February 26th, 2013
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Signs To Remember

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Opening Prayer

Dear God, I come before You today with faith and thanksgiving, remembering Your great grace towards me.

Read Joshua 5:1-12

[1] Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted in fear and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites. [2] At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.” [3] So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth. [4] Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt-all the men of military age-died in the wilderness on the way after leaving Egypt. [5] All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness during the journey from Egypt had not. [6] The Israelites had moved about in the wilderness forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the LORD. For the LORD had sworn to them that they would not see the land he had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. [7] So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. [8] And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed. [9] Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal to this day. [10] On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. [11] The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. [12] The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

The sacrament of baptism relates to our Christian beginnings, and that of communion to our Christian living.

Think Further

Entering into God’s covenant and maintaining our membership of his people are vitally important for our spiritual lives. For Jewish people, circumcision of males and the celebration of Passover are perhaps the two most important signs of belonging to the covenant people. For us today, baptism and communion, the signs that we are members of the new covenant, mirror these Jewish practices.

Why had the Israelites not practiced circumcision in the wilderness wanderings? The generation born in the 40 years after the Exodus, either through disobedience or lack of faith (6), had failed to practice the sign that Jewish males normally receive on the eighth day after birth, but is also practiced on those older as a requirement before they can celebrate the Passover (Exod. 12:48). This means that a generation who had gone through the wilderness had forgotten to celebrate God’s act of redemption. The “reproach of Egypt” (9) is not only the disgrace of slavery, but also the disgrace of uncircumcision (Gen. 34:14).

Like the Israelites in the wilderness, we can often lose sight of the fundamentals of our faith and our walk with the Lord. The business of today’s world, the pressures to conform and compromise, and the lack of vitality in our churches can cause us to lose heart, grow spiritually cold, and go through the motions of faith without genuine spiritual passion and commitment. In the New Testament we read that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts, but “faith expressing itself through love” (Gal. 5:6). Today we celebrate communion knowing that “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” and we should celebrate the feast with “sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:7,8).

Apply

How do you show that you value the covenant signs of baptism and communion? How relevant and important are they in the life of your congregation?

Closing prayer

Father, as I think of my baptism I remember beginning my journey with You. As I gather with others at Your table, I am reminded of my need for You.

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