God called the light
“day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
(Genesis 1:5)
At
that time the Lord said
to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.” So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at
Gibeath Haaraloth. Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of
Egypt—all the men of military age—died in the wilderness on the way after
leaving Egypt. All the people that came
out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness during the
journey from Egypt had not. The Israelites had moved about in the wilderness forty years until
all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they
had not obeyed the Lord. For the Lord had sworn to them that they would not see the land he had
solemnly promised their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and
honey. So he raised up their sons in their
place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still
uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained
where they were in camp until they were healed. (Joshua 5:2-7)
Then they gathered around
him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” …
“But you
will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
(Acts 1:6 & 18)
All these people were still living by faith when they died.
They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed
them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on
earth. (Hebrews 11:13)
I keep circling around the same black
hole, one I’ve already blogged about a number of times and in a number of ways.
From what I see in today’s passages, it’s a common black hole. In the
beginning, when God created the universe, He declared the day to begin with the
evening. At least, that’s the way the Jews understood it. That means that the day
began with eating dinner, spending quiet time with family, and going to bed. What
had to be done that day had to wait until morning.
After Moses died, Joshua took over the
leadership of the Jews. He led them across the Jordan as Moses had led them across
the Red Sea. Go, win the Promised land, but, wait… first, in enemy territory, incapacitate
the soldiers for three days? Once you’ve done that, wait…spend seven days
circling the city.
Fast forward, the resurrection has taken
place. And the disciples gather around and ask, “Are You going to restore the
kingdom now?” Now?
And Jesus says, “…when the Holy Spirit
comes on you…” Future tense. Not yet. Wait for it…
And in the Hall of Faith, the key to understanding
comes partway through the display of portraits. None of the people described received
what they sought. They’re still
waiting because we are part of the plan.
And then it comes back to me, and to
you. Like so many others, it seems as though any every road and path is
blocked. Road closed. No entry, no exit.
As I took food to the birds the other
day, a phrase came to mind that hasn’t come to mind in more than a year – at least
not that I recall. “Bow the knee.” It’s a phrase that usually comes to mind
when I’m not happy with the way things are going.
One of the things about bowing the
knee, or accepting God’s will when we’re rather be doing something is the fact
that bowing the knee doesn’t involve sitting in front of the TV. It is a time
of rest and preparation. We are circling a black hole, mountains, our wagons,
or whatever, but the time will come when we will move out. When? We don’t know,
but it could be in the next ten minutes, so we probably ought to keep the stuff
we’re not using packed, so we can be ready quickly. When? We don’t know, but it
looks like there are these few directions we can go, so maybe we should get
stuff ready we’re likely to need.
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