Fathers Who Carry Arks

Fathers Who Carry Arks - Joshua 3:15-17

I. Introduction—The Race

Defeat! He lay there silently, a tear dropped from his eye.

“There’s no sense running anymore—three strikes, I’m out—why try?”

The will to rise had disappeared, all hope had fled away,

So far behind, so error prone, closer all the way.

“I’ve lost, so what’s the use,” he thought, “I’ll live with my disgrace.”

But then he thought about his dad who soon he’d have to face.

“Get up,” an echo sounded low, “Get up and take your place.

You were not meant for failure here, so get up and win the race.”

With borrowed will, “Get up,” it said, “You haven’t lost at all,

For winning is not more than this—to rise each time you fall.”

So up he rose to win once more, and with a new commit,

He resolved that win or lose, at least he wouldn’t quit.

So far behind the others now, the most he’d ever been,

Still, he gave it all he had and ran as though to win.

Three times he’d fallen stumbling, three times he rose again,

Too far behind to hope to win, he still ran to the end.

They cheered the winning runner as he crossed, first place,

Head high and proud and happy; no falling, no disgrace.

But when the fallen youngster crossed the line, last place,

The crowd gave him the greater cheer for finishing the race.

And even though he came in last, with head bowed low, unproud;

You would have thought he won the race, to listen to the crowd.

And to his dad he sadly said, “I didn’t do so well.”

“To me, you won,” his father said. “You rose each time you fell.”

And now when things seem dark and difficult to face,

The memory of that little boy helps me in my race.

For all of life is like that race, with ups and downs and all,

And all you have to do to win—is rise each time you fall.

“Quit! Give up, you’re beaten,” they still shout in my face.

But another voice within me says, “Get up and win that race.”

(Unknown)

-That little story bears out the power of a watching father, whose voice we may not hear, but whose spirit we can sense, when there is a stumbling attempt and effort at this thing that God calls life.

-If ever a generation needed fathers who were willing to impart that kind of wisdom to their sons and daughters, it is now!

Fathers Bearing Arks

-The text also paints a similar picture for us. In Joshua 3:15 we are told that the Jordan was overflowing its banks at the time of the harvest. They had faced challenges in the past and now this was just another one in the long list of them.

-We find the priests were faced with a great challenge on that day, one that is elaborated on in this chapter and the next one.

-Jordan at flood stage was a dilemma in itself. But when they stepped down into the water, the power of God went into overdrive.

· The waters that were rushing from up the river were dammed up.

· Downriver it was if someone had turned off the faucet.

· The huge volume of water on the north side formed a large wall and stood in a heap.

-Again, we cannot forget that his river was literally whipping in a frenzy of a raging flood. The banks were overflowing. Then to consider that these priests stepped down into the edges of this frothing and boiling water is almost beyond belief.

-Just to do this was a test of their faith and of their obedience. Every father will soon discover that being a competent and spiritual father in our days will be a test of our faith and our obedience. We also have to grasp that we will never make it unless we are given to becoming spiritual men! A few good men. . . men full of compassion. . . men full of faith. . .

The Weight of the Ark

-Just think for moment about the responsibility of what these priests did on that particular day. They were bearing the Ark of the Covenant while all the people of Israel passed over to the other side. They could not move or let the Ark down even for a rest, they had to shoulder their responsibility.

-The Ark of the Covenant being about 3 ½ feet by 2 feet and it was covered with gold on the inside and the outside. Conservative estimates were that they Ark weighed at least 750 pounds but more likely it weighed in excess of one ton (2000 pounds)! That means that each priest was responsible for holding up anywhere from 175 pounds to as much as 500 pounds by those wooden beams that were hooked into its rings!