Joshua 4 (5)

On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life. Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, “Command the priests who bear the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.” Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” And it came to pass, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks as before. Joshua 4.14-18

Reflect.
1.  The people had participated together in a miracle of God, and they were now safely together in the land of Canaan, the Jordan flowing freely again, blocking any retreat. How would you have felt?

2.  What were these people thinking regarding what lay ahead for them? 

Think about it.
Here we get more detail about what was mentioned in passing in verse 11. Scripture often unfolds like that: first, a big picture, then more details of that big picture. Think: Genesis 1 and 2. Or John 1.1-18, and the rest of John’s gospel. Or even the book of Acts and Paul’s epistles. This telescoping of the Scriptures helps to hold the narrative together, encouraging readers to look forward and backward at the same time. It certainly reveals the mind of God behind the whole.

We see Joshua as a faithful communicator of God’s Word. What God told him to tell the priests, he repeated exactly as the LORD had spoken to him. No funny stories, personal anecdotes, or parsing the Hebrew verb. Just the Word of God. Could God have told them Himself? Certainly. But this is not how the LORD has chosen to lead His people into His covenant promises. He appoints leaders, gives them His Word, and commands them to speak His Word to His people.

Great things happen when that simple formula is obeyed.

The Jordan River closed behind the people of Israel. There would be no returning to the plains of Moab. Like Cortez in Mexico, God had “burned their bridges,” and now they must only look ahead. There must be no pining for Moab or the desert or Egypt. And they must not simply stand still at Gilgal. Focus on the promises of God, and the land where those promises would be realized, and press on.

This is excellent advice for the life of faith (cf. Phil. 3.7-15).

Meditate and discuss.
1.  Would you describe your own approach to reading the Scriptures as looking “forward and backward at the same time”? Explain. Why is this a good idea?

2.  Forty years earlier the people had approached the land with nothing but the wilderness behind them (cf. Num. 13.1-3), to which they retreated upon hearing the report of the spies. But that was a dead end; the Red Sea kept them from going back to Egypt, and the wilderness was not the land of promise. Do you see how God in His grace and wisdom helped His people forward by having them cross the Jordan into Canaan this time around? Explain.

3.  What causes preachers and teachers to stray from the pure Word of God in their teaching?

“The Lord exalted Joshua, for as he increased in age his strength became obvious [for all to see]. They rightly feared the son of Nun with a lawful fear as is fitting for service. And we rightly revere our Jesus with holy fear who stands by us for all eternity” Procopius of Gaza (465-530 AD)

Let Your Word lead and guide me each step of the way today as I seek Your promises and…

Pray Psalm 124.
What “waters” are threatening to overwhelm you today? What traps or snares can you anticipate? You can’t turn back from them, so you should prepare for them now. Give them to the Lord and go forward into the day ahead.

Psalm 124 (Neumark: If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee)
If You had not been with us, Jesus – 
Let all who love You say with pride – 
When foes rose up to fright and seize us, 
They would have swallowed us alive!
Refrain v. 8
Our help is in Your Name, O Lord, 
Who made creation by Your Word.

When all their anger flared against us, 
The flood would us have swept away; 
Torrents and waters sore had drenched us, 
Were not You all our hope and stay!
Refrain

Blessed be the Lord who has not given 
Us to our foes to be devoured.
We shall escape and rise to heaven
By His eternal grace and power.
Refrain

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006).