“Faithful community to be obedient to each other”
SCRIPTURE
Joshua 1:17 We will obey you just as we obeyed Moses. And may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses.
OBSERVATION
Summary
Joshua encourages the tribes who chose the east of Jordan to participate in the conquest of Canaan, and they are willing to follow.
Who is God
• God wants His people to obey their leader appointed by God.
• God wants His people to obey one another,
APPLICATION
The scenes of the people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, who pledge allegiance to Joshua, are impressive. Thus, all leaders and the people of the Israelite community began their conquest of Canaan, vowing absolute obedience to Joshua’s words. They said they would go anywhere, as Joshua leads. They are now about to crossing the Jordan . When they say they would go anywhere, it means they would go in the Jordan River. And they actually did. The priests carried the ark of the covenant and went into the Jordan and people followed them. Why did you go in the river risking their lives? It was simply because Joshua told them to go in. They even encourages Joshua, “Strengthen your heart and be bold.”
Also people tried to be faithful toward each other. The background of today’s passage is written in Nu. 32: 13-15. At that time, half of God, the Reuben, and Manasseh tribes were allocated through Moses to occupy the land east of Jordan on condition that they would participate in the war of conquest of Canaan across Jordan. And now they want to keep their promises. It is a beautiful community of faith where people keep promises. Indeed we must obey each other with humility, honesty and faithfulness. Eph 5:21, “Submit to each other humbly in Christ.” When people obey each other with respect and humility, they can build up a strong community to defeat the enemy. When the Israelites abandoned their selfish minds and built up a community faithful to each other, they could cross the Jordan, break the Jericho, defeat the Canaanites, and win the conquest of Canaan. To fulfill God’s dream of evangelizing the world, we must establish a community faithful not only to our God-appointed leaders, but also to each other.
- Sin to void, Never ignore any single word spoken by our church people.
- Promise to hold, God gives victory to the community where people obey each other
- Action to take place, Be a leader who listens to all.
PRAYER
Father God, thank you for establishing our church as a community faithful and obedient to each other. I also want to listen to the words of our associate parlors and saints, and build a church that fulfills your vision to save all humanity.
Pastor Sharon Lee's QT 