Introduction:
1. I hope you were as blessed as I was earlier when David Lotz shared the testimony of what God has been doing in his life since 40 Days of Purpose. I have been challenged as I’ve listened to a number of you tell me the things God has been doing.
2. The believers we read about in the Bible all had different backgrounds. They were all different, their training wasn’t the same, their personalities were not just alike, and the ways they served God were different; but they all did have one thing in common: They all believed God’s promises and were trying to do what He told them to.
3. As we spend the few minutes we will have together this morning let me remind you that what we are studying this morning relates to more than history. It’s much more than what God did centuries ago for the Jews. It’s about your life and the life of this church, it’s about what God wants to do here and now as we trust Him and are willing to step out in faith to follow Him.
4. That’s sort of what this entire series of sermons is about. We’re called to seek God’s will to be what He wants us to be. We’re to consider the, "Possibilities— the Dream of What God wants us to be." That’s where we find Israel in our study today, on the very edge of the promised land. They are finally ready to enter after all those years of hovering around the edges of what God had promised to them. Now tell me, doesn’t that also remind you a little bit of where we are as a congregation. Haven’t you felt that we were close to becoming the church that God wants us to be, but we haven’t quite got there yet. That’s why I’m so excited about this series of sermons. I am trusting God to use this book to help us take the next step toward living up to what God can do in our church.
5. With all this said, let’s turn to the passage we will be considering this morning & read it together. Because the passage is so lengthy, it doesn’t all appear in your handout, so I would encourage you to follow along in either your Bibles, or on the screen. Let’s read it together.
Cell #1—
1 Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and he & all the sons of Israel set out from Shittim & came to the Jordan, & they lodged there before they crossed.
2 At the end of 3 days the officers went through the midst of the camp;
3 and they commanded the people, saying, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place & go after it.
4 "However, there shall be between you & it a distance of about 2,000 cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before."
5 Then Joshua said to the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you." -------
13 "It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above will stand in one heap."
14 So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people,
15 and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest),
16 the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho.
17 And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan. (NAS 95)
Prayer---
Cell #2—
I. Getting Ready for God’s Work 3:1-12
1. They are now on the oasis of Jericho, which is about 5 miles from the river proper. They are in the final preparation for crossing the Jordan. Just over the Jordan River lies the land God had promised to their forefather Abraham hundreds of years earlier. But a major challenge lay between them and the land God had promised them, the river.
Cell #3—
The Jordan River varies from 200 yards wide to nearly a mile wide during the rainy season. The crossing took place during the rainy season.
2. Why the three day delay at the edge of the Jordan? The reason lies in having time for spiritual preparation. The Lord was about to perform one of the truly great miracles & He wants the Israelites to be ready to not only witness it, but to also understand its significance. The river is swollen and surging. The miracle of crossing the river at flood stage will communicate to the people how God’s strong arm will be their Savior. (PBC)
3. I want you to notice in verse three what would lead the people as they crossed the river? That’s right, it would be the ark of the covenant. You’ve probably all about the ark of the covenant, but what was so important about it & what does it have to do with the way things are today? Good questions, I’m glad you asked. First of all let me show you an illustration of what the ark may have looked like. We don’t have actual pictures of it, because it has been lost. What we do have though, is a description of what it might look like based upon a detailed scriptural description.
Cell #4—
4. Previously God had used "the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night" as symbols of his leading, presence and protection. Now God has chosen to lead the people in a new way, by the "Ark of the covenant." The Ark represented the person of God Himself. Having it lead the way, demonstrated the fact that they weren’t attacking the well protected land of Canaan under their own power, they were following Him into the Promised Land.
Cell #5—
The ark is mentioned 16 times, in chapters three & four. It represented God and His presence. When they followed the ark it was as though they were following God Himself.
5. But then I have a question that needs to be answered. Notice that by the end of verse 1 they are at the edge of the Jordan River. So why does the next verse tell us that they wait another three days? Three days beside a raging mile wide river would be a little nerve racking when you know that you’re going to have to cross it. The answer to that question is found in verse 5. Find it in your notes and I want you to circle the words, "consecrate yourselves." This speaks of them purifying themselves in preparation for God to use them. God will use His people when their hearts are pure. Perhaps, you are thinking of Rahab, the woman we talked about last week. But I want you to notice, she had been a prostitute when she was living in Jericho, but she was changing. She married & lived a very different lifestyle from that point on. She too changed. But there is another step if we are going to have God use us. Not only is "Getting Ready for God’s Work important but there is also the matter of . . .
Cell #6—
II. Having Faith in God’s Involvement 3:13-17
1. I want you to remember the New Testament definition of faith, "the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not yet seen." I also want you to remember that the people have been camped beside the raging Jordan River now for three days when God gives the command to wade out into the river. You may remember that when Moses had parted the Red Sea, he merely held his staff over the water & God parted them. In that miracle, no one even got wet. However, this time things are going to be a little different. Not only did the water not stop before they got into the water but. . .
Cell #7—
The priests stepped into the water while the current was still strong.
2. Their faith rested in the promise of God, & it was rewarded, but part of what I love about this passage is how similar it is to the way things often work today. First, let’s look at what the promise was. According to verse what was going to happen when the feet of the priest were in the water? God promised that the water of the Jordan River would be cut off. Do you see the promise in the verse? Yes, it’s right there. Now, I want you to go move down in the passage to verse 16 and circle the phrase, "a great distance away at Adam." Did God keep His promise? I think you know the answer to that question, but . . .
Cell #8—
God stopped the river nearly 20 miles away so the priests didn’t immediately notice a difference in the water.
3. God certainly did keep His promise, but if you had been there that day, it wouldn’t have immediately looked like He did. But God was doing something bigger than the people could understand. If He had created a pathway through the flooded Jordan 100 yards wide, it would have taken a very long time for all 1.5 to 2 million people to cross, but that’s not what He did. He stopped the flow of the river far enough up stream so that all the people & their animals were able to cross in a very short period of time. Although it tested their faith at the time, God knew precisely what He was doing. He did then, & He does today in fact, what He does here teaches us an important lesson. . .
Cell #9—
Though we may not see what God is doing that doesn’t mean He’s not working.
4. Now isn’t that the way God often works in your own lives? Because of your faith you know He’s going to work things out, but there are those moments when you don’t have a clue how He’s working or what He’s doing. Which brings up this sermon’s final point . . .
Cell #10—
III. Saying Thanks for God’s Blessings 4:1-24
Cell #11—
2 At the end of 3 days the officers went through the midst of the camp;
3 and they commanded the people, saying, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place & go after it.
8 Thus the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded, & took up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the LORD spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; & they carried them over with them to the lodging place & put them down there.
9 Then Joshua set up 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, & they are there to this day.
19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the 10th of the 1st month & camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho.
20 Those 12 stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal.
21 He said to the sons of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ’What are these stones?’
22 then you shall inform your children, saying, ’Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ (NAS 95)
1. Did you catch the details about how they picked up 12 stones from the middle of the River which they brought out to make a monument so that everyone would remember what had taken place there? Was the big thing them just remembering that they had crossed the Jordan River there that day? The answer is no, the stones were set up for a much bigger reason God intended them to be a memorial.
Cell #12—
God wanted the people to remember more than just the crossing, He wanted them to know that God Keeps His Promises.
2. There’s an interesting little twist that takes place in the text if you examine it really closely. It’s one of those things that good scholars have different opinions about. When you look at verses 8 & 9 . . .
Cell #13—
There were apparently two memorial piles of stones. One at Gilgal and the other in the middle of the river.
3. Not everyone agrees, but both the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the OT and the Latin Vulgate seem to indicate that there were two distinct piles of rocks. It would appear that only one pile of rocks was God’s idea. The other Joshua seemed to come up with himself. The obvious question is, "Why?" To be honest, there is no clear cut answer as far as I know. I didn’t find any Bible scholar who had a good reason why Joshua might have done this. So, I’m going to share my own idea with you. When you have a memorial all the time if you’re not careful, eventually you quit noticing it at all because it’s always there. However, when something is only there a portion of the time, there is some special interest paid it. In my mind, I can imagine the people keeping an eye on the middle of the river where the rocks would only show through for part of the year, to see if they were showing yet. It became another way of making sure God’s people didn’t forget what He had done for them. The truth is if we’re not careful, we forget things. I had to laugh when I read this little story. . .
A very busy couple, both husband and wife were having problems remembering things, so they decided to go to their doctor to get checked out to make sure nothing was wrong. The doctor explained that when you get too many things on your mind, you will have problems with your memory. He suggested that they might want to start making notes to help them remember things. They thanked the doctor and left. Later that night while watching TV, the man got up from his chair & started toward the kitchen. His wife asked, "Where are you going?" He told her. She asked, "Will you get me a bowl of ice cream while you are there?" He said, "Sure." She asked, "Don’t you think you should write it down so you can remember it?" He said, "No, I can remember that." She said, "I would also like some strawberries on top. You had better write that down because I know you’ll forget." He assured her that he wouldn’t. But she said, "Well I also want some whipped cream on top. I know you will forget that so you better write it down." He was obvious irritated but he managed to say rather nicely, "I don’t need to write that down I can remember that." About 20 minutes later he returns with a plate of bacon and eggs. She stares at it for a moment and then says, "I knew you were going to mess it up - You forgot my toast." We all forget a lot of things, but we must take some precautions, or we will miss what God has done for us. (Grant 2)
Cell #14—
Memorials are simply a way of making sure we don’t forget.
4. What’s going on here, is even more amazing when you know all the details, because God was at work in their situation in some pretty amazing ways. Look at verse 19 where we discover a sort of schedule of the way things happened. There are some pretty special things about this particular. Consider the following facts. . .
Cell #15—
They crossed the Jordan River on the 10th day of Nisan, the first month in the Jewish year. They had crossed the Red Sea, in the same month many years earlier. The Passover lamb had been picked out on the very same day forty years before.
5. There is another critical point here in verses 21-22. This verse isn’t addressed to teachers it was addressed to parents. Over and over in Scripture, both the Old Testament & the New Testament, passing the faith along to the next generation is the responsibility of parents. Now I’m proud of our Kidz Klub & our Kidz Kollege, but they can never replace the lessons learned at home from godly parents. To put it another way. . .
Cell #16—
The church should reinforce your child’s faith, but we cannot take the place of parents sharing their faith with their children.
Conclusion:
1. Here is the challenge for us today– will we take the risks to cross the river that is in front of us? I have a strong sense that we are at a very critical time in the life of our church. I’m encouraged by the good things I see happening. We are seeing some people come to know the Lord & others are moving that direction. Still, let me challenge you with the fact that God has more for us to do if we will commit ourselves to follow Him.
2. I want to conclude with a story that Tony Campolo tells about a time he was asked to speak at a Pentecostal college. He remembered that before the service, eight men had him kneel so they could place their hands on his head and pray. He was glad to have prayer, but each of them prayed a long time, and the longer they prayed the more they pushed on his head. One of the men didn’t even pray for him, he prayed for a neighbor. He said, "Dear Lord, you know Charlie Stoltzfus. He lives in that silver trailer down the road a mile. You know the trailer, Lord, just down the road on the right-hand side." Tony recalls that he wanted to interrupt and tell him that God already knew where they guy lived and didn’t need directions, but he remained silent & just tried to keep his head upright. The prayer went on: "Lord, Charlie told me this morning he’s going to leave his wife and three kids. Step in and do something, God. Bring that family back together." The prayer time ended & Tony preached. Things went well. After the service as he was headed home he saw a hitchhiker and felt compelled to pick him up. Campolo, said, "We drove a few minutes in silence & then I said: ’Hi, my name’s Tony Campolo. What’s yours?’ He said, ’My name is Charlie Stoltzfus.’ Campolo got off the turnpike at the next exit and headed back. After a few minutes Charlie said, ’Hey mister, where are you taking me?’ He said, ’I’m taking you home.’ He narrowed his eyes & asked, ’Why?’ I said, ’Because you just left your wife & 3 kids, right?’ He was shocked, he had never seen me before. He plastered himself against the car door & never took his eyes off me. Then I really did him in as I drove right to his silver trailer. When I pulled up, his eyes almost bulged as he asked, ’How did you know that I lived here?’ I said ’God told me.’ (I believe God did tell me.) When he opened the trailer door his wife exclaimed, ’You’re back, You’re back’ He whispered in her ear & the more he talked, the bigger her eyes got. I said with real authority, ’The two of you sit down. I’m going to talk & you two are going to listen’ That afternoon I led those two people to Jesus Christ."
3. God is always leading, the question is whether we are ready to follow. There are rivers that we still need to cross. There are people who still need the Lord, but until we are ready to walk out into the river, even though we can’t see exactly how God is working, we are going to miss out on what God wants to do. Let’s pray.
1) Warren Wiersbe, Be Strong: Joshua, (Wheaton, IL: Scripture Press Publications) 1994.
2) Frank Gaebelein, editor, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Old Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: The Zondervan Corporation) 1976-1992.
3) Adolph L Harstad, People’s Bible Commentary: Joshua, (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House) 1994.
4) A Graeme Auld, The Daily Study Bible Series: Joshua - Ruth, (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press) 1984.
5) David M. Howard, The New American Commentary: Joshua, (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press) 1998.
6) John Hamby, Stepping Out in Faith, (Sermoncentral.com) January, 2002.
7) John Hamby, Remembering What God Has Done, (Sermoncentral.com) February, 2002.
8) Steven Simala Grant, Who Goes First? (Sermoncentral.com) June, 2002.
9) Steven Simala Grant, Set In Stone, (Sermoncentral.com) June, 2002.
