Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Joshua 1:2
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
It’s an interesting time right now. This blog will post on the first Wednesday of November (the Wednesday immediately following Election Day here in the United States) and that’s a big moment. I could talk about some of the matters facing us right now; the aftermath of the election being one of them. But I feel led to point us forward and to look onward. As I type this, I have no idea what has transpired in the last few hours and days around this post. But I feel the peace of God that pushes me forward into His Word and truth.
Today’s entry is simply a call to action. Recently one morning, I was thinking about my own life and the direction it has gone. I had arrived early to a weekly Bible study I attend and began to think about how the steps of faith my family and I have taken were like “Red Sea moments.” Moments in which, unless God stepped in we would have been overtaken and swept away in the raging waters. I have to look back and consider His faithfulness and know that time after time, He held back the waters and let us pass through. I’ve gone into some of that in my postings here and within the AS BOLD AS LIONS Podcast.
But here’s where I can fall short and perhaps you do too. The Red Sea is a faith-filled experience, yes. It is terrifying to go into those situations but when we come out, we are grateful to be on the other side. But just like Israel couldn’t stop at just leaving Egypt and crossing the Red Sea, we cannot stop either. The Jordan River was the barrier between them and the Promised Land. We have continued barriers between us and the next “land” God is calling us into. Today as we look at Joshua 3 and this story, understand this: God is asking us to continue to trust. Sometimes those next faith steps are beyond the ones we took initially. To cross the Red Sea is one thing. To go through the Jordan and come into the promise is another.
I hope I’ve set the stage enough to explain what I’m after today. We can’t stop and we can’t give up. Not now. Not ever. Our steps of faith in Christ must continue to lead us into situations where we place our reliance fully upon Christ. Let’s look at this miraculous event together and examine what it means for us today.
1. God brings Israel to the Jordan — at flood stage
Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest. Joshua 3:15
I find it so interesting that God places Israel before the Jordan River at the exact moment when the river is at its nastiest. It’s raging. Its banks are overflowing. According to references I found, the crossing was in the spring and the high waters were due to melting snow that caused the river to rise. Picture a rushing, rapid river that is wide and nearly impossible to cross on foot. Picture hundreds of thousands of people needing to cross: men and women, young and old of all ages. Did this look impossible? Most certainly.
Only with God could Israel take their first steps into the Promised Land. This was a moment that wouldn’t happen unless He showed up. Additionally, the conditions were such that only He could get the glory. If they crossed when the river was dried up or at another part where it was just a trickle, the credit would be man-focused (to go around and avoid it altogether would take several days). In this way, God got all the glory. In the 11th hour moments in our lives, God gets the glory as well. A healing of a terminal disease. An inevitable job layoff somehow prevented. A financial need with the exact amount coming in at the last second. These are “Jordan River crossing" moments for us — events that prove God is in control and He alone gets the praise and the glory.
2. The waters did not part until their feet got wet
And as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water…the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away. Joshua 3:15,16
The miracle of the Jordan crossing really is two-fold: the Israelites had to take the first step and then, the waters were stopped. God would intervene, but His instructions to Joshua were clear: the priests carrying the ark of the covenant must come to the brink of the waters and set foot in them (Joshua 3:8). What did Joshua think when he heard this instruction? Evidently it wasn’t enough to make him question or doubt. After 40 years of wandering in the desert, Israel had to choose: would they make the choice to move forward or would they stay put in fear? The Red Sea was parted before Israel took a step. The Jordan River was parted after.
This literal step of faith can be applied to our lives as well. It is totally possible that God is waiting for us to take the first move before He acts. In fact, I know He works this way. On a personal level, I’ve seen moves for my own family that did not fall into place until we put the house on the market, sold our possessions, and got ourselves “into the water.” Literally moving from one place to another across country has worked that way. Is it uncomfortable? Yes. Does it stretch one’s faith? Certainly. But I’d rather be moving towards what He’s promised than staying put because I won’t get my feet wet. We have to be willing to take that first step.
3. Israel builds a memorial to remember what took place here
And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the LORD told Joshua. Joshua 4:8
Continuing into Joshua 4, we see the instruction of the Lord to memorialize and remember this place and event. Each of the tribes took up a stone from the Jordan river bed and made a monument. What was the purpose? “That this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD.” (Joshua 4:6,7) Future generations needed to know what took place here. The Israelites had a tendency to have short-term memories. We do too.
When God brings you through the Red Sea and when He leads you over the Jordan, are you quick to give Him the glory and to keep these things in your memory bank? In these days we need to remember what God has done in months and years past. Because we often forget and then wrongly believe the sky is falling, the end is near, and all hope is lost. It is not. God is still in control and I believe He asks each one of us “Where is your faith? Do you not remember the miracles in the past? Are you ready to get your feet wet again?”
Guys I’ve been impressed lately to renew the vision God has placed upon my life and my family. I’ve gotten too deep “into the weeds” with many things. I’ve traded a bigger vision for something smaller, something I can control with my hands. I’ve stayed put and made excuses for why I didn’t want to move forward and keep crossing Jordans. In reality, it’s been fear every time that has held me back. I’ve spent too much time wandering around in circles. I want to move past this and as I come to the end of 2024, I want 2025 to not be filled with those same regrets.
For ancient Israel, the generation that crossed the Red Sea (Moses’ generation) forgot what happened and how God delivered them. How could they forget, we might ask? It happens when we don’t rely upon God daily. It happens in small, subtle ways. Before we know it, we drifted from dependence upon Him to reliance and confidence in ourselves. But that trust in ourselves has a limit because we can’t move mountains, cross rivers, or part waters. Only God can. Is our faith ready to take those leaps again? If it is, I invite you to stay on this journey with me, knowing that God is going to use us to proclaim His Gospel in a world that desperately needs to know Jesus.
I always enjoy preparing and sharing these messages and I love walking the journey with you. I hope you are looking at the Jordans before you and trusting that God will bring you through them. Trust that as He calls you to take a step into the rushing water, that He won’t let you fall.
Until next time!
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Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Ephesians 5:15-17