Monday, January 14
Read Joshua 3
Think About It:
As the nation’s waited by the Jordan River, the people must have wondered what Joshua planned to do. He certainly would not ask them to swim the river or ford it, because the river was at flood stage (3:15). (Just like the enemy to try to discourage God’s chosen people any way he can.) 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 perfect 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” (Romans 10:17). Joshua ordered the people to move 10 miles from the Acacia Grove 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 priests have the responsibility of bearing the Ark of the Covenant and going before the people as they marched. It was the priest who had to get their feet wet before God would open the waters. The priest would also have to stand in the middle of the riverbed until all the people had passed over. When the priest arrived on the other side, the waters would return to their original condition. It took faith and courage for these priests to do their job, but they trusted in God and relied on the faithfulness of His word.
When Moses led the nation through the Red Sea, this miracle of magnitude molded Moses before the people; and they recognized that he was indeed the servant of the Lord (Exodus 14:31). God would do the same thing for Joshua at the Jordan; and in so doing, He would remind the people that He was with Joshua, just as He had been with Moses. Both Moses and Joshua have received their authority from the Lord before these miracles occurred, but the miracles gave them stature before the people. It takes both authority and stature to exercise effective leadership.
- Unless we step out by faith and “get our feet wet”, we are not likely to make much progress in living for Christ and serving him. How has the Lord challenged you to step out in faith and show the people around you that Jesus is Lord?
- As soon as the priests bearing the Ark put their feet into the river, the water stopped flowing and stood like a wall about 20 miles away upstream, near a city called Adam. The people could not see the wall but they knew something must’ve happened because the water ceased. What evidence is there in your life that you can see that the Lord has stopped the waters of destruction from flowing at your feet?
Family Time:
- How would you feel if you saw a river dry up beneath your feet?
- Draw the river dried up.
- God calls the people of Israel to take a step of faith into the Jordan at the peak of the flood season! They obey, and immediately the river stops flowing. How is God calling you to, “Step out in faith?”
