Joshua 3:1-8

[The Real Episode for Friday!].  :)

Transcript

Tempo: 120.0

SPEAKER_00 0:21

What kind of memories do you have about moving? You know, my family has moved a few times over the course of our marriage, and I really only remember moving once as a kid. But there was one time in particular that we were moving, my wife and my son and I were moving from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to this little place called Vaughn Washington. And for those of you who don't know where that is, it's about an hour out of Seattle. And this was right after 9-11 had happened. So we were, like everybody else, being very methodical, very, you know, careful about how we were approaching this move, especially as we anticipated that border crossing. And I don't remember all of the details of everything that happened, but a few things kind of stood out to me and still stand out to me. One is how organized my wife was and is. So we had all of our boxes, you know, labeled kitchen, bedroom, living room, those sorts of things, but they were also numbered. And then we had like this content roster that she had put together. And each you know, number box, it had all of the contents listed inside, and we were like we were ready. And I remember going through all of that, and friends and family came over to help us load up that U-Haul and get everything everything on. We had a 1998 red Ford Escort that was truly a gift from God for us. It was a great little car. We loaded it onto this little trailer that would be behind the U-Haul, and we set out. And I just have these memories of driving down and this sense of anticipation, of preparation for what was next. We were entering a new season of life. We were entering a new country. We had our nearly two-year-old son with us as we drove through the mountains in British Columbia and headed on down to Abbotsford, where my parents still live, and just anticipating moving into the United States. And I share that with you because I feel like our passage today is a lot like moving day for the people of Israel. You know, they're there, they'd wandered in the wilderness for so long, they're ready to go on, they're ready to do their thing, and and they're preparing. And it is moving day. And so we jump into this passage, Joshua chapter 3, verses 1 through 8. If you have the scriptures close to you, I would encourage you to go ahead and read along with me. Joshua chapter 3, verses 1 through 8. But before we do that, let's pray. Jesus, thank you that you lead us so well. Thank you that even when we have these momentous occasions that we know that we're not alone, that whenever we seek you and follow you, you lead us exactly where you want us to go. Help us to be faithful. We ask this in your name. Amen. Let's read together. Early in the morning, Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. After three days the officers went throughout the camp, giving orders to the people. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between you and the ark, do not go near it. Joshua told the people, Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you. Joshua said to the priests, Take up the Ark of the Covenant and pass on ahead of the people. So they took it up and went ahead of them. And the Lord said to Joshua, Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. Tell the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant, when you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river. So there we are. Let's take a few moments to just kind of unpack this, to observe it and understand it together. And by the way, I had thought about maybe including more of the story in this in this time together, but I really wanted to appreciate kind of what was happening here in that preparation aspect, this preparation to move in to this new land that had been promised to them, the land that they had waited so long to come to. I have a few things I wanted to make sure that we were just recognized together. The first one is just that God would be the one leading. And I mean that in quite a literal sense, we see that represented, not just represented, but but fulfilled, I guess, through the Ark of the Covenant, which which had been kind of the way of God's presence being with them. So the Ark of the Covenant and the priests who were the only ones qualified to carry that Ark, those Levitical priests, as it talks about that there in verses uh two and three, and I guess in four as well, but they they would literally be leading, you know. So when when the Lord says, you know, make make sure that they go and pass ahead, and Joshua does that, they all they all participate in that, but they move on ahead, and and that's how this was going to work, that God would quite literally and physically be leading this nation across the river and into the promised land. The second bit is that whole idea of consecrate yourselves. You can find that there in verse 5. Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you. And consecration is an important thing for us to appreciate and understand. To be set apart is really kind of what it means, to be set apart and clean before God. It's often translated as sanctify. And it carries with it, again, this need to be to be clean, to be, you know, kind of removed from anything that would taint you being in the presence of God. You know, in Exodus 19, so just kind of a throwback here to when Moses was leading, as they're about to receive the Ten Commandments, Moses is about to ascend the mountain and meet with God, God gives these instructions about consecration, and they're for the people. And these aren't repeated here, so I don't want to make too much of it, but but there, in that case, those instructions included washing their clothes and abstaining from sex. That that those two things, and and there was maybe a heavier sense to it here, but but this is what they were called to do. So just this very, very intentional moment of physically being clean, and and and hopefully what's also happening is that that hearts were being cleaned as well. So consecrate yourselves, make yourselves ready as part of that preparation bit, right? The third bit is that the Lord would elevate Joshua. He says he would exalt him in the eyes of all Israel there in verse 7. He would exalt him, he would elevate him, showing the people that he was with him, just like he was with Moses. And there is a similarity here. Moses led the people of Israel through what would have been a body of water, but he led them through on dry ground when they went through the through the sea there, and Egypt is chasing them. In this case, it's a river, which is a little bit different, but but they're passing through this body water, but they're doing it on dry ground. And I think that there is a little bit of you know kind of representation there. Hey, remember how Moses led. And and for many of the Israelites at this point, they may not even have lived through that experience, but they they would have known about it, right? Like that's fresh in the nation's memory. And then finally, the priests were called to exercise and to model faith. So these priests, these Levitical priests, these people who were themselves set apart from the rest of Israel in order to be these liaisons or mediators, these people who would meet with God on behalf of the rest of the people, they're called to exercise and model faith. In the Exodus from Egypt, God tells Moses to use his staff. We see that repeatedly throughout those plagues that happen while they're still in Egypt. But even when they get to going through through the sea, that he's he's asked to stretch out his hand and raise his staff to part the waters. And that's that's how that happened. But in our passage today, those first steps, that first initiation, it was the priests. And and they're asked to do something that if it didn't work out, they would look kind of foolish, right? If it didn't work out, but it's left to them. And I love that they're asked to go to the edge of the Jordan's waters and then go stand in the river. Your your feet are going to get a little bit wet here. And that in itself is this act of faith for them. Reflecting here for myself and and maybe for us as well. And by the way, when we're going through this text, the the Lord may very well be just highlighting something for you as as we're talking about this and reading it. You know, if that's happening for you, please listen to the Lord more than you're listening to to me right now. But two things really stand out for me. The first one is just that question, am I letting God lead me? You know, in the same way that God was literally going to lead the people of Israel, you know, through the river into the promised land. Am I letting him lead me or or am I rushing ahead at times? Am I trying to carve my own path? Am I wandering off to this side or that side and just kind of hoping that God's got my back regardless of my choices? Am I willing to just let him have his way in my life? And the second piece is what does it look like for us to consecrate ourselves today? And I'm kind of tying that in a little bit to that sense of preparation, but just in general, you know, we we who are Jesus followers, we know that we can talk to God anytime, anywhere. That's really true. You can pray in the context of your home, you can pray in your car, you can pray at work, like it really can be that. But sometimes with all of that access, maybe we can take it for granted. Sometimes because we believe that we're saved by grace, which is true, that forgiveness is quick and complete, which is true. But sometimes we need to carve out intentional time to be made clean again with the Lord. And, you know, today, as we follow Jesus, we recognize that it really is what's in our hearts and minds that matters. Like this isn't about having a daily shower, this isn't that. This is about being right before God. And sometimes we we we gain some grit, we gain some muck along the way. So how do we sanctify? How do we consecrate ourselves? And it's the Lord that does that work, but we we need to come clean before God. And I want to encourage us with just two things in regards to this. One is confession. And, you know, sometimes we, you know, when we make a bigger mistake and it kind of blows up at us, we have that very, very obvious opportunity to confess. But it's good practice, I think. And maybe you do this at the end of the day when you just are kind of settling, getting ready to sleep, and and you're just being quiet before God, and you say, Lord, was there anything I did today that displeased you? And I just was ignorant of it. I just was in my own space. I wasn't really paying attention to you, but but I behaved in a way or I thought in a way. I just I did stuff and it just put distance between me and you. God, would you reveal that to me? I I want to be clean before you. And it's that kind of reflective confession that we can move our way through, and we can expect that God will reveal those things to us, and there's something really, really good and and beneficial, not just for ourselves, but for our relationship with God when we do that. And the second piece of that is just devotion to prayer. And again, you can pray anywhere, anytime, right? All of that is true. But just spending some time where we just bring ourselves, our whole selves, into the presence of God. We just say, God, would you prepare me? Would you reveal yourself to me? Would you show me what's next? And and to not just, you know, do it as, you know, kind of in between thoughts along the way, but to carve out that time and that space and to consecrate ourselves, to set it, set ourselves apart, especially for God in that time and space. So that's the challenge for you as we move on from today. Let me go ahead and pray for us. And I'm inviting you, after our time is done, just take a few moments and be intentional about spending some of that time with the Lord. Be intentional about that preparation. Jesus, thank you that you lead us so well. Thank you that you care not just about our destination, but the way in which we get there. Would you continue to make us clean? Would you continue to lead us in your perfect way? Amen.