https://www.bible.com/events/49324828

Church of the Nazarene East Rockingham Campus

Joshua: Part 3 East Rock

Joshua: Part 3 “The Crossing”

Today we are continuing our teaching series in the book of Joshua.

Our goal in this series is not just to brush up on ancient history, but to join the generations of God’s people who have looked back to see the faithfulness of God.

Our teaching text today explores the story of the children of Israel entering the promised land, crossing the Jordan River on dry ground.

Joshua 3:1

Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over.

Last week we studied the account of Rahab and the two Israelite spies. The spies returned with the report that indeed God was moving ahead of them.

Joshua doesn’t waste any time. They break camp and move to the banks of the Jordan River, just opposite of the city of Jericho.

As we go through this story, remember, many scholars estimate this could be as many as two million people.

Joshua 3:2-5

After three days the officers went throughout the camp, giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between you and the ark; do not go near it.” Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”

The officers tell the people that they need to follow the Ark of the Covenant.

The ark came into the story back in exodus, when God gave Moses instructions on how to build it. It was a physical representation of God’s presence.

That’s significant because what the people are told is that they are to keep their eyes on the Lord, they don’t know the way ahead.They will know which way to go by looking to the Lord.

Even though they were to watch it, they were to keep their distance of about 1000 yards. This speaks of the holiness of God and the honor they were to show him, as well as logistically, for that many people to see, they would have to keep their distance.

Joshua tells them- Consecrate yourselves, for the Lord will do amazing things- God didn’t need the people to do anything for the miracle, but he did require their obedience.

Consecrate yourselves carries the idea of setting yourself apart from distractions. Be dressed, clean, and ready to go. Get rid of anything that would distract you from seeing what God is about to do.

We begin to see that God is not as concerned with the logistics or the miracle as he is the spiritual significance for the people.

Joshua 3:6-17

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. And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’ ” Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. And 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.” So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.

Following the Lord’s instructions, the priests take up the ark of the covenant, representing God’s presence, and they take off towards the water.

The priests continue on out to the middle of the riverbed. It’s backed up some 20 miles now.

God moved mightily on behalf of his people to fulfill his promise to them. A promise hundreds of years in the making, came true in this moment because of the power and grace of God going ahead of his people.

If he could stop the waters of the Jordan, there was not an army in the land of Canaan that stood any chance, and they knew it too.

The power of God was unrivaled and his faithfulness was leading the way for his people.

As the last few stragglers come out over the river bank, Joshua having already received instructions from the Lord, sends men out to begin constructing the memorial of this event.

Joshua 4:5-7

and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

This monument of 12 stones was to serve as a reminder for future generations of the miraculous power of God in delivering his people. But this is more than a calendar notification. Verse 6 says it’s to be a sign.

A sign of God’s mighty power, a testimony to his greatness. And also a sign for future generations to fear God, and to look to him.

This story and this memorial are not just for us to remember the past, it’s to teach us something valuable for the present.

So, what about you? In the difficult places of your life- what lessons do you see?

Do you see the power of God to dam up a mighty river at flood stage?

Do you hear that that same God is with you today in the midst of your battle? Do you hear the call to keep your eyes on him?

Just like the children of Israel had to look to the Ark, you need to look to the father to guide your way.

Do you see the need to take that step of faith into the troubled waters, even though it seems crazy?

Today is not so much a response as an invitation.

I would invite you to spend some time in this passage this week.

Allow God to work in you through this story and speak truth into your heart right now. He knows what your facing, and he has a plan. He wants you to be in it.

God is Faithful and mighty to save!

Joshua 2 : Faith’s Conduct – Hebrews 10:36-39

• 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will
  receive what he has promised. 37 For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will
  come and will not delay.” 38 And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I
  take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” 39 But we do not belong to those
  who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
  • I ask you to do 2 things today:- Recognize – Respond
  MESSAGE
  Joshua 2 (entire chapter)
  Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,”
  he said, “especially Jericho.”
  So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.- Why did they go to a prostitutes house?- Rahab: brief bio
  • Immoral Canaanite woman
  • Lives in a pagan culture that is fanatically devoted to everything God hates—it is
  absolutely wicked.
  • She has profited from the evil that permeated her society- Rahab is the first person scripture introduces to us, and by name, in the
  Promised Land…remarkable isn’t it =)
  2 The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to
  spy out the land.” 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the
  men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the
  whole land.”
  1
  4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men
  came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was
  time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them
  quickly. You may catch up with them.” 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and
  hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.)
• True biblical faith can’t be hidden, it but be concerned with action
  7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the
  Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.
  8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them,
  “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on
  us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.
  10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you
  came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the
  Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard of it,
  our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for
  the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.- (SLIDE) Thomas Carlyle
• “Conviction, were it never so excellent, is worthless until it converts itself into
  conduct.”
  12 “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness (hesed) to
  my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will
  spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to
  them—and that you will save us from death.”
  14 “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing,
  we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.”
  15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was
  part of the city wall. 16 She said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find
  you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.”
  17 Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on
  us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the
  window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and
  mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. 19 If any of them go outside
  2
  your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be
  responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our
  head if a hand is laid on them. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released
  from the oath you made us swear.”
  21 “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.” So she sent them away, and they
  departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
  • REAL BIBLICAL FAITH WILL ALWAYS DO SOMETHING- Putting herself at risk, Rahab rejected her past identity as a Canaanite and wanted to
  be identified with the people of God, with Israel.
  22 When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the
  pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. 23 Then
  the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came
  to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. 24 They
  said to Joshua, “The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the
  people are melting in fear because of us.”- Faith’s Conduct
• Recognizes
• Responds – RECOGNIZE
• WE ALL WERE RAHAB
• Rahab’s Faith
• God’s Faithfulness – Spoken Gospel
• “If a prostitute on the wrong side of God’s battle lines can become a member
  of God’s family, so can we.”- RESPOND in Biblical Faith
• Personally
  3
• God can redeem our past and grace our future in ways that exceed our
  understanding
  • God can take your great mess (by faith) and transform it into a message of
  grace (by His faithfulness)
• He calls you as you are – no matter how broken the pieces are right now- Will you respond in faith today???
  • Song of response growing up: – Just As I Am….
  Just as I am, Thou wilt receive
  Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve
  Because Thy promise I believe
  Oh, Lamb of God, I come, I come- Oswald Chambers
• “Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not
  understand at the time.”
  CONCLUSION – William MacDonald
• Sums up Rahab the harlot- Rahab’s “works” and not her “words” justified her (Jas. 2:25).
• The Bible does not commend her deceit (vv. 4, 5) but it does commend her
  faith (Heb. 11:31). – (SLIDE) Hebrews 11:31
• By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not
  killed with those who were disobedient.- James also calls her deed a work of faith (Jas. 2:25).
• (SLIDE) James 2:25 – In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered
  righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent
  them off in a different direction?
  4
• She risked her life to save the lives of the spies because she believed in
  the power and sovereignty (power+authority) of their God. – So in our Lord’s day some outside the commonwealth of Israel showed
  more faith than those who were eyewitnesses of His glory (Luke 7:2–9).
• Great faith, wherever it is found, is always rewarded (see chap. 6), for
  it is pleasing to God (Heb. 11:6).- She married a man from the tribe of Judah named Salmon. They
  had a son named Boaz, who married a Moabite woman named
  Ruth. They had a son named Obed, who had a son named Jesse,
  who had a son named David (Matthew 1:5-6). – Rahab was a direct ancestor of David, the great king of Israel, and
  assuming no generations are left out of the record, she was his
  great-great-grandmother (the grandmother of David’s grandfather
  Obed).- Online Read
• Rahab’s example stands as a testimony to us today, teaching us that no matter
  how things have gone in the past – or how dark things may appear in the present –
  faith in God and obedience to His word will save us from the destruction of sin and
  give us a future and a hope in the kingdom of God.
  RESPONSE – Everyone today is invited to place their faith completely in God, trust in Jesus’ saving
  work, and live in obedience to God’s will, trusting that He is faithful to His promises
  and that He will never leave you or forsake you
  • Red cord for everyone – (A reminder that God is a covenant God —who keeps His promises)) – God took an old harlot by the name of Rahab and saved her by grace and used
  her for His glory.
• He wants to do the same for you. – Will you come today and respond in faith to His faithfulness? – Take a cord + recognize God’s faithfulness and trust in Him!

https://www.bible.com/events/49321674

Church of the Nazarene East Rockingham Campus

Joshua: Part 2 East Rock

Joshua: Part 2 Rahab “God is Faithful”

Today we are continuing our teaching series in the book of Joshua.

Our goal in this series is not just to brush up on ancient history, but to join the generations of God’s people who have looked back to see the faithfulness of God.

Our teaching text today is about an unlikely hero, with an even more unlikely faith.

Joshua 2:1-3

Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”

Following God’s command to Joshua and the people of Israel to be strong and courageous, these verses record some of the first actions steps.

Stepping out in faith still required a plan, so Joshua sends out two spies to have a look at Jericho, a heavily fortified city across the Jordan River, about 15 miles away.

A bit of irony appears in that these spies failed miserably in staying hidden. Immediately the news makes it to the King who dispatches men to capture these Israelite spies.

It would seem like this first step into the promised land was as step on the wrong foot for the Israelites.

Joshua 2:4-7

But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

As the King’s posse arrives to detain the 2 spies, Rahab steps in. She’s quick on her feet, she knows how to deal with men at her door.

The unlikely hero re-directs the Kings men to pursue them out of the city gate. With her quick thinking and convincing words, the kings men don’t even bother searching her house. They take off for the city gate, thinking they are in hot pursuit of the jewish spies.

The original audience reading this account would have been in stitches laughing at the comedy of errors and irony portrayed in this story on the part of the Canaanites.

But for all of the irony, the danger for Rahab cannot be missed. Lying to the kings officers could have gotten her killed without question. She took literally took her life into her own hands.

But why? Why would a Canaanite prostitute risk her lives for two Israelite men who showed up on her doorstep?

Joshua 2:8-11

Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

With the city gate closed, Rahab has the upper hand over the Israelite spies, they are literally at her mercy. But what comes next is not a bargain for profit or some other benefit- it’s a profession of faith in the first degree.

Rahab not only believed these truths about God, she took action, risking her very life. She wasn’t just trying to save herself or her family from the impending invasion. No, she was responding to what she believed about the God of Israel. Her faith leaped into action in these moments.

In the book of James, Rahab’s faith is celebrated right beside the faith of Abraham.

James 2:25 says 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?

This unlikely hero, had a heroic and historic faith.

Joshua 2:12-14

“Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.” “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.”

The Hebrew word that Rahab uses for kindness here is hesed. And it’s way more than just for a favor.

It speaks of loyalty, mercy, kindness, faithfulness. The word carries a very strong relational tone.

Rahab was pleading relationally- “I have proven my loyalty and my faithfulness to you and your God. I have risked my life to prove my faith, now please spare me and my family”

Rahab was pleading for rescue, to be welcomed into the people of the God in whom she believed. She was throwing herself on God’s faithfulness.

Rahab would let the spies down out of the window to escape after they promised to spare her life. Before they took off the spies instructed Rahab to tie a scarlet red cord in her window so that they would know not to harm anyone in that house.

From there, the spies take the long way home and when they arrive back to Joshua they give him the report of what God had been doing before them.

God promised them the land and commanded them to be strong and courageous. He assured them of his presence. Now they can begin to see just how God is fulfilling that very promise. Their first enemy is already melting in fear before the battle even starts.

God was faithful to his people.

And Rahab?

Matthew records that she is the great-great- grandmother of King David, the direct ancestor of Jesus himself.

God was faithful to Rahab too.

Just as God was faithful in fulfilling his promises to Joshua and the Israelite armies, he was faithful to a Canaanite prostate who believed in him.

And friends, God is still faithful today.

http://bible.com/events/49317557

Church of the Nazarene Harrisonburg Campus

Joshua: Part 1 Harrisonburg

Joshua

ENTERING THE LAND- CHAPTERS 1-6

CONQUERING THE LAND- CHAPTERS 7-12

DIVIDING AND SETTLING THE LAND- CHAPTERS 13-22

Joshua 1:1-9

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. 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. “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:16-18

Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!”

– Promise

– Presence

– Power