Before Joshua and the people of Israel could move forward into the Promised Land, they had to look back, they had to remember. They had to remember from where they came as slaves in Egypt and how God saved them (Deut. 5:15); remember the covenant God made with their fathers and mothers (Deut. 4:10); remember God’s provision in the wilderness (Deut. 8:2); and remember their rebellious ways (Deut. 9:7).
Too often, we practice selective remembering that leads us to hide our sins and hidden sins are as deadly to the soul as hidden cancer cells are to the body. The psalmist warns, “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away” (32:3) and “There is no health in my bones because of my sin” (38:3). The only proper way to renewal is repentance. As acts of remembering and renewing, Joshua led the people of Israel in three sacramental rites. They erected a memorial altar, they circumcised all the males, and they celebrated the Passover.
A memorial altar (Joshua 4:1-9). At the place where they crossed the Jordan River, they took twelve stones from the middle of the river bed and erected a memorial altar. The memorial altar signified God’s act of stopping the flood waters of the Jordan River so that the twelve tribe could pass through. The twelve stones also signified the unity of the people. The memorial altar became a landmark for generations. The author of Joshua makes the point that the stones “are there to this day” (Joshua 4:9). Generations later, John the Baptist was preaching and baptizing at that very spot. He warned the Pharisees and Sadducees of their complacency and hypocrisy and declared, “God is able, from these stones, to raise up children for Abraham” (Matt. 3:9). It is likely that John was pointing to the twelve stones of Joshua’s memorial altar.
The altar is the epicenter of Pentecostal spirituality. As we worship God, the Spirit moves upon us and moves us to the altar where we give ourselves as a living sacrifice. At the altar we encounter God, we are convicted by the Spirit, we are provoked to repentance, we are born to new life, sanctified and filled with the Spirit of God. From the altar the Spirit moves us to go into the world as empowered witnesses of Jesus Christ. A church without an active altar cannot claim to be authentically Pentecostal. A church without an altar should move us to lament.
Circumcision (Joshua 5:2-8). Circumcision was the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham. The sons of Israel born during the wilderness wandering were not circumcised. The failure to circumcise their sons, signified neglect of the covenant. The act of circumcising the sons born in the wilderness was covenant remembering and renewing. This was so significant that God declared, “Today I have rolled away the shame of Egypt from you” (Josh. 5:9). This was a new birth for the people.
We need to “remember from where [we] have fallen, and repent and do the deeds [we] did at first” (Rev. 2:5). Circumcision was a sign of initiation into life with God. When Joshua had all the sons of Israel circumcised at the Jordan River, they were remembering Abraham, the father of their faith. Just as their fathers were circumcised in Egypt and baptized in the waters of the Red Sea, the generation of Joshua were baptized in the waters of the Jordan River and circumcised. They were remembering and renewing covenantal signs. The apostle Paul tells us that water baptism is “a circumcision made without hands” (Col. 2:11-12). We need to remember our baptism, our initiation into the faith. We need to recover our first love. We need to remember our mothers and fathers of the faith. We need to reclaim the distinctives of Pentecostal spirituality. We need to remember Barney Creek, the Shearer Schoolhouse, and the Azusa St. Mission. We need to sing, shout, and dance. We need to have the joy of the salvation of the Lord restored to us. We need to wash each other’s feet. And we need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit with tongues, exorcisms, and healings as signs following (Mark 16:17-18).
Passover (Joshua 5:10-12). When the people of Israel observed the first Passover in Egypt, they were told, “It shall be when the Lord brings you to the land… a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall observe this rite… (Exodus 13:5). This is the first Passover in the Promised Land and signifies the end of their wandering and the faithfulness of God. This meal links them to their ancestors and provides nourishment for their children. It is both remembrance and anticipation.
We need to gather at the Table of the Lord. The Passover was to be an eternal ordinance that signifies the liberation of generation after generation. It was not simply a remembrance of God’s past deliverance, but a celebration of God’s ongoing deliverance. The Passover finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ – “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). The Table of the Lord is an altar where we gather together with all God’s people. At the Table, we remember Calvary and anticipate the marriage feast of the Lamb. We celebrate the already, we hope for the not yet.
