Crossing Jordan (Part B)

This is one of the great differences of living in the wilderness and now entering into the Promised Land. Now it's meaningful.

Before it was survival. Now this is meaningful. This is my land.

The sole of my foot takes this. This is my cornfield or bean field or whatever because God has given it to me. And I have given, along with this gift, I have these responsibilities that I have to pursue.

So it says here, this day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Joshua. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching.

But for now, here's Pastor Rick with his continuing study called Crossing Jordan in Joshua chapter 3. Duty does not say, do you feel like standing watch tonight? Are you in the mood for guard duty? If you've ever pulled guard duty, you know it's a hateful thing.

Just walking around waiting to shoot somebody, maybe. And most of the time, it's not that way at all. But that is not something we should tremble in the face of. We'll get through it. God will use us nonetheless. In fact, while we go through these moods and these things and then we get around people, unbeknownst often to us, those moods reshaping us to be the people that we are where God needs us to be. Ten times in this chapter, the ark is mentioned, the presence of God. We who believe Christ, it is our understanding, his presence is with us all the time, which is confusing when we're not feeling so good about things. But what is God supposed to do? Open the heavens and peek down and say, hey, don't worry, it's going to be okay. Well, he said that in his word.

And we have to be trained to function nonetheless. Now verse three, speaking of the presence of God, he says, and they commanded the people saying, when you see the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God and the priests, the Levites bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. Ten times the ark is mentioned in this chapter alone, the ark of the covenant, emphasizing the continued presence of God.

Yes, they had the Shekinah earlier. That's going to stop now along with the manna. The ark is going to lead them in. They're being weaned off of a visual contact with the presence of God. And they're going to learn to live by faith now. This ark of the covenant was not something for their eyes.

But this may have been somewhat of an exception. This sacred chest that the priests were carrying on this occasion, and in the chest we know what was there, the three items, the two tablets of the law, one table dealing with God and man, the first table, the second table dealing with man and man in the presence of God. Then there was the rod of Aaron, that dead stick that actually butted almonds.

Miraculous. The authority of God and his anointing on his chosen ones. There was the pot of manna that God promises, his provisions, the rule of God, the guidance of God and the provisions of God, all symbolized and more in that chest because the lid spoke of the miraculous sovereignty of God in mercy. It's called a mercy seat.

Everything was under the mercy seat. The cherubim, the emblems, the created emblems, living emblems because our God is a living God and so are his created beings. So these fitting symbols that they were walking with the ark, that God had gone mobile before them in another way representing this, his mobility. Now there are other, it doesn't stay that the types do not, the types sort of are like shooting stars. They go across, you got it, you've enjoyed it, but they don't stay and go back and forth and kind of make figure eights like sky writers and types are the same way.

They make their point, but you cannot keep them, sustain them and to make, you know, 20, 30 other points with it, at some point it drops off. This ark being carried by the priest though, that is unique. Numbers chapter four, we read this, when the camp prepares to journey, Aaron and his son shall come and they shall take down the covering veil and cover the ark of the testimony with it. So when the ark of the covenant, the tent, the tabernacle, the dwelling place of God was in operation at this point, it's probably being on this third day, it's being broken down as you would take a tent down and being prepared to carry over Jordan and the ark would be up in front. But the Holy of Holies, that veil that separated the Holy place from the Holy of Holy place, the priest would take it down and they would cover the ark so no one could see it, which means that it was likely covered as they're carrying it.

Oh, it could have been an exception, but it would be out of line when it's not mentioned that way. And of course it speaks of other things to us too, because for so many people, the unseen is unreal. They just can't take it by faith that beneath the covering, there is the chest with its contents, even if you can't see it by faith, you accept that Moses wasn't lying to us, Joshua was not lying to us, the priests are not lying to us. We take their word for it as godly men. Well, when we come to Christ, we take his word for it because he has his way of making us understand that faith is not just believing something for the sake of believing it, that there are reasons why we believe what we believe. For me, it was the voice, the voice of the Lord spoke to me, I just knew the presence, I knew I was guilty in the presence of his word and I knew he was ready to forgive me, he was to pounce on me with forgiveness and he did just that.

There are laws and rules and there are other laws and rules. There are ways to perceive and know that go beyond sight and that is what faith is all about. Spurgeon says this about seeing God. He says, when a man gets a clear view of the holiness of God, it is all over with all claim of personal excellence. From that day, he abhors himself in the dust and ashes.

He that looked into the face of the sun is blinded by its light to all other light. And Spurgeon, of course, he can be a little flowery, of course. Well, why not?

Nothing wrong with it. If it makes sense and it's not too long, F.B. Meyer, he could be very flowery for those of you who know who F.B.

Meyer is, but still makes sense. Well, Spurgeon says, once you've seen God, everything changes. You don't see yourself the way you used to see yourself.

This is miraculous because nothing else does it like this. And he says, it's like looking into the sun. You're blinded by that light, no other light you can you now see.

You walk away still seeing that sunlight. It says here in verse 4, and the priests, the Levites bearing it, that double insistence. Well, the priests were Levites. They just were not Kohathites, so that part of the Levitical clan who were entrusted with transporting the ark after the priest covered it. The priest would cover it, the Kohathites would come in, and they would cart it away.

Well, on this occasion, it's the priest. We'll see this again in Joshua 6 as they go around Jericho, and then we'll see it again, well, in a while. In 1 Kings, of course, when the ark is taken to the temple, there are other occasions is what I want to say. He says in bottom of verse 3, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. That's follow the ark because the Shekinah again is not going to be there. That pillar, that giant cloud, and that fire by night, no longer. It was a different method of guidance now, and also, as I mentioned, the manna would stop. We'll get to that in chapter 5. Verse 4 now, yet there shall be a space between you and it, about a thousand cubits by measure, do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.

Well, about a little over a mile, a half a mile, a little over half a mile distance. Remember two million people, and they were to keep this little more than half a mile interval, great lessons in all of this. Give God space to lead. That's one of the first lessons you get.

Give him space to lead. In between that interval, between here and there, there is long suffering oftentimes. There's doubt. Sometimes there's just full-blown faith and trust, this confidence, God taking the space to maneuver because that's what it calls for. So what if you were in a rush?

You say, why do I got to wait three days to go into the... We're right here. I can see the land is right across the river. Well, certainly, I'm simplifying it. But again, it goes back to God sees other things. He saw Rahab. For example, before he rained down fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, he saw a lot, and we learn these lessons, and then we go out to live them so that the Bible never becomes to us just this Bible story that's interesting and fascinating, but it's real when life's not too interesting or fascinating but can be quite difficult. He says, do not come near it that you may know the way by which you must go. And so again, this interval enabled them to see the ark from a distance.

There's a practical reason here. You can't follow the leader if you crowd the leader. Psalm 23, he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He leads me. And then it goes on in verse 3.

That's verse 2. In verse 3 of Psalm 23, he restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness. He leads me.

He leads me. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, Paul wrote to the Romans, these are the children of God. And we have to watch that we're not led so much, we're always to be righteous, but we're not to be led by righteousness all the time. There are some times we have to wait for the Lord. In other words, sometimes something seems right to do, but it's not for us to do it. Case and point with Paul wanting to go into Bithynia, and the Holy Spirit said no.

And he led him ultimately to Europe. Paul could have said the righteous thing to do is reach those lost souls up there. The Holy Spirit said that's not your concern, that's my concern.

Your concern is to do what I tell you. And of course, they followed the Lord, and that was not the only time. And it's helpful to know this because many, many churches, they get together and they plan on what's the right thing to do, and never listen to the Spirit. And they just go ahead with programs and functions and the Holy Spirit's not part of them, and we scratch our heads many times.

Well anyway, not to beat up on other churches, because we always get it right. What's this we? Anyway, for you have not passed this way before. That is, for many pastors for centuries, a New Year's Eve text. We've not gone this way before.

The year is upon us. We're starting fresh, which really, you know, that's because we're confined by time. God isn't. But it is a beautiful passage of Scripture. You've not passed this way before, God says.

It's true every day we get up. God says, follow me. You've not gone this way. So we follow him into whatever is unknown to us, and that does not signal to us that we should be explorers, or not that we shouldn't, can't be, or trailblazers, or pioneers, or invaders in this case. The emphasis is not on those things, nothing wrong in those things in and of themselves under the right circumstances, but we are a flock.

We are a flock who follows a shepherd, all of us. There's a difference between the sheep and the goat. God makes that distinction. And if we just look at the two animals, you know, goats eat anything, sheep do not. That's why I'm a picky eater, personally, because I learned that lesson from the sheep.

I know there are human beings that can pretty much eat anything, and if you've seen it, you know it's not right. It's something, God's going to get them for that. So, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. How can we miss that coming to such a passage? When the priests go by with the ark, you will follow them, because the presence of the Lord, the mercy seat of God is there, and under that mercy seat lessens the bound that I'm supposed to actually do something with when faced with difficult things. In verse 5, when Joshua said to the people, sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. Well, the sanctification, the tabernacle again in operation, if there was some uncleanliness that had to be dealt with according to the law, then now is their chance to do it. You did not want to go into the promised land with a guilty conscience, that you had not dealt with something the right way, and so the ceremonial cleansing processes were available to them. This book of Joshua, of course, emphasizes holiness as it should, and serving God on the move. That's part of this lesson. Cleanse yourselves, get provisions, because we are about to move, and in following the Lord and being led by him, we are not to neglect our duties. We are to be ready as best we can.

You say, yeah, I try, but I fail. Well, that's where the mercy seat comes in. Holiness is an act of obedience and service to the Lord, and Israel here is obeying God and serving him at this time as his instruments of judgment in a little bit. That's what they will be upon the inhabitants of the land.

We can't lose sight of that. Joshua was to engage and to destroy those hostile sinners. Of course, ultimately this was to make of the land, the Jews and the land being a vehicle for Messiah's work. Peter spoke about saving out of the world lost souls, not destroying them as Joshua's mission is here. Under the law, that period of time, we're now in the period of grace, the age of the church. 1 Peter 3 verse 15, well, we just finished 1 Peter, so let's all quote this together.

Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and respect. A similar mission, identical with the exception of the physical slaughter that accompanied Joshua, the sword of the spirit, not the sword of the blacksmith. So again, these lessons, they abound, these books should be very much alive to a New Testament reader. We don't come to the Old Testament and say it's just literature. It's just a historical account of what they went through.

It is living and powerful. It is the Bible that Jesus used and it's the Bible that we use and we have even more because of Jesus. Verse 6, then Joshua spoke to the priest saying, take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people. So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

This take up, that's one of the words that jump out, at least at me, maybe you're reading it and something else. Maybe you just got through in your devotions and you read that you belong to a royal priesthood and you come to this verse and you say, Joshua spoke to the priest. And you say, Jesus spoke to the priest because the name Joshua, of course, means Jesus and that would be fair. But for the moment, how would I paint a picture of this take up the ark in New Testament language? Take up your armor and take up your cross. That's the New Testament teaching on taking things up that are really big. Mark chapter 16, Jesus speaking, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

We spend our whole Christian life trying to get to that, trying to deny ourselves. Hateful refrigerators. How do you deny yourself there's a big thing of ice cream in there this big? It's simple, you eat it, then you don't have to worry about it anymore. That's my strategy. So why don't you get fat? You'll be happy.

I forgot. Some people find nothing funny about that. Well, here's another take up.

Just move along where it's safe. Ephesians chapter 6, therefore, Paul said, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, stand. He emphasizes that in that section of scripture. So there you are outside of church, and life hits you with whatever it hits us with.

Again, could be no critical major, you know, thing going on. Just the routine of life, a time to sow, a time to reap. Again, that's what it's meant by. When Solomon wrote that, he wasn't trying to write some beautiful little language to post on the wall on a coffee mug. He was saying there are routines in life that make it stupid. That's what he means. It's vanity.

It's all just vanity. He burst out with this, and he has to conclude it all except in the light of God. And you say, Solomon, why did you mess up so much? I had so much. You try being. You try having what I have.

See how you do. We're just flesh. Well, we take up the whole armor because that's what it's going to take. We deny ourselves.

The effort of doing that is very helpful. Some have overdone it, trying to deny themselves to the point of ruin. We look for that graceful balance. He says, so they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

The importance of being led, again, is stressed here. And God has designed this system. He appointed the priest. So someone from the tribe of Asher or Gad or Naphtali, they could not say, why can't I get to carry the ark today? Because you're not called. You're not assigned this.

You have other things that you do. This is for them. And of course, many defy this in the church and they take it upon themselves to go against the system and clear teachings of the word. Verse 7, then Yahweh said to Joshua, this day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. All of this is initiated by God through a people ready to trust and abide.

That's important. If the other generation couldn't do this, God had to wait. He had to wait the 38 years after the sentence. You're not going in a 40 year in the wilderness, of course, rounding it up, but doing the math.

Anyway, don't want to go there. This period of time out of Egypt to the promised land, 40 years. But God now had a people he could work with. Well, I want to be one of those people. So it could be very nice for us to preach Christ. It'd be nice for me to come up into the pulpit and make all the points I wanted to make, but I still got to go outside these walls and live it. So it's not just a gig. You know, you just go play your instrument and the people clap and then everybody goes home.

When the music leaders come up and we worship the Lord, it's not a gig. It's not just something we do. It is very meaningful. And this is one of the great differences of living in the wilderness and now entering into the promised land. Now it's meaningful.

Before it was survival. Now this is meaningful. This is my land.

The sole of my foot takes this. This is my cornfield or bean field or whatever, because God has given it to me. And I have given, along with this gift, I have these responsibilities that I have to pursue. And so it says here, this day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel. He's talking directly to Joshua. And he's saying to him, you're the leader. And Christian leadership is not supposed to be a platform for self-promotion.

It is a place of appointment to do God's will. Joshua, again, born a slave in Egypt, and now here he is king in Israel. I know I'll use the term loosely, but he is the leader. And he is a God-appointed leader. And he did not exalt himself. He never said to Moses, at least we have no record of it because it didn't exist. So Moses, you know, when you're dead, can I take this position from you? I mean, nobody else is following you around doing what I do. Matthew 23, and whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Anybody here kind of snarky and arrogant and short with other people who you think you're smarter and better than?

Because you just somehow have it. I mean, after all, Saturn lined up with Mars on the day you were born, so you're now this smart little cookie. God says that's dumb. Luke chapter 1, Mary speaking, he has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. Where's Pharaoh? Here's Joshua the slave. God certainly has exalted.

It is hard to not see ourselves as being number one when in some area where we think we should be the best, the best dad, the best mom, the best husband. Well, that one I've got, so you guys want to take notes later, I'll meet you all. Anyway, continuing, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. Evidently, this was a concern Joshua had. Looked out and see two million people, two and a half million people. I've never seen two and a half million people at one time. You can't even see that many from space. I mean, it's just too far out.

A really good pair of binoculars. I mean, he had to look out and say, how do I get, I was a slave, and here I am now, and this is something he must have wrestled with. That's why God said, don't be afraid, Joshua. This must have been something Joshua was struggling with as a person. No matter how high up you go, you're still a human being.

You still struggle with things. Thanks for tuning in to Cross Reference Radio for this study in the book of Joshua. Cross Reference is the teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville in Virginia. If you're interested in more information about this ministry, please visit our website, crossreferenceradio.com.

You'll find additional teachings from Pastor Rick available there. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. By doing so, you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross Reference Radio. Just search for Cross Reference Radio in iTunes, Google Play Music, or your favorite podcast app. You can also follow the links at crossreferenceradio.com. We're glad we were able to spend time with you today. Tune in next time to continue learning from the book of Joshua right here on Cross Reference Radio.