypt from them. No more slaves… no more homeless wanderers in the desert. The past is gone… the new is coming… For the first time in 40 years, they were eating of the produce of the land instead of manna. Oh what joy it must have been for the Israelites! The excitement and anticipation for what was to come… a new beginning! It’s all very close now…

The Israelites dared to make a promise to God through circumcision, the mark of the covenant. And the occasion was to be part of a new beginning in their relationship with YHWH. What about us? Have we stopped making promises to God? Do we need to renew some of the promises we’ve made?

Joshua 3 & 4: O God Our Help in Ages Past!

As the Israelites move across the Jordan River into the Promised Land, it got me wondering why God chose to do all that He did. Why did He have to dry up the river? Why did the Israelites need to cross on dry ground? Couldn’t they wait till the dry season when the river would be shallow? They’ve been waiting for 40 years anyway… what are another few months to them? Why did God command the Israelites to set up stones taken from the riverbed to build a memorial? Was there a purpose in all this? I believe the answers to the questions are in the text…

Recognition of Joshua’s authority:

God had been repeating it for quite awhile since Joshua took over as the new leader. Now He says it again, “I will exalt you in the eyes of all people so they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses”. The entire episode served up as a demonstration to the people that Joshua’s position as a leader was authorized by YHWH Himself. And indeed, the people revered him all the days of his life after this. But I also think that God intended it to be a message to Joshua himself. A new leader living under the shadow of another great predecessor needed assurance and affirmation that God would be with him as He was with his predecessor.

Sign of YHWH’s covenant faithfulness:

God tells the Israelites that through this, they would know that He will do as He said when He promised them victory over their enemies. Crossing the Jordan on dry ground became a sign to Israel that YHWH was keeping His side of the covenant. The land was already theirs for the taking, providing they remained faithful. YHWH is faithful!

Memorial for future generations:

The crossing of the Jordan would leave an impact on future generations as well. God just wouldn’t allow them to forget. He had a message to the future Israel… a message from the past. When the Israelites looked at the stones and asked their parents what it meant, they would learn that God caused the Jordan to dry up so that their ancestors could cross on dry land. And they will know who their God is. They will know how powerful the hand of their God is. They will remember…

Testament to the World:

When the other nations hear of what the Lord has done for Israel, they will melt with fear and trembling. They will know that YHWH is the Lord of the whole earth. YHYH is sending a message that will reverberate across the land. He is the sovereign and almighty God.

When I think about my own life, I see many Jordan experiences. I see God’s hand in them. The big question now is this: What will I do with these experiences? Will I let them be reminders that God will be with me as He was with Moses and Joshua? Will I let them be reminders of God’s faithfulness, just as He was faithful to Israel? Will I let them be lessons to my children and the future generations, so that they may remember the God of their forefathers and worship Him? Will I let these experiences be a testament to the world and my neighbors, so that they may know who my God is? The title I gave to these chapters comes from one of my favorite hymns, which I think was really appropriate. O God our help in ages past, our strength for those to come!

I'm Alice?

I did this quiz... thanks to Eihcus!

Alice


Which DISNEY character are you most like?

Am I like Alice? No wonder... I find myself drifting into my own fantasy Wonderland quite often... traveling to different worlds in my mind's eye...

Wait a minute! What am I doing!!! I've got my Masters proposal defense in 4 hour's time and I'm not prepared yet!

Joshua 1 & 2: Caught up in the Story!

Joshua: a leader in transition.
Moses is dead. It’s time for him to step up. God is calling him to do a new thing; time to lead Israel into the Promised Land. But wait… will he be a good leader? Will the people follow him as they followed Moses? The added pressure of being in the shadow of a great predecessor doesn’t help. What lies ahead? Uncertainty… Can he do it? God assures Joshua, “Be strong and courageous! I will be with you as I was with Moses!”

Reubenites, Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh: sacrificial obedience.
They have been called to arms; to fulfill their duty to their brothers, their nation, and to God. Assist their brothers in the conquest of the land west of the Jordan! But then… they’ve already got their land! Their wives and children will be settling down East of the Jordan. What if they don’t return? Will they see their family again? Is a land destined to be allocated to other tribes worth fighting for? It’s none of their business, isn’t it? Let the other tribes fight for their own land! But the LORD demands obedience… an obedience that is sacrificial… an obedience that is not concerned about personal gain. And this means sacrificing for the sake of others even if the gain is not theirs. It IS their business!

The Unnamed Spies: doing God’s work in secret
No one knows their names. A few generations from now, no one will even remember them. No one will remember that they put themselves in grave danger by entering enemy territory. They could have been killed. No glamour. No hero status. Nevertheless, they obeyed. They did it for the LORD, for their new leader, and for their nation. Let their service to the LORD be in secret… they needed no recognition from any man...

Rahab: help from the outside
In no way did she belong to that group of foreigners who are now threatening invasion. Help her enemies destroy her beloved city? Protect their spies? Why did she even bother? Fear for her own life? Fear for her family members? Or did she recognize something different and awesome about this God of Israel… so much that she referred to Him as ‘the LORD’? What if the King found out? It didn’t matter anymore… her last, desperate attempt at salvation. Who would have thought that she would be saved? Who would have thought, that through this harlot, the royal bloodline would be established? Who could imagine that through her lineage would come one who would be known as the Savior of the world?

The King of Jericho: getting in the way
His duty is to defend his city. Is there any hope left? Can they defeat the Israelites, the most feared army known to man? He did what he thought was best… for his people. How was he to know that he would be getting in the way of God’s story for the world? He had no idea at all…

For some reason, God chooses to involve people in His story of creation and redemption of the world. These people got caught up in God’s story, whether they realized it or not! They all had their roles to play. We’re all caught up in the same story too! What are our roles in this story?

I can’t help but feel like I’m the King of Jericho… getting in the way of God’s plans at my workplace. I don’t love my colleagues enough. I don’t care for them enough… sigh… In another area of my life, I hear God demanding sacrificial obedience, just like the Eastern tribes. “Not my ministry! It’s none of my business! I’ve got other things to do!” I said. “It IS your business. I want you to help.” I can hear Him say. In another ministry, I feel like Joshua… still in transition… even after 10 months. Still uncertain… still unsure…

Some Issues

I was reading this article on the Star today and pondered about the statements made by our Malaysian Christian leaders. Here are some excerpts:

National Evangelical Christian Fellowship secretary-general Rev Dr Wong Kim Kong said it does not approve marriages of the same sex even after one partner has changed his or her sex. “It’s clearly stated in the Bible. There is no such thing as creation of half-half. Therefore, biologically and genetically, there is only male and female,” he told Bernama. “Therefore, there is no chance it (the marriage) will be condoned by the Christian church. As a religious group, we have to follow the religion based on the Bible.”

This really sounded to me like what one of those American Fundamentalist Christians would say. Is it really that ‘clearly stated in the Bible?’ Not to say I’m encouraging homosexuality and sex change etc (and I’m not saying that they are right either), but… ok… maybe it IS ‘clearly stated in the Bible’… it is clearly stated in the Bible that women should be silent in churches and should not have short hair too. It is clearly stated in the Bible that pork should not be eaten. Is it really clear how these verses should be interpreted? ‘Biologically and genetically, there is only male and female’… what about those born without sexual organs… or with a mixture of both? What if future scientific research shows that some males are born genetically with female tendencies and vice versa? What will the Christians say then? If there are people born without hands and feet; without sight or hearing; what makes us think that it is impossible for people to be born ‘half-half’? Should we make such unfounded statements on issues that we have not yet even begun to understand?

Council of Churches of Malaysia secretary-general Dr Herman Shastri said that while churches do not encourage the practice of sex change, churches had their own approach in recognising such marriages. However, he said the church should not discriminate against a person if he or she has proof of being born with imbalance hormones; was undergoing counseling; that his or her parents do not object to the sex change; and the operation was carried out in a proper medical institution.

I think this response is more reasonable. But after thinking for awhile, I realized: what gives me the right to judge these responses? Would I have been able to offer a better answer? NO!

In Kuching, Chung's adopted brother Brian Choot, who coordinated the wedding, said the couple was prepared to migrate if the situation did not permit them to live as husband and wife.

It’s sad that these people have to resort to such measures. Would Jesus have allowed them to be treated as outcasts of society?

While visiting some of the sites linked from Sivin Kit’s Garden, I read this article and its response. It’s sad… that one can talk this way about another person’s death. Who does he think he is?

Meanwhile, Pat Robertson is at it again…

Conservative Christian television evangelist Pat Robertson has warned citizens of a Pennsylvania town of God's wrath after they voted a school board out of office for supporting "intelligent design". Robertson, a former Republican presidential candidate and founder of the influential conservative Christian Broadcasting Network and Christian Coalition, has a long record of similar apocalyptic warnings and provocative statements. "I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected him from your city," Robertson said on his TV show broadcast from Virginia, The 700 Club. And don't wonder why he hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. If that's the case, don't ask for his help because he might not be there."

Jesus taught us to love our enemies… but who would have thought that our greatest enemies… those that we may find the most difficult to love… can turn out to be fellow Christians?

Vincent Donovan on Missions, Culture and Evangelization

Some excerpts from Vincent Donovan's book 'Christianity Rediscovered'... just some thoughts to ponder upon...

It is surely here in the midst of the cultures of the world, and not in the church, that the ordinary way of salvation must lie, the ordinary means of salvation, the very possibility of salvation for most of the human race. Or else it is a very strange God we have. The gospel must be brought to the nations in which already resides the possibility of salvation. I had to realize that God enables a people, any people, to reach salvation through their culture and tribal, racial customs and traditions.

Now it is the turn of the European-Americans to be passed over. Before this century is out, the members of the predominantly non-white third world, for the first time in history, will begin to become the majority in the Christian church. As the message passes from us to them, I find myself hoping that they will make better use of it than we did.

Another assumption on which missionary work was built was this: we had to convince the world of sin, instead of leaving that task to the Holy Spirit, as Christ suggested.

Mission has never been a one way street. It has always been a dialogue, and every word of importance and value in that dialogue has not always been spoken by the sending church to the mission land. Sometimes it has been quite the reverse.

On the Masai church: The only church they had ever seen; The only church they knew, was a church perpetually on the move, a mobile church, a nomadic church, a church never perfect, never reaching the end, never having all the answers, never coming to rest – a church on safari. For them it would always have to be a pilgrim church.

Never accept and be content with unanalyzed assumptions, assumptions about the work, about people, about the church or Christianity. Never be afraid to ask questions about the work we have inherited or the work we are doing; the day we are completely satisfied with what we have been doing; the day we have found the perfect, unchangeable system of work, the perfect answer, never in need of being corrected again, on that day we will know that we are wrong, that we have made the greatest mistake of all.

The goal of evangelization, and the basis for its urgency, is to put all things under the dominion of Christ. The fulfillment of the human race, the destiny of the human race, of all creation, is what is at stake. Personal salvation is a secondary question. The recapitulation of all things in Christ is what is in store for the human race. God intends to bring the earth and the human race to the fulfillment of the kingdom, planned from the beginning of creation and with the recapitulation of all things, all men, all nations, all the earth, in the man Jesus, in the Word made flesh, at the end. The nations and cultures of the world, with all the riches they imply and possess, are not destined merely for salvation – to be saved and conserved. They are called to be lifted up and fulfilled and transformed in Jesus Christ. Not to bring salvation and goodness and holiness and grace and God, which were there before we got there. But to bring these people the only thing they did not have before we came – hope – a hope embedded in the meaning of the life and death and resurrection of Christ.

Support Our Local Authors!

Can Malaysians write? Are there any good, local Christian authors out there? 2 books that I purchased at MPH recently say ‘Yes’! Most of my experiences in local Christian literature have mainly come from SU publications and Kairos magazines. I have yet to read any of Rev. Hwa Yung’s or Tan Soo Inn’s books though. But when I picked up these 2 books (also by Kairos publications), I was impressed!

‘Poems by the Wayside’ is a collection of poems by four modern Malaysian poets. It’s difficult to appreciate some of the contemporary poetical structures, but these people really are talented. Some of the poems, with their distinctive local flavor of bamboo shoots, monsoon rains, and Malacca town, transport the reader back in time to meet some childhood recollections. It’s got quality paper and printing too! Not to mention the nice rustic cover design.

On the other hand, ‘Can Two Walk Together’, an autobiography by Tony and Teresa Lim, impressed me with its wit and humor. The book gives a very transparent picture of various issues that Christians in Malaysia come face to face with, while revealing some of the cute moments the couple have together. I haven’t finished it yet, but the first chapter was enough to make me want to continue reading. I highly recommend this one! Agnes liked it so much she bought two more copies for her friends! And the great thing about these local books: they’re cheap (compared to those other cutthroat priced imported Christian books)! And, of course, they’re much more relevant to us Malaysians!

Joshua: The Journey So Far

Our journey through the book of Joshua begins! I’ve been really excited about studying this book together. We did an overview as we glanced through the entire book chapter by chapter while pointing out a few themes in it. The whole book rests on God’s covenant with the Israelites, beginning with Abraham and then Moses through the Law. Everything the book talks about; the land, the victories, the blessings; all go back to God’s faithfulness and the faithfulness of the Israelites to the covenant. We talked about the journey of the Israelites so far. They’ve gone through a lot; from Abraham to Jacob; from slavery to exodus to wandering in the desert. Now they will be entering the Promised Land. But their journey is far from over. Many challenges lie ahead. The stage is set for another phase in their journey home. It gave us a platform to reflect about our own lives and our own journeys so far. We’ve had very long journeys… 24 years for me. There have been ups and downs, hikes and slides, twists and turns. And now I’m here. God has been faithful. What about me? This journey is far from over. I wonder what’s up ahead. I wonder how long more… before I arrive home… my real home… our Promised Land…