Crossing Our Jordan Rivers

 

Joshua 3:5-17

Israel Crosses the Jordan

After the death of Moses, Joshua took over to be the leader of the Israelites. And he wanted to lead the Israelites to cross over the River of Jordan and enter the Promised Land.

Joshua Chapter Three recorded a very wonderful act of the LORD when the Israelites crossed over the Jordan River. God parted the waters of Jordan and made the ground dried up so that the whole Israelites could walk on the dry ground, like how the Israelites crossed through the Red Sea.

After the crossing, 4:22-24 recorded the words of Joshua to the Israelites:

“Tell them, Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground. For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan like 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 on the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”

When the Bible said that the waters were parted, and the dry ground surfaced, it did carry a very important theological meaning. This indicates that the Almighty God overcame the power of darkness, symbolized by the parting of waters. We must return to the situation in Genesis Chapter 1, where it describes:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” （Genesis 1:1-2）

The whole universe was just the primordial waters, and it was waters of evil, chaos and confusion. The Spirit of the LORD hovering over the waters means God was confronting the evil forces—waters (v.2).

And God followed by saying, “Let there be a vault (expanse, canopy) between the waters to separate the water from water.”

So, God made the vault and separated the waters under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear. And it was so.” （Genesis 1:6,7,9）.

In the culture of Ancient Near East, the great waters represent the power and strength of darkness, and hence, when Genesis was written in such a way, it also intended to tell us that, God has subdued the power of wickedness and devils at the time of His creation.

However, He didn’t destroy the waters of wickedness. He just parted it and allowed the dry ground to appear! We wait until Christ return on the evil forces will vanish. In Revelation 21:1, “Then I saw A new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.”

In the Exodus story, when the Israelites faced the Red Sea, Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and throughout that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. And the waters were divided. The Israelites went through the Sea on dry ground, and they got rid of the pursuit of the Pharaoh’s army. (Exodus 14:21)

Exodus is God’s salvation for the Israelites out of slavery. God’s power superseded all powers of darkness, and He rescued and released His people from the power of darkness.

Therefore, after crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites praised God and said, “The Lord is my strength and my defense, he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him. The Lord is a warrior, the Lord is His name.” (Exodus 15:2-3)

The LORD – Jehovah is a warrior, and He overcomes the power of darkness, and delivers His people out of the darkness. His purpose was to bring them into the Land of Canaan, where he would dwell in their midst. For He rescues us not merely out of the power of darkness and corruption, but into a life of abundance and victory, in His presence in the Promised Land.

Under the leadership of Joshua, once again, God had parted the waters of Jordan, and the dry ground appeared. The Israelites no longer wandered in the wilderness, but they entered God’s abundance. From the creation of the heavens and the earth, to the time the Israelites crossed the Rea Sea and Jordan River, we saw the manifestation of God’s power.

God demonstrated His power not only in the ancient times, but He manifests His power in the Church and on us too this day. The Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, walked with man and died on the cross. His death on the cross overcame the power of devil, Satan, so as to rescue us from the darkness, and enables us to receive new life and enter into glory with Him.

But where is the water in Christ’s salvation signifies?

Baptism. As we go through baptism which signifies new birth in Christ, we come out of water! Christ has delivered us out of the chaotic water!

We also note that during Jesus’ ministry on earth, he calmed the great storm. At that moment, Jesus’ disciples (some of them were fishermen) all thought that the storm would cost them lives. But Jesus got up and revealed God’s power. He rebuked the wind and the sea, and the water calmed down, and the disciples were saved (Luke 8:22-25).

Today, the Lord Jesus is with us in our lives and in the journey of our lives. He rescues us and leads us out from the darkness and into the light. He preserves us from the harm of pestilences and evil ones, and gives us health physically, mentally, and spiritually.

In our lives and ministry, and in all the things that we do, God wants to help us overcome all difficulties, just like how the Israelites were led through the Red Sea and the Jordan River. He helps us overcome all the hindrances and disruptions of the devil, i.e., Satan, and enables us to enter God’s abundance.

However, how then shall we experience God’s mighty salvation?

First, we must believe in God firmly, and trust that He is the God who can do wonders.

Before the Israelites entered the Canaan Land, there were only two spies who came back and reported, and said, “The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.” (Joshua 2:24)

These two spies believed in God, and they trusted deeply that God had already handed their enemies into their hands. We must have strong faith in order to see the wonderful acts of God.

If we were to be like the other ten faithless spies (Numbers 13:25-33), and do not believe God to bring us into victory, we will never move forward, and we can only remain wherever we are in our lives (wandering in the wilderness), and will never see God’s deeds.

Let us allow God to do miracles in our lives for he is our warrior, parting the waters and letting the dry ground appear. Have faith in God. We will see him working miracles in our lives.

Second, we must have the same heart and same mind in our spirit, and we must have unity in our action.

Joshua told to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things.” 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. (Joshua 3:2-6）

The hearts of the Israelites were united as one man, and they acted in one heart. The whole assembly consecrated themselves, and the priests carried the ark of covenant and walked before the people. The whole assembly moved together, and they saw the wonderful act of God. Joshua said,

“See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. This is how you will know that the living God is among you.” (Joshua 3:10）

“The ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth” represents God’s presence. The ark was in the tabernacle, and it represents God’s presence with us.

The Gospel of John recorded that, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14), with the word “dwell” in its original text as “tabernacle”. Therefore, there is an English translation that says that God “did tabernacle among us” （YLT）; When Jesus Christ was incarnated, and He “dwells” among us, and it indicates that the tabernacle and the ark are with us.

When the ark of the covenant was before the people, and when it stopped in the middle of the River, God’s presence was there, and miracle happened. The waters were parted. They trusted the Lord firmly with one heart, and they acted with the same mind and unity. Together, they witnessed God’s works.

Crossing over the River of Jordan was just a beginning. Subsequent to it would be their victory over their enemies.

Application

Today, River Jordan is before us now. Let’s not be frightened by Jordan’s water. But instead, let’s go out together and step into the river by faith. It is not about the faith of the pastor alone or the church leadership, but the whole congregation must move ahead in one heart, one mind and with one action.

As we continue to faithfully participate in the church worship, in various ministries of the church and bringing in offering to God’s house, we will surely witness the miraculous works of God, and experience his bountiful grace individually and collectively as a church.

Conclusion

Our Lord is a true and living God, his presence is with us today, in the season of pandemic. And as we live in His presence, we shall be blessed. He is the God who overcomes all evil forces, including the damaging forces of pandemic Covid-19. He will part the waters so that the dry ground could appear before us.

Our Lord had rescued us out from the darkness and into the light, and He shall continue to lead us on.  We not only have had crossed over the Red Sea, but the Lord will also help us pass through “our River Jordan” and enter the life of abundance.

God is with us. How He was with Moses and Joshua, He shall be with us today too. He shall enter with us into the new year 2021, and He shall lead us to overcome many imperfections and difficulties in our lives, so that our lives will please Him more, and we shall become more abundant, revealing His glory.

May all brothers and sisters have a blessed and prosperous Chinese New Year and may you progress into the abundance of the Promised land in the days ahead, as you walk with the Lord faithfully. God be with you all, and He shall make a way for you in the desert, before the Red Sea and before the river Jordan. Amen!