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Joshua Chapters 3 and 4
Forward by Faith
We’ve just examined the faith of an individual, Rahab; and now the focus in the Book of Joshua moves to the faith of an entire nation.
As you study, keep in mind that this book deals with much more than ancient history—what God did centuries ago for the nation of Israel.
It’s about your life and the life of the church today—what God wants to do here and now for those who trust Him.
The Book of Joshua is about the victory of faith and the glory that comes to God when His people trust and obey.
British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli said, “The world was never conquered by intrigue; it was conquered by faith.”
In the Christian life you’re either an overcomer or you’re overcome, a victor or a victim.
After all, God didn’t save us to make statues out of us and put us on exhibition.
He saved us to make soldiers out of us and move us forward by faith to claim our rich inheritance in Jesus Christ.
Moses said it perfectly: “He brought us out … that He might bring us in” ().
Too many of God’s people have the mistaken idea that salvation—being delivered from the bondage of Egypt—is all that’s involved in the Christian life; but salvation is only the beginning.
Both in our personal spiritual growth and in our service for the Lord, “there remains, very much land yet to be possessed” (, NKJV).
The theme of the Book of Joshua is the theme of the Book of Hebrews: “Let us go on” (); and the only way to go on is by faith.
Unbelief says, “Let’s go back to where it’s safe”; but faith says, “Let’s go forward to where God is working” (see ).
Forty years eairlier, Joshua and Caleb had assured the Jews, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.”
That’s faith!
But the people said, “We are not able!”
That’s unbelief, and it cost the nation forty years of discipline in the wilderness (see ).
“And this is the victory that has overcome the world—your faith” (, NKJV).
God hasn’t changed, and the principle of faith hasn’t changed.
What seems to have changed is the attitude of God’s people:
We no longer believe God and act by faith in His promises.
His promises never fail (; ; ), but we can fail to live by the grace of God and not, enter into all that He has promised for us (; ).
God has “brought us out that He might bring us in,” but too often we fail to “enter in because of unbelief” ().
In and 4, God illustrates for us three essentials for moving ahead by faith and claiming all that He has for us:
· the Word of faith.
· the walk of faith.
· the witness of faith.
1.
The Word of faith ()
As the nation waited by the Jordan River, the people must have wondered what Joshua planned to do.
He certainly wouldn’t ask them to swim the river or ford it, because the river was at flood stage (3:15).
They couldn’t construct enough boats or rafts to transport more than a million people over the water to the other side.
Besides, that approach would make them targets for their enemies.
What would their new leader do?
Like Moses before him, Joshua received his orders from the Lord, and he obeyed them by faith.
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (, NKJV).
It has been well said that faith is not believing in spite of evidence but obeying in spite of consequence.
When you read , the great “faith chapter” of Scripture, you discover that the people mentioned there all did something because they believed God.
Their faith wasn’t a passive feeling; it was an active force.
· Because Abraham believed God, he left Ur and headed for Canaan.
· Because Moses believed God, he defied the gods of Egypt and led the Jews to freedom.
· Because Gideon believed God, he led a small band of Jews to defeat the huge Midianite army.
Living faith always leads to action.
“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (, NKJV).
Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim.
And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2 At the end of three days the officers went through the camp 3 and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it.
4 Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length.
Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”
The officers’ message to the people (vv.
1–4).
Joshua was an early riser (6:12; 7:16; 8:10), who spent the first hours of the day in communion with God (1:8).
Other early risers in scripture;
· Moses (; ),
· David (; see 119:147),
· Hezekiah (), and our
· Lord Jesus Christ (; see ).
It’s impossible to live by faith and ignore the Word of God and prayer (); for faith is nurtured by worship and the Word.
The people God uses and blesses know how to discipline their bodies so that they can give themselves to the Lord in the early morning hours.
Joshua ordered the camp to move 7 miles from The Acacia Grove (Shittim) to the Jordan; and no doubt the people in Jericho watched this march with great apprehension.
It probably took Israel a day to make this journey; they rested another day; and on the third day, the officers gave them their orders: The people were to cross the river, following the ark of the covenant.
The ark is mentioned sixteen times in chapters 3 and 4.
· It’s called “the ark of the covenant” ten times,
· “the ark of the Lord” three times,
· and simply “the ark” three times.
It was the “throne of God,” the place where His glory rested in the tabernacle () and God sat “enthroned between the cherubim” (, NIV).
The Law of God was kept in the ark, a reminder of God’s covenant with Israel; along with Aaron’s rod that budded, and the golden pot of manna, and the blood of the sacrifices was sprinkled on the mercy seat on the annual Day of Atonement ().
(Yom Kippur)
The ark going before the people was an encouragement to their faith, it meant that their God was going before them and leading the way.
God had promised Moses, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (, NKJV).
When the nation had marched through the wilderness, the ark had gone before them (); and Moses would say, “Rise up, O Lord! May Your enemies be scattered; may Your foes flee before You” (v.
35, NIV).
During that time, the presence of the ark was a guarantee of the presence of the Lord.
Each of the tribes had an assigned place in the camp and an assigned order in the march when they broke up camp ().
When the leaders of the tribes saw the priests bearing the ark and moving toward the river, they were to prepare their people to follow.
Since the people had not traveled this way before, they needed God to guide them.
But they were not to get too close to the ark, for this was a holy piece of furniture from the tabernacle; and it was not to be treated carelessly.
God is our companion as we go through life, but we have to be careful not treat Him like a “buddy.”
Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
Joshua’s message to the people.
This was both an order and a promise, and the fulfillment of the promise depended on their obedience to the order.
Some of God’s promises are unconditional, and all we have to do is believe them; while other promises require that we meet certain conditions.
In meeting these conditions, we’re not earning God’s blessing; we’re making sure our hearts are ready for God’s blessing.
If the experience of Israel at Mt. Sinai was the pattern (), “sanctify yourselves” meant that everybody bathed and changed their clothes and that the married couples devoted themselves wholly to the Lord ().
In the Near East, however, water was a luxury that wasn’t used too often for personal hygiene.
In our modern world we’re accustomed to comfortable bathing facilities; but these were unknown to most of the people in Bible times.
In the Bible the imagery of washing one’s body and changing clothes symbolized making a new beginning with the Lord.
Since sin is pictured as defilement (, ), God has to cleanse us before we can truly follow Him.
When Jacob made a new beginning with the Lord and returned to Bethel, he and his family washed themselves and changed their garments ().
After King David confessed his sin, he bathed, changed clothes, and worshiped the Lord ().
The imagery is carried over into the New Testament in ; , and .
The promise was that the Lord would do wonders among them.
As He opened the Red Sea to deliver Israel from Egypt, so also He would open the Jordan River and take them into the Promised Land.
But that would be just the beginning of miracles, for the Lord would go with them into the land, defeat their enemies, and enable the tribes to claim their inheritance.
And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.”
So, they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.
Joshua’s message to the priests.
The priests had the responsibility of bearing the ark of the covenant and going before the people as they marched.
It was the priests who had to get their feet wet before God would open the waters.
The priests would also have to stand in the middle of the riverbed until all the people had passed over.
When the priests arrived on the other side, the waters would return to their original condition.
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