The Book Of Joshua 3 Of 9

Because Moses became angry and struck the rock, he was deprived of the privilege of leading the people of God into the Promised Land. Sin has deprived some of God’s choice servants of their greatest blessings.

Sometimes the things God does in righteousness, wisdom and justice, seem blatantly unfair to us humans. Such is the case with God's refusal to allow Moses to enter into the Promised Land.

But as we look into what Moses had done, we see the seriousness of his actions.

God told Him to SPEAK TO THE ROCK, not to SMITE THE ROCK.

• Forty years earlier it had been smitten, but now, forty years later, God did not instruct Moses to smite the rock.

• There is a very important reason for this: The True Rock, Jesus Christ, having once been smitten, is never to be smitten again!

• By smiting the rock the second time, Moses was symbolically crucifying Christ a second time.

When Moses discovered he would not be allowed to lead Israel into the Promised Land, this must have disappointed him greatly after all he went through getting them to the brink of the Promised Land.

Joshua was one of the spies that was sent to the Promised Land. Only Joshua and Caleb returned with a good report.

It is because of his great faith in God, that God chose him to take the place of Moses and lead the people into the Promised Land.

He began to prepare the people of Israel for this blessing in verse 1, we read, “And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.” This was an exciting time for the people of God.

We all can remember exciting times when we looked forward to a certain day, such as:

(1) CHRISTMAS DAY

Everyone enjoys Christmas. One of the reasons we adults enjoy Christmas is because during this time of the year we begin to remember the excitement that Christmas brought to us as children.

Christmas is such an exciting time, that months before it gets here, merchants begin to advertise. We hear the countdown; Christmas will come in 30, 29, 28, 27…days!

But another exciting time in our life is -

(2) BIRTHDAYS

Most of us can remember that exciting time when we would be sweet sixteen. This was a birthday we looked forward to because of so many reasons.

When we were fifteen, it seemed like it took twenty years for us to reach sixteen. But once we were out of our teens, it seems like we have a birthday every six months.

But birthdays are an exciting time in our life. Another special day in our life is our-

(3) WEDDING DAY

Again, this day is so special that it also is a countdown day. Months before this day arrives, the couple begins to count the days until they will walk the aisle. And the closer that day comes, the more excited they become.

There are many special days in our lives, but the day that Israel was going to march into the Promised Land was one of the greatest days of their lives.

For years, the children of Israel had been looking forward to this day. THIS WAS AN EXCITING TIME!

Even Joshua was excited!!! We can see that excitement in verse 1, we read, “And JOSHUA ROSE EARLY IN THE MORNING; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.”

They could stand at Jordan and look into the land that God had promised them.

Because of unbelief, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years, and now the day had finally come when God was going to allow them to enter. This was an exciting time, I wish we could have been there!

The day before this was going to happen, notice what Joshua told the people of God to do. Look at verse 5, we read, “And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you."

Look at the word “Sanctify”, this is the word “Qadash” (Pronounced as Kaw-dash) which means to consecrate, dedicate, purify, sanctify.

Notice, he says this is something they are to do, not God. He said, “Sanctify yourselves”. It is our responsibility to keep ourselves HOLY, AS HE IS HOLY.

I am sure that when Joshua said they needed to sanctify themselves, after spending forty years in the wilderness due to sin they knew what they had to do.

He said, that the Lord was preparing to do WONDERS AMONG THEM, but before that happened, they had to sanctify themselves.

If we are going to see God at work in our lives, then we need to remove the barriers that keep God from doing WONDERS IN OUR LIFE. God wants to do wonders in our lives if we are willing to sanctify ourselves.