Joshua 3

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we are at Joshua chapter 3. We're going to talk about crossing over the Jordan River. What an act of faith that was for the people. And we're going to have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your Word. Father, we pray that as we read your word that your Holy Spirit would be teaching us. Lord, please direct us in the ways that we should go. Show us the paths that we should walk. Lord, we pray that you would go before us and that we would follow after you. Help us, Lord. Give us your Spirit. Teach us in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, grab my glasses here and my Bible. Like I said, we're at Joshua chapter three this year. We're going to do all the different J's minus Job and John because we did those in previous years. So here we go. Joshua chapter three. Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan. He and all the children of Israel and lodged there before they crossed over.
So it was after three days that the officers went through the camp, and they commanded the people, saying, When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.
Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. "'Do not come near it, that you may know "'the way by which you must go, "'for you have not passed this way before.' "'And Joshua said to the people, "'Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow, "'Jehovah will do wondrous wonders among you.' "'Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, "'Take up the Ark of the Covenant "'and cross over before the people.' "'So they took up the Ark of the Covenant "'and went before the people.
"'And the Lord said to Joshua, "'This day I will begin to exalt you "'in the sight of all Israel. that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant saying, when you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan. So Joshua said to the children of Israel, come here and hear the words of the Lord your God. And Joshua said, By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe, and it shall come to pass as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.
So it was when the people set out from the camp to cross over the Jordan, when the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people, And those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water, for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest. That the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose up in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zeratan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed and were cut off. And the people crossed over opposite Jericho. "'Then the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord "'stood firm on the ground in the midst of the Jordan, "'and all Israel crossed over on dry ground "'until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.'" Wow, what an amazing bit of history.
So we need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do? So what is this about? Well, they're crossing over the Jordan. They go through the camp, give instructions as to what's gonna happen. And God specifically tells Joshua again in chapter 3 that he's going to be with him. And so he tells them. He tells Joshua, right? This is reassurance to Joshua.
They get all the people. Here's what's going to happen. They're going to get the ark. They're going to go in front of you. Don't get too near. Give it about 2000 cubits. Uh, and it's a, you can give them that space. They're going to go, but you're going to stick back here and you're going to see, you don't know this way, but God does. But notice, I think the key part here is God says there's going to be a miraculous thing that happens. And he's the one that's gonna lead them. See, here's one of the things we might miss.
In the ancient Near East, it was the king who went and led the people, went in front of the troops. And who's going in front of the troops? Who's being carried on his litter, on his throne? But God himself, right? That's what the ark is. It's this beautiful picture of God himself being their covenant king. And what does he say?
By this you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Gergesites and the Amorites and the Jebusites. That's what I got underlined in my Bible as what I think is the best verse for this. And as soon as their feet at the priest go, and the story slows down in the last paragraph and it's like their toes dip into the water and the water stands up in a heap can't explain that it's a miracle now there's people who will say well there's something which the jordan river there's these avalanches and these earthquakes and blah blah blah and the and the water will will stop way up north yeah yeah sure that's true but what a coincidence If that's the case of what happens here, which can't be proved, what an amazing providential coincidence. They just must be so lucky, those priests, that they step their feet in and right then all the water stands up.
No, the point of the story is clear. God is leading his people. Their king is going. The God who is the God of heaven and earth, as Rahab called him last time, is also the God of the Jordan River. He's the one going before them. He is going to bring them victory if they have faith and follow him. They need to trust in their covenant king. They need to go and do his work. but their God is going before them. Joshua's commanding them, like Moses, but it's the Lord who's their king. And he's in their midst, he's going before them. Now we're gonna see later on, places like Judges, they start acting like the arch, it's just a talisman or something like that. They can just take God wherever they want him to be. But no, it's where God decides he's gonna go.
And so what is our point here? How does this apply to our lives? carry the Ark. Neither do you, right? We don't have the Ark anymore. It was most likely destroyed thousands and thousands of years ago by the Babylonians or the Romans or the Greeks. Who knows? But the point is, it's not there. So how does this apply to us? He's still our Covenant King. He's still our champion. He's still leading us.
And in our Christian walk as we are pilgrims and sojourners in this life, we seek to still follow Him. We desire to go where he leads. We study his word. We meditate on it day and night. We bring to him our prayers and petitions and we ask him direction for our lives. And then we must live by faith. We must be careful to observe all which he has commanded us. We've run to him as our king. We've run to him as our conqueror. We've run to him as the covenant head over us. And so now we listen to him.
Even when he says there's going to be amazing things that happen that we don't understand how they're going to happen. We can trust Him. He'll work it out because we live by faith and not by sight. Even when there's trials and suffering and difficulty, reviling and despair, we need not. We can go to Him. We can walk in His ways because our King goes before us.
Let's pray. Father, we pray that You would please help us, Lord, to follow after You. Lord, we pray that we would listen to the Joshua you've given us, Jesus Christ, who truly does speak for you. Lord, we pray that we would walk in the ways that you have shown us. Lord, thank you. Thank you that we don't have to do this alone, but that you, our King, lead us in the paths of righteousness. So Father, please let us walk in Christ. Let us live for your glory. Thank you. Thank you for enlisting us. into your army as your children, because you've loved us. In Jesus's name. Amen. Well, may God bless you. May you follow after him all your life. I'll see you next time. Bye.