Joshua 3

Reading: Joshua 3

Welcome and Prayer (Ps. 44)

Sermon

As we are moving into the main body of the Narrative portion of Joshua, the action begins to build on what has come before. We learned last week of the spies sent into the land to gather general information about Canaan and the people of Canaan and also specific information about the city of Jericho. While the spies were discovered, God provided for their safety through Rahab, a prostitute who had turned to the Lord in faith because of a proper understanding of YHWH and His power, in contrast to the wider population of Canaan. In gathering the information, these two spies saw the same giants and militarily strong Canaanites as the former spies, and yet, instead of responding in fear they responded in faith and praise of what God was going to do for Israel in their conquest of the Land. In both of these cases, the main characters of the narrative in Joshua 2 gained a proper understanding of Yahweh and displayed the right response, in contrast to their unfaithful counterparts. God honored these responses by providing a way of salvation for Rahab and the vision of victory to the spies, even in the face of impossible odds. In our passage for this week we see the continuation of the narrative in Joshua and Israel joining with the Spies in a response of faith in the face of yet another challenge. In Joshua 3 we see the people of Israel preparing to enter the Land. While you might be thinking “Oh, I’ve heard this story before, Israel crosses the Jordan while God parts the waters and they all make it across on dry ground, just like the Red Sea.” Let me set the stage for you then draw your attention to a few key details. First, we have Joshua and the people of Israel, breaking camp and heading toward the Jordan and as they approached the river basin they would have had to stop. In just a few chapters Israel will celebrate the Passover which means that they were entering the land around mid-spring which was the peak of their rainy season. As a result, the river Jordan, which would have normally been a relatively small stream, was swollen and rushing to a point where it would have been nearly impossible to cross for such a large group as the people of Israel. Sure, one or two like the spies could get across in a small boat but the nearly two million people of the Israelite people would have had an extremely difficult time getting across the flood waters. As Israel came to the ridge above the river and began setting up for camp, Joshua addressed the whole nation, assuring them once again of the Lord’s faithfulness and giving them instructions for crossing into the Land. Similar to Abraham and Moses, once Joshua and Israel display their willingness to obey the Lord, God, here called “The Lord of all the earth”, steps in to give Joshua specific instruction on how to cross the Jordan. The people then obey, stepping into the rushing waters in faith that God would fulfill his promises and they are all able to cross on dry ground. Having laid the groundwork, I want to point out a few key details.

Joshua and Israel were prepared to obey the Lord without specific knowledge of how he would provide.

Reminiscent of faithful men of old

Abraham (Gen. 22:1-3, 8)

Moses (Ex. 14:10-14)

They type of Action which Hebrews says is counted as righteousness (Heb. 11:17-19, 29)

It is the obedience that trusts that God will work it out

They were informed by the Knowledge of God’s faithfulness in the past and His promise to be with them in the future

Joshua had been told to be saturated in the Law so he would be prepared to take these actions (Josh. 1:7-9)

Yahweh chose to take Israel across the Jordan during flood season

God could have directed Israel to ford the Jordan when it was at its lowest

He often does just that, leading us to do things generally within our human ability yet still asking us to recognize that He is the one providing the strength. Illustration: when I was going on a mission trip to Nicaragua during High School, we were responsible for fundraising our own money to pay for the trip. I had done a decent job between writing letters to friends and family and picking up odd jobs to earn some extra cash. When it came time to pay for the trip, I came up $20 short. Now, $20 isn’t that much money and I could have gone and earned it or even borrowed it from my parents but instead, God provided me that extra $20 because someone else on the trip had overpaid by $20 and told our youth pastor to keep it in case someone was short. From my perspective it would have been really easy to look at that and see all my own effort in providing my funds with a little extra coming from a happy coincidence. But, we all know that even in my earning and fundraising, God was the one providing for me to go on that mission trip.

God does this repeatedly through the scripture

Israel could have traveled the wilderness under their own strength yet we see through the account in Exodus, Lev., and Num. that God was providing for them even in the mundane things. In Deut. 29:5 we see that God maintained their clothes and sandals for them.

We will see in just a few chapters that God provides for Israel’s food through very mundane means now that they have entered the promised land.

In this instance, God chose to make Israel realize that He was there providing for and leading them.

He leads them to the Jordan at the one time of year that they would have to rely on Him to get them across.

He wants to make sure that the people know that YHWH is with Joshua (v. 7)

He wants them to know that YHWH is the one who will lead them through the land (v. 11)

God also chooses to work in this way periodically through the Scripture

Gideon

David

The prophets

Christ and the Apostles

So What?

Be saturated in the word of God

That is the only way to be prepared to act without God directly speaking to you

I have known several people who were so anxious about different decisions in their life because they were waiting on audible or direct mental guidance from the Lord. He can and does still provide in that way on occasion but most of the time he calls us to meditate on his word and use that to inform our choices.

Trust that the Lord is with you and will sustain you even when you encounter seemingly impossible challenges

Not only do we have examples from the OT but we also have a promise that God will provide the strength we need (Ps. 68:35)

Trust in the Lord at all times but especially throw your cares to Him when your situation seems beyond your ability (1 Pet. 5:6-7)

Invitation

If anyone here has not experienced the freedom that comes with knowing our risen savior, I urge you to accept this invitation today! Christ calls all who would hear and obey to join him in eternal joy. He simply asks that we acknowledge and repent of our sins, believe that He died for our sins and confess him as Lord, continue living your life in obedience to his call! Additionally, if there is anyone here who is not a member of this church and you feel the Lord calling you to membership here I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about membership.

Any questions or need of prayer, I will be up here ready to pray with you this morning. Or, if you aren’t comfortable coming up this morning, you can stop by my office or call/text me and I would be happy to sit down with you.

Benediction

Prayer

2 Corinthians 13:14 ESV

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.