The time had come! God didn’t choose a sensible time of year to lead them across the Jordan River, but He had a great plan for doing so. His plan included teaching His people two things: to exalt Joshua as their leader as they did Moses, and “that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly dispossess from before you” the people living there. Consider His method of teaching them, so that your faith is reinforced. When God allows crises to come into your life, or presents you with impossible circumstances, perhaps this is His purpose in your life. Will you choose to trust Him and go forward with Him so that He might teach you as well and build your trust in Him?
It was important to God that Joshua was exalted in the eyes of the people, so that he could lead them effectively. How do you see your leaders? Living in a democratic society in a postmodern age, we tend not to exalt our leaders, but where God provides leaders, we must respect them and submit to their leadership.
It was also important that the people know “that the living God (was) among (them), and that He would assuredly dispossess from before” them the people living in the land. He gave them, that they should know this, the miracle of the backing up of the Jordan River. He didn’t expect the people to go forth to battle in blind faith, but He wanted them to know. What do you know about God today? As I am reading Joshua, my daughter and I are discussing in her politics and culture class, the reality that Christians seem to be having little impact on our culture in the U.S. The synthesis of these two subjects hits me powerfully. My world doesn’t need anything from me as much as it needs to know that God is the “big G” God He says He is, the One whose name is “I AM.” What if we focused on that basic and awesome truth in our relating to the world? We have to believe it first, be convicted of it with the kind of belief that prompts us to act. God doesn’t want that witness to be awkward, embarrassing, timid, or apologetic, because those attitudes will fail to convey the truth of who He is. If we aren’t able to proclaim to the world around us who He is and His wonderful works in our midst, we need to confess that to God and ask Him to give us right convictions. It may need to start with a wonderful work in us, in each of us – in you. Are you willing to seek that?
They were commanded to consecrate themselves in preparation for God’s doing great wonders among them. That would have involved cleansing, likely discarding idols, and perhaps making right other things where they had been rebellious or careless. Think about that. If God required this kind of preparation to do great work in the midst of His Old Testament people, might He require the same to do great things in the midst of the Church? What requires consecration in your life and heart? In your church? You may not have responsibility for the latter, but you can pray for those matters and for those who do have responsibility. What would consecration look like in your situation? Are you willing to set aside what might be standing in the way of God’s doing great things in you or in the midst of your church? What might be the consequences of the alternative?
God did the amazing work, and again, the Israelites were given a way to remember what He had done. Now that they were in the Promised Land (they were in the Promised Land!), God instructed them to set up a monument of stones to memorialize the event. It wasn’t fancy, didn’t include a plaque to tell the story; rather, the people were going to share the story with subsequent generations. This is a great way for us not to forget, to tell the story ourselves. Do you ever notice that? I find that I gain not only a greater appreciation for what God has done, but also a greater understanding of what He has done, as I share it. No wonder Jesus commanded us to be His witnesses! We learn and are changed as we witness.
God has an army, and that army has at least one captain, who carries a sword. That captain was neither for God’s people nor for their enemies; his allegiance was exclusively to God. He was exalted enough to cause the ground on which he stood to be holy. What are the implications of all that?
Rahab was given the label “prostitute” as part of her name here, but she became a respected figure in Israel’s history for what came after this account. She was a descendant of David, and hence, of Jesus’ presumed father, Joseph! Think about that life. Does it speak to you of God’s goodness in redeeming a life?