Joshua 3 and 4
My prayer for you all heading into this Easter season is that, while trapped in our homes, God’s presence is made real to you in a new and powerful way that you have not experienced before. I pray that the Good News washes over you afresh and you come out excited for what it means for your future in the body of Christ. I also pray that this study may in some way prepare you. Though the story is not directly linked to Easter, it is part of the story of the Israelites coming into the Promised Land. As Christians, we too have a promise into which we have begun the process of walking into. Because of Christ’s work on the cross and resurrection from the tomb, we are able to speak boldly on the promise of eternal life and the fulfilled hope of a relationship with our Creator.
Last week we had the privilege of looking more deeply at the courageous story of Rahab and the spies. It is interesting that Joshua and Israel have been commanded to be strong and courageous, but the first character by name to show courage was not an Israelite by heritage. Courageous faith is not a heritage but a chosen act to hope in the blood of the Christ for the redemption of our souls. To conclude chapter 2, you will remember that the spies returned they gave the best report Joshua could have received: complete confidence that the Lord has granted them the land. This leads us to chapter 3 and 4:
3:1 With the confidence granted to Joshua by God’s grace through the spies report, Joshua leads Israel on a march to war. They are leaving the wilderness and will enter the land. But the first “battle” is not with soldiers, but rather the waters of the Jordan. We do not know the real significance of this until 3:15 where the detail that the Jordan was flooding, therefore making it impossible to cross. To do this, it would take a miracle.
3:4 When one of the children in my family graduates high school, my parents would set up a surprise trip in which no one knew the details of where they were going. But they told us to trust them, that they had listened for years to our dream trips and they wanted to make it great. The anticipation was great as we headed to a place we’d never been and had no idea about. The energy of crossing the Jordan had to be immense. This was not only their dreams of going into the Promised Land, but a fulfillment of their parents and grandparents dreams. They were headed to war in a new land, one in which they were promised victory. I cannot put myself in their shoes.
3:5 Joshua is saying, expect God to show up, so consecrate yourselves and be ready to be in the presence of God. If we are in the presence of God always, are we as believers consecrating ourselves every morning? And especially when we gather, are we prepared?
3:7 God presenting Joshua as leader, one who ranks with Moses, is so important for the confidence of Joshua.
3:10-13 “How you shall know...” What a powerful thought. To know that God will drive out tribes and cities who lived in the land. To defeat armies and grant a good promise to his people. To know. In order to know, God would use crossing a flooded Jordan river to remind Israel of the crossing of the Red Sea. The same God who brought a nation of slaves out of Egypt without them forming a weapon to defend themselves, that same God will bring the nation into the Promised Land. With the same power and same promise, through Joshua God will lead them into victory.
3:17 Even the river bed dried out so that they wouldn’t have mud on their sandals.
4:6 “When your children ask...” Amazing thought. Make sure to talk to your kids, your family about the victory Christ promised you. What does the Word mean to you? Why does church matter? Why do you believe?
4:10 Moses had commanded this in Deuteronomy 27:2
4:23 This miracle happened so that all could see the same God at work with Moses was with Joshua and leading Israel to the Promised Land.
4:24 Who is to come to fear the Lord because of this event? Surely Israel and it’s warriors heading to battle. And the children so they can grow up in the faith. But who else? Not just Israel, but the whole earth. This God of Israel is not Israel’s alone, but the God of the whole earth seen through the works of the tiny nation of slaves that is Israel.
With that, let’s close with some concluding thoughts:
Humility-plays a role in this section of Joshua again. It plays a role because humility often is tied hand-in-hand with obedience. The Lord is using Joshua as a vessel, one whom the Lord exalts in order that the people may know he is with Joshua as he was with Moses. Joshua easily could take some of the credit for his own leadership. Joshua could just say, “Watch this”. But the reason he was used by the Lord in the first place is because Joshua submitted his leadership in humble obedience to the Lord. In every command in these two chapters, Joshua points to the Lord. So you see the Lord points to Joshua and Joshua points right back. We, then, should lead similarly. Are you leading families that know you give all credit to the Lord? In your positions of influence, at church or at work, do the people know why you have been granted that position? It is not because you, but the one who has granted you the ability to lead, to have your giftings. In all things, obey humbly, and have lives that point to the Lord.
To Know- What a beautiful moment for Israel. They watched the Jordan waters build up into a wall and they crossed into a land they’d desired for generations. It mimicked the Red Sea crossing their parents and grandparents experienced as God defended a nation of slaves from a god-king and one of the most powerful armies of the time. Surely this was a sign from God that just as he would grant them freedom from bondage, he’d grant them victory to settle in the Land. It was time. We likewise should know of the victory we have been granted. It is the story of Easter! Our victory no longer comes through promises of land or being a nation with our own king or in need of armies to fight flesh and blood. When Christ came to die on the cross and free us from our spiritual bondage, and when he rose from the tomb to grant us a resurrection to our souls which were on death row, he surely granted us victory! We no longer search for a land because we have found a home in the kingdom which is currently being built through the spreading of the Gospel. We need not annoying a king because we have been given the King of Kings who took on a crown of thorns so that he could save even the lowest in his kingdom. And we need not take up arms to fight others because the battle has already been won! It is finished, and we have been adopted as heirs in the kingdom of our Creator, brothers to the Prince of Peace.
All the peoples of the earth- When people of every tongue, tribe, or race see the stones beside the Jordan and hear the story of Israel, the intent was so that all people would come to know and fear the Lord. We often read about the God of Israel and think the Lord was meant to be this small nations God alone. This was never the point of God selecting Abraham to make a covenant with. No, God could have chose any person. But he chose a no one from nowhere, to father a nation of broken people, who became slaves, in order that through them his glory could be shown to all people. So that through this people all may come to know our God as the One and Only God. He chose this group not because they were significant, but because they were the least significant. So that from the lowest of people he could come in the flesh, his Son as a baby born to a virgin, giving up heaven for a short while that he might come to earth and pardon our sins on a cross and grant us eternal life with him as he vacated the tomb of death. He needed a people so that God could grant all people victory. That they could see the stones, moreover the stone rolled away, and come to believe in the God who can grant all people life.