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Okay, we're gonna look at Joshua
chapters three and four tonight. They're closely associated and
will be treated here as a unit. The specific content or the specific
theme is entering into the land. They cross the river Jordan,
they're on the east side of the river poised to enter into Canaan
in order to engage in the task that the Lord God has given them.
So chapter three details the crossing, chapter four includes
the theme of these memorial stones. And one commentator says, it
will be well in reading these chapters to keep in mind the
Hebrew narrative technique employed. In this technique, the narrator
concludes a certain matter, stating that the crossing was completed,
yet at a later point, he resumes his description of the crossing
when necessary for the development of his topic. So in verse 17,
In chapter 3, it says Israel crossed over on dry ground. But in chapter 4, in a few places,
it speaks of Israel crossing over. The man's point is that
this is a technique, a literary technique, to draw attention
to specifics. Ralph Davis suggests that the
reason the author does that is to highlight and focus upon verses
1 to 10 in chapter 4. He wants us to get, or the author
wants us to get and understand the significance of these memorial
stones. So as you read, or as I read
chapters 3 and 4, again, it's not contradictory. It's not due
to later redaction where the author or the redactor didn't
know what he was doing. It's more a technique by the
author employed to drive home certain truths that the writer
wants the reader to get. And so we'll look at chapters
3 and 4 tonight. I know there's a lot of verses
there. We won't look at every jot and tittle or every detail,
but we'll look at five particulars. I'll give those to you now so
that as we read, hopefully you can see how that breaks down.
In chapter 3, verses 1 to 6 is an exhortation to God's people,
and then in verses 7 to 17 is the execution of God's plan. And then in chapter 4, we have
the recognition of God's goodness. That's the memorial stones of
verses 1 to 10. Fourthly, the fulfillment of
God's promise in chapter 4, 10b to 20. And then finally, the declaration
by God's servant, or a summary statement concerning the whole
event by Joshua, the son of Nun, in verses 21 to 24. So those
are the five particular observations we're going to make on chapters
3 and 4 this evening. So I'll just begin reading in
chapter 3 at verse 1. Then Joshua rose early in the
morning, and they set out from Acacia Grove and came to the
Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before
they crossed over. So it was after three days that
the officers went through the camp, and they commanded the
people, saying, When you see the Ark of the Covenant of the
Lord your God and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then
you shall set out from your place and go after it. Yet there shall
be a space between you and it, about 2,000 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. And Joshua said to the people,
sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among
you. And Joshua spoke to the priests 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. And the
Lord 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. You shall command the priests
who bear the Ark of the Covenant saying, when you have come to
the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the
Jordan. So Joshua said to the children
of Israel, come here and hear the words of the Lord your God.
And Joshua said, by this you shall know that the living God
is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before
you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites
and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites. Behold, the
ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing
over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore take for yourselves
twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. And it shall come to pass, as
soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark
of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the
waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be
cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they
shall stand as a heap. So it was when the people set
out from their camp to cross over the Jordan with the priests
bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people. And as those
who bore the Ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests
who bore the Ark dipped in the edge of the water. For the Jordan
overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest. that
the waters which came down from upstream stood still and rose
in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zeratan.
So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the
Salt Sea, failed and were cut off. And the people crossed over
opposite Jericho. Then the priests who bore the
Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the
midst of the Jordan. And all Israel crossed over on
dry ground until all the people had crossed completely over the
Jordan. And it came to pass when all the people had completely
crossed over the Jordan that the Lord spoke to Joshua saying,
take for yourselves 12 men from the people, one man from every
tribe, and command them saying, take for yourselves 12 stones
from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where
the priest's feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with
you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodged tonight.
Then Joshua called the 12 men whom he had appointed from the
children of Israel, one man from every tribe, and Joshua said
to them, cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into
the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone
on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the
children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you when
your children ask in time to come, saying, what do these stones
mean to you? then you shall answer them that
the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the
covenant of the Lord. When it crossed over the Jordan,
the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall
be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever. And the children
of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up 12 stones
from the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord had spoken to Joshua
according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel,
and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged,
and laid them down there. Then Joshua set up 12 stones
in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the
priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood, and they are
there to this day. So the priests who bore the ark
stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished
that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people according
to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried
and crossed over. Then it came to pass when all
the people had completely crossed over that the Ark of the Lord
and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people.
And the men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of
Manasseh crossed over armed before the children of Israel. As Moses
had spoken to them, about 40,000 prepared for war crossed over
before the Lord for battle to the plains of Jericho. On that
day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel. And
they feared him, as they had feared Moses all the days of
his life. Then the Lord spoke to Joshua,
saying, Command the priests who bear the ark of the testimony
to come up from the Jordan. Joshua therefore commanded the
priest, saying, Come up from the Jordan. And it came to pass,
when the priest who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord
had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the
priest's feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the
Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks
as before. Now the people came up from the
Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped
in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve
stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in
Gilgal. And he spoke to the children
of Israel, saying, When your children ask their fathers in
times to come, saying, What are these stones? Then you shall
let your children know, saying, Israel crossed over this Jordan
on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up
the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over,
as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up before
us until we had crossed over. That all the peoples of the earth
may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may
fear the Lord your God forever. Amen. So a lot of material in
these two chapters, but very repetitive. Again, the whole
idea, the whole theme is that they've crossed over the Jordan,
now they will engage in wars in the land of Canaan to dispossess
the Canaanites from the land to receive the inheritance that
God had in fact given them. So let's just move through and
make some observations along the way. Notice first the exhortation
to God's people. They are in Shittim or Acacia
Grove on the east side of the Jordan They were located there
according to chapter 2, verse 1, when Joshua dispatched the
spies to go and check out the land of Jericho. Of course, it
was there that God extends His grace to Rahab. The harlot will
see her in chapter 6, verses 22 to 25 included, with the people
of God. The three days indicated here
are probably not the same three days indicated in chapter 1,
verse 11. I think the idea probably, with
reference to verse 2, and the three days is to demonstrate,
to highlight to the people the great difficulty that lie before
them and their dependence and their need for God the Lord.
Remember, the idea of two spies using a ford to make their way
across the river is somewhat feasible. It's obviously feasible
because the two spies did that. But to take all of the people
of Israel, as it's highlighted several times in the narrative,
it is going to take the miraculous aid of God Most High. So probably
this three days at the riverbank there is highlighting the reality
that they stand in absolute dependence upon God the Lord. And then notice
the instructions given specifically to Israel in verses 3 to 5. Notice, when you see the Ark
of the Covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites
bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after
it. So there's an obvious pattern
here. The people of Israel are to follow the Ark of the Covenant
of the Lord. The Ark of the Covenant of the
Lord obviously is the visible symbolic representation of God
the Lord being with His people. So the fact that the Ark is going
to cross first indicates that it's God the Lord that goes into
the land of Canaan prior to them. He's not only given them this
gift of land or promised rather this gift of land, but He is
going to be the one, the active agent and power to actually gift
it to them. It is God who goes before them.
It is God who fights on their behalf. It is God who will indeed
enable them to engage in victory when they get into the land of
Canaan. So it is obvious that what we
are to glean from this statement, and from the 17 other times that
the Ark of the Covenant is mentioned in these two chapters, is that
God the Lord goes before Israel. It is God the Lord's mission
Israel are following. Israel is to be compliant and
obedient to the Lord of the Covenant Himself. Notice they are to maintain
a safe distance, 2,000 cubits from the arc. Now there's probably
two reasons for this. is because we are not to draw
near unto God unaided or unhelped or unassisted. There is to be
a holy reverence and a holy fear and a holy esteem and a holy
distance when it comes to God the Lord. But as well, if you
look specifically at the text, do not come near it, there's
a directional element as well, that you may know the way by
which you must go, for you have not passed this way before. So
it's the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord they're to fix their
eyes upon and they are to pursue or they are to walk with reference
to that vision or that particular view. And then notice the disposition
required as they prepare for this particular event. Joshua
said to the people, sanctify yourselves for tomorrow the Lord
will do wonders among you. Sanctify yourself. Get yourself
ready. Prepare your heart. There's elements,
there's things indicated in the Pentateuch what sanctifying oneself
means. Perhaps abstaining from sexual
relations, cleaning oneself in a particular way. The idea is
prepare. You're in the presence of the
Holy God prepare, sanctify, hallow yourselves before him before
you enter in to his midst." So these are instructions to the
children of Israel and then he gives instructions specifically
to the priests in verse 6. Then Joshua spoke to the priests
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. And that brings us to
the execution of God's plan in verses 7 to 17. Notice that God
is going to exalt His servant Joshua. Again, this is most important. Moses, the leader of Israel,
has died. God has made it public, this
transition of leadership between Moses and Joshua. In fact, Moses
was key in this to announce this to the children of Israel. But
God wants to continually reiterate this point. God wants the people
of Israel to show allegiance to their earthly leader when
they go into the land. For certainly when General Joshua
starts issuing orders on how to go into the land and how to
kill people and break things, the people need to trust their
leader. They need to know that he's a competent leader. They
need to know that he's God's man. And this is what the Lord
says to Joshua in verse 7. 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. So God has promised
Joshua this in Joshua chapter 1 with reference to his charge.
But this event, crossing over the river Jordan in this miraculous
way, is also going to be God's affirmation upon His man, upon
Joshua, and the people must esteem Him. And then notice, over in
chapter 4, at verse 14, it says, On that day the Lord exalted
Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they feared Him as they had
feared Moses all the days of His life. Ralph Davis says, God
knew how vital his people's opinion of Joshua would be for the upcoming
wars in Canaan. Hence, he stooped down that day
both to dam up the river and to place his seal of competence
upon his man, Joshua. And I don't know that we fully
appreciate what's going on as they enter into the land of Canaan. They're going to engage in a
great military undertaking. They're to engage in holy war. They're to engage in, basically,
utter destruction of everything that moves, at least in those
seven cities under the ban. And so they need to trust Joshua. They need to realize that this
is, in fact, their man. This is, in fact, God's man.
And wherever He bids us, we will follow Him. And so the Lord God
makes this promise, I will exalt you in the sight of all Israel,
that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with
you. And then in verse 8, specifically,
he says, verse 8, You shall command the priests who bear the Ark
of the Covenant, saying, When you have come to the edge of
the water of Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan. And then
notice there's a demonstration of God's power in verses 10 to
13. This is an interesting statement
that Joshua says to the people here. Verse 9, Joshua said to
the children of Israel, come here and hear the words of the
Lord your God. Isn't that interesting? What do they need prior to entering
into the River Jordan to cross it? They need the Word of the
Lord. They need the comfort and the encouragement of Scripture.
If you ever learn anything, realize that your hope and your vitality
and your life, your joy and happiness, largely consists of what is found
in this particular book. If you have loss, if you have
trial, if you have injury, or if you have difficulty, it is
the Word of the Lord that is going to sustain you. It is the
Word of the Lord that is going to enable you and empower you
to do what God the Lord calls you to do. And that is conspicuous
here. Joshua says to the children of
Israel, come here, hear the words of the Lord your God. And then
Joshua recounts the following. And in this, what we find is
the presence of God's power. The argument seems to be this,
that if God the Lord can tame the river Jordan, certainly he
can shut the mouths and destroy Amorites, Girgashites, Jebusites,
Perizzites, Hivites, Canaanites. if God can take these thousands
and thousands and thousands of people and bring them to the
brink of the River Jordan at the worst time of the year. Remember I mentioned last week,
Gil notes that there were times during the year that the river
could be forded. There were times during the year
that one could successfully cross the River Jordan. The text is
conspicuous that this is not one of those times. If you look
at verse 15 for a moment, there is a parenthesis inserted there. And it really is inserted there
by the author to highlight the gravity of the miracle. Notice, beginning in verse 14,
so it was when the people set out from their camp to cross
over the Jordan with the priests, bearing the Ark of the Covenant
before the people. And as those who bore the Ark
came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the Ark
dipped in the edge of the water, you could just keep going. But
what we find here is this insertion, for the Jordan overflows all
its banks during the whole time of harvest. That's where they're
at. They're at a very inopportune
time to cross the river Jordan. And so going back to verse 10,
Joshua said, By this you shall know that the living God is among
you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you
the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites,
and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites. In other words, the fact that
you're going to pass through this river Jordan, the fact that
God, the Lord of all the earth, notice that Joshua refers to
Him that way twice in the next couple of verses. He is the Lord
of all the earth. The implication seems to be the
Lord of all the earth is able to control the forces of nature. He can stop the river Jordan
from flowing from overflowing such that thousands and thousands
and thousands of people can march right through that river. Certainly
if he is Lord and Sovereign over the forces of nature, he is Lord
and Sovereign over the persons who occupy nature in this world. So this is a down payment, this
is a foretaste, this is a foreshadowing of the great power of Almighty
God. The fact that you're crossing
through the River Jordan is proof positive that when you go up
against Girgashites, you don't have to worry about them, you
don't have to fear them, you don't have to be dismayed because
the God who stops the River Jordan is able to stop the enemies of
His people. That's the emphasis here. Notice
in verse 11, Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of
all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. God
goes before you. What God? He is the Lord of all
the earth. Isn't this something that Rahab
confesses as well in chapter 2? They're going into Canaan. The Canaanites have a deity for
everything. What Joshua is saying is that
we are under the God of heaven and earth. We are under the sovereign,
omnipotent, gracious care of the Almighty One. And this is
to instill in the people of God, remember these are words of comfort
from the Lord, all that they stand in need of in order to
enable them and empower them to walk through this particular
Jordan River. Verse 12, now therefore take
for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man
from every tribe, and it shall come to pass as soon as the soles
of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the
Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan,
that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters
that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.
Now, put yourself in this situation. Put yourself in this particular
position. You're probably wondering, Joshua,
how are we going to do this? Remember, we know what chapters
3 and 4 say. Up to this point, they don't
know what chapters 3 and 4 say. They see a big, mighty, rushing,
roaring river at the time of harvest where it overflows the
river bank. They only see difficulty, trial,
and impossibility. Now this word from the Lord through
His servant Joshua comes to them and He tells them and affirms
what the Lord of all the earth is going to do. "...shall rest
in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan
shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream,
and they shall stand as a heap." and then the execution proper
in verses 14 to 17. The people comply, verse 14. So it was when the people set
out from their camp to cross over the Jordan with the priests
bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people, and as those
who bore the Ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests
who bore the Ark dipped in the edge of the water. So God through
His servant makes this announcement that he's going to stop, he's
going to heap up the waters so that they are able to freely
pass. The people in faith step up.
The people believe God through his servant Joshua and now they
follow, they engage, they execute the particular plan just in case
we have forgotten what a mighty and miraculous deed this is. Verse 15b reminds us. And then notice for a moment
chapter 4 verse 18. And it came to pass when the
priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord had come
from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests'
feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned
to their place and overflowed all its banks as before." It's
as if the author is countering the naturalistic explanation
from the outset. In other words, people will suggest
this was a fluke. There were times in history where
there was a cave-in by the bank and the water was dammed up and
so they had this opportunity to be able to cross. This wasn't
the supernatural power of God the Lord or Jehovah. Naturalists
try to explain everything away. They try to explain the crossing
of the Red Sea, that they went to a particularly shallow portion,
and that what happened there really wasn't God walling up
the waters for them to pass through on dry ground. It was just a
shallow place. See, the naturalist has to reject
God. He has to reject the supernatural.
he is committed to a non-theistic worldview, and as a result he
takes passages like these, a critical scholarship, and they say they
got lucky. It was a fluke. It was a historical
accident, and they just happened to be there at the right place
at the right time, and all these thousands of people were able
to cross, and wow, isn't that just amazing? But the text is
bracketed. It says, after talking about
how the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time
of Iris, notice verse 16, that the waters which came down from
upstream stood still and rose in a heap very far away at Adam,
the city that is beside Zeritan. So the waters that went down
into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed and were cut
off. and the people crossed over opposite
Jericho. So they do this. As soon as everybody's
out and the priests leave their position in the Jordan, as soon
as their feet touch the riverbanks, then the water goes back into
its normal course. That's not a fluke. It's not
a happy accident. It wasn't just a lucky event
in history. It was God Almighty, as he did
with this people, or at least the first generation, bringing
them out of Egypt through the Red Sea, so God is giving this
miraculous display He is evidencing His signs and wonders so that
the people will know, the people are assured, that when they get
into enemy territory, God will in fact fight for them and be
able to stop their foes and stop their enemies. If the Lord, the
God of heaven and earth, is able to stop rivers, He's able to
stop Girgashites. What a terrible title for a person. I'm a Girgashite. I say that
because I doubt there's any Girgashites listening. Anyways, so then verse
17 summarizes, then the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant
of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan
and all Israel crossed over on dry ground until all the people
had crossed completely over the Jordan. So when we get to chapter
4, again it's not several crossings in view. It is the author using
the occasion of the crossing simply to make point, simply
to reiterate, simply to highlight particular truths. So that brings
us to consider verses 1 to 10a in chapter 4 under the consideration
of the recognition of God's goodness. You see, this is a one-time event. God doesn't always cause his
people to witness miracles, to witness wonders, to witness signs. God's normal way is to work normally. You see, a miracle is unique
because it is outside of the normal course of things. But what God does do is He gives
the children of Israel teaching, doctrine, lessons, these particular
stones in order to rehearse and for the people to remember the
great event. It's very similar to what we
have in the Lord's Supper. Jesus isn't crucified every week. The sacrifice isn't made every
week. As the book of Hebrews highlights
for us, it was once for all. But the Lord's supper, the Lord's
table, functions like these memorial stones. It is something for us
to rehearse, it is something for us to recall, it is something
for us to remember the great redemptive act of God. That's
the purpose of these particular stones. So Joshua gives them
instruction concerning the 12 stones in verses 2 to 5. Choose one man from each tribe,
the 12 tribes of Israel, You each take a stone and you plant
it in this particular area. Notice the purpose of the stones
in verses 6 and 7. Notice in verse 6, that this
may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time
to come, what do these stones mean to you? Then you shall answer
them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of
the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed over the Jordan,
the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall
be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever. So you erect
these stones as a living testimony, as markers, as evidences that
God in fact stopped the Jordan so that the children of Israel
could go. So what remains and what abides? What remains and what abides
is the doctrine, the instruction associated with or that rehearses
the particular event. In fact, Davis, I think he summarizes
it well. He says there is an implication
here with reference to this necessity to remember. Look at these stones,
son, and let me recall for you what God the Lord did at the
River Jordan. Davis says if God So insists
that Israel remember this day, it implies that this event was
unique and that God does not usually work with such visibly
raw power. This is a great statement for
the people in the New Covenant era that are looking to duplicate
all the signs and wonders in the Book of Acts. All of the
signs and wonders given in the Book of Acts were given to affirm
and to confirm the revelatory word that was coming from God
through His apostles. Such that when we have that revelatory
word, we ought not to be chasing after tongues, or chasing after
prophesying. The written word, or the revelatory
word, is now codified in the New Covenant Scriptures, just
like the Old Testament word is in the Old Covenant Scriptures.
Davis goes on to say, If God did something of this magnitude
every fifth Wednesday or so, why should Israel need to remember
Jordan Day? Apparently, this sort of miracle
will be infrequent. God's standard method of retaining
his people's fidelity is not by frequent and dazzling displays
of power, but by faithful witness and teaching of those particular
acts in which he had already demonstrated his care for his
own. Now, if you don't feel the weight
and the significance of this, let me just try to relate it
this way. In the New Testament, in the New Covenant, the Reformed,
people that understand that God's Word, the canon is now closed,
there's not new revelation, there's not new speech coming from the
Lord, we have it in the New Covenant, As a result of that, we don't
look for tongues, we don't look for prophesying, two gifts in
particular that were revelatory. That we have a closed canon speaks
to the reality that we ought not to chase those particular
sign gifts. What Davis says here is crucial. God's standard method of retaining
his people's fidelity is not by frequent and dazzling displays
of power, but by faithful witness and teaching of those particular
acts in which he had already demonstrated his care for his
own. If you survey the New Testament scriptures, In the early church,
there is a lot of signs, and a lot of wonders, and a lot of
tongues, and a lot of prophesying. That is because God is giving
revelation through these particular means. As the church progresses,
as the canon is coming to a close, The latter epistles, primarily,
in my mind, 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus. The emphasis that
Paul gives to these young pastors is not seek after tongues. It's not seek after prophesying. The emphasis in the pastoral
epistles is upon the faithful explanation of God's revealed
word. In other words, the stress falls
on sound doctrine. This is why Paul, in the last
letter written in the New Testament, maybe even after the book of
Revelation, depending on when you date these particular documents,
in what Paul, at least in the Pauline corpus, at least what
Paul has written, the last thing, the last charge given to Timothy
is not, Timothy, I want you to speak in tongues. Timothy, I
want you to prophesy to the people. He says to Timothy, preach the
word. Be ready in season and out of
season. Convince, rebuke, and exhort
with all longsuffering and teaching. If Timothy were to say, why Paul?
Paul would say, he does say, for the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine. But they'll want their ears tickled,
so they'll heap up teachers to do that very thing. So Timothy,
because they reject sound doctrine, I want you to preach to them
sound doctrine. The implication, God knows what
they need a lot better than what they know. And the second reason
Paul gives for that command is because Paul is going to die.
I'm already being poured out as a drink offering. The time
of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight.
I've finished the race. I've kept the faith. And there's
a crown laid up for me, and the righteous judge will give me."
So Paul emphasizes in these pastoral epistles sound doctrine. Now,
that does not mean the Reformed are afraid of the Holy Spirit.
There's a teaching out there, it's called New Calvinism. And
the New Calvinists say the Old Calvinists are afraid of the
Holy Spirit. That's not it at all. We just believe that the
Holy Spirit normatively works through the preaching of God's
Word. We see regeneration, the power
of the Spirit opening the heart of dead sinners as miraculous,
no, more miraculous as somebody uttering something in tongues.
So New Calvinism, with their cavils or their insults against
old Calvinism is absolutely wrong. We're not afraid of the Holy
Spirit. We believe that the Holy Spirit used these particular
gifts in order to affirm and confirm the revelatory word that
God was speaking through Christ, through his apostles, and once
that canon is closed, we ought not to be chasing after tongue
speakers and prophets. We ought to be submitting ourselves
to the authority of Holy Scripture revealed in both the Old and
the New Testaments. I think that is a great, at least,
implication we find here. It's not going to be every other
week that God's going to open a river for the Israelites so
that they can be affirmed and confirmed. with God's power.
No, God does this once in this instance. You erect these 12
stones and the ongoing way of promoting fidelity among Israel
is to point to those stones and say, look at those stones, that
evidence is the faithfulness of God. Listen to the word, heed
the word, and walk according to the word. That's the emphasis
here that we find. So then these men remove the
stones in verses 9 and 10, and they do what they are told. They
erect these stones as monuments, memorials to the faithfulness
of God the Lord. Brings us fourthly to the fulfillment
of God's promise, verses 10b to 20, the people cross. Again,
he's rehearsing, he's recounting, he is repeating as it serves
the narrative at this particular point. The end of verse 10, the
people hurried and crossed over. Then it came to pass when all
the people had completely crossed over that the ark of the Lord
and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people,
and the men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of
Manasseh crossed over armed before the children of Israel as Moses
had spoken to them. They were armed. Notice that. Being armed isn't necessarily
a sin. These men are going into combat.
And notice here, God the Lord fights for them, doesn't he?
God the Lord is sovereign. God has promised them victory. But that does not diminish the
responsibility to take up arms, to be 40,000 strong, and to locate
yourself in the plains of Jericho. Because up to this point, they
don't know how they're going to conquer Jericho. As far as
they know, they're going to take those arms, they're going to
rush into Jericho, and they're going to kill the Jerichoites.
So you see, God's sovereignty does not diminish our responsibility. God's sovereignty is the reason
for our responsibility. And remember, these three tribes,
these were Transjordan, these were the east side tribes. These were the tribes that when
they got their allotment on the east side of Jordan, remember
that Moses said, when it comes time to go west into Jordan,
you have to fight, you have to arm up, and you have to aid the
rest of the tribe. So these men are being faithful,
they are carrying out their commitment, their oath, their covenant to
support the children of Israel. That's what the reference in
verse 12 is. The men of Reuben, the men of
Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the
children of Israel as Moses had spoken to them. About 40,000
prepared for war crossed over before the Lord for battle to
the plains of Jericho. On that day the Lord exalted
Joshua in the sight of all Israel and they feared him as they feared
Moses all the days of his life. This was an awesome, awesome
Sigh. They come through Jordan, 40,000
strong, ready for battle, take their place in the plains of
Jericho. This is a force to be reckoned with. They've got God
the Lord on their side, they've got the promises of God, they've
got the evidences of His power. I bet these men are charged and
ready to roll. There is no better way to fire
up an army than with the living and true God, and that's exactly
what we find in this particular instance. And then notice the
priests are summoned, in verses 15 to 17, the Lord commanded
or spoke to Joshua saying, command the priests who bear the ark
of the testimony to come up from the Jordan. Joshua therefore
commanded the priests saying, come up from the Jordan. And
it came to pass when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant
of the Lord had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the
soles of the priest's feet touched the dry land, that the waters
of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its
banks as before. Now notice, in terms of the fulfillment
of God's promise, verse 19 is very important. Now the people
came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month,
and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And
those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua
set up in Gilgal. Kyle and Dalich It was probably
Kyle, I think, that wrote the commentary on Joshua. It's always
hard when you have a multi-author commentary to know who to give
credit to. I think it was Kyle that did Joshua. He mentions
that the crossing took place on the tenth day of the first
month. That is to say, on the same day
on which 40 years before, Israel had begun to prepare for going
out of Egypt by setting apart the Passover land. Exodus chapter
12 verses 12, 2 and 3. So the reference to that particular
date, that particular day in Exodus 12, 2 and 3, and the reference
to that particular day and date in Joshua chapter 4, verse 19,
highlights something of God's faithfulness. Davis says, therefore
we might say this day had marked the beginning of redemption.
Right? Back in Exodus chapter 12, prepare
the Passover lamb. Why? Because God the Lord is
going to come, the angel of the Lord, he's going to kill the
firstborn of Egypt and then the children of Israel are going
to march with all boldness out of Egypt. Davis says, we might
say this day had marked the beginning of redemption, now it marked
its completion. What God began, He brought to
completion. God has written His faithfulness
across another date on our calendars. Israel had been a slave. Now Israel was an heir. And that is precisely the movement
and the flow that we find when we compare Exodus chapter 12
to Joshua chapter 4 verse 19. The promises of God are yea and
amen. He does not renege. He does not
falsify information. He does not lie. He does not
change his mind. He does not alter. He promised
Israel that they would inherit a land, and God is delivering
them to this particular land, and He has promised, He has given
manifest evidence that He will go before them as He has opened
up the River Jordan for them, and this is evidence that He
will destroy their enemies. And that brings us finally to
the declaration by God's servant in verses 21 to 24. Then he spoke
to the children of Israel, saying, When your children asked their
fathers in time to come, saying, What are these stones? I mean,
you can hear it now, can't you? In a Lord's Supper service, your
five-year-old leans over and says, Dad, what are you doing? I hope you don't say, Shut up,
son. Read Turretin. Read Calvin. Read our confession. You can whisper gently if we're
remembering our Lord. We're remembering our Christ.
We're remembering the sacrifice at Calvary. Hopefully, as this
is taking place, they're being reminded through the pulpit ministry
as well. But the children are going to
ask. When your children ask their
fathers in time to come, saying, what are these stones? Then you
shall let your children know, saying, Israel crossed over this
Jordan on dry land. Now imagine a kid looking at
the Jordan. He'd go, wow, that's amazing. See, kids react more than adults. We'd probably be thinking, how
did that all happen? Was it a fluke? Was it a natural
disaster? Was there a dam? Kids just say,
wow, God did that. He brought you through this river,
Jordan. That would be an amazing testimony to Junior. Then you
shall let your children know, saying, Israel crossed over this
Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up
the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over."
And it's not only this event, Junior, but as the Lord your
God did to the Red Sea. In other words, not only do you
instruct him on this redemptive event, the River Jordan, but
you instruct him on the other redemptive event, the Red Sea,
when God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt by his
sovereign hand, by his mighty power. You're supposed to teach
your children. You're supposed to indoctrinate
them. You're supposed to point them to these memorial stones.
You're supposed to say, kid, do you see that stone? Do you
know what it means? It means that God brought us
out, God loves us, God promised to us, God is faithful, and God
carried out what he did promise. And then notice, the end of verse
23, which he dried up before us until we had crossed over,
here's the purpose of the testimony. It transcends just a teaching
moment for the children. Any good teaching does do this,
right? It's not just for children, it's
for their parents. In this instance, it's for the
peoples of the earth. Notice, that all the peoples
of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that He is mighty. In other words, when the Girgashites,
or the Perizzites, or the Jebusites, or the Hivites, when they see
those twelve stones, they ought to fear. They ought to realize
that Yahweh of Israel is not like their gods. Yahweh of Israel
is God overall, Lord of heaven and Lord of earth. He is the
one that opened the river Jordan. He is the one that brought His
people in there. They ought to recognize this
and they ought to understand and know that He is mighty. But not only that, it's not just
instruction for the pagans, it's not just instruction for the
little children in Israel, but for the covenant community, when
you look at those 12 stones, you ought to fear the Lord your
God. you ought to reverence Him, you ought to honor Him, you ought
to treat Him as holy, you ought to recognize His absolute sovereignty
and His omnipotence, that you may fear the Lord your God forever. So the Lord God Almighty brings
them through the river, has them erect these stones, and there
is instruction for children, instruction for pagans, instruction
for Israel, that they may indeed fear the Lord God Almighty. So now they are poised in the
land, they are about to go and conquer the land for God Almighty
as he had commanded them. We've crossed the River Jordan
in these two chapters. Well, let us pray. Our Father
in heaven, we thank you for your faithfulness and we thank you
for your sovereign power and your might and your glory and
your omnipotence so clearly displayed in a passage like this. May our
hearts be warmed and may we be encouraged and may we realize
that you who do these great things will certainly undertake in the
lesser things in our day-to-day lives. It seems Paul had such
an argument in mind in Romans chapter 8. If God the Lord did
not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, How will he
not freely give us all things? We thank you father for your
grace and your mercy We thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ
that new covenant Joshua who promises to take us into eternal
rest God made these things strengthen us and may they embolden us and
may we indeed walk by faith and we pray through Christ our Lord
Amen
