GOD MIRACULOUSLY MAKES A WAY THROUGH THE RIVER JORDAN
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As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. – Joshua 1:5-6 –
Moses, the great leader of the Israelites, has been taken to heaven. Who will lead the people into the Promised Land? God chooses Joshua son of Nun, a man filled with the spirit of wisdom (Deuteronomy 34:9), to be his successor. This man of God stood faithfully at Moses’ side throughout the forty years of wilderness wanderings. He is anointed to carry on the legacy of Moses and rise up to be the new leader of this chosen nation.
As this new generation of Israelites stands poised and ready to enter the Promised Land, they see before them the Jordan River. This is not a mere stream. This is a mighty river whose flood waters at harvest time become torrential. The people are disheartened. It will take a mighty God to work a miracle for them. Yet Joshua has steadfast faith in just such a God. He believes their almighty Lord will work the miraculous.
Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.’ – Joshua 3:5
It is Joshua’s resolute faith that opens the way for God to do the impossible. He calls upon the people to consecrate themselves… to rededicate their lives to God and His will. The Jordan River before them appears to be a seemingly impassable obstacle. Yet Joshua remembers another miraculous deliverance of God.
Many years before, their Yahweh God had parted the sea, allowing the Israelites to pass through on dry land to escape the Egyptians. Joshua has steadfast faith in this mountain-moving God… faith that He will again see them through. This omnipotent God will step in and show His mighty power on their behalf.
Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God… As soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord – the Lord of all the earth – set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap. – Joshua 3:9, 13
God acts when we step out in faith. The Ark of the Covenant, the glory of God’s presence with the Israelites, is brought to the edge of the Jordan. As soon as the priests step into the river, the water stops flowing. Upstream, the river piles up in a great heap… a miraculous sight.
A path opens for the people to follow. The entire Israelite nation passes through the dry riverbed to the opposite shore. This new generation sees that their God can be trusted to keep His promises. He is the One in whom they can place their unwavering faith.
Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, though Your footprints were not seen. – Psalm 77:19
The Almighty One opens up an entrance for His people into this new chapter of their lives. When all the Israelites reach the opposite side of the river, the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant up onto the new land. The Jordan River immediately begins flowing at its torrential pace. The God of miracles once again displays His mighty power (Psalm 77:14).
For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God. – Joshua 4:23-24
Joshua’s steadfast faith in his all-powerful God is rewarded. The faith of the people is restored as they set out to claim the Promised Land as their own. This new generation of Israelites is confident that their God will be with them wherever they go.
Do you have the unwavering faith of Joshua? Are you trusting the Almighty One implicitly? Do you look to Him to work the miraculous in your life?
God desires that we believe Him for who He is and what He can do in our lives. He is our mighty God. He longs for us to trust Him absolutely. When we take that step of faith, He acts… setting in motion that which only He can do. His power manifests in miraculous ways.
† Eternal Takeaway – God works the miraculous in response to a steadfast faith †
