07.11.10 - Going Where You've Never Been Before

READ Joshua 3

This is a hugely significant event. Israel entered the Promised Land. The Promised Land is called the Promised Land because it was the land that God had promised. back to the time of Abraham, centuries earlier, God had promised the Israelites this land.

Imagine, after centuries and centuries, being the generation who actually stood in the land.

Forty years earlier they had approached its southern border at Kadesh Barnea but they had got cold feet and hadn’t believed that God would give them the land. Forty more years they wandered in the desert until that whole generation died. Now the next generation again stands at the border – this time at the eastern border, just north of the Dead Sea. They had already conquered some land on the eastern side of the Jordan River but they still had to cross the river to enter the land that had so long been their dream. They camped at Shittim, opposite Jericho.

As we read last week, Joshua, who had taken over the leadership from Moses, sent two spies into the land. They returned saying, “The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.” (2:24)

They then moved from Shittim to camp by the Jordan. Three days passed. Then the people were told that the priests would take up the Ark of the Covenant and move forward. They would lead the way so that the people would know where to go since they had never been this way before.

The Ark of the Covenant was the gold-covered box that had two gold cherubim on top and contained the tablets Moses had received on Mt Sinai with the Ten Commandments written on them. Also in the Ark of the Covenant was Aaron’s rod and a jar of the manna that God had provided to feed the people in the desert. The Ark represented the presence of God, which is why the people were told to follow the Ark but to stay almost a kilometre behind it. It was holy. The people – other than the priests who carried the Ark on poles – could not get too close to God.

The phrase “since you have never been this way before” caught my attention. Something new is often frightening. We fear the unknown. We often don’t like going into places that we don’t know. It was like that for the Israelites. Despite the excitement of finally entering the Promised Land, there would have also been trepidation. There were enemies in the land. The cities were occupied and fortified. Last time they had heard reports that there were giants in the land. And last time they had failed.

For Joshua it was all new too. This was his first big assignment as leader. And it was a big assignment: leading the people into the Promised Land. Going where you have never been before is an metaphor of faith, I think. Can I do this new thing? Actually, the question is not “can I?”. The question is “can God? Do I trust God” Would God keep His promise to give the people this land? Would God defeat the people already living there? For Joshua, would God be with him as leader? Would the people respect him and follow him as leader?

So the first thing was that, when they saw the ark moving, the the people were to follow.

Before they did that, they were to consecrate themselves. They were to re-affirm their dedication to God which included ensuring they were right with God and were ritually clean; that things had been sorted out; that they were in a right relationship with God.

God had promised them the land but that didn’t mean they could disobey and still receive that promise. They had to be right with God. Last time God had promised them the land they had missed out because of their disobedience. Prior to entering the land, they were to sort those things out.

We too need to be right with God. God has made lots of promises but they are dependent on how we live. Maybe, if we long for God to fulfil some promises, a good first step would be to take time and make some specific steps to be right with Him.

Then God said to Joshua, “Today I will exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.” Moses had been such a colossus. In all world history there have been few leaders to compare with Moses. How was Joshua to step into those shoes? How could he ever compare? If he couldn’t compare, would the people respect him? Could he be leader?

But God said, “I am going to exalt you in their eyes. They will know that I am with you just as I was with Moses.” The way God would show that He was with Joshua just as He had been with Moses would be to repeat perhaps the most famous miracle that He had done for Moses. When Moses led the people out of Egypt, God parted the Red Sea and they passed through on dry ground. When Joshua would lead the people into the Promised Land, God would split the Jordan River and they would pass through on dry ground. By repeating the miracle, God would show that He was with Joshua in just the same way.

This was not only about entering the land. This was about establishing Joshua as leader. Not only that, this miracle would also be a sign to the people that further miracles would follow; that God did intend to drive out the seven nations living in the land already. V.10 said, “This is how you will know that the living God is with you and will drive out the enemy.”

The miracle would be even greater because it was the worst possible time. The river was in flood. Apparently the Jordan is normally about 40 or 50 metres across. When it is in flood, swollen by the melting snows of Mt Hermon, it becomes a raging torrent.

The Israelites broke camp, ready to move on. The priests, carrying the ark, went ahead of them. But the Jordan River was still flowing. They had to step into the flowing river. Only then would it stop flowing.

God was willing to give them lots of confirmation through signs. He was willing to perform a miracle as a confirmation that He would conquer the people of the land. But He also required them to trust Him and step out. He had already said that as soon as they set foot in the Jordan, the water would stop flowing. They had the promise. They had to be willing to trust that He would do as He had said He would do. They must have felt the temptation of unbelief: What if nothing happens?

That is often the case for us too – but it is a test of our faith. God may say, “Do A and I will be with you. Ring So-and-so and I will be with you. Give away this amount of money. I’ll look after you. Go and pray with someone. Just trust me.” We have to make the phone call or give away the money or pray with that person before we actually see the miracle. Often we chicken out and then we don’t see what God wants to do. “Step into the water while it is still flowing” is the challenge. “Trust me. I’ve said I’ll stop it.”

If the river stopped flowing before we even reached it, no faith would be required. If all the doors opened and the path ahead was crystal clear, no faith would be required. Faith is acting in response to God speaking. If God has told you to do something or to trust Him in a particular situation, then the next step is ours. It is as we take that step that God then acts and fulfils what He has said.

Faith is acting in response to God speaking. God must speak first. It is not an invitation to do something reckless challenging God to respond. It is not an invitation to throw ourselves off the Temple so that God has to catch us. God takes an initiative and you respond. It is not you taking an initiative so that God has to respond.

The priests did step into the river and an amazing thing happened. It stopped flowing. A great distance up-stream it stopped and the passage says that it piled up in a heap. The water down-stream flowed away leaving dry land . Maybe there was landslide upstream that blocked the river. Maybe. Maybe it was a purely supernatural act. Actually, however, it happened, it was supernatural, not natural. God acted at exactly the right time and right place, for the whole nation – millions of people – to cross the river on dry land. It happened by design, not by chance. It was a miracle.

Joshua stood on the brink of his leadership of the nation. This was the first big test. The people stood on the brink of the Promised Land. After years of longing, they could now see it, but there was a raging river – a river impossible to cross – between them and the promise. Even if they crossed it, there would be more challenges ahead because there were enemy peoples in the land.

Soon afterwards they stood in that land. The impossible-to-cross river had been crossed. They were somewhere they had never been before.

You too might be able to see a better future – a future that God has seemed to place in your heart – but it seems impossible to get there. It is just a dream.

If it is from God, He doesn’t want it to remain just a dream. Why would He torment you with a longing that He doesn’t plan to fulfil – if it is from Him?

Perhaps the first thing we need to do is clarify, as much as we can, that it is from God. Go back to God and enquire, “Lord is this if you.” If it is not of God, then we are only tormenting ourselves by clinging to a dream that can never be fulfilled. But, if it is of God, then the Bible says that He will give us the desires of our hearts. If it is of God, He will bring it to pass.

Then, let us consecrate ourselves. If there are sins to be confessed, or things to be put right, then let’s do those things.

Even then, let us not rush in and try to force God’s hand. The Israelites camped for three days before anything happened. They had to wait until they saw the priests start moving. Wait for God’s timing.

When that happens, we must be ready to act in obedience. If God tells us to do something, then we must do it – even with no guarantee of success (except that he has told us to do it.)

The rest is up to God, but we can have every confidence. This story, and so many stories like it, give us confidence that God is powerful and He does act and He does answer prayers.

For the Israelites, the crossing of the river was a sign that God would also drive out the nations living in the land. Every time were see God doing something miraculous, it enables us to believe for the next thing as well.

This chapter is about trusting God. It is about faith. But it is also about God being trustworthy. Trusting God is often a challenge. Can I bring myself to give away that money? Can I step out into some area I have never been before? May what we see of God in the Bible persuade us that we can. This God is trustworthy.