Crossing the Jordan

 Christ in all the scriptures

The miracle of the Jordan    Joshua chapter 3

"Crossing the Jordan", the subject of many a hymn, and of many sermons, but how are we to understand it?  I suppose the one way to introduce it is to ask the question, believer, have you crossed the Jordan yet?  You have definitely left Egypt (spiritually), and crossed the Red Sea (spiritually), but have you crossed the Jordan?  It is not an easy question to answer, for the teaching on this has been somewhat confusing, yet we must understand the beauty of it.

Much of hymnology, and some commentaries would characterise it as physical death, the passing from this life to the next.  However, precious as that would be, when they crossed they were in immediate conflict, and there is no conflict in heaven.

To understand it, we first make some observations of the river Jordan, which plays a vital role in the history of Israel.  "Jordan" in Hebrew, is Yarden, and is derived from the verb Yardah which means to "descend".  Geographers tell us that the Jordan is sourced from the snow capped Mount Hermon, which is 9,200 feet at its peak, and meanders down to the Sea of Galilee which is 680 feet below sea level, and ultimately pours into the Dead Sea which is 1420 feet below sea level.  The picture is clear that the Jordan is permanently descending downward, and ends in the Dead Sea!  If ever there is a picture of fallen humanity this is it!

Picture the scene, 3 million people, plus their animals, standing on the borders of the promised land, and the fast flowing Jordan bars their way!  There is no bridge nor ferries to transport them, and, another factor is that it is the time of harvest when the Jordan overflows its banks.  Yet the Lord demanded His people to cross!

We are about to read of a miracle of mammoth proportions, that has spiritual implications down to the present day.  If the Red Sea speaks of the death of Christ, separating us from our bondage in Egypt, and escape from the pursuing enemy from Egypt; crossing the Jordan speaks of the resurrection of Christ initiating us into a new life, leaving behind years of disobedience and distrust and self will, moving into the realm of obedience and trust to enjoy rest in the promised land.

Notice, they moved from Shittim (the place of Acacia Groves) to the waters edge of the Jordan.  They moved out of their comfort zone.  After 3 days (it was on the third day He rose again) they were summoned to follow the Ark of the Covenant (symbolic of Christ).  They were to follow at a distance of 2000 cubits (approx. 1 kilometre).  No matter the nearness to God they were to remain a little apart for reverence to His holy character.  We have been reconciled to God, but that nearness is not to issue in familiarity,  Also the distance would ensure that all the people could see the Ark to follow it.  They marched in order with the Ark leading them.  The feet of the priests carrying the Ark touched the edge of the fast flowing Jordan, and the waters rose up in a heap, and were stayed; the waters cascading toward the Dead Sea dried up, and the people passed over to the other side.

The narrative says that God performed a gravity defying miracle, heaping up the waters some 18 miles north of Jericho, where Israel were congregated the other side of the river.  He made sure that the cities Adam and Zaretan were unaffected by the spray (the name Adam in this miracle is notable!)  The Ark of the covenant stood in the midst of the dried up Jordan, while the people, every last one of them, passed over on dry land.

Thus the relatively new congregation of Israel were witness to the God of Miracles.  Why would they ever doubt His ability or intention to prosper them.  He was also the God of Covenant Promise, symbolised in the Ark, which led them over.

So what is the crossing of Jordan all about?  God did not redeem Israel from Egypt to have them wandering aimlessly in a wilderness.  He saved them to prosper them, that they would enter into blessing.  The miracle of the Red Sea delivered them from Egypt: the miracle of the Jordan brought them into the promised land.  Out of Egypt, not to a no man's land, but into the promised land.  Spiritually speaking the same is true of all believers today.  Taken from one manner of life into another (better) life.  God did not save us to deny us a good life, He saved us to "walk in newness of life". 

it took Israel 40 years after their redemption to enter into the goodness of the Promised land.  We might well ask, how long has it taken us?  Crossing the Jordan is progress: it meant new challenges, but it is progress.  The New Testament is replete with this principle.  Rather than stagnating in a world of vacuum, we are to enter into the enjoyment of the blessings God has for us.  

This will mean casting off the shackles of the old life, and entering into the freedom of the new.

1st Peter 2v1/2 "Wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby".

Hebrews 6v1 "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection".

Ephesians 4v22/23 "That ye put off concerning the former conversation (manner of life) the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts".

This will mean going to war against (not the people of the world) but against our own propensity to live like them

Colossians 3v5/7 "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience, in which ye also walked some time when ye lived in them".

Crossing Jordan means entering into the possession of all that we have in Christ, but it will involve putting away the things of the old life.  Each of us must decide what that means for ourselves.

The Jordan is not death, but moving on to a better life. The promised land is not heaven, but heaven on earth!  Believer, are you there yet?  Such progress would revolutionise our churches today!

Remember. the Lord Himself was baptised in the Jordan, and it was from there John the Baptist initiated the revival which issued in thousands being saved in the early church.  The Jordan is very significant in scripture.

The remarkable faith of Rahab

 Christ in all the scriptures

The remarkable faith of Rahab the harlot      Joshua chapter 2

This is a truly amazing conversion story, almost unparalleled in holy scripture.  Only the Spirit of God could put together a narrative like this!  Israel, with their several million migrants are on the borders of Canaan, with the command to possess it and displace the depraved inhabitants.  As we have seen, this is the fulfilment of a 900 year old prophecy, and, later, a revelation to Abram that God would give this people time (400 years) to change their ways.  In the event they did not, and God knew from the beginning they would not (for He knows everything, including future events), and in fact their iniquity. had reached a level intolerable to God.  He now stands at their door, and the judgment is pronounced.  The Canaanites are to suffer Divine retribution.

Yet, remarkably, He begins with the conversion of a Canaanite woman!!  Not only so, but a woman who was an harlot, who earned her living by prostitution!   She is referred to as "Rahab the harlot"-Joshua 2v1; Joshua 6v25; Hebrews 11v31; James 2v25.  Four times over we are reminded what she was before God saved her.  The bible does not hide the depths of shame of individuals.  It is hardly surprising, for she grew up in a depraved society, where sin was rampant.  We must take a breath here to understand the great truth of God's salvation, which is freely available to all regardless of our past.

Firstly we note that God may condemn whole communities, but save individuals out of it.  There is such a thing as a "national trait", usually perverse, but God deals with us individually.  She lived in a perverse community, in Jericho, capital of Canaanite idolatry and debauchery.  Her faith in God is all the more remarkable because of it.  The bible draws attention to her outstanding faith:

In a chapter, displaying the history of faith through the ages (Hebrews 11), she is one of only two women who are named.  The other is Sarah, a godly woman who remained faithful all her life, and the harlot Rahab.  Both women are marked out as having outstanding faith. 

When James describes the faith of Abraham, the father of all who believe, he illustrates the reality of it by citing Rahab.  She stands with Sarah and also with Abraham as an example of notable faith leading to justification before God-James 2v21-25.

She appears as an ancestor of Jesus Christ in the genealogy of Matthew (1v5).  She went from being a marginalised outsider, living an immoral life, to propagating the genealogical line that would issue in the birth of Christ, the Saviour of the world.   She is a key factor in the history of salvation to this day.  She remained faithful to Israel and her family were also saved, as it says in Joshua 6v25, "And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho".

She risked her life by harbouring the spies, and releasing them to safety.  She is an example of faith in action, not just mental assent, but real belief in God in practical terms.  An insight into her inward belief, is given in Joshua 2v9/11,...

"She said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land (which was more than most of Israel knew) and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you...for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath".

Rahab stands as a beacon of faith for all today:

She heard of the ways of God with Israel and she believed.  Paul wrote in Romans 10v17, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God".  She opened her heart to God.

She knew that the gods of her people were false and she trusted the God of Israel.

She acted on her faith by receiving the spies of Israel, shielding them from harm, and releasing them from danger back to their leader.

She persuaded her wider family to join her in this life of faith.

When the Lord destroyed Jericho, she remained calm in her untouched home, trusting in God.

She joined the host of Joshua and became a mother in Israel and gave birth to Boaz, the kinsman redeemer, who is symbolic of Christ.

She stands in holy scripture as a woman of great courage and belief in the true God.

She was a woman of low morals living in a nation under the curse of God.  Her remarkable faith exalted her to become a woman of great honour who is mentioned alongside the greatest believers.  This is what the grace and power of God can do in a life trapped in sin.

What will be my story? and will I happily proclaim it to my nearest and dearest?

She risked her life for God's people.  We know that He gave His life for us.

This is what the grace of God can do in a person's life.  No matter your family or your country, or your personal weakness, God can lift you to the heights of honour, in the words of the song...

"Lord lift me up and let me stand, By faith on heaven's table land; A higher plain than I have found, Lord plant my feet on higher ground".  by Johnson Oatman jr.  (1856-1926)

God is saving idolators, harlots, and worse, today; somewhere in the world stories like Rahab abound and will be told endlessly in the great beyond.  

Our great God begins a campaign of judgment against the ungodly by saving a believing family/ Blessed be His name!  

Spiritual warfare

 Christ in all the scriptures

Spiritual warfare   Joshua chapter 1

The book of Joshua corresponds to the New Testament epistle to the Ephesians.  Believers today are no longer involved in land grab or physical warfare.  The conflict we face is spiritual, unseen, but nevertheless very real.  One division of the epistle has been given, based on Moses' words in Deuteronomy 1v8, "Behold I have set the land before you (corresponding to Ephesians 1-3), go in and possess the land...(corresponding to Ephesians 4-6).  This brings us into conflict with powerful enemies stated in Ephesians 6v10-13.  Unseen, yet very real enemies who will use every form of  deception to destroy our peace.  They cannot touch our relationship with God, but they can rob us of the enjoyment of spiritual life (the enjoyment of the land in O/T terms).  This section opens in Ephesians 6v10, "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might" and mirrors Joshua chapter 1, where four times over the people are advised "to be strong and of a good courage"-Joshua 1v6, v7, v9, and v18.

This brings us to a most important aspect of spiritual life today.  God did not redeem Israel from Egypt to leave them in a barren wilderness, but to possess "the land flowing with milk and honey", and enjoy its fruits.  However, there are enemies in the land that are too great for us, and we must rely on the strength of the Lord.  Thus we must adopt a war mentality while in this world as is evident throughout the New Testament.

The land equates to the "heavenly" places in Ephesians-1v3; 1v20; 2v6; 3v10; 6v12.  In that land there are spiritual riches that we can enjoy-1v7; 1v18; 2v4 and 2v7; 3v8; 3v16.  However, there are also the spiritual powers of wickedness, seeking to destroy our fellowship with God, and the enjoyment of our blessing.  So we must be aware, and alert to stand in the strength of the Lord.  As Paul says in Ephesians chapter 3v16, "That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man".   The conflict today is not of land or material things, but of spiritual riches for the enjoyment of the things of God.  We are reconciled to God according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1v7).  We are empowered by God to enjoy riches this world cannot supply, according to the riches of His glory (Ephesians 3v16-20).  The O/T land, in N/T terms, is not heaven, for in heaven there is no conflict.  The land is heaven upon earth for us to enjoy.

Spiritual life is not for the fainthearted, we need courage to possess our benefits now.  Paul writes to Timothy, his younger brother in Christ.   "This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare"-1st Timothy 1v18; again   "Thou therefore be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus...thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ..."-2nd Timothy 2v1-4.  The enemy is not the people around us but the unseen powers of spiritual wickedness with their false doctrines, and satanically inspired wicked ways.  We must not allow these to rob us of our Divine inheritance.

Joshua was told in chapter 1v3 how to possess the land, "Every place that the sole of your feet shall tread upon, that I have given unto you, as I said unto Moses".   To walk on it was to possess it, and Paul spells this out in Ephesians for us...walk on the land!

Walk worthy of the calling    Ephesians 4v1

Walk not as other Gentiles in the vanity of their mind   Ephesians 4v17

Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us   Ephesians 5v2

Walk as children of light  Ephesians 5v8

Walk circumspectly. not as fools but as wise   Ephesians 5v15

All this will demand strength and courage with the help of the Lord to possess the rich land. 

The conquest of Canaan

 Christ in all the scriptures

Joshua-the conquest of Canaan  (overview chapters 1-24)

The book is a record of the military conquest of Israel, led by Joshua, to take possession of the land of Canaan.  This was commanded by God to fulfil His covenant promise to Abraham (Genesis 12v1/3; 13v14/17; 15v18/21; again in Genesis 17v7/8; 22v2; 28v13; Deuteronomy 34v5; Joshua 1v2/4 etc. etc.).  Repeatedly, throughout their journeys, God re-iterated His promise of a land to a people who had spent over four centuries in exile, and, at that, in servile bondage.  In the book of Deuteronomy, alone, "the land" occurs more than 100 times.  When God makes a covenant, He will fulfil it regardless of the passage of time.  Centuries are as nothing to an eternal God, who transcends time.  For those who need to be persuaded today that this land belongs to Israel by Divine decree, they should consider that this covenant was made almost 4,000 years ago, is established by Divine power, and is recognised by most to be the home of Israel.

Now the time has come, Israel stand on the borders of the land and they are to take possession of it.  

Chapters 1-5       Preparation for conquest

Chapters 6-12     Possession of the land

Chapters 13-22   Process of land distribution

Chapters 23-24   Pastoring of the nation

There are many sceptics and infidels who will point to this book as evidence that religion causes wars.  They point out that the God of Israel commanded genocide on the Canaanites.  This is true, according to Deuteronomy 20v16/18 and other scriptures.  The Lord did command the extermination of the inhabitants of the land.  Horrified as some are, we must not judge the Lord by human standards.  There are two outstanding factors, if we are to fully understand the reality of this: 1) the unfettered  sovereignty of God, and 2) the unique suffering of God. 

The sovereignty of God

In a world devoid of absolutes, the God of heaven rules without question.  The angels of His presence never question or challenge Him, so why would mere mortals criticise His actions?God has a right to do whatever He pleases (Psalm 115v3).  If He chooses to be done with one people, no one can question it, or challenge it.  There are hundreds of thousands of deaths every single day, and it is God who gives life and it is God who takes it away.  He brought a flood on the world of the ungodly (Genesis 6/7; He destroyed the cities of the plain (Genesis 19).  Consider the following: Acts 17v24, "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth..."-refer also Acts 14v15.  Daniel the prophet declared, "...that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdoms of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will..."-Daniel 4v17.  Kingdoms rise and fall at His decree, and no one dare oppose it.

The suffering of God

The Canaanites were a depraved people, indulging in rank idolatry, ritual prostitution and child sacrifice, according to the historians.  God knew this would be their character, and pronounced a curse on Canaan, even before he was born (Genesis 9v25).  This was approx. 900 years before Joshua entered Canaan to effect the extermination.  In Genesis 15v13-16, at the covenant with Abraham, God declared that the seed of Abraham (Israel) would suffer affliction in Egypt for 400 years, but after that they would come out.  The reason He left them so long in bondage was given as, "Because the iniquity of the Amorite was not yet full".  The term Amorite refers to the descendants of  Canaan (refer Genesis 10v15-20).  Let us grasp what this is saying!  God knew 900 years before that Canaan would be a bad lot.  For 400 years he kept His people in bondage in Egypt to allow the iniquity of the Amorite to come to a head, to the point where God would no longer tolerate it.  When Joshua stood on the borders of Canaan, their time was up.  Centuries of iniquity, unacceptable to God, had been allowed to pass, and He would now act without mercy.  Truly He is a God who is slow to anger, who gave this nation time to repent, but they never did.  The time has now come to bring their depravity to an end.  He suffered long their ways, now it must end.

Joshua was commissioned by God to possess the land and exterminate the inhabitants (refer Exodus 23v25-33).  The land promised to Abraham and the forefathers would become the dwelling place of Israel, God's chosen people.

The link to Jesus is obvious...Joshua means "the salvation of Jehovah", and points to Jesus.  The name Jesus is from the Hebrew Jehoshua, meaning "Jehovah Saviour".  The story of Joshua is intertwined with the story of Jesus.  In fact Joshua did not fully possess the land, as is documented several times throughout the book.  What Joshua failed to do in one land, Jesus will do in all lands of the earth.  He will exterminate all evil and reign in righteousness, as Psalm 72, prophetically declares, "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth".

Our heavenly Joshua is coming to remove all evil from this world and usher in a new dawn, when His people can dwell in peace.