(January 07, 2024) Dr Jim McClure encourages Christians to confidently follow the Lord this new year… 

Welcome to 2024! Where did last year go?

I was reflecting on how much the world has changed in my lifetime. I was born when German bombs were being dropped on Belfast. But following the end of the war, despite various hardships, life was pretty good. I have come to the conclusion that I have been privileged to live in a time of unparalleled discovery and achievement in the world.

Following the Second World War who would have guessed that someone would walk on the moon? Who would have speculated that our old radio would be largely replaced by a colour television? Who would have considered that one day you could carry a phone in your pocket without trailing a telephone wire? Who would have anticipated that something called a computer would be invented that would give you instant answers to many of your questions on many subjects? Who would have predicted the amazing advances in medicine and surgery?

Of course, not everything over the years has been good or positive – I do not need to list some of the negatives and tragedies that have also been part of those years… although the Covid pandemic which, directly or indirectly, wreaked havoc in the lives of countless millions of people throughout the world, was one of those stressful times.

2023 holds many memories for us – some good and some bad. I reckon that the Hamas assault in Israel on October 7 will go down in history as one of the vilest events ever witnessed.

• The end of one year and the beginning of another makes us pause to reflect on what has been and to wonder, ‘What will the future hold for us?’

That was a question that would have dominated the thinking of the Israelites as they gathered on eastern bank of the Jordan river almost 3500 years ago. Joshua, who had taken over the leadership of Israel after the death of Moses, told them: ‘You have never passed this way before’ (Joshua 3:4). They were aware that they had now arrived at a significant stage in their journey since leaving Egypt.

1. Reflection on the Past
The Jordan river, in a significant way, symbolised the last boundary between one stage in the life of those Israelites, that is, their nomadic wandering in the wilderness, and the next stage which was to be a settled homeland.

What a history Israel already had, beginning with God’s call to Abraham to establish a new nation in Canaan! Then a famine occurred that required the Israelites to emigrate to Egypt to find food. At first everything went well for them in Egypt as Joseph, a member of their family who earlier had been sold into slavery, had become the second-in-command of Egypt and had been given the responsibility of preparing for the coming famine. But as the years passed things turned sour for the Israelites who became slaves to the Egyptians. Exodus 1:14 tells us that the Egyptians ‘made their lives bitter with hard labour in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labour the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.’

Eventually God appointed Moses to lead them from their captivity. He went to Pharaoh and said, ‘The Lord God of Israel says, “Let my people go.”  Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go”’ (Exodus 5:2).

God sent ten plagues to pressure Pharaoh to change his mind. After each of nine plagues Pharaoh promised to release Israel… but repeatedly, after each plague was lifted, he reneged on his promise – until the tenth plague – the death of Egypt’s first-born children. The very night that happened, Pharaoh said to Moses, ‘Get out, you and your Israelites! Leave my country; go and worship the Lord, as you asked’ (Exodus 12:31GNB). And they did! Immediately!

Then Pharaoh had second thoughts and pursued the Israelites. He and his army caught up with them as they were camped by the Red Sea. The Israelites were trapped! There was no escape as the mighty Egyptian army was behind them and the Red Sea was in front of them. They had no place to hide!

But God (what a wonderful phrase ‘But God’ is!) sent a strong easterly wind that blew all night dividing the sea, resulting in dry land appearing where the water had been. The Israelites walked through the opening with a wall of water on each side. When all were safely on the other side, the water closed over the Egyptian army following throwing it into confusion and none survived (See Exodus 14).

Many years later, when the Israelites gathered on the eastern side of the Jordan river to listen to Moses speaking very solemnly, they would have many memories to reflect on! (Deuteronomy 1).

They would remember that, despite their escape from slavery in Egypt, they had complained about so many things in the wilderness. But God had provided them with quail and manna and water. He had given them the 10 Commandments. And manifested His presence among them in many ways especially in the cloud that went before them every day and the pillar of fire at night. He had given them victory over their enemies. He was indeed Yahweh Yireh (Jehovah Jireh) – ‘the Lord who provides.’

And as they stood on the banks of the Jordan river looking across to the Promised Land on the other side, the Israelites would remember their failure of almost 40 years earlier when they had had the opportunity to enter the Promised Land. But because of their misplaced fear of the people who were then living there, they rebelled against God’s plan and did not trust Him to fulfill the promise He had made to their ancestors. God had declared back then, ‘Not one of you from this evil generation will enter the fertile land that I promised to give your ancestors’ (Deuteronomy 1:35GNB).

Now, as the Israelites looked across the Jordan, they would realise that, despite all their failures and faithlessness in the intervening years, God had been faithful to them! That indeed was the theme of the last message Moses gave to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land. Moses declared, ‘He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He’ (Deuteronomy 32:4).

God indeed had never forsaken them and had often stepped into desperate situations when it seemed all hope had gone.

• Nothing is beyond the power of God to intervene! And as we reflect over our own lives at the beginning of a new year, let us never forget that our ‘faithful God’ is with us all the way regardless of the circumstances that lie ahead of us.

2. Re-evaluation of the Present
The Israelites had arrived at a most significant period in the history of their nation. Moses, who had led them for 40 years through many different experiences, had recently died and Joshua was now their leader. Since their arrival at the crossing point, they had had three days to reflect on the past and to decide about their future. Was it wise to go into an unfamiliar situation? Their present experience as nomads, despite some of their discomforts and challenges, was familiar but who knew how many different kinds of challenges they would have to face as they readjusted their lives to meet the unfamiliar challenges of settling in the land across the Jordan.

Of course, crossing the Jordan, even if they decided that they really wanted to do that, was a major obstacle. Normally the river was around 30 metres wide and up to three metres deep and that in itself would have been an enormous challenge, but the passage tells us that the Jordan was now at flood stage as it was harvest time. The raging river would have flooded its banks. There seemed to be no way across.

So Israel was confronted by a seemingly unreasonable challenge – cross an apparently impassable river. Having travelled so far and for so long it seemed obvious that their goals had been thwarted. So near and yet so far! There was nothing more they could do but wait.

Three days later God implemented His own plan to resolve the problem. He said to Joshua, ‘Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: “When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river”’ (Joshua 3:8). Looking at the situation objectively, I’m sure many would have wondered, ‘What good is that going to do?’ But God often works out His plans in ways we can not anticipate. He is bigger than our problems! God is not stumped by seeming impossibilities.

We should never leave God out of the equation. Jesus once said something that we should always cling to – ‘With God all things are possible’ (Matthew 19:26).

God often works out His will by resolving situations in ways that are beyond our powers of logic and reasoning and analysing. Let me give you an example of an event we have recently celebrated. God had a plan to  invade the world and turn the hearts of men and women to Himself. But instead, of deploying a battalion of angels, He sent a helpless little baby, who would later be born in a borrowed stable instead of a magnificent palace, to a woman of low social status who was not yet married. That is the God we are worshipping today. His strategies  are beyond our thinking.

I most certainly see this to be true when I reflect on my own life. I would never have planned the kind of life I have had  – I find it quite breathtaking. In Isaiah we read that God said, ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’ (Isaiah 55:8-9).

I believe that we often need to pause to re-evaluate our present circumstances, especially when the problems confronting us – politically, morally and personally – are threatening to overwhelm us. Long held values are being turned upside down. Truth is now no longer exclusively related to reality. The biblical values which once were solidly built into the framework of Western civilisation are discarded. Both Jews and Christians are being slaughtered in various countries and the media is largely silent on most of these issues!

As we attempt to re-evaluate our present circumstance, we have real cause for concern. But, in spite of that, let us grasp this truth – God has not forsaken us!

I am sure that as the Israelites camped beside the flooding river, they had great unease. But God knew what was happening and what He was going to do about it. The Israelites were about to experience a ‘But God’ intervention. Their present problems and frustrations were an opportunity for the presence and the power of God to be demonstrated. They were about to see their desperate predicament resolved in a very short time when God intervened.

• We must never underestimate the power of God to transform the worst of situations. Let us grasp this truth – our all-powerful God has not lost control of His world and He will intervene in His own time and most likely in ways that we would never have anticipated.

3. Recommitment for the Future
The Israelites were about to enter one of the most formative experiences in their history although none of them would have guessed it at that time. Crossing the Jordan river into the Promised Land reshaped Israel from a group of nomads into an established nation. A new future was about to open up for them.

Three instructions were given to the people as they were about to begin their new life in the Promised Land…

(i) Follow God
‘After three days the officers went throughout the camp, giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about a thousand yards between you and the ark; do not go near it”’(Joshua 3:2-4).

The Ark of the Covenant, which God instructed Moses to build, contained  the Mosaic law, a pot of manna and Aaron’s rod and it represented God’s presence among the people. When the priests, who were carrying the Ark, stepped into the water at the edge of the Jordan, the river opened up to provide a safe route into the Promised Land. The people probably remembered that almost 40 years earlier God had rescued them from the Egyptians by opening a way through the Red Sea.

They were told to keep a distance of about 1 km from the Ark. The reason was that it ensured that everyone would have a clear view of the it. It would always be in sight!

So the first instruction was the most important one for them and for us today and into this new year. Our New Year Resolution should be ‘Follow God’! Never take your eyes off God! He is our best compass in life. We may not always want to go where He leads, but He will always lead us in the right direction. The right course for our lives is always the one in which He leads us regardless of whatever other pressures or influences may try to distract us and redirect us. God’s way is always the best way!

(ii) Consecrate yourselves
‘Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you”’ (Joshua 3:5). The KJV uses the phrase ‘Sanctify yourselves.’  Sometimes we use ‘religious’ words without actually knowing what they mean. The Hebrew word (kadosh) behind those English translations (and also behind the word ‘holy’) actually means ‘separate’ or ‘set apart.’

This doesn’t mean that God wants His people to isolate themselves from the world! Being ‘set apart’ does not mean cutting ourselves off from our society,  or being involved in only Christian activities, or using Christian jargon, or dressing in a certain way, or being legalistic and self-righteous!

But it does mean committing our lives to God and allowing His values to be the ones by which we seek to live. It means allowing the way Jesus lived to be the example of how we should live.

‘Consecration’ or ‘holiness’ is not a one-off event in our lives but a daily calling and challenge and our response to God who calls us to reflect in our lives His characteristics of ‘love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’ (Galatians 5:22-23).

The challenge to consecrate ourselves is an on-going one!

(iii) Remember God’s blessings
In Joshua 4 we read that when the whole nation had safely crossed the Jordan river, Joshua instructed that 12 stones were to be taken from the middle of the river. Each stone represented the people of the 12 tribes of Israel who had experienced 40 amazing years in the wilderness in which God had been their provider and protector and they had now set foot on the land God had promised them. Truly God had  been good to them, despite all their failures. Joshua then declared, ‘These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever’ (Joshua 4:7).

These were to serve them as a prompt to remember all the blessings of God that they had experienced in the past – His goodness, graciousness and generosity. Remembering God’s past blessings stirs up hope, encourages thankfulness and increases faith in God for the future.

2024 lies before us as a road untravelled and none of us knows what lies ahead for us on this new journey. But that’s okay.

As I step into the new year with all its instabilities and uncertainties, I remember the words of that old Ira Stanphill hymn:
‘Many things about tomorrow,
I don’t seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow,
And I know who holds my hand.’

• I encourage you to fully trust our faithful God and with confidence follow Him on 2024’s untravelled road!

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Dr Jim McClure, author of several books and Bible studies, offers them free in electronic version in EPUB, Kindle and PDF formats.

 

Looking for Answers in a Confusing World is particularly recommended. Questions seeking enlightenment on biblical perspectives are welcomed. Link: jbmcclure@gmail.com
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