Joshua

Joshua Chapter 3

Joshua 3:1 And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.
2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;

I wonder what their purpose was to wait three days but the probably spent that time planning, encouraging, and perhaps praying to seek the counsel of God. They probably waited until the spies returned but it might not have been the same three days that the spies waited until returning to the camp of Israel. Joshua rose early probably before daybreak.

Joshua 3:3 And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.

God’s timing and His presence is necessary before anything is accomplished that is fruitful and worthwhile. No doubt when they saw the ark and it was an encouraging sign that is was time to move on. There was officers serving under Joshua’s leadership which commanded the people to follow the ark but not get too close. The ark contained the Holy presence of the Lord and the people could not get too close or they might die if they touched it accidently.

This was before Jesus died for sins and made us worthy to be filled with the spirit of God. His righteousness had to cover our sins before we could receive the Holy Spirit. God’s presence is holy and awesome. They had to respect that holiness and had to have reverence and godly fear to come close to His presence. This is possible only by being humble and remembering our great need for God.

Joshua 3:4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.

They have never passed this way before and God had to go before them. They were to remain behind the Ark for about a half of a mile.

Joshua 3:5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.

They were to wash themselves and purify their bodies. Sanctify means to set apart for service to God but it also means cleansing. What the blood of Jesus does to cleanse our sins, their washing and cleansing may have represented the future cleansing from sin. I believe this shows us not to take the presence of God lightly but be aware of His presence and be in reverence and respect. Making sure they prepare themselves is to show how holy God is and how much we need Him for without Him we can do nothing.

Joshua 3:6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.
7 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.
8 And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.

They were to stand still and wait. This was probably another act of faith. They were to stand still and hear the words of the Lord their God first. This we all must do before we can accomplish anything for the Lord or bear fruit. We must hear the words of God before we can share them with someone else.

Joshua 3:9 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God.
10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye 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.

So that no one would give into fear, Joshua said to the plainly that God was among them and He would drive the inhabitants of the land out before them. It wasn’t by their own might or the power of a great army but by the power of God.

That same power is what we need before one soul can be saved or born again by God’s spirit. We can’t just make converts to a religion we call Christianity. God must be present to draw people to Him. When we respond to His call, we then believe in Jesus for our salvation. It is a miracle just as we will read about further in this chapter when they miraculously cross over Jordan. When a soul is born again by God’s spirit, it is a miracle.

Joshua 3:11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.
12 Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.
13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.

This is similar to the crossing years before through the Red Sea except this was 40 years later and they had the Ark of the covenant and appointed priests from the tribe of Levi to go before them.

Joshua 3:14 And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people;
15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)

This miracle is even greater than normal because the waters of the Jordan were flooded over the banks.

Joshua 3:16 That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.
17 And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.

Not only did they pass through the Jordan River but the land was also dry, not soggy as we would expect. This happened also at the Red Sea. Now the wagons or carts, whatever they used to travel with would not stick in any mud.

This was 40 years after the first generation that came out of Egypt had died off, and their children grew up to enter into the Promised land. The first generation didn’t go in because of unbelief. They had to dwell in the wilderness for 40 years because of unbelief. Joshua and Caleb were exceptions.

Unbelief really hinders the word of God and is the cause of us not believing God is with us. When we dwell in unbelief we are more likely to return to sin. In fact unbelief is exactly what keeps us from being saved from sin and born again by God's holy Spirit. Constantly seeking God's presence and studying the written word if it is available, will strengthen our faith. If we live in a country that doesn't have the written word of God, ask God to supply it or begin to seek God for direction.

I saw a video of a group of people in a country where the bible was not available. They received a shipment of bibles from people who donated them. The people were so full of joy to receive bibles in their own language it blessed me to see how joyful they were to receive something many of us take for granted. It was awesome. The written word is so powerful, let us devour it daily. It is truly our daily bread. DC

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