Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 7 Lesson 65
This week in Sunday school, we take a look at another momentous event at the beginning of Israel’s conquest of Canaan: the crossing of the Jordan River. Why would the Jordan River have been such a dangerous obstacle for the people of Israel? How did God miraculously provide for Israel’s crossing? And how is God’s command to memorialize the occasion instructive to us?
Our main text for this lesson is Joshua 3:1-4:24.
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land of canaan they testify yahweh has indeed given us the land now today we look at the next step of israel’s conquest of canaan under yahweh under joshua and that is the crossing of the jordan river now when you hear this title or you think about this section of scripture you might be thinking as i did when i first came to this section uh is this really all that special i mean they’re just crossing a river i mean what’s the big deal but having actually studied the passage and the situation that israel faced i now see and hopefully you will as well just how critical the situation was for israel at this point crossing the jordan represented a dangerous if not impossible challenge for the people of israel and it could have derailed the entire conquest right at the start but as god had done previously with israel at the red sea or better the reed sea he would use this difficulty at the jordan to actually put his own power goodness and faithfulness on display and so as we look at this account today i trust that you will find encouragement for your own lies as you behold god’s promises to fight and provide for you as well they’re being displayed to israel but you have a similar promise from god those of you who are in christ so what did god accomplish for israel at the jordan well let’s pray and then we’ll find out heavenly father we thank you for your wonderful word and we thank you that you have brought us to yourself caused us to know jesus christ who is the sweetest treasure in all the universe lord i pray that we would know you in a greater way today that we would see your powerful hand and that it would encourage us embolden us lord to follow after you more fully more obediently pray you’d help me to explain this wonderful section of your word now in jesus name amen all right please take your bibles and open to joshua chapter 3.
joshua chapter 3 page 225 in the view bible if you’re using that one we’re picking up right where we left off last time in the book of joshua joshua 2 ends with the two spies coming back to joshua from jericho the armies and people of israel are currently on the eastern side of the jordan at this point on the plains of moab just opposite jericho now the full account of israel crossing the jordan river spans chapters 3 and 4 of joshua but we are going to just focus on the first half of it now we’ll look at joshua 3 verses 1 to 17.
make some observations then we’ll come back and look at the other side so follow along with me as i read chapter 3 of joshua that’s what the word says then joshua rose early in the morning he and all the sons of israel set out from shatim and came to the jordan and lodged there before they crossed at the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp and they commanded the people saying when you see the ark of the covenant of the lord that is yahweh your god with levitical priests carrying it and you shall set out from your place and go after it however there shall be between you and it a distance of about two thousand cubits by measure do not come near it that you may know the way by which you shall go for you have not passed this way before then joshua said to the people consecrate yourselves for tomorrow yahweh will do wonders among you and joshua spoke to the priest saying take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people so they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people now yahweh said to joshua this day i will begin to exalt you in the sight of all israel that they may know that just as i have been with moses i will be with you you shall moreover command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant saying when you come to the edge of the waters of the jordan you shall stand still in the jordan then joshua said to the sons of israel come here and hear the words of yahweh your god joshua said by this you shall know that the living god is among you and he will assuredly dispossess from before you the canaanite the hittite the hivite the perizzite the gurgashite the amorite and the jebusite behold the ark of the covenant of the lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the jordan now then take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of israel one man for each tribe it shall come about when the souls of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of yahweh the lord of all the earth rest in the waters of the jordan the waters of the jordan will be cut off and the waters which are flowing down from above will stand in one heap so when the people set out from their tents to cross the jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people and when those who carried the ark came into the jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water for the jordan overflows all its banks on the days of harvest the waters which are flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap a great distance away at adam a city that is beside zerathan and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the arabah the salt sea were completely cut off so the people crossed opposite jericho and the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of yahweh stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the jordan while all israel crossed on dry ground to all the nation had finished crossing the jordan all right we’ve heard the first half of the account let’s make some basic observations of what we see in the passage notice in verses 1 to 2 that the people of israel set out and follow joshua to the edge of the jordan river but they do not cross immediately they stay at the water’s edge for about three days now during these three days israel would have gotten a good look at the jordan river and the potential crossing that they faced what would they have thought about what they saw let’s acquaint ourselves a little bit with some facts about the jordan river in ancient israel jordan river is the lowest river in the world in terms of elevation it sits at the bottom of a deep rift valley between modern israel and modern jordan you can see the little map i have there on the screen the greener the darker the green shows the lower the elevation and you can see there’s this really dark green section that’s the jordan valley the jordan rift valley jordan river flows basically north to south from mount hermon in the north into and out of the sea of galilee then it moves south through the jordan rift valley until the river empties into the dead sea now normally we might think of rivers as great opportunities for agriculture and the northern banks of the jordan river are pretty lush they can even look like jungle but the steep gradient of the jordan rift valley it prohibited using the jordan river in general as an as an irrigation system it didn’t really work that well for farming actually the land on the southern parts of the jordan river is pretty infertile pretty barren the jordan river in ancient times was not a great river averaging about 100 feet across and about as much as 10 feet deep however the river was pretty fast sometimes violent in its current which made boating up and down the river impossible river also floods annually expanding the river’s width and depth and the speed of its current now put yourselves into the shoes of an ancient israelite or ancient individual who encounters a river like the jordan and wants to go to the other side how might you try to cross a river what do you think bridge yes let’s look for a bridge right i mean this seems like the simplest solution let’s find a bridge now though in ancient times though somebody might fell a tree to put it across a little stream to get across bridges were actually pretty rare other than that little little log you used to get over a stream you’re not seeing that many bridges and apparently there was no bridge that was built across the jordan river until the 600s a.d so israel is not going to be able to use a bridge to cross the jordan how else might someone try to cross a river like the jordan river try swimming all right maybe you can swim across well it’s true that some people would have been able to swim across to jordan but unlike today most people in the ancient world did not know how to swim it’s not like after all they could just practice in their swimming pools in their backyard it’s true that some people could learn to swim and they were strong swimmers maybe some soldiers would be good at that but it’s swimming is not a great option for crossing a river when you’re traveling with a mixed group with a bunch of animals and a whole lot of possessions so the bridge option is out swimming is not really a good choice another way is you might simply go around all right we’re not going to cross the river we’ll just go around until we see a land passage across and this was the solution many times if you look at the trade routes and the roads through palestine in the ancient world you’ll see that they mostly avoid rivers they just go around but of course that takes time in israel if they tried to go around at this point well they’re going to be frustrated for a little while and so the only other option would be to look for a ford of course i’m not talking about a car you’re looking for a shallow place in the river where you can wade slash float across looking for a ford to get across the river now the jordan did have some forting sites some places that were shallow enough that you could walk across way through the water and some of these floating sites were actually right across from jericho hey that’s really great but joshua 315 informs us of a certain detail if you look at verse 15 of the past as we just read it says that the jordan overflows all its banks in the days of harvest or in other words the beginning of spring there are several times of harvest in israel but what this is indicating is that at the beginning of spring jordan enters flood stage and what time of year is it now currently for israel well we’ll see in chapter four but it’s even clearer in chapter five in joshua 5 10 soon after crossing the jordan israel will celebrate the passover passover takes place in the first month of the year first month of the year and in what season what season is passover it’s in the spring just as it is today so what does that mean a normally affordable spot in the jordan river is now not affordable at all even at these fords opposite jericho israel is looking at a river 10 to 12 feet deep and up to a mile wide now even for strong swimmers this crossing would be a challenge now i don’t know about you but when’s the last time or i don’t know about myself but for you when’s the last time you swam a mile in some of your clothes while dragging stuff on top of the water and with a child on your back and don’t forget the extra strong current which might sweep you and your child away so as issue waits pairs at the jordan’s edge they probably can’t help but notice that they showed up at the jordan river at an extremely inopportune time if the nation attempts a crossing now without divine help there’s a very strong possibility that some if not many people will drown and who is it who brought them to this place at exactly this time yahweh their god why would god do this perhaps people mold over this question as they waited but notice we don’t see any complaining in the text and notice the command given by the officers the people in verses two to four they say that the people are to set out and follow whenever they see the covered ark pass before them whoever they are to keep their distance from the ark they had to follow two thousand cubits behind which had been more than half a mile behind sir stay back they need to see which way they ought to go arc’s gonna show them now these marching orders are unique compared to how israel would normally move about according to numbers 10 the people usually traveled with the ark in the middle of their company also the ark was normally carried by levites from the family of kohath but this time the ark is going before everyone and who’s carrying the ark here the priests levitical priests are carrying the ark and remember what does the ark serve as it is a container for the the ten commandments the testimony that’s true but how else does the ark serve a purpose right right this is the place where god has chosen to manifest his presence even meet with his people and this ark this place of god’s presence is going to go before all the people now you can imagine this unique set of orders producing some expectation in the people of israel were to follow the ark where are we going how will the ark lead to our crossing this jordan river notice the additional commands given by joshua in verse 5. 5 tells the people to consecrate themselves that is wash yourselves refrain from any activity that might make you ceremonially unclean why joshua says because tomorrow yahweh will do wonders among you it doesn’t say what those wonders are but he says they’re coming you can imagine again the people what what wonders will yahweh do will he bring us across to jordan through some supernatural act then verse 7 yahweh speaks with joshua and says more about what’s happened what’s about to happen yahweh says joshua i’m about to exalt you joshua in the eyes of all the people people will know that i am with you just as i was with moses and you will receive divine affirmation as leader of israel again god doesn’t say specifically how it’s going to happen again so again this declaration will lead to questions what is it that yahweh will do to bring about this great affirmation now are you noticing how the text is leading us on as we move to this narrative it’s giving us some information but not giving us the full information this is a classic literary way to bring about tension or drama or expectation in the reader or listener it probably produced tension in the original people who experienced this event they’re hearing these words from joshua they’re hearing these words from yahweh and they say okay i know a little bit now but i don’t know the full story what’s going to happen what will yahweh do will he really bring us across and i point this out to you because this building of tension actually just increases as we go through the account when we look at verses 10 to 12 we see the same thing with what joshua expresses to the people look at verse 10 joshua enhances the drama by saying look israel by what’s about to happen you will know that the living god is among you now living god as opposed to what kind of god dead god a lifeless god an empty god a fake god who had empty gods who weren’t able to do anything people of the land the people that israel was going to fight against and to conquer and to judge he says but we have a living god and you’re gonna see that and what’s about to happen okay so what’s about to happen or he says also in verse 10 by what’s about to happen you will know that god will surely dispossess the inhabitants of the land for you wow that’s that’s wonderful what is it that yahweh is going to do to confirm our coming victory verse 11. he says the ark of the covenant is going ahead of you into the jordan into the jordan how can the ark of god go into the jordan and stay intact and then verse 12 he says select one man from each each of the tribes of israel for what joshua doesn’t say what are these 12 men going to need to do and this anticipation increases again when we reach verse 13 joshua even plainly says what will happen it says when the priest’s feet enter the jordan river waters flowing from the north they will be cut off and stand in one heap really joshua god will do that is this really going to happen imagine as the people were going to sleep that night they had maybe a hard time sleeping because they’re just anticipating what’s going to happen the next day and also notice the title that yahweh heard that joshua uses for yahweh in verse 13 he refers to him as the lord of all the earth again that title is opposed to what kind of lord right some local god a god of a certain area or even the god who has a jurisdiction over only part of creation he’s the god of the sky or he’s the god of the plains or he’s the god of this river that’s what many of the people’s gods were in the land that israel was going to conquer but he says yahweh is the lord of all the earth not just some local area not just some people not just one particular part of creation he is the lord of all the sovereign of all let me see one last section of build up in verses 14 to 15.
even when we’re having the report of what’s happening notice we still get this big chunk of explanatory material before we actually hear the action one more explanation of the circumstances right before the miracle before we see it and then we do see it in verse 16 the waters indeed are made up to stand are made to stand up as a heap and they are completely cut off it says notice where the water stack up north toward the city of adam which was probably about 19 miles upstream now the specific preposition used with the city adam is a bit unclear in the hebrew it could be from adam or at adam new american standard goes with at adam as as most modern translations do from adam would mean that the israelites would actually have been able to see the waters stack up from where they were all the way towards the city of adams so basically from adam from where that city was probably 19 miles north you would have seen the water stacking up all the way to where israel was and this would be reminiscent of israel’s experience at the red sea where they saw the water stacked up on each side as they crossed so front and atom is possible at adam is also possible that if it indeed is at adam it would mean that the israelites wouldn’t have seen the water stack up because 19 miles away is too far for the eye to see but they surely would have noticed the waters being cut off all the water between where they were and the city of adam would have just disappeared and that would have given them plenty of room to cross the riverbed but either way either way the preposition shakes out under verse 16 says all israel crosses the jordan and verse 17 notes that the people with the ark the priests they stand firm with the ark while the people cross but notice something else that verse 17 expresses what is the condition of the ground as the people cross this is dry ground and is ground normally dry when water ceases flowing across it of course not instead it is muddy and wet and troublesome but here we’re told twice about this ground the priest stood on dry ground and the people crossed on dry ground so here we finish observations on the first part of the account and we normally turn to interpretations at this point but let’s hold off on that until we hear the rest of the account because chapter 4 is going to fill in some details about the crossing which we haven’t heard yet especially details about how the crossing ends so look over at chapter 4 now chapter 4 verses 1 to 24 and we’ll finish we’ll finish looking at the narrative and make more observations on it so joshua 4 follow along with me as i read now when all the nation had finished crossing the jordan yahweh spoke to joshua saying take for yourselves 12 men from the people one man from each tribe command them saying take up for yourselves 12 stones from here out of the middle of the jordan from the place where the priest’s feet are standing firm carry them over there carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight so joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of israel one man from each tribe and joshua said to them cross against the ark of yahweh your god into the middle of the jordan and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder according to the number of the tribes of the sons of israel let this be a sign among you so when your children ask later saying what do these stones mean to you and you shall say to them cuz the waters of the jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of yahweh when it crossed the jordan the waters of the jordan were cut off so these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of israel forever thus the sons of israel did as joshua commanded and took up twelve stones from the middle of the jordan just as yahweh spoke to joshua according to the number of the tribes the sons of israel and they carried them over with them to the lodging place and put them down there then joshua set up 12 stones in the middle of the jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing and they are there to this day for the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the jordan until everything was completed that yahweh had commanded joshua to speak to the people according to all that moses had commanded joshua and the people hurried and crossed and when all the people had finished crossing the ark of yahweh and the priests crossed before the people the sons of reuben and the sons of god and the half tribe of vanessa crossed over in battle array before the sons of israel just as moses had spoken to them about forty thousand equipped war crossed for battle before yahweh to the desert plains of jericho on that day yahweh exalted joshua in the sight of all israel so that they revered him just as they had revered moses all the days of his life now yahweh said to joshua command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony that they come up from the jordan so joshua commanded the priest saying come up from the jordan it came about when the priest who carried the ark of the covenant of yahweh had come up from the middle of the jordan that the souls of the priest’s feet were lifted up to the dry ground that the waters of the jordan returned to their place and went over all its banks as before now the people came up from the jordan on the 10th of the first month and camped at gilgal on the eastern edge of jericho those 12 stones which they had taken from the jordan joshua set up at gilgal it said to the sons of israel when your children ask their fathers in time to come saying what are these stones and you shall inform your children saying israel cross this jordan on dry ground for yahweh your god dried up the waters of the jordan before you until you had crossed just as yahweh your god had done to the red sea which he dried up before us until we had crossed that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of yahweh is mighty so that you may fear yahweh your god forever all right let’s observe some more details from this second chapter when israel finishes crossing notice what is it that causes the river to return to its place verses 15 to 18 make clear that it’s precisely when the priest’s feet leave the riverbed and return to the normal dry land at joshua’s command that the waters return actually this this corresponds to how the waters dissipated in the first place the souls of the feet of the priests they touch the water and the waters retreated and then when the soles of the feet of the priest left the riverbed and touched the dry land the waters returned notice in verse 10 we have this little remark that all the people crossed quickly so this is not a crossing that took several days israel had taken time to prepare beforehand and they certainly did not dawdle now probably also the same way they crossed the red sea they didn’t doddle so a million plus people they cross this river in one day probably in a matter of hours now look at verses 12 to 13. we have details about certain soldiers from the tribe of god reuben and the half tribe of manasseh given to us maybe saying uh isn’t that kind of random what’s going on with these two and a half tribes well this note will sound random and confusing if we’re not aware of what took place with israel after they conquered the two amorite kingdoms on the east side of the jordan this is some details we can go through together in our previous lessons but we’ll talk about it now in the aftermath of those conquests two and a half tribes the ones mentioned here they actually asked if they could have their inheritance on the eastern side of the jordan hey this is a good land moses do you mind if we actually set up our permanent homes here moses was the first angry when he heard this request he says how dare you ask this you’re discouraging israel from going over into the land of canaan you’re saying ah let’s just live on the eastern side and you’re not willing to go and fight with the rest of israel to obtain the land promised by god but the men from these tribes reuben god and manasseh they said no no moses you don’t understand we’re totally willing to go with you and to conquer the rest of the land but is it okay if we settle here now we’ll send men we’ll set up our families here but we’ll send our soldiers to go with you no no we’re not trying to discourage the people at all and so with these promises confirmed moses was mollified and he agreed all right ruben gab half tribal manasseh you can settle on this side make sure make sure you send your soldiers with the rest of people and so we see those terms being fulfilled here forty thousand from these two and a half tribes cross over with the rest of israel now these tribes had more men than this you know we learned this from actually the second census given in numbers 26 they had a lot more men than this but presumably some of their soldiers are going to need to stay behind some of their fighting men will need to stay behind to guard the women and children who are now living on the eastern side of the jordan but a good portion of the fighting men they go with the rest of israel and they cross the jordan here now going back to passage you look at verses 1 to 7 we finally see what those 12 men from the different tribes were chosen for each was to take up a stone from the jordan riverbed as a memorial now these were no pebbles mind you verse verse 5 says that each man will take a stone upon his shoulder so these are some decent-sized rocks here if you gotta stick them on your shoulder and notice where these stones are to be placed god says put them at where you launch and here in verses 19 to 24 where that is specifically at gilgal a place near jericho precise location of gilgal is not known there is another gilgal in the bible but it’s apparently different from this one this one seems to be somewhere near jericho between the jordan river and jericho notice though this isn’t the only memorial verses 9-10 clarifies that joshua set up another memorial in the middle of the jordan right where the priests were standing with the ark of the covenant takes 12 stones puts them there probably stack those stones on top of each other and when the waters return over the jordan it’s likely that these water that this monument wouldn’t have been seen at least not at flood stage but when the the water level had gone lower and the ford site was returned to normal then these rocks would indeed have been exposed and say ah those are the rocks that joshua set up as loyal to what god did here now notice for whom these memorials are to be instructive verse 7 refers to the sons of israel so that would be all people but who especially is in mind with these memorial stones that’s right the next generation the children those who were not old enough to comprehend what’s happening here and those who are not yet even born verse 6 verse 21 say that primarily these memorials are for the people to come for the children and notice that these stones they don’t simply commemorate israel crossing the jordan but specifically that it was yahweh who accomplished it for his people verse 7 the first description of what these memorial stones are supposed to do joshua says these are to remind you and your teach your children how the waters were cut off when the ark of the covenant of yahweh went into the waters it was all about the ark it was all about the one who resided in the ark and verse 23 it says yahweh dried up the waters of the jordan this isn’t something that we merely muscled our way through or accomplishing our own ingenuity this was yahweh’s work and we want to remember that they also noticed in verse 23 and 24 it kind of strange pronoun choice he says teach the later generations about what happened when they crossed the jordan that is you he refers to them with you and that’s maybe a little strange because they wait but they weren’t there at least some of these people some of these kids weren’t even born yet how could you say oh yeah this is when you cross the jordan this is a memorial to that time what yahweh did how can he say you well this is actually a common kind of expression in the old testament and it’s emphasizing the solidarity of the people of israel what god did in a generation past was in a way done for and even experienced by all the later generations too happened to one part of israel in a sense it happened to all the parts of israel even those to come and with these memorials it’s like god wants the later generations to be transported back and even experiencing the great moment of deliverance for themselves so with these memorials it’s like the people will be telling their children even though you weren’t there in a sense you need to be transported back to that time see yourself at the jordan river look at these stones listen to what listen to what happened and in a sense you will see that you crossed over the jordan too god did this for you even you who were born later speaking of the past and present notice the connection joshua makes in verse 23 said god’s drawing up the waters of the jordan so the israel could cross was just like what other events crossing the red sea or crossing the reed c and then notice finally there are realized purposes that are expressed in this section certain messages are being announced loud and clear through what’s happened here with jordan with the jordan river and with israel what messages does god communicate in this crossing verse 14 there’s a message given to all israel joshua is indeed yahweh’s chosen leader he has exalted joshua yahweh will be with him therefore you are to revere joshua that message comes loud and clear through here it was joshua who led this crossing he’s the one who commanded the people to do what they did and yahweh accomplished it all through joshua but there’s also the messages in verse 24 to all israel they are shown that they should revere and trust yahweh who is their great god but also it says to all the peoples of the earth a message is conveyed always hand is mighty yahweh’s hand is mighty to so easily dispatch the waters away and then bring back it’s nothing for yahweh and he’s the god of israel all the peoples of the earth would hear about this see this what would be their reaction hopefully it is also to fear yahweh and actually we see whether the other nations got this memo in the first verse of the next chapter just peek over to joshua five verse one notice what it says there it says now came about when all the kings the amorites who were beyond the jordan to the west and all the kings the canaanites were by the sea heard how yahweh had dried up the waters of the jordan before the sons of israel until they had crossed that their hearts melted and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of israel so they’re seeing they’re seeing the message they’re hearing the message loud and clear yahweh’s hand is mighty and it is active it is being put forth on behalf of god’s people israel well now that we’ve observed the second part of the narrative let’s now talk interpretation ask a number of questions here going back to chapter three both the way the event takes place and the way it’s retold it emphasizes the drama and it works to build tension why why would the event itself and the retelling of it emphasize tension what do you think i might just think hey this is good storytelling and it is if you wanted to be a good storyteller you would do things just like this but this is not merely done to be interesting this is not merely because god like thinks god sometimes to make things dramatic rather this underscores emphasizes the magnitude of what was really being accomplished by god here by building the excitement by building the anticipation it shows your god is really that great and what he accomplished was truly amazing it also i think highlights that this was a bit of a test for the people of israel they didn’t have all the information at first they got little hints of it and more and more as they went along but how are they going to respond to it you know tension is kind of a funny word that it can be both negative and positive sometimes you can be under tension because you’re afraid of what’s going to happen oh i don’t know what’s going to happen i’m it’s uncertain that you’re on the edge of your seat in a bad way but there’s also a positive kind of tension that’s that kind of excitement where you say oh wow i don’t know what’s going to happen but it’s going to be amazing i can’t wait to see it israel kind of face the choice how are they going to respond to this tension it’s a testing of their faith also this especially in the retelling this this effort to produce drama intention anticipation it’s part of drawing listeners and readers back into the moment to have them experience it for themselves look it was dramatic when it first happened and so the way i’m going to tell it is going to re-emphasize that drama because i want you the author says i want you to experience it for yourself see yourself at the jordan river take your imagine yourself in the shoes of the people of israel not knowing what’s going to happen but hearing that yahweh will do wonders as part of transporting the people back this is done on purpose as i said this was though a kind of test for the people of israel how do they fare in this test they do well they they demonstrate faith and obedience to yahweh what you’re like huh because at this point we’re so used to being like oh israel tested again oh they failed israel tested they failed israel but here they don’t what this is truly shocking maybe there really is something different about this second generation of israel they believe yahweh maybe they will indeed inherit the land they will accomplish the conquest just as yahweh said because they believe the lord this is wonderful news this is a great sign of what’s to come and we’ll we’ll see more of that kind of faith being confirmed now a question on a different note some have noted that seismic disturbances in this area have produced rock slides that would cut off the flow of the jordan river i mean the jordan rift valley is part of a huge seismic fault and so there’s a lot of activity there a lot of seismic activity even earthquakes rock slides so how do we know whether the text is really describing something miraculous or it’s actually just a natural event maybe a rock slide took place cut off the waters of the jordan and that’s how israel was able to cross how do we know whether this was merely natural versus miraculous what do you think right the details of the account show us this has to be miraculous and you pointed out one of them and that is the timing of the priest’s feet moving and the water’s retreating or returning that doesn’t happen naturally you can’t pull off a timing like that what else in the account emphasizes this had to be miraculous exactly right right exactly roy has with the red sea crossing they’re crossing on dry ground this is not normal even if there was a seismic disturbance in a rock slide you’re not going to have dry ground you’re not going to be able to cross over in a matter of hours the details show us this has to be miraculous also the waters said are said to be standing up in a great heap that doesn’t happen naturally there’s comparison to the red sea crossing it’s called a series of wonders by joshua the day before yahweh says he’s going to exalt joshua in the eyes of the people by what he does is a rock slide really going to accomplish all those things is that not going to be easily explained away as just a fortunate coincidence how’s that going to point to the mighty hand of yahweh or show that joshua is special especially chosen leader by yahweh no this is this is not really natural this is the mighty hand of yahweh at work just as it had done previously at the red sea now what is the significance of the ark going first said this is not normal why is it significant that’s right and remember isn’t this what god literally promised the people of israel it says look you’re coming to the land of canaan but i’m going before you to prepare the way for you and to give the people of the land into your hand and with this dramatic dangerous scene where israel is at the jordan river in flood stage yahweh again he emphasizes look i’m the one who goes before you i’m the one who’s accomplishing this for you now there’s no special power in the ark itself but as the symbol of god’s presence it’s appropriate that the ark goes before the people and it’s the priest standing with the ark that causes the water to proceed because really it’s yahweh doing it it’s yahweh stepping in a sense into the jordan and the waters flee from him because he is the mighty god this is emphasized by this special direction to have the ark go first and just as the waters parted for yahweh so the people of the land would melt away as israel entered the land excuse me and went into battle now at this point we’ve seen a lot of parallels with what god has done here at the jordan with what god did previously at the reed sea what is the significance sorry there’s the frog in my throat now what is the significance of god doing the same powerful miracle essentially the same miracle at the beginning of israel’s journey through the wilderness and at the end why is that significant um okay so you said a number of interesting things there uh you pointed out how this is a different generation and i think that’s certainly part of what’s going on here i’m really sorry about my throat that is the first generation they have died off and maybe there are some in the second generation who were alive at the red sea crossing but they would have been young some that wouldn’t have necessarily understood what was going on or they didn’t remember it that well and some weren’t even there at all but with the second generation experiencing that same mighty miracle that would have brought to their minds an even more vivid depiction of how they can trust their mighty god to bring them into the land and bring them into the conquest there is um uh kind of like a restatement of the of the picture a a reminder a another vivid example for the next generation of what god had provided before so i think that’s certainly part of the answer uh roy what were you gonna say hmm mm-hmm right yeah so this was as you’re saying before a powerful testimony to a new generation but it also um to refer to some things you just said roy in some ways it does complete the time that the people had in the wilderness it began with god doing this miraculous work to provide for the people and it ends with a similar work to provide for the people to pave the way before them and to even follow behind them and i think as you said roy it’s very very true he’s emphasizing this is all this has all been my work from beginning to end i started this i finished this and i’m gonna keep doing it for you as you go into the land of canaan this emphasizes that their god also does not change he’s the same powerful god he’s the same faithful god i can do it for one generation i can do it for another generation it’s not like i used up all my power the first time with that watery crossing i can do the same thing again easily of course this would encourage the people of israel as they they face what could have been seen as a monumental task and that is overcoming the people of the land taking all their strong cities and utterly destroying them as god had commanded them to do yeah i think there are other things we can say uh all right dwayne yeah why don’t you give me give me something else hmm yeah great point duane uh we do see that parallel on both accounts this is part of god exalting showing that the people need to revere god’s chosen leader moses with the first crossing joshua with the second crossing and both of them were instrumental in their different crossings moses was the one who was raising his hand raising the staff and that was part of god now god used that as to cause the waters to part and to come back the same thing with joshua he gives the command the priests move and the waters depart or they return certainly i think another thing we can say is that it emphasizes that no enemy can stand against yahweh or the people of israel because remember what happened at the first crossing not just though the waters were parted but the pharaoh the army of pharaoh was destroyed utterly there’s no army here in the second parting but there is an army that’s about to be faced at jericho and the rest of canaan so just as the army was annihilated in the first instance so god chose the armies that you’re about to face have nothing on you they will not be able to stand against you look i’m able to part the sea and you remember the last time i parted the sea how i destroyed your enemies also and all this would have been a great encouragement to the people of israel as they faced the task before them they don’t just have the encouragement from rahab the report from jericho that the people are in fear of israel and of their god but they also see the this this vivid picture of yahweh’s power over the waters the significance that moses had that god used him and worked through him to perpetrate certain things right and which allowed the people to have faith in him to know that he was being he was he was being used by god right yeah that was a point that dwayne was just emphasizing and that would be important for the people as they go through the conquest they not just had to needed to trust yahweh and in his power but they needed to respect yahweh’s leader because joshua was going to lead them through the entire conquest or at least the the the main phase of it so yeah that would be important for the people now here’s a here’s another question more on the second part of the account why does his account emphasize memorial so much he says you need to you need to set up these memorials and you need to be prepared to instruct why why are memorials so important why would the people need in their memorials and a memorial like this would help them to remember that god was working with for them and with them right yeah as you’re saying roy there’s a there’s a very strong tendency for the people to forget god and what he had done dwayne were you going to say something else throughout the history of israel god didn’t always do the miraculous events that you know continually in the lives of the people throughout the hundreds of years you know that they were in existence there um and so there may be times where there’s really no miraculous events taking place but uh memorial serves as an event to bring them back to god is a god of you know miraculous yeah that’s a great point dwayne not every time is god going to do this stunning miracle but god is always with his people and god is always working for his people sometimes it’s through unseen means sometimes it’s just the normal providential means but by emphasizing and taking time to memorialize and remember these special instances it shows them you can trust them when you don’t see the special things and as you were saying roy there’s a tendency to forget even these wonderful acts of god and so the memorials were part of redirecting their minds toward what they needed to remember and of course that’s not just true in the days of israel that’s also true today right we have a tendency to forget the mighty works of god we have a tendency to forget the greatness of god and we need our minds constantly redirected towards god and the things of god we need the constant encouragement of remembering who god is and what he has done because we have a plenty of forces working against that we just have the weakness of our flesh the sinfulness of our flesh the false ideas of the world the evil one himself all these things trying to say no no no don’t think about that think about think about these physical things that are right in front of you or maybe you can’t trust what god said and so we do need our minds constantly redirected to the lord and to what he has done and that is accomplished via memorials yeah danny to have something visual we can see god’s god’s being gracious to us he’s giving us a visible sign i think this is our faith we see that in the uh in the new covenant sign the lord suffering right we’re having today right yeah increases our faith reminds us of the great work god has done that’s right i think that’s so true danny it’s just also simply encouraging even if we um even if we weren’t forgetting seeing something visible we can say that that is a sign of what god has done that that is encouraging to us and that spurs us forward one last question to ask here what is the purpose of this account why did joshua write this because remember the context of the book of joshua this is written by joshua completed at the end of his life for a generation that didn’t didn’t necessarily participate in the conquest at the end of his life joshua has gathered all israel together the conquest is complete but there’s some mop-up operations that have to be done the individual tribes have to finish conquering their areas because god said i’m not going to take them out all at once because you wouldn’t be able to fill all the land but i’ll take out a large section of it you’ll have essentially gained the land and then you just finish it up well josh was talking to the people as they’re looking at these mop up operations in the future and he writes this account why what’s the purpose i think you can see that it ties in directly with what’s stated in the account what was this crossing meant to do it was to show everyone the mighty hand of god and so that god’s people would fear their god i remember we say fear we’re not talking about simply that craven fear that says oh no i better do the right thing or god’s gonna smite me you should fear the power and even the holiness of god and be aware of his chastening ability but the fear idea in the old testament and even the new testament has the idea of reverence that love and trust that regard for the greatness of god that causes you to follow him to seek him to obey him that’s what israel was to do and that’s what the later generations were to do all right you weren’t there at the at the crossing of the jordan river but in a way you were and they need to be transported back there because you have a task to do as well you need to finish the conquest it was finished in a sense but you’ve got a task set before you too you need to realize the same thing that the people at the jordan river were realizing that the hand of yahweh is mighty on behalf of his people of course that’s not just true for them but that’s true for us too right this is the main application of our text it’s stated for us in the text we need to realize the mighty hand of god so that we would fear our god you know it’s interesting water is often associated in the bible with chaos even evil you might remember at the beginning of genesis it says the earth was formless and void and the spirit of god hovered over the waters waters kind of associated with this unfinished this disorderly state and if you just observe water today it’s just moving about especially when it’s stormy or windy thrashing about it seems out of control all this power out of control but what do we see yahweh doing again and again and again in the scriptures establishing his power over the waters even the winds and the waves obey the voice of yahweh he says hush be still he established their borders and he says you can’t come forward beyond this and they come to that spot and then they retreat because yahweh is sovereign over all the earth even the mighty and chaotic waters and of course we see this emphasize the new testament as well our lord jesus established his authority over the waters and if our god commands the winds and the waves and they obey him if he can banish the waters of the jordan and then call them back then is he not able to take care of us is he not able to fulfill all the words that he has spoken to us as he had done to israel so a few questions for you to think about along those lines we don’t have time to go through these questions in full today but think we’re not the people of israel we don’t have a an actual military crusade to accomplish on god’s behalf so what should be holding the great power the mighty hand of god encourage us to do well just as the generations after the generation of joshua had their special calling to fulfill so do we we’ve been called by god to make disciples fight the good fight of faith pursue holiness serve the church how are we going to be able to do this through the mighty hand of god will it be difficult sometimes but we face situations that look insurmountable yes but is the mighty hand of god with us and we will also face trials we’ll face times where we say oh lord this is hard things are not going well just as and this really goes into my second question god brought the people of israel twice to a site of watery danger where it looked like there was no deliverance they brought them to the red sea backed them into a corner and we brought them to the jordan river where it looked like there was no way to cross without people drowning why did he do that so he could deliver in a mighty way it’s the same thing for our lives we so often fall into the light version of the prosperity gospel where we say oh if i just obey yahweh if i stay in the word if i go to church if i serve if i do all the right things then life will go well with me and many times you will be blessed even in your life because you follow yahweh but you know what things are sometimes just not going to go well for you even when you do everything right don’t be surprised when that happens don’t say oh what ah i thought no don’t say that remember what god did with israel he brought them into times of difficulty challenge and danger why that the people would learn to trust him that they would persevere in that time of testing it would grow in faith and then you would provide the mighty deliverance at the right time so it will be with you and in your lives you’re gonna face difficulty even when you do everything right even sometimes because you’re doing what’s right but god says trust endure persevere i will vindicate you at the right time and for many of us that’s only going to be fully accomplished when we when we die when we see the lord and you’ll say well done good and faithful servant you were faithful with the little things even when it wasn’t going well for you now i will put you in charge of many things one final question what are ways that we can make or use spiritual memorials as i said we need that same kind of reminding that remembrance of yahweh in his works today so how can we make use of memorials let’s not forget the biggest memorial we have which is the word of god memorials don’t have to be always physical they can be written so we need to pay attention to the word read it talk about it memorize it sing it even sing and memorize christian songs participate in the lord’s supper and baptism just as danny was referring to before these are signs of memorial even visible to help us recall and appreciate what yahweh has done and who he is steady also church history it’s not like yahweh’s mighty work just stopped in at the end of the bible no he’s been continuing to work you can see the testimonies of people from the past and what god did in the world and how he had mercy and how he showed forth his power now as he changed hearts look at the biographies of missionaries and pastors and faithful mothers and other great men and women of faith consider your own testimony share your testimony look for opportunities just in everyday life to teach and remind your children about yahweh and his ways of course holidays birthday parties are all part of that but every day there are little things that we can use to remind ourselves of what the scripture says about our great god so we need to remember i think it’s so telling that one of the commands were given in the new testament is to remember jesus christ you think like how am i going to forget jesus christ but you know what the flesh is weak enough that yeah you can forget even jesus christ maybe not forget his name but forget who he is forget what he’s done fail to appreciate him fail to live in light of it so we need these memorials we need to make use of them create them and also take advantage of the ones that we already have been given now that’s all the time we have for this week if you have questions or comments about what we looked at today please feel free to email me next week we see israel’s unstoppable god the mighty hand of yahweh bring down the walls of jericho look forward to talking about that with you let’s close in prayer heavenly father you are mighty and you say that you are on our side rather you brought us onto your side you’re our strong tower you are our mighty deliverer so even if all the world is against us god we know that we don’t have to fear if you can banish the waters of the jordan you can take care of us if you can pave the way for the people of visual to cross this roiling stream this river god you can take care of us so i pray that the people who have heard this message today those at calvary that they would trust you trust your mighty hand cling to you even in the times of testing and that you would vindicate their faith i praise you bless the rest of their time of worship today jesus amen i thank you all see you again next