Remember Your Journey

 In Micah 6:1-8, God lays out His case for judgment against Israel. He reminds them of some of the things that He has done for them as proof of His commitment to the covenant that He had made with them in verse 5:

Micah 6:5

My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.

When I read this, I did remember the story of Balak and Balaam (you can read it in Numbers 22 for a refresher.) Balak, the king of Moab, sought out Balaam, a prophet, to prophesy victory for the Moabites over the Israelites in battle (this was during their first journey to the promised land.) God, however, would not allow Balaam to speak any false prophecy, and he instead prophesied victory for the Israelites, much to the frustration of Balak, the lesson being that the Word of God is true and that the will of God cannot be changed by any man, prophet or not.

On the other hand, when I tried to remember the “journey from Shittim to Gilgal,” I didn’t have a clue what God was talking about!
The account of this journey is found in Joshua 3-4. Everyone always remembers the parting of the red sea, but God also did a few other “partings,” and this is one of them. It occurs after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, traveled to the promised land, and were forced to wander for 40 years in the desert because of their lack of faith that God would give it to them as He promised. Moses had just died and they were now under the command of Joshua, and it was time to cross the Jordan River to enter the promised land, where God had promised to drive out the current inhabitants for them. They had come to camp at Shittim, and Gilgal was across the Jordan River in the land of Israel’s inheritance.

Numbers 3:5

Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.”

God instructed them to let the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant go ahead of the people, and, when the priests reached the water, the river stopped flowing so that the Israelites could pass over dry land. The priests stood there with the Ark until they had all crossed, and then God also instructed them

Joshua 4:2

Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.

These stones were to be made into a monument, so that the Israelites could take their children there to look at them and remind them of the miracle that God had done there. Throughout the Old Testament, God is constantly setting up reminders for His people so that they will remember what He has done for them and not turn away.

God brought Israel out of Egypt and parted the Red Sea to assure them that He was with them in the beginning, and, likewise, he stopped the Jordan to demonstrate that He was still with them. This journey had great meaning to the Israelites at that time, but God, through His masterful planning, has made it even more meaningful for us today! Christ told the disciples in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you, even to the end of the age,” and Paul discusses in Colossians that Christ has gone before us as well:

Colossians 1:18-23

[Christ] is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead… For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things … Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.

God was with us when he called us out of the spiritual Egypt of the world, when we were “alienated from God,” and “enemies [of God] in [our] minds because of our evil behavior.” Currently, He is guiding us through the spiritual desert of this mortal life, as we have been “reconciled by Christ’s death,” so that we may no longer be enemies of God, with the blood of Christ covering our sins and the Holy Spirit dwelling in us to help us to keep us from continuing in sin. Finally, Christ has gone before us into death and resurrection, being the “firstborn from among the dead,” and the first to cross the spiritual Jordan into the promise.

Having repented and been baptized, we are each now on our own personal journey from Shittim to Gilgal. We are standing at the bank of the Jordan, having seen Christ go before us and stop the waters so that we may enter into His Kingdom. Remember what God has done for the Israelites on their physical journey, “that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD,” and “continue in your faith, stabled and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.” That hope is for the Kingdom of God, which will be established forever as a memorial of what God has done, just as the 12 stones were for the Israelites. Just as Joshua has said, we must “Consecrate [ourselves], for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among [us].”