Joshua 12 "Remember"

Joshua 12 – Brandon Hatmaker "Remember"
Friday, August 8, 2008

"These are the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir…" - Joshua 12:7

Alex Shootman, a VP at Vignette here in Austin, a great friend of mine who also serves on the Board of Directors at Austin New Church wrote the following about Joshua 12. I was encouraged, so I thought I'd share it with you:

"31 and 0, decent record for a wandering people who just crossed the Jordan. There are so few times in the Bible that the Word takes time out to just declare a list, so it must be important. But why? The list seems tedious, but if it was our land, we would read this with some interest – the way you look at the survey of your lot before you close on your house. The list also makes it real, these kings existed and the conquering happened; evidence of God fulfilling a promise to Abraham. The list is a glimpse in the rearview mirror – a declaration of evidence"

"Jumping off a point Brandon made yesterday about circumstances. This struck a chord because I had not ever thought of circumstances as an enemy. When we are in a difficult circumstance it is hard to see the hand of a loving God, but when we look back, we always get the “oh I see” moment. The moment where God’s plan is clear and the difficulties make sense. I need to become better at seeing the truth in the rearview mirror. This truth is not a predictor of the future, but rather it is evidence of His hand. The more evidence I have, the more confident I can be He will not leave me in the present or the future."

I'm encouraged and refreshed by Alex's words. I think the list of the kings are once again "River Stones". A monument to God's faithfulness. Isn't it amazing how quickly we forget what God has done in the past and then doubt, wonder, and fear creeps in? He knows that's our nature. It's why he calls us to remember.

I looked up the word "remember" as a key word on my online bible program. It's used in 233 verses in the NIV. I was expecting them to be about us. But, I was surprised how many times they were about God remembering, not just his people remembering. The Bible is laced with verses of God saying things like "I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham..." Bottom line: God promises to remember his promises. Why? Because He is faithful.

Maybe our lesson today is "faithfulness" as much as it is "remember". Hopefully one just leads to the other.