you like a text for this evening
it would be Joshua 3 and verse 4 the end of verse 4. There shall be a space between
you and it about two thousand cubits by measure come not near
unto it that you may know the way by which you must go for
ye have not passed this way heretofore or before. This morning we looked at crossing
of the Red Sea in Exodus 14 and we saw there didn't we very
much there was fear amongst the children of Israel as they felt
trapped and the Pharaoh and his army were sort of on the charge So the opposition was there coming
at them. And we saw some various scriptures
of how and also when they were in the wilderness, how they complained
and wished that they'd been back in Egypt. Well, at least there
we had some garlic and melons and things and things were better. then come out here and we're
gonna we're gonna die here and there was great unbelief of course
and we we sort of see now as we move into this as I say this
bookend as I say with the crossing of the the Red Sea and then the
crossing of the Jordan River like bookends And if we begin
in like the first verse here with Israel at the Jordan River.
Joshua rose early in the morning and they removed from Shittim
or Acacia Grove, came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel
and lodged there before they passed over. So this was the
last step in Israel's journey from Egypt to Canaan. Now Israel
had been waiting for the moment to enter the promised land and
take possession of it for some 500 years since God promised
the land to Abraham and his covenant descendants, which we read of
in Genesis 15, 18 to 21. In the same day, the Lord made
a covenant with Abraham saying unto thy seed have I given this
land from the river of Egypt and to the great river the river
Euphrates the Kenites and the Kenazites and the Kadmonites
and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Rephaims and the Amorites
and the Canaanites and the Gilgashites and the Jebusites but also there
was also the time waiting for the generation of those who didn't
believe and we read about that and you read about that in Hebrews
as well that they they wouldn't enter the promised land and of
course Moses wouldn't either through his sort of disobedience
as well and so Moses of course was a great leader and we saw
that Exodus 14 with the first crossing
but now they've got a new leader in Joshua. But it's the same
God isn't it? You know Moses was a great leader
but Joshua would be a good leader, a great leader too. But it's
not about the men it's about God and the purposes of God being
fulfilled. So this new generation of faith
of people then raised up to take the land. Of course, that would include
Joshua and, of course, Caleb who were spies who said, oh,
yes, we can enter the land. Whereas others said, no, no,
the people are giants. No. We can't do that. Fortified cities, no, we can't
do that. But Joshua and Caleb said, yes,
we can. So the two spies, Joshua and
Caleb, had made their way across the Jordan River and back when
they spied out Jericho, which we read in the previous chapter,
Joshua chapter 2. But also in this, just going
back, this verse, God had told Israel to prepare themselves
for three days. An interesting thing to sort
of just notice at the beginning of their preparation for three
days at the shore of the Jordan River. And we have in verse 11
of chapter 1 we have that pass through the host and command
the people saying prepare you victuals for within three days
you shall pass over this Jordan to go in to possess the land
which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it so there was to be preparation and that's something that's so
important isn't it life in general to prepare. You know it's sensible isn't
it to make preparations for things and it's important of course
in the ministry and service of the Lord but just in life in
general to make preparations but surely greatest preparation
to make is to meet the Lord. As Amos 4.12 says, prepare to
meet thy God, O Israel. And Matthew 24.44, therefore
be also ready for in such an hour as ye think not the Son
of Man cometh. So we need to be prepared, don't
we, because we know not when the Lord will come or call. And so we must always be prepared. So preparation is important and
necessary and sensible in all walks of life but certainly when
it comes to the things of God's spiritual issues. Now, one could swim across the
Jordan during flood season but it was a heroic act. And you read about that in 1
Chronicles 12 with the Gaddites in verses 14 to 15. So the whole nation, just imagine
that the people of Israel, the whole nation with its women,
children and elderly, with all their livestock and possessions,
You wonder how on earth could they be expected to cross the
river that way? And so there had been these three
days of preparation and so three days to kind of really mull over
this. And then we read verse two of
our chapter. came to pass after three days,
that the officers went through the host, and they commanded
the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the
Lord your God, and the priest the Levites bearing it, then
ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. 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 or before. And Joshua said unto the people,
sanctify yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among
you. And it makes me think of what
we considered this morning in Exodus 14, thinking there of
God doing wonders. the people were to stand still
and see the salvation of God and here again God would do wonders. Now Joshua he didn't first send
the engineers and the builders of Israel's army instead he sent
the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant which was a visible
representation of God's presence with Israel. Because Joshua knew
this was primarily a spiritual challenge more than a test of
man's ability to plan and build. Back at the Red Sea, the Ark
of the Covenant had not been built then. There God used other
ways to manifest his presence but here God's presence was mainly
evident through the presence and the prominence of the Ark
of the Covenant. On this occasion God wanted the
priest to carry the Ark when usually it was the responsibility
of another family of the tribe of Levi, the sons of Coah You
read about that in Numbers chapter 4 and chapter 7. The priests
were of the family of Aaron who descended from Kohath. Yet there was normally a distinction
between the duties of the priests and the sons of Kohath. Priests carried the ark on other
special occasions like particularly in Joshua chapter 6 with the
walls of Jericho. also we read about Zadok the
priest in 2 Samuel 15. Now God required that his people
kept some 1,000 yards behind the ark. This was for at least
perhaps a couple of reasons. first to respect the holy nature
of the Ark of the Covenant and second to make it possible for
all Israel to see the Ark. So that distance was important. The Ark of the Covenant would
show the way they must go, leading the way. We saw something this
morning of the pillar of fire and cloud and protection and
leading there. here we have the Ark of the Covenant. Israel would accomplish this
impossible task as they set their eyes upon God's presence and
followed the representation of that with the Ark. so there it was a spiritual battle
as Joshua believed it was and so there had to be spiritual
preparations and sanctifying their hearts and sanctify yourselves
means to separate yourselves and and that's isn't it that
when we're the lords isn't it we are to sort of separate from
from things and not sort of get involved too much with those
things and keep ourselves we're in the world but we're not to
be of it we can't help being in the world there's nothing
wrong with being in the world but we're not to be of the spirit
of the world and as the Lords we are to be
those who look, as Hebrews 12, 2 tells us, look unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was
set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God. the thing about this verse that
I mentioned like is the text at the end of verse four those
words for you have not passed his way heretofore it's perhaps
our maybe common a common verse that's used at this time of year
at the start of a new year and sort of thinking about life
well it has many unknown things and uncertainties doesn't it
well we're so familiar with that we don't know what's going to
happen even the remainder of this day let alone tomorrow or
next week or next year or whatever there is isn't there a wrong
response to our uncertainties and the unknown and we read about
that in Luke chapter 12 in Rich Fool who is branded indeed a
fool in those words in verse 20 this man who at this ground
and it brought forth plentifully and he fought within himself
saying what shall I do because I have no room where to bestow
my fruits and he said this will I do I will pull down my barns
a mill grater and there will I bestow my fruits and my goods
and I will say to my soul soul there was much goods laid up
for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry a lot
of emphasis on art isn't there you know i'll do this you know
i've got this great harvest so i haven't got room so i'll build
i'll pull these barns down i'll build greater ones and then i'm
gonna all this i can just sit back and just relax take my he's
but he was a fool God said unto him thou fool this night thy
soul shall be required of thee then who shall these things be
which thou hast provided so is he that layeth up treasure for
himself and is not rich toward God so there can be that attitude
you know just gain all you can in this world and have no thought
for your soul and for your life and where you will spend eternity
and just thinking about the here and now and just for yourself
as this one was with the emphasis on I all the time But none of us know do we our
days here upon on earth and we should not be presuming that
we shall live to a good old age or whatever. We should take a
day at a time and commit each day to the Lord and So that's a wrong response and
it also reminds me and I've probably said this before so forgive me
if you've heard it before as I said sometimes my illustrations
I use them in different places and I forget where I've said
them but it was One, it happened at my school many years ago. It was my maths teacher. And he told us this the following
day, the day before he had taken another maths teacher home and
dropped her off at her home. Obviously, they lived nearby.
and he said I'll see you tomorrow all being well you know it's
the kind of thing that people say and her reply to him was
oh yes I'm never ill she said it very surely you know I'm never ill
that night she had a brain hemorrhage and she died that night and she
was in her probably in her 30s I don't think she was very old
and my maths teacher he was a Christian and he told this to us the following
day at school and it's a very solemn way that he was saying
and it really stuck with me you know none of us know do we? None of us should take anything
for granted so that's the wrong response
but the right response surely is words that we read in James
chapter 4 13 to 16 and I'm sure we're familiar with these words
go to now ye that say today or tomorrow we will go into such
a city continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain
whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow for what is
your life it is even a vapor here now gone in a moment not
here today and gone tomorrow here now gone in a moment that
appear for a little time in a vanishable way for that ye ought to say
if the Lord will we shall live and do this or that and that's
what we should do isn't it you know if the Lord wills we shall
do this and that and you know our clans you know
it's it's right and sensible to make
plans isn't it but to make them well if the Lord wills we shall
do this or that I mean just already here with
the meetings arranged just and we're not even a fortnight into
this year and Wednesday meeting was cancelled because of the
weather and there had to be a change for Friday, a different speaker
and then obviously James was meant to be today so there's
always been three changes and I said the year's only not even
two weeks old yet and I'm sure that it won't be the last of
things that change but So there's so many uncertain things in life,
isn't there? But one thing is certain, the
law doesn't change and his purposes will always be fulfilled. And Jeremiah 29, 11 says, For
I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts
of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end. So the Lord knows what's in store
for us. His plans won't change. He knows that there's an expected
end. Because he is the one who doesn't
change and he knows the end from the beginning. As I said in the
verse, in Hebrews 12, 2 that I quoted earlier, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. So like the beginning
and the end and everything in between. So that's God's response to our
uncertainties and the unknown is. He knows what he is doing and
he won't make any mistakes. Isaiah 46 10 declaring the end
from the beginning and from ancient times of things that are not
yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. And then we have in verse 6 on
what we have about Joseph's step or Joshua's step of faith He
sends a priest to walk across a swollen Jordan River. Joshua
spake unto the priest, 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. So God told Joshua to command
this radical step of faith. Joshua didn't do this because
of foolish presumption. Joshua acted as a man led by
the Lord and who remembered the similar work in the crossing
of the Red Sea that we considered this morning in Exodus 14. And
it's good isn't it? It's good for us to recall God's
dealings with us in our lives and that can give us encouragement
for what's to come. say yeah I remember being in
that situation and that was tough but the Lord brought me through
and now I'm in maybe not exactly the same situation but another
difficult situation but God doesn't change he's faithful and he helped
me then and he helped me now so I can trust him for that 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. 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. So there was indeed a step of
faith and sometimes that's what we have to do isn't it in life,
a step of faith, trusting in the Lord. But here was a step
of faith commanded by God and observed by Joshua and was encouraged
by the Lord himself. This day will I begin to magnify
thee. So the Lord was sort of commending
this action. So this is isn't it the graciousness
of God towards his people giving them constant encouragement in
the things which he commands them to do and that that's good
in is to have that encouragement you know sometimes you know you're
just thinking of a of sort of people who are running
in a race perhaps a long race and there's people that are struggling
towards the back and and perhaps but there's as they go by there's
people clapping and trying to encourage them keep going you
might not be you might not win the race or get anywhere near
the top whatever but keep going keep going that's with us and
we need to sort of encourage one another to keep going and that's a good thing to do
isn't it to encourage one another because we often feel quite low
or feel like giving up but let's try and encourage one another
in the things of God and in the service of God So there was a standing on the
brink but also then like a step of faith. And Joshua encourages and instructs
Israel. Joshua said unto the children
of Israel come hither and hear the words of the Lord your God.
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 Gilgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth
passeth over before you into Jordan, and therefore take you
twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe
a man. 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 and heap. So Joshua rightly put the emphasis
on God's Word and that's important isn't it? It's important, isn't
it, for fellowship, when we come together, that what is central
is the preaching of the Word. Now, of course, the pulpit is
central, isn't it? It's not over and tucked away
in the corner. No, it's central, isn't it? And
that's how it should be. There should be a centrality
about the preaching of the Word of God. God commanded that the visible
emblems of God's presence, the Ark of the Covenant, would lead
the way. By leading them with priests
carrying the Ark instead of soldiers, God declared the key to Israel's
victory in the Promised Land would be spiritual, not military. God apparently revealed to Joshua
how the Jordan would become a dry bed and passable by Israel. So it was a different sort of
situation than with the waters, with the Red Sea. The waters
would not be divided as they were at the Red Sea. Instead,
the waters of the Jordan would be cut off upstream, leaving
a dry riverbed before Israel. And this treading, this step
of faith, it reminds us of that hymn, doesn't it? Guide me, O thou great Jehovah.
When I tread the verge of Jordan, bid my anxious fears subside. Death of deaths and hell's destruction
land me safe on Canaan's side. Songs of praises, songs of praises
I will ever give to thee. And very often, isn't it, when
there is a step of faith there are fears, there are anxieties,
there are concerns about what's going to happen. there's many sort of similarities
isn't there between this passage and what we considered this morning
in different ways there's obviously differences but similarities
too and the emphasis about being still as we saw this morning
you know stand still very easy to sort of rush around and panic
No, stand still and see the salvation of God. And so here in verse
8, going back, he shall stand still in Jordan. So there's quite
a lot of sort of differences and wonderful similarities too
between the two. In verse 14 it says, It came
to pass, when the people removed from their tents to pass over
Jordan, the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the
people. And as they that bear the Ark were come unto Jordan,
and the feet of the priests that bear the Ark were dipped in the
brim of the water, for Jordan overflowed all his banks all
the time of harvest. So the priests then began the
procession. with the Ark of the Covenant,
as I say, some a thousand yards in front of the people. When
the priest stepped into the river and stood there, the waters were
still flowing as at flood season. It is human nature to want the
riverbed to be dry before making a step. You know, get a bit,
you know, let's not get a bit muddy or something. But God called
the priests of Israel to step out in faith. And this was, as
I say, a time of spring rains and harvest time. and so the
Jordan overflowed very much at that time of year. So it wasn't the time of year
when the Jordan River would be reduced to a trickle. A man called Clark, I don't know
much about him, said this, that Jordan has its origin at the
foot of Mount Lebanon, which mountain is always covered with
snow during the winter months. In those months, therefore, the
river is low. But when the summer sun has melted
these snows, there is consequently a prodigious increase of waters
so that the old channel is not capable of containing them. So that might explain something
of the geography and of how things were there. But then in the final two verses
we have the Jordan being stopped, the people crossing over on dry
ground. Just as we had with the crossing
of the Red Sea. It's a similarity with crossing
on dry ground that you can walk across quite comfortably. The
waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap
very far from the city Adam that is beside Zareton. And those
that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea
felled and were cut off. And the people passed over right
against Jericho. I can't sort of picture how it
all could work, but it was a work of God, wasn't it? And the priests
that bear 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. And Clark again said, God stop
the flow of the Jordan River. In some respects, the passage
of the Jordan was more strikingly miraculous than that even of
the Red Sea. In the latter, God was pleased
to employ an agent. The sea went back by a strong
east wind all that night and made the sea dry land, as we
saw in Exodus 14, 21. Nothing of this kind appeared
in the passage of the Jordan. A very rapid river went back
to its source without any kind of agency by the invisible hand
of the invisible God. One thing to note is that the
Ark of the Covenant is mentioned a lot in this chapter. In fact there are 14 references
to it in these 17 verses. That's quite a lot of references. And I think it indicates, doesn't
it, about how the presence of God and the trust in God was
important then and so it is for us today isn't it to value to
trust in the Lord and to value the presence of God. Well God
is everywhere present all the time so we can't go anywhere
and God isn't there but There's a sense in which we can know
a sort of a felt presence, a real sense of God coming to us in
a very special and intimate sort of way and that perhaps happens
from time to time. But it's good, isn't it, to remember indeed that and say God is with us all the
time and somebody the other day made a comment about they've
got a camera so my boss can see what I'm doing and that's a therefore
in that case better be doing what he should be doing because
the cameras and the boss will know if he's not doing what he
should be doing and so it is with the Lord his eye is always
upon us and that should make us think about what we do and
where we go and what we say and that God knows it all and sees
it all and hears it all and it should help us and indeed there
should be that sanctifying of ourselves that I mentioned earlier This miracle obviously connects
with the miracle the nations experienced some 40 years earlier,
the passing through the Red Sea, as mentioned about this morning
in Exodus 14. So there's many sort of parallels. God brought Israel out of Egypt's
bondage with a miracle. And he brought them into the
promised land with a miracle. In some sense, it took greater
faith for Israel to cross the Jordan River than it took for
them to cross the Red Sea. At the Red Sea, Israel was pursued
by the Egyptian army. Crossing the Red Sea was to travel
away from danger and to put a barrier between Israel and the danger
pursuing them. So that was the case with the
Red Sea. They were going away from the
danger But in crossing the Jordan River,
Israel traveled towards potential danger. The many Canaanites who
would war against them. And we read that in Joshua and
Jericho and so on. And all these wars that would
take place. So with the Red Sea and that
sort of going away from from the enemy but here with
the Jordan River and the enemy to then come with the wars that
were and the battles that were to come. When Israel crossed the Jordan
River, they cut off their path of retreat and could be trapped
and slaughtered in Canaan. Crossing the Jordan River meant
that Israel was completely committed to the task of conquering the
land of Canaan. They were left with no other
option. This was a demonstration of great
faith. And so thinking about the enemy,
the enemy pursuing in Exodus 14 and the enemy ahead with Joshua
and crossing the Jordan River. And as I mentioned this morning
about the enemies and the powers and the principalities that are
against us, there's so many of them. and it can make us very
down and disheartened but instead we should be looking to the Lord
who is greater than all these all these foes that are against
us the Lord is greater than if we're on the Lord's side we're
on the victory side aren't we that should encourage us when
there's so many things as well this is this is against me and
but let's when we're tempted to sort of get despondent let's
look to the Lord and realize that but God is greater than
us and all these problems and all these things and people that
might be against us God is greater than it all and he's working
his purposes out and if we are the Lord's he has a wonderful
love for us and all things we're told aren't we for those who
love God they work together for good all things not just some
but all things and there's many things that we sort of think working against us but know if
the Lord's in charge the Lord's working all things together for
our good. So there was a trust in God and
a recognition of his presence and may we be helped to trust
in God and to realise his presence and realise that he's with us.
It's a wonderful thing to know the Lord is with us but it also
has the effect if we know that Lord should help us to not do
the things that we shouldn't do but it's a comfort to know
that when times are tough and things seem to be against us
the Lord is with us and he was with Moses and he was with Joshua
and he'll be with us too because he is unchanging and he's the
same God today, yesterday, today and forever. So just a few thoughts
and yes you've not passed this way heretofore I'm sure that
in life in this year there will be many things that will happen
that well we don't know about them at the moment or even if
they're planned so we haven't sort of done that before or that's
not happened before we don't know how that's going to work
out But let's put our trust in God who loves his people with
an everlasting love and who is faithful and true and will help
us through everything in life that comes our way. And there
will be lots of things that will come our way in life of different
sorts. But let's trust in God and let's
know that loved by him just thinking of what the Lord has done you
know he suffered and he died you know he died for us to think
that somebody died for you you know that that should that's
an amazing thing to think that somebody died for us who didn't
have to and we certainly didn't deserve one to die for us and
suffer for us as the Lord did. May the Lord bless to us these
few remarks. Amen. Our closing hymn is hymn number
940. Compared with Christ in all beside,
no comeliness I see. The one thing needful, dearest
Lord, is to be one with Thee. Hymn number 940 to the tune 231. The one thing needful, dearest
one, is to be one with Thee. The sins of the year expire,
? Thyself lift up for the other
? ? Now yawning on the grave ? ? Listen, thyself, for God's
advice ? ? I come unto you ? And of my God, for Him again,
With love eternal, Chosen of Thee, Earth-time began,
I choose Thee, Earth-time. Altered concepts, now with Thy
love, Attach me to Thee as Thou art. I'm graced to hold the intense
abode. Now unto him that is able to
do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according
to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the
church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.
Amen.