MIRACLE OF THE JORDAN CROSSING
Joshua 3:3-17; 4:6
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: 10 Bible Questions
1. Which Bible character was super-fit? Absalom.
2. What did Adam say when he was asked his favorite holiday? "It's Christmas, Eve."
3. What do you call a Bible character who just pulled into church? A parking Lot.
4. What kind of car would Jesus drive? A Christler.
5. Why did Adam and Eve do math every day? They were told to be fruitful and multiply.
6. How do you know that atoms are Catholic? They have mass.
7. What did Daniel tell his real estate agent? "I'd prefer a house with no den."
8. What's loved by Noah and also most meat-eaters? Ham.
9. Which minor prophet is well-known thanks to cookies? Famous Amos.
10. What types of boats do believers want to go on? Discipleship and worship.
B. TEXT
3:3 “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to...follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before, but keep a distance of 3,000 feet between you and the Ark. 5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” 8 Tell the priests:...‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’” 9 Joshua said to the Israelites,...“10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites...13 And as soon as the priests ...feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away [20 miles], at a town called Adam ...17 The priests who carried the ark ...stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing 4:6... [Joshua had them take 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan] 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7...”These stones are to be a memorial [of when God dried up the Jordan for Israel to pass over.]” Josh. 3: 3-17; 4:6 (Abbreviated)
C. THESIS
1. The Bible has a magnificent way of understating how incredible the miracles of God are. If you had been a witness of this miracle in real-time, you would have been shaken and the fear of the True God would have gripped your heart.
2. We’re looking at how God leads us, the impossible tasks God calls us to, but also the power that God promises to us so we’ll overcome.
3. The title of this message is, “The Miracle of the Jordan Crossing.”
I. THE PROMISE OF A MIRACLE
A. A MIRACLE FOR YOU
1. Can you imagine the Lord telling you, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you?” Wow! What a promise! Yet that’s what God is willing to do for us too!
2. The Israelites needed to demonstrate their seriousness in meeting God by “consecrating” themselves.
3. The generation of Israelites that saw the Red Sea open up had almost all died out. The new generation of Israelites needed to see the power of God at work – and God was willing to show them His power again.
4. Note: God doesn’t work miracles just for our fancy, but to meet a need. That’s why Jesus wouldn’t work a miracle for the Jewish people’s curiosity or to prove Himself – but He regularly healed and worked miracles to meet real needs.
B. GOD WILL DIRECT YOUR LIFE
1. God told them, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God...you are to follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before...” Josh 3:3-4.
2. The Ark of the Covenant was the repository/ embodiment of the Presence of Jehovah on earth. We’re supposed to “walk with God.” If you sense God is going a certain direction, you should walk that way too.
3. Your path may be new to you, but it’s not new to God. Everything that happens tomorrow is new to us, because we only live in the present moment; but God sees all places & times at the same time.
4. There’s no such thing as tomorrow with God! Yesterday, today, & tomorrow — are human words! “NOW” is God’s word, because He fills all places & time zones.
5. All our troubles today, which grip our attention, God was aware of 10,000 years ago, and nothing about them surprises Him. God has no emergencies and He’s never pressed for resources. It’s a naïve mind that thinks that the infinite God can ever meet a situation that will be too hard for Him. Rest, then, in confidence; the new road - to you - is an old road to God!
II. THE SIGN & THE MIRACLE
“This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that He will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites...” Josh. 3:10.
A. A HUMANLY IMPOSSIBLE TASK
1. God had told the Israelites earlier, “the land you are entering to possess [belongs to] many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites -- seven nations larger and stronger than you...” Deut. 7:1.
2. When I was a teenager, I didn’t shy away from fights, but I tried to use a little smarts too. I never got into a fight with a guy I was certain could beat me.
3. But here’s God telling them that He’s putting them into a fight with 7 nations – each of which is more numerous and better fighters than they are! Who would want to take on those kinds of odds? Not me!
4. But God said – watch this – “I’m going to give you a sign TODAY – so unrepeatable, so shocking – that it will settle the question of whether you will come out in victory over all these nations!”
5. In the valley before them was a river in flood stage – out of its banks – over a hundred feet across. There were no bridges. This was an insurmountable obstacle to them entering the Promised Land, but God was about to change that.
B. THE MIRACLE
1. EXACT TIMING OF THE MIRACLE. God said, “as soon as the priests...feet touch the water’s edge” ‘I’m going to push the water of Jordan, upstream, into a heap; and push the water downstream back, and make the ground where you cross the river to be completely dry for you to walk on.’ God would only do the miracle when the priests carrying the Ark, in faith, began to walk into the waters.
2. Many times we want God to work a miracle, but we don’t want to have to get our feet wet (expose ourselves to ridicule); “What if the person I pray for isn’t healed?” That’s not your business; your business is to lay on hands; it’s God’s business to heal them! (Mk. 16:18). God wants us to have “skin in the game;” to have to step out in faith even if it looks foolish. Think about Noah building the boat.
3. TIME IT TOOK FOR 2½ MILLION TO CROSS THE RIVER. When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, it took all night – 12 hours – for them to do it. Even then it required the waters to be cleared for 3 miles and for them to walk 5,000 abreast at 3 mphs to get across in 12 hours. This crossing wasn’t much different – except the width of the water.
4. So when the priests took their stand in the middle of the River, they had to stand there for hours. God also forbade the Israelites getting any closer than 3,000 feet to the Ark (Josh. 3:4). There are 5,280 feet in a mile, meaning they had to be 3/5 of a mile away. If 5,000 walked abreast to cross it (width of a person being 2.5 feet each), this means the river was dried up for nearly 4 miles.
5. MAGNITUDE OF THE MIRACLE. The Jordan was at flood stage; experts say, in excess of 100 feet across. It’s normal deepest depth was 10 feet. If we said that the volume was 50 feet across (only half the width) by 10 feet deep, and flowing at 5 feet per second (slow) – that would mean the total volume was 1,122,079 gallons per minute of water. When you multiply this by 12 hours (necessary for 2½ million people to cross), you find that a staggering 808 million gallons were held back (6% of Lake Livingston). No wonder the Bible says it backed up for 20 miles (to a town called Adam, 3:16)!
6. What would it have been like to stand above the river, watch the priests carry the Ark and touch to water. Then to see an invisible hand push the water up into a heap/hill of water, and evaporate the river for about 4 miles! The riverbed steamed until it was perfectly dry! Wow! Our God is making a path for us; He’s going with us and will make everything work out for us! We will get victory!
III. THE MEMORIAL
[Joshua had them take 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan] 6 “to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7...”These stones are to be a memorial...” Josh. 4:6-7.
A. THE STONES GOD WANTS
1. Stones that had been stuck in the muck (bed) of the river for centuries were the ones God chose to have them use to set up a memorial. Have you been “stuck in the muck” for a while? You might be the very person God wants to use!
2. It’s interesting that God didn’t want stones from near the banks (easily reachable), but from the deepest recesses. Those stones would have the greatest testimony; God had to dig deep to pull them out. Don’t think that you’ve been too bad for God to use. If you’ve had a difficult life, your turnaround can speak louder about God’s delivering power. You’re a “trophy of grace!”
B. MESSAGE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION
1. God is very interested in passing the Gospel to the next generation. God said, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” Deut. 6:6-7.
2. Statistics have shown that 80% of believers in USA were saved before their 18th birthday. The reason is simple: it’s easier to make an impression on wet concrete than it is on dry. We must make sure the impress of Christ is made on our children BEFORE the cement of their life hardens. Jesus said, “Bring the little children to Me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God” Mk. 10:14.
3. As soon as the Israelites had crossed over, the priests (and the Ark of God’s presence) stepped out of the water, the miracle ended, and the pent-up waters rushed down. It was a sign to all the nations of the earth that the Lord God had parted the waters of the Jordan, just as he had parted the Red Sea in Egypt.
4. What were the results? God was glorified, Joshua was honored, Israel was encouraged, and the enemies of God were terrified. Miracles spark faith in us.
C. SYMBOLISM OF THE MIRACLE
1. What did it represent that the waters were heaped up back to a town called Adam? This is the only mention of such a town.
2. It took so long for Israel to cross over that the water backed up for 20 miles, because God was personally present in the Ark.
3. This represents that WHEN JESUS CAME IN BODILY FORM (Ark), His miraculous forgiveness piled up all the way back to Adam, to cleanse the whole human race! That’s the only way they could enter the Promised Land!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: PRAYER FOR THE RAIN TO STOP
1. It was almost time for the “Old-fashioned Revival Hour” to go on the air. The broadcast was originating in a tin-roofed tabernacle in Waterloo, Iowa, a city that desperately needed to hear about Jesus.
2. As Pastor Charles Fuller stood on the platform before the microphone, a heavy rain began to fall and pound upon the tin roof, making it impossible for the broadcast to go forth with its Bible-saturated message.
3. Fuller prayed, “Lord, if You don’t stop the rain, the Old-fashioned Revival Hour will not be able to go out over the air. For Jesus’ sake, please stop the rain!”
4. Within 3 minutes, the rain stopped suddenly, and the program went out without the slightest interference. But 5 minutes after the close of the broadcast, the torrential downpour resumed.
B. THE CALL
1. God is pleased to work for us when it’s in His will. Do you have something you need for God to do for you?
2. Do you need forgiveness? Do you need God to open a way for you?
3. PRAYER
