Dear Weekly Readers! God’s
Peace!
Words are so very important. One
small good word can encourage a brother.
Likewise, one small evil word can do much destruction. Let us always be careful of the words we
use. Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of
your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister
grace unto the hears.
The below article by Pastor Wayne Juntunen gives a different but wonderful
example of how very small words can change the meaning and importance of the
subject being communicated!
Please enjoy, and my God Bless your week!
OUR
COVENANT KEEPING GOD
Dear precious brothers and sisters in Christ,
the Lord opened mine eyes to see something from His Word I had never seen
before. Yes, I have read the passage
many times, but have not really “seen” the importance of a single word in the
verse that is so important that it changes the emphasis of the entire event
which it describes. It is the little
word “it” in Joshua 4:7. God had given
specific instructions to Joshua as to the manner by which His people with whom
He had made His covenant were to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. There are many significant details in this
event that are worthy to note. But the
one that struck me this morning as I was reading the passage is a part of verse
7 in chapter 4. The phrase is as follows: “…the waters of Jordan were cut off before
the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan…”
As often as I have read that verse, without
thinking, I have put the emphasis upon the people so as to believe the waters
were cut when the people passed over.
But that is not what the Bible says!
It says, “the waters were cut off before the ark of the Lord when it passed over Jordan.” That “it” does not refer to the people, but
to the ark! As surely as soon as the
feet of the priests touched the flood waters of the Jordan, the waters parted;
not because of the priests, but because they bore the ark. God had given the instructions as to how the
crossing was going to be possible, but it was the presence of the ark that
created the effect. Why is this so important? Simply and clearly it shows us that in God’s
work of salvation, the emphasis is always upon what He has done, is doing, and
will do!
Yes, it is true that the twelve stones taken
up from the dry river bed of the Jordan by a representative of each of the
twelve tribes was to be set up as a memorial to future generations to testify
that the Lord God “…dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over. (Josh. 4:21). But that testimony referred to the effect or
result of the fact that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the
covenant of the LORD; when it passed
over Jordan. Without the presence and
power of “the Ark”, Israel would never have made it into the Promised Land!
That Ark, as we all know, was the Ark of the
Covenant that God instructed Moses to make and into which were place the Ten
Commandments and upon which was the lid known as “the mercy seat” (Ex. 25:17-22). The Epistle to the Hebrews in chapter 8 – 10
points us forward to Christ who is the fulfillment of God’s covenant. Therefore, we know this Old Testament Ark was
a “type of Christ.” He is the Author and
Finisher of our salvation. It is because
of Him and Him alone that we are not only saved but in and through whom we have
life in abundance here, now, and forever!
God is faithful! He has kept and continues to keep His
covenant. He puts no confidence in the
flesh. Not only has He begun the good
work, within us but will continue to bring it to completion within us until we,
too, cross over the Jordan of our death into the Promised Land of eternal
glory. All of this is because of His
grace. As Paul writes in his Epistle to
the Romans, where sin abounds, grace much more abounds (Rom. 5:20).
Our response is the obedience of faith (Rom. 1:5; 16:26). God has perfected his marvelous grace
throughout the ages having spoken in these last days through Christ’s
suffering, death, and resurrection. He
has fulfilled and kept his covenant promises.
But if we do not take Him at His Word, all that He has promised and
finished will be of no benefit to us.
How dramatically did God show His power as the Ark stopped the raging
flood waters of the Jordan. Had Israel
feared the waters and not trusted God’s Ark, they would have never known the riches
of His abundant blessing He had in store for them. Has He not shown His power even more dramatically
on Calvary’s Cross and the Garden tomb through the death and resurrection of
our Lord?
God’s love for fallen mankind
has never faltered or failed. His love
is stronger than death! Dear reader,
trust Him and sing, “Jesus love me this I know for the Bible tells me so.” Then live in the power of that truth and walk
by faith!
Pr. Wayne Juntunen
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