There was a great air of optimism in the camp; the people knew that something was going on. They would have also known that now Moses was dead, (he was the last of the old generation to die) and the fact that God had said Joshua and Caleb would be the only two that had left Egypt who would enter the promised land (Numbers 14:30), that the time to move forward had come. The command from Joshua was carried out in Joshua 3:2 – 6. God has spoken, his will is very clear, and the nation must be ready to obey. I want us to notice what he says first to the officers or the leaders of the congregation in Joshua 1:11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan River and take the land the Lord your God is giving you”. And then to the people in Joshua 3:5 "Then Joshua told the people Make yourselves holy, because tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you”, What Joshua is telling the people now before they have crossed the river is that it is important for them to change their mindset, to plan for physical sustenance to keep up their strength, to start thinking about living off the land. In other words prepare our hearts because we will need to be able to listen to the still small voice of God, we need to be in a place in our hearts where we can listen and obey the voice of the one who is calling us to go forward. If we don’t do this then we will miss out on all that God has promised us through His son Jesus. Oh yes we might be saved but will we be victorious, will we overcome?
Did you know that you have a choice? Lets look back at Joshua 1:10 – 18. We see in this section that Joshua speaks to the 2½ tribes that decided to stay on the east side of the Jordan. He commands them that they are to go with the rest of the congregation as Moses had told them and help them to conquer the Promised Land. We know that about 40000 men crossed prepared for war, my guess is that this was only a small part of the 2½ tribes. These tribes promised Moses that they would fight with their brethren (you can read this account in Numbers 32) These people settled for second best, yes they had been saved from Egypt, they had freely taken of Gods Mercies by way of the quails and the manna for 40 years yet they had really become complacent, in short the 2½ tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe Manasseh represent many borderline believers---people who have a relationship with Christ, who get close to the full, joyful inheritance, who experience some spiritual victory in their lives, but who are determined to go back to the perceived comfort across the Jordan. The land to the east of the Jordan is really still the wilderness. It's a place of indulgence to people for whom the quality of material life is more important than life eternal. Are we going to be like the 2½ tribes or are we going to take control and by Gods grace and mercy move forward in obedience to His word.
Things will be different in the Promised Land. It won’t necessarily be easy but we need to go forward knowing that God goes in front of us (Joshua 3:3 – 5). If we are to conquer enemies, our own struggles with fleshly rebellion and sin, our own resistance to what God wants, the enemies out there that oppose us, the world system, and satanic evil itself; and if we're going to claim our inheritance in Christ, we must have courage and strength. Ephesians 6:10-11 and Ephesians 6:17-18 tells us the source of that kind of courage and strength: "...Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armour of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil...And take...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints...." We're called to warfare, but not in our own strength, not based on our own courage, and not in isolation. We live in community, so we are to pray for one another and with one another, to encourage one another. We need to remember that it is not only our battle, that of fighting sin and the evils of this world, it is God's as well. We are His workmanship equipped and enabled by Him through our obedience to His word both spoken and written.
Did you know that you have a choice? Lets look back at Joshua 1:10 – 18. We see in this section that Joshua speaks to the 2½ tribes that decided to stay on the east side of the Jordan. He commands them that they are to go with the rest of the congregation as Moses had told them and help them to conquer the Promised Land. We know that about 40000 men crossed prepared for war, my guess is that this was only a small part of the 2½ tribes. These tribes promised Moses that they would fight with their brethren (you can read this account in Numbers 32) These people settled for second best, yes they had been saved from Egypt, they had freely taken of Gods Mercies by way of the quails and the manna for 40 years yet they had really become complacent, in short the 2½ tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe Manasseh represent many borderline believers---people who have a relationship with Christ, who get close to the full, joyful inheritance, who experience some spiritual victory in their lives, but who are determined to go back to the perceived comfort across the Jordan. The land to the east of the Jordan is really still the wilderness. It's a place of indulgence to people for whom the quality of material life is more important than life eternal. Are we going to be like the 2½ tribes or are we going to take control and by Gods grace and mercy move forward in obedience to His word.
Things will be different in the Promised Land. It won’t necessarily be easy but we need to go forward knowing that God goes in front of us (Joshua 3:3 – 5). If we are to conquer enemies, our own struggles with fleshly rebellion and sin, our own resistance to what God wants, the enemies out there that oppose us, the world system, and satanic evil itself; and if we're going to claim our inheritance in Christ, we must have courage and strength. Ephesians 6:10-11 and Ephesians 6:17-18 tells us the source of that kind of courage and strength: "...Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armour of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil...And take...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints...." We're called to warfare, but not in our own strength, not based on our own courage, and not in isolation. We live in community, so we are to pray for one another and with one another, to encourage one another. We need to remember that it is not only our battle, that of fighting sin and the evils of this world, it is God's as well. We are His workmanship equipped and enabled by Him through our obedience to His word both spoken and written.
Let us look at what happened through the obedience of these people who adhered to the word of God. We know that the waters of the Jordan were overflowing their banks Joshua 3:15 yet as soon as the feet of the priests touched the water the river stopped flowing from a place called Adam some 15 miles up river. God dealt with sin at its root He bleed and died on the cross in order to cut out the problem of sin right back to Adam. Romans 5:18 – 19 “So as one sin of Adam brought the punishment of death to all people, one good act that Christ did makes all people right with God. And that brings true life for all. One man disobeyed God, and many became sinners. In the same way one man obeyed God, and many will be made right”. It is only when we recognise that God means what He says and when we are prepared to follow the Lord our God wholly as Joshua and Caleb did will we see and taste of the abundant blessings that God wants to bestow upon us by His Mercy.
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