The River (Part 1)
Background Story: After 430 years in slavery in Egypt and 40 years in the desert, the Israelites are being led into the promised land by their new leader, Joshua.
Read Joshua 3
Early the next morning Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia Grove and arrived at the banks of the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing. 2 Three days later the Israelite officers went through the camp, 3 giving these instructions to the people: “When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them. 4 Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Stay about half a mile behind them, keeping a clear distance between you and the Ark. Make sure you don’t come any closer.”
5 Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.”
6 In the morning Joshua said to the priests, “Lift up the Ark of the Covenant and lead the people across the river.” And so they started out and went ahead of the people.
7 The Lord told Joshua, “Today I will begin to make you a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites. They will know that I am with you, just as I was with Moses. 8 Give this command to the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant: ‘When you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop there.’”
9 So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come and listen to what the Lord your God says. 10 Today you will know that the living God is among you. He will surely drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites ahead of you. 11 Look, the Ark of the Covenant, which belongs to the Lord of the whole earth, will lead you across the Jordan River! 12 Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 The priests will carry the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall.”
14 So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. 15 It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, 16 the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.
17 Meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed as the people passed by. They waited there until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan on dry ground.
Big Idea: God will lead you.
I love this story on so many levels and there are tons of truths within this chapter. Let’s dig into the word and learn principles about how to follow God’s plan for our life. Standing before a decision in your life, how do you follow God and know where He is leading?
1- STAY CLOSE: The Israelites were standing at the base of the Jordan river that was overflowing with water during flood season and Joshua said to the people, “When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them. Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you.” In each of our lives, God will call us to places we have “never traveled” before. To follow God’s plan requires proximity where we stay close to Him.
2- REMOVE SIN: In verse 5, Joshua instructed them to “purify yourself” before they entered the Jordan. To stay close to God in this season, you must purify yourself from sin. You cannot be walking in sin and disobedience and still have ears to hear His voice.
3- PUT GOD FIRST: In verse 6, Joshua instructed them to “Lift up the Ark of the Covenant and lead the people across.” To follow God’s leading, we submit to Him and put Him first in our life. Each morning, we surrender opening our hands to Him saying, “not my will but Yours.” This is not a one time event, but a daily surrender of our will and desires to Him.
4- WALK: In verse 8, Joshua instructed them to, “take a few steps into the river and stop there.” As we walk in God’s plan, we learn to “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). This means we pray for direction, take a step, pray again, take a step, pray again, take a step….repeat. We learn to listen and pay attention to His leading and warnings so we keep in step with Him.
5- ABIDE: In verse 10, Joshua said, “Today you will know that the living God is among you.” Jesus is alive and the Holy Spirit is present to walk with you. Jesus said in John 14:16-17, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.” In every situation or decision we make, the Holy Spirit is there to help us to know God’s will. As we abide and live closely with God, we will know the next step… maybe not the one after…but always the next one. He is faithful!
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