God's presence and his sure promises by Rod Bayley, 5 August 2007, Joshua 3:1-5:12
dann...@gmail.com
When Germany was divided into American, Soviet, British, and French
occupation zones after World War II, Berlin became a separate unit.
>From 1948, the city remained divided into two parts. Soviet-held East
Berlin was eventually incorporated into East Germany, but West Berlin
remained a separate territory, with its own government and close ties
to West Germany. In 1961, the East German government built a wall
along the dividing line between East and West Berlin to stop the
flight of East Germans from communist East Germany to West Berlin and
from there to West Germany.
West Berliners later gained access to East Berlin (in 1972), but East
Berliners could not pass freely into West Berlin until late 1989, when
communism fell and dismantling of the infamous wall began. After
being prevented from entering West Berlin by a wall for 28 years, East
Germans were finally allowed to enter what was considered the promised
land of the western world. The wait had ended and in euphoric
excitement, people climbed the wall and smashed it down with sledge
hammers and eventually machinery. The hoped for day had finally come
to pass, and they could enter.
\Similarly, in the passage we'll consider today, Israel's long wait
for 40 years in the wilderness is over - they finally cross over into
the promised land. They had been shut out, prevented from entering by
God himself, in judgment upon their unbelief. They had rejected God's
instruction to enter the land the first time, and so had been locked
out while a whole generation died. As a result, as they prepare to
now enter a second time, as they stand on the threshold as it were,
great doubts would have still existed. Questions like, "Is God really
with us this time?" "Will we really be able to take the promised land
which is inhabited by all these huge people who live in fortified
cities?" "Will God use Joshua like he used Moses?" All sorts of
doubts must have lingered in their minds after their great failure the
first time. The big question which this section of Joshua answers, is
"How will the Israelites know that God is with them?"
God's way to reassure his people and demonstrate His powerful presence
with them, is through the miraculous crossing of the Jordan River.
This is the purpose of Israel's incredible entrance into the promised
land. Joshua makes this point clear for the people before the miracle
occurs.
Look at verses 9 and 10 of chapter 3:
"Joshua said to the Israelites, 'Come here and listen to the words of
the Lord your God. 10This is how you will know that the living God is
among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the
Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and
Jebusites."
Notice that Joshua states in verse 10, "this is how you will know."
God's people can be sure of His presence amongst them, and of His
intention to drive out the inhabitants for Israel. The battle would
not be Israel's but God's, and the proof of this was God's
demonstration of His power through the miraculous crossing of the
Jordan River. They were not being chased by Egyptians, as in the
crossing of the Red Sea under Moses - the purpose of this miracle was
not to save them, but to assure them as they finally took hold of the
promise, that God was with them and would fight for them. Well, how
does God's demonstration unfold?
Firstly, in verses 1 to 13 of chapter 3, we see Israel's preparations
for entering the promised land. In verses 1 and 2 we see the
Israelites moving into position as they camp by the Jordan river, and
in verses 3 and 4 the central importance of God's presence is first
raised by a focus on the "ark of the covenant of the LORD your God."
The ark was a wooden box which contained two tablets on which the ten
commandments were written. More importantly though in the context of
this event, the ark symbolized God's presence with His people Israel.
It showed that God was with them, and it would be God who would lead
them across the Jordan River. As the people of Israel finally made
this crossing into the promised land God would lead them symbolically
by the ark.
Notice the build up towards the crossing. This anticipation is
natural given the momentous event which is about to occur - imagine
being one of the Israelite people. Even though there was a fear of
the unknown, you had heard about the report of the two spies to Joshua
that "all the people are melting in fear because of us." And then you
had to pack up all your family belongings and move to a new camp right
next to the Jordan River, which is flooding because it is spring-time
and the winter snow had melted in the mountains. And the anticipation
grows as you wonder when something is going to happen, and why Joshua
has chosen this unlikely spot to cross. Then word spreads round the
camp from tent to tent that you are to get ready to follow the ark -
to follow God, whose presence would lead you. God was going to stop a
river.
Secondly, given this build up, the atmosphere would have been electric
when the miraculous crossing finally occurred in verses 14 to 17.
Notice that the ark, the symbol of God's presence, is still at the
centre of the story. In verse 14 the people now follow the ark
carried by the priests, and in verses 15 and 16 the predicted miracle
unfolds "as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan
and their feet touched the water's edge, 16 the water from upstream
stopped flowing." God's sovereignty is displayed over nature in this
incredible event, and is reinforced to the people who will all pass
the ark in turn as they cross the river, as it is held by the priests
in the centre of proceedings.
It is clear from the story that the crossing is miraculous. And
notice that the Israelites "crossed over opposite Jericho" - right
across from their first major obstacle. God leads them across in an
incredible pronouncement of His presence, and His power to defeat
Jericho and all the other nations. It's not surprising that chapter 5
verse 1 records, that "when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan
and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had
dried up the Jordan before the Israelites ..... their hearts melted and
they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites."
Thirdly, so that this miraculous crossing of the Jordan River, this
grand entrance to the promised land was never forgotten, even by later
generations who had not witnessed the event, God instructed Joshua to
set up a memorial in verses 1 to 3 of chapter 4.
The key verses in this section are verses 6 and 7, which describe the
purpose of the memorial. Notice what is recorded in these verses:
"In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones
mean?', 7tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the
ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the
waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial
to the people of Israel forever."
It is clear that the purpose of this stone memorial was "to serve as a
sign" to future generations. When they faced fierce enemies and all
sorts of trials in the future, they were to remember through this
memorial that God was with them. Memorials are powerful, aren't they
- we have them in our own society even today.
I remember back in 2002 that I was woken one Thursday morning at
4.45am, I was woken by the sound of bagpipes on the road we lived on
in Chatswood. I thought I was dreaming for a second and my dream had
moved to Scotland, that someone I'd stumbled on to the set of the
movie 'Braveheart' and was about to meet Mel Gibson playing William
Wallace. But the noise continued, so I managed to drag myself out of
bed and peek through the venetians - it was a group of people marching
to a memorial service. They hold the service every year in the Garden
of Remembrance on that road for Anzac day. The Australian and New
Zealand Army Corps became known as the ANZACs following their first
joint engagement in 1915, when they fought together at Gallipoli in
Turkey on April 25, 1915. April 25 became ANZAC Day, a day of
remembrance for Australians and New Zealanders who served in the
defence of their countries. The memorial service is usually held at a
stone memorial, with a plaque - there are thousands of these stone
memorials around Australia, whether it's the cenotaph in Martin Place
or some tiny memorial in a little country town. They are a year-round
reminder of this significant past event. In the same way, Israel's
twelve stones formed a memorial so that no-one would ever forget the
incredible entrance into the promised land, where God miraculously
stopped the Jordan river as a sign of His presence with them.
Fourthly and lastly, in the first 12 verses of chapter 5, we have a
change of focus, with the Israelites now in the land. The Crossing
having been completed, and a memorial set up, they now seek to make a
fresh start as God's people in the promised land, and obey God's law.
In verses 2 to 8, we notice that in keeping with God's covenant first
made with Abraham, all the Israelite males are circumcised. The
writer makes it clear that the practice of circumcision, which they
were bound to keep as a sign of the covenant (Gen.17:10-11), had not
continued while the Israelites had wandered in the desert for forty
years.
Then in verse 10, Israel's obedience to God's law is shown in their
celebration of the Passover meal. The Passover celebrated being saved
from Egypt by God, and related to the last plague that God brought
upon Egypt, whereby the first-born son in every Egyptian family died
while the Israelites were protected by the blood of a lamb. After
celebrating it the first year after their escape from Egypt (Num.
9:1-5), they had rebelled and not observed it since. But now they
responded to God's sign of His presence with them and his power to
save.
Finally, in verses 11 and 12, we see the first taste of the
fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, that God would give them "a
land flowing with milk and honey" (5:6). The Israelites "ate some of
the produce of the land" and the very next day the manna stopped, the
food that had been provided by God for 40 years ended. This is a
picture of the first enjoyment of God's promise to their forefathers,
a promise yet to be fully realized.
Well, what is the application for us today, this side of the Cross?
How does Israel's experience relate to you? There are at least three
points which can be made.
Firstly, what promises has God made to us, his new covenant people?
We haven't been promised a physical inheritance of land, we haven't
been delivered from a physical wilderness, a physical judgment upon
our rebellion against God's word, as was the case for Israel. But we
do have the promise of an eternal inheritance, of eternal life in
God's place in heaven. You have been delivered from spiritual death,
of eternal separation from God, through Jesus' death which paid for
your sin. You too lived in rebellion against God's word at one time,
but you have been delivered. And so we have the sure promise of
forgiveness now, indeed of having received every spiritual blessing in
Christ (Eph.1:3), and of eternal life to come. Jesus is the gateway to
our inheritance, just as the Jordan was their gateway to their
physical inheritance. And so God's promises in Christ are certain,
because they have already been won - they don't depend on us and our
performance, but on the finished, perfect work of Christ.
But perhaps as you listen today, you've not yet placed your faith in
Jesus, or perhaps you have but feel you are struggling to trust in
God's great promises. You might say, well this trust in words on a
page is a big ask, to entrust my whole life to a written word. But
you do this all the time - let me give you one example. If you visit
a doctor, particularly a medical centre, you might be assessed by
someone who you've never met before. You don't ask for him to show
you his qualifications, but you trust his or her judgment. You take
away a piece of paper with illegible scrawl on it to a pharmacist who
you've never met in your life. They take the written prescription and
issue you a drug whose name you can't pronounce, and then you go home
and ingest it. You don't even know what's in the tablet, let alone
how it interacts with your body. How much more can we entrust our
lives to God's word, which through its consistency and infallibility
has been successfully trusted by billions of people down through the
centuries.
Secondly, with regard to God's presence with us, the question to ask
is: 'How has God demonstrated his presence with me, and assured me of
the reception of His promises?' Well, by faith you have received the
deposit of the Holy Spirit - God is dwelling with you. And it his
presence with us which ensures that we'll receive our promised
spiritual inheritance, just as it was for the Israelites and their
promised physical inheritance. As the apostle Paul writes in
Ephesians 1:13-14: "Having believed you were marked in him with a
seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our
inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession."
Let's not forget these great truths. We remind ourselves of God's
saving action through a service of remembrance - it's called the
Lord's Supper. But let us not be content to remember once a month -
we need to remember daily what God has. There is a famous American
preacher and writer named Jerry Bridges. His practice is to spend
half an hour every morning preaching the gospel to himself, so that he
reminds himself every day of the amazing promises and presence of
God. What about you?
Thirdly, and lastly, have you made a fresh start? In response to
God's deliverance of them from the wilderness into the promised land,
Israel was keen to follow God's word, to live lives of obedience. We
are to be the same. You have been given new life, and your response
to God's love should be to devote yourself to obeying God's word and
serving Him. This is to be whole-hearted and life-long commitment.
When William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, was asked by
Queen Victoria what the secret of his ministry was, he replied: 'I
guess the reason is because God has all there is of me.'
Another famous Christian who was fully devoted to serving God and
obeying his word, was the bible commentator Matthew Henry. He lived
his whole life in the light of a little creed taught him by his godly
father. The creed was this:
I take God the Father to be my God, I take God the Son to be my
Saviour,
I take God the Holy Spirit to be my Sanctifier, I take the word of God
to be my rule,
I take the people of God to be my people, And I do hereby dedicate and
yield my whole self to the Lord, And I do this deliberately, freely
and forever, Amen.
May our fresh start, our new life as a Christian, be characterized by
such devotion to God due to the certainty of God's promises, and the
sure knowledge of His presence with us by his Holy Spirit who indwells
us.