Background to passage: Joshua’s preparation for the journey, then instructions to Israel, their commitment, then the account of Rahab and the spies in Jericho. God is fulfilling his promise to give Isreal the land that he spoke up to all the generations from Abraham on. The next big event is to cross the Jordan river during flood stage, actually entering the land. We will look at it next week.
Joshua 3:1–5 ESV
Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.
At the end of three days the officers went through the camp
and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it.
Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”
Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
Opening illustration: Tears streamed down my cheeks as my hands gripped the steering wheel. Heading home from Bible study, these tears came from a place of longing.
Longing for what, you ask? These were tears I pulled from deep in the well of longing for more.
My drive home meant about 40 minutes of cornfields, back roads and farms. Which meant it always provided space for thinking and praying. This night, I thought about how the evening that awaited me felt empty. Nothing really to do, no one to care for, no one to talk to.
Before I knew it, I had dropped the bucket down the well and drew up my tears for overflowing. The physical ache I felt for wanting my evening to matter hurt more than I wanted to admit. I felt ordinary, my evening felt monotonous, my soul felt no purpose for the hours that lay ahead.
While I don’t remember my exact prayer, what I cried out to God in the silence of my car sounded something like, “What else is there? Is this really all you have for me? Will it always feel like this? Will anything I do actually last beyond me?” How many of you want to see God work? How many of you want to understand God’s work in your life? What are you willing to sacrifice to do that?
Main thought: Why and how to prepare for God to do amazing things in our lives by committing to and striving toward holiness.
1) Why Consecrate Yourselves (v. 5)
Joshua 3:5 ESV
Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
1) Why Consecrate Yourselves (v. 5)
Explanation: Sin hinders one’s ability to see God’s glory when he comes near. You can also state it the opposite way, holiness enhances the ability to see the wonders of God. Understand that God is a holy God, and commands our holiness. He doesn’t do it to be harsh. He doesn’t do it so that he can work miracles. He does it so you can see him. This incident recalls the giving of the commandments and the entrance of the scouts in Numbers 13. God wants to speak, God wants to lead, God wants to put on display his glory, but our sin hinders those things on our end.
2 Kings 6:11-18 - story of Elisha and the servant who’s eyes were opened to the unseen army
Illustration:
Application: Sanctify to draw near. Understand that to see the glory of God, we must desire it and take steps to look for it. This is a cycle—if we consecrate ourselves, set ourselves apart, rid ourselves of sin, seek to see and confess, we will taste the goodness of God, because those things are not satisfying, but God is. We will then be drawn to desire him more, and shed sin more, and continuing longing and fulfillment. Know that the glory of God, God himself, his manifest presence is greatest treasure, most satisfying possession in the human experience and in all of creation. If you want to see and understand God’s work, his wonders, his character, make yourselves holy. Do you want to see God work in your life?
Now, let me clarify one point. Drawing near to God and consecrating yourself, assumes that you have a personal relationship with him already. He is the great Consecrater because of the blood he shed for those who come to him in repentance and faith to receive him and their personal Lord and Savior. To all that receive him, he gives the power to become the Sons of God. Know that without first being born again, being adopted into the family of God, knowing God, not just about him, you can “clean up your life,” but will be to no spiritual avail.
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2) How to Consecrate Yourselves (v. 5)
Joshua 3:5 ESV
Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
2) How to Consecrate Yourselves (v. 5)
Explanation: Again the echo here is from Mt Sinai and the 10 Commandments. The Israelites were to sanctify themselves before Moses went up, and not come near the base of the mountain, lest the Lord break forth upon them. In the Israelite culture sanctifying could mean a number of external things with the desire of internal results. God’s greatest concern is internal. Why you are here, not that you are here.
They may have washed their clothes. They refused to touch dead bodies. They refrained from eating certain things. They restrained themselves from any sexual relations. Sometimes they would fast. The idea was ritual purity that led to confession and forsaking of sin.
Moses and Aaron, the priests and the Levites, anyone who went before the Lord…with blood
Matthew 15:10–11 ESV
And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand:
it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
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Illustration: Desiring God had a listener write in a question about how to see the glory of God. He was given four scripture supported answers: 1) renounce pride, 2) read the word, especially the gospels, 3) turn to Christ in faith, “show me your glory,” 4) pray for sight,
Application: The word meant to cleanse or make holy, set apart or separate. This world helps our hearts and minds achieve what they desire in our fallen nature. So, a key to consecration is to separate ourselves from those worldly things, people, influences, places, entertainment, maybe foods,
There are also things that are not worldly contributions. Unforgiveness, for instance, destroys families and friendships and churches. Our pride comes out in manifestations of selfishness. Our attitude toward those around us that we perceive are below us. Our need for accolades and praise or affirmation from people around us. Our entitlement to special treatment. Our skewed since of justice. Sometimes it manifests in anger when we don’t get what we want.
We have been given the Spirit, the word, and the church for power to overcome. In order to prepare yourself for God’s work in your life, in our church, to see his glory and be transformed and satisfied, pray the prayer of the Psalmist
Psalm 139:23–24 ESV
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
Think about your struggles, the things that you know bind you, and be ready for God to reveal things in your life if you are sincere. Be prepared to confess and forsake them. Let’s say God brings to your mind the many times that you belittle someone behind their back. Me talking about another pastor on Friday — he is really weird. It is pride. I consider myself normal. I believe that I am the standard to which others in society should conform to. I look down on others that don’t make the grade in my life. Do I think I am better than others? Obviously I forget that anything I have or am, I received from God. What right do I have to demean him.
What was it for you on Friday? or Yesterday? Did you not get what you want and get angry? I am sure that we can justify our behavior. Rahab could, but does that make lying not a sin anymore?
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Closing illustration: “It is so special to see men and women opening themselves increasingly to God’s presence in their lives. A number have sought me out individually as their pastor, confessing particular sins that have held them in tight clutches over a period of years, asking for prayers of release from that bondage, praying for God’s cleansing from that uncleanliness. God has chosen not to work in all His fullness in the lives of people who are unwilling to open their hearts to His cleansing and to His leadership.”
Recap
