with Elder Elico Manenji
Twelve stones for commemorating what God had done as we are all equally bound to declare it publicly as a memorial for ages to come.
The memorials of God's mercy toward His people are varied such as circumcision in comemmoration of God's covenant with Abraham, the stone set up at Bethel in memorial of Jacob's vision of the gateway to heaven, the memorial of the passover which reminded Israel of their deliverance from Egypt, the memorial of the manna and Aaron's rod in the leadership wrangle which were placed in the ark and the memorial of the miraculous feeding of the Israelites in the wilderness.
The Lord said, "And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment on his heart, when he goes in to the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually" (Exodus 28:29).
Thus we have the memorial here of the twelve stone which we set up as a monument to commemorate the passage of Israel over the Jordan river on dry ground. Many other national deliverances also were commemorated by annual feasts such was the feast of Purim as a memorial of the deliverance from annihilation during the time of Esther. Even our Lord Jesus Christ gave us a comemmoration of the Holy Communion / Lord Supper as a sign of a covenant of our deliverance from sin by His own blood and flesh.
The Scripture says, "And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed" (Esther 9:28).
Jehovah’s great work for His people was when the Jordan emptied of its waters before the Ark of His covenant to bring fulness of blessing. This also reminds us today that we are brought in Christ into the heavenly places by the power of Christ our Ark as He is our mercy-seat, God's Shekinah glory, our Law and Law-giver, our manna, the bread of Life, our budded rod of true leadership.
The Apostle says, "Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:1).
For in Christ, we should extol God for His power, might and blessings which accomplish His purpose in bringing us into such blessing.
As Christ, our Ark, went down into death for us, exhausted the power of death so stripped it of its might by which the Lord has given us, we who were dead in sins, life together with Christ who is risen from among the dead and has set us in Him in the fulness of blessing to become truly His saints in Christ in the heavenly places.
The prophet says, "But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow to it"(Micah 4:1).
To enter into this grace it is necessary to keep before our hearts, in faith, the measure of God’s Divine power exercised towards us of His exceeding greatness for a clean pass over from death to everlasting life. Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death to life" (John 5:24).
As the flooded Jordan was a barrier to the promised land, God through Christ lifted up the barrier of this sinful world by the death of Christ to eternal life. As the twelve stones represented the whole community of Israel, men, women and children, so the number twelve is representative of the whole community of those who come to Christ for deliverance.
The Apostle says, "But you are come to mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things that that of Abel"(Hebrews 12:22-24).*
The final comemmoration is of saints seated together in the heavenly places in Christ, the one common place of blessing for all who believe. One association and one privilege mark all saints and all equally have the highest and the best place. Even as each individual believer has life for himself and together with Christ risen from death, so all believers have the highest privileges in common as they by God are made to sit together as complete stones taken from the rough flowing streams of the Jordan. The Apostle says, *"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ...Which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:3, 20).
The pillar of twelve stones set up in Gilgal became a memorial to the nation of Jehovah’s work for them and served as a reminder to the children of the power and wonders of salvation. The prophet says, "Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his memorial" (Hosea 12:5).
Our little ones should be grounded in the great truths of God’s Word, in His redemption, in His resurrection and His ascension to minister in the heavenly place for our deliberance and salvation, so that at last we shall be with the Lord forever, these are truth which should be implanted in their minds and memories. The Scripture says, "And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them" (Deuteronomy 17:19).
Appeal
Basically noone is worthy the salvation of the Lord except we come through Christ our Ark of the Covenant. Noone can have clean hands and pure heart except they are sanctified by the blood of the Lamb. Noone can claim obedience to the law of God unless they are under the obedience of faith in Christ, denying themselves and taking up the cross and follow Christ. The Apostle says, *" Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption...But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:50, 57). Amen!!!
Elico Manenji
(+263 712 952 704)
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