Untitled Sermon (2)

Preparing for Your Miracle

Behind the matter-of-fact description of verse 1, we are surely meant to sense the mixture of anticipation, excitement, and suspense that flowed through the camp. They have spent considerable time at Shittim, and now, at last, they are on the move, toward the river. But as yet there is no word about how it is to be crossed. So there is a three-day pause (v. 2), perhaps to allow the impossibility of what is about to happen, from a purely human point of view, to sink really deeply into their consciousness. Seeming delays frequently have the greater purpose of refining and deepening our faith. So we must not underestimate the challenge that the river presents to them. A little later (v. 15), there is a parenthetical comment, almost as though it is incidental, about an aspect of the situation that must have made a huge impact on them—“now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest.” This is not a babbling brook in which to paddle. It is a fast-flowing, swirling flood, probably between ten and twelve feet deep at this season and at this point. Fording or swimming are out of the question. Rafts are an impossibility, and engineering is not yet able to excavate a subterranean passageway. Remember too that this is a whole nation—wives and children, animals and baggage—on the move, with no obvious way to cross the swollen torrent. But they are on the move because God says to move forward. The command had been given in 1:2, and as soon as the spies returned, Joshua began to obey. They don’t know how it will happen, but they take the next logical step forward in obedience to what God has already said and leave the outcome with him. This is a great lesson on how to live Christianly, in trust and obedience.

It is enough to see the next step and to trust God for what we cannot see yet. Indeed, it is the essence of true faith to trust where we cannot see, “for we walk by faith, not by sight” (). The point is memorably made in Isaiah’s commentary on the third Servant Song where we see the suffering servant resolutely committing himself to God’s will, trusting in his constant support and ultimate vindication through all the devastation of pain and grief. “Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God” (). This is a helpful reminder that two ingredients can and do coexist—walking in darkness and trusting in the Lord’s name (his nature).

At last the instructions are given (v. 3). The focal point is to be the ark of the covenant, because this is the symbol of the Lord’s presence among his people, here in the role of leader and guide. God’s ark is carried, it is true, by human agents, but the one whose presence it symbolizes is the one who gives instructions to the bearers. Israel’s responsibility is to follow. Again this provides us with a continuing principle for covenant fellowship. It is not our role to second-guess what God will do, any more than it is to argue about how he could possibly do it. We have to follow. Faith gathers up all our cares and anxieties in the knowledge that he has taken the responsibility for our future and every step ahead of us, and faith leaves it all with God (see ; ). We must never give up what we do know because of what we don’t. Even though we don’t know how God’s faithfulness and power will be revealed or how he will order our circumstances, what we do know is that he is our God, committed to us by his unbreakable covenant promise, and “his love is as great as his power and knows neither measure nor end.”

Preaching the Word: Joshua—People of God’s Purpose Preparing for a Miracle

In the verses that follow (vv. 4–6) our attention is drawn to three specific ingredients of their faithful waiting for and on God. The first is their submission to his instructions, which meant looking to the ark and not at the river. Within the gold-covered ark were the tablets of the Law, the covenant that God had made with his people—the outward and visible sign of the very terms on which God lived in the midst of his people. They had to keep their distance (v. 4) for reasons of visibility, but also perhaps as a reminder that God is holy and that sinners cannot freely come within the range of his presence. The detailed instructions for the setting up of the tabernacle contain similar prohibitions

Jackman, D. (2014). Joshua: People of God’s purpose. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (pp. 42–43). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Jackman, D. (2014). Joshua: People of God’s purpose. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 43). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

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Jackman, Crossway.