Anniversaries

                 The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war. That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.

            Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Command the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan.”

            So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.” And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.

            On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.” (Joshua 4:12-24)

 

            An important souvenir that we tend to overlook as a souvenir is an anniversary, whether it's a birthday, wedding, death, or some other important day. "On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal....And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan." 

            Now, consider this: "The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt,  'This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.  Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.'" (Exodus 12:1-8)

            The crossing of the Jordan took place on the anniversary of the preparation for the Passover, the day we would consider Palm Sunday. How nice of God, to have arranged events so that we don't have to remember when this anniversary or that is. Several of them are all the same time. It's said that when God says something once, we should pay attention. When He says it twice, we need to really pay attention. When He says it three or more times, we should fall down and worship. The Passover....the crossing of the Jordan (and events to follow)... Easter.... The beginning of victory over the Egyptians...the beginning of the taking of the Promised Land...the beginning of the victory over sin....