God says, "I am with you"
PENTECOST 25 – PROPER 26
Joshua 3:7-17 – Year A
“God says; ‘I am with you’”
Joshua 3:7-17 (NIV)
7 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. 8 Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’”
9 Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God. 10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. 11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. 12 Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”
14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea b) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 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 passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
How’s your spiritual walk with God going? How often does someone ask you that question? I’d guess that it does not come up in conversation that often. It’s likely not the topic on everyone’s lips when gathering at a BBQ, wedding celebration, funeral, family dinner or surprisingly even when we gather at Church. Although one could argue that this is the very time when we should be asking that question of one another. We should be asking each other how their spiritual walk is going, not because of idol curiosity, but because as brothers and sisters in the faith we genuinely care about each other and we are called by God to hold one another accountable for their spiritual journey. So tell me, how would you answer if I were to ask you, “How is your spiritual walk going?”
What’s your Bible history like? I’ll bet you know of the story of the Israelites fleeing the pursuing Egyptian army and God holding back the Red Sea so that they could walk across on dry land. Many people know this story well, but what many don’t realise is that this is not the only time that God demonstrates His mastery and dominion over nature and cause creation to react in a way that is contrary to the laws of physics[1].
As an aside we read of the Bible story of the crossing of the Red Sea and simply say, “Okay – they crossed over on dry land then the sea came back together again and drowned the pursuing forces. But that vastly oversimplifies what God does. Consider this.
Moses and the people were in the desert, but what was he going to do with them?
They had to be fed, and feeding 2 or 3 million people requires a lot of food.
According to the Quartermaster General in the Army, it is reported that Moses would have had to have 1500 tonnes of food each day. Do you know that to bring that much food each day, two freight trains, each at least two kilometers long, would be required! (God solved that problem with manna and quail).
Besides you must remember, they were out in the desert, but they still would have needed firewood to use in cooking the food. This would take 4,000 tonnes of wood and a few more freight trains, each just over one and a half kilometres long, just for one day.
And just think; they were forty years in transit. (God sorted that out by ensuring that their clothing or footwear did not wear out[2]).
And yes! They would have needed water. If they only had enough to drink and wash a few dishes, it would take 41,450,000 litres each day and a freight train with tank cars, 2,900 kilometres long, just to bring water! (no wonder God produced if from rocks).
And then another thing!
They had to get across the Red Sea at night. Now, if they went on a narrow path, double file, the line would be about 1,300 kilometres long and would require 35 days and nights to get through. So there had to be a space in the Red Sea, five kilometres wide so that they could walk 5,000 abreast to get over in one night.
But then, there is another problem – each time they camped at the end of the day, a camp-ground two-thirds the size of the state of Rhode Island was required, or a total of 1,950 square kilometers – think of it! This much space for camping.
Do you think Moses figured all this out before he left Egypt? I think not! You see, Moses believed in God. God took care of these ‘little’ problems for him. Moses knew that God was with him. Moses trusted in God and stepped out in faith before questioning how the Lord was going to accomplish all that He had planned.
What God did for Moses in parting the Red Sea He did for Moses’ successor Joshua. We must remember that the generation that left Egypt and were participants in the Red Sea crossing were now all dead. Moses was the last one to die. However, you can be assured that they passed on these miraculous stories of God’s protection of them as they journeyed through the desert to the subsequent generations.
Now we have a new generation of people who are getting prepared to enter into the Promised Land, and Joshua is the one to lead them there. The crossing of the Jordan is a major ‘test’ of Joshua’s leadership and the perfect vehicle for God to confirm to the people that He is indeed with His servant Joshua as He was with Moses.
God says,
10 Today you will know that the living God is among you
The manner by which God is about to bring Israel across the Jordan River, the watery boundary of the promised land, will bring assurance that God is with them and that He will surely dislodge the present inhabitants of Canaan. Two fundament issues are at stake here.
Firstly, who is the true and mighty God – the God of Israel or the god on whom the Canaanites depend (Baal, who was believed to reign as king among the pantheon of gods because he had triumphed over the sea-god)? By opening the way through the flooded Jordan the Lord would show both Israel and the Canaanites that He is Lord over the waters (as He was at the Red sea and at the flood and at Creation) and that He is able to establish His own order in the world[3].
Secondly, God would establish who was the one who had a rightful claim on the land – the Lord on behalf of the Israelites or the Canaanites? By passing safely through the Jordan at the head of His army the Lord showed the rightness of His claim on the land.
In the ancient Near East a common way for obtaining the judicial verdict of the gods was by compelling an accursed to submit to trial by water ordeal. Usually this involved casting the party into a river. If the accursed drowned, the gods had found them guilty; if not, the gods had declared them innocent. (Interestingly the Israelites practised another form of water trial as noted in Numbers 5:16-28).
Significantly, the Lord would enter the Jordan first and then remain there until His whole army had crossed safely over. Then God’s claim to the land was vindicated before the eyes of all who witnessed or heard about it.
God went to extraordinary means to prove to Joshua and the people that looked to Joshua as their earthly leader that He was with them. Similarly today, God still goes to great lengths to demonstrate to you and I that He is still there for each one of us.
So, “How is your spiritual walk going?”
God held up the waters of the Jordan so that the Israelites could cross to the other side. Interestingly as recently as 1927 near the town called Adam (as noted in the Bible reading), a blockage of water was recorded that lasted over twenty hours. God may have used a physical means to block the river upstream or He may have used another way. Whichever way God chose to do it, does not diminish from the miracle that was needed at that particular time for the people to cross from one side to the other and they got across in one day[4] (another five kilometre wide patch of dry ground?).
This promise of God to be with His people in Old Testament times[5] has not changed today. We have Jesus’ promise to the Disciples,
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”[6]
We have this certainty of God’s presence in our lives right now, right here, right today. Therefore we should never doubt the fact of God’s presence and His providence with us.
You see, if you are worried about your spiritual walk with God; about how your walk is going, then maybe you need to consider how seriously you take this promise of God to be with Joshua, the disciples and you.
God told Joshua, “I am with you”[7]. Jesus told the disciples, “I am with you”[8]. Do you truly believe that God is with you? You should!
When God is present in our life we begin to exhibit the fruits of the spirit,
“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control”[9].
It does not matter whether you feel close to God – the fact is that He has promised that He is close to you and all you have to do is receive, accept, acknowledge and importantly claim this promise of God.
God has said that He is with us. We simply claim that word of God. We take it at its face value and we give thanks to God for this fact in our life. For God’s Word accomplishes all that He desires it to.
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.[10]
We can take God at His Word and trust that He is in control and that His promise, “I am with you”, can be taken at face value, counted on and trusted – always.
How’s your spiritual walk with God going now?
Amen.
X The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. X
* Greek brothers.