Joshua 4: 19-24

You shall tell you shall let your children know. Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground for the Lord. Your God dried up the waters of of the Jordan for you until you pass over as the Lord your God did to the red sea, which he dried up for us until we pass over so that all the people of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.

Moreover, as we continue to celebrate everything that it is that he did and accomplished throughout his life, through his death and through his resurrection, if all we thank you that we now have hope that we know he is coming again to bring us to you and we thank you for that this morning. Know father, I pray as we open your word that you would teach us God, would you give us a clearer vision of you, of your goodness, of your love for us and we would you cause us to be transformed as a result.

Father, we thank you for this time and we pray all of these things in your name and the name of your son. Amen. Well, good morning as we begin. Will you join me in applauding our students

For me that is that is the heart behind everything that we do in student ministries as to raise up students who are equipped to serve the Lord as he puts on their heart, whether it is on a stage on a Sunday morning like this or whether it is in their workplace or in their schools, wherever it may be, and I'm thankful that they have had the opportunity to lead us in worship up to this point and thankful for that and I hope you are encouraged by that as well as you are led by the next generation

this morning. What I would love for us to do coming out of Christmas and coming out of this time where we celebrate Jesus's birth and moving into the new year where, I don't know, do people even do new year's resolutions anymore? Is that a thing? Maybe not sort of as maybe people are putting together new year's resolutions or at least thinking of this new year and trying to visualize what it is that they are going to devote their time to.

You know, I think for us, this story in Joshua four and really everything leading up to it is crucial for us, not just as individuals, but I think also as a church as we move into a new season of ministry, transitioning from pastor Dan to pastor Matt, I think this is going to be an incredible story for us to read today, to spend time thinking about and so that we can embrace it as we move into this new year. So that is where we're going. So open with me if you will, to Joshua.

You can start in one Joshua one we're going to get a little bit of a backstory before we dig into Joshua four .

You may or may not remember much of the story of Joshua, but I think that one of the things that we see in the life of Joshua is this incredible desire on his part to serve the Lord and to shepherd the people that the Lord had given him, but also we see in the lives of the Israelites the desire to follow after the Lord and to submission to Joshua's leadership in a new time in the life and history of Israel. I think that's important for us.

So let's pick up in Joshua one get a backstory, then we'll jump into Joshua four so Joshua will one along with Deuteronomy 34 which is the very end of Deuteronomy show. This time in the life of Israel where Moses has died. If you remember this story, Moses was unable to enter the promised land because of his disobedience. So he got to the very edge after leading Israel for 40 in the Sinai wilderness.

Gets to the edge of the promised land and is unable to lead them any further, unable to lead them into the promised land. And he dies right there at the edge. And it says that the Israelites mourned for 30 days in the Plains of Moab. They mourned their leader, the one who had brought them out of slavery in Egypt, the one who had provided for them in the wilderness, the one who had led them through the wilderness.

Although we know that the true leader was the Lord, it was Moses that God had commissioned to be there in front of them. And so they viewed him as God's mouthpiece, God's instrument for leading them. And so they viewed themselves as now having been abandoned. I think that is why they were weeping for 30 days. But they recognized something in Joshua.

They recognize that the Lord had placed his hands on Joshua, and they recognize that even in Moses, Moses having placed his hands on Joshua and prayed for Joshua, they saw in him someone to look to. And so quickly they turned their eyes to Joshua and began to view him. Now as the Lord's new instrument, the one who was going to lead them. So read with me if you will, in Joshua one verses one through six we see the set up for this transition in leadership between Moses and Joshua.

It says, after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, the son of nun Moses , his assistant, Moses, my servant is dead. Now therefore, arise. Go over this Jordan, you and all this people into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon.

I have given to you just as I promised to Moses from the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the great sea, toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses. So I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

Be strong and courageous for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give to them. I think a couple of things that you see even within this initial set up within this passage is the Lord's appearing to Joshua. It is evident that the Lord's hand is all over. Even this transition time, it did not even take the people of Israel crying out to the Lord for a new leader. It did not take Joshua crying out to the Lord for a new leader.

What it took was the Lord appearing to the people. I think for us, so many times we feel as if we have to be the ones who are initiating everything, initiating all of the Lord's movement within our affairs.

The thing that we're praying about, the things that we're hurting about, how cool is it to see that it is the Lord who first appears to the people and to the Joshua revealing to them that not only is he sovereign and in control over everything, but that his great desire is to show up in the lives of these people. I think it's interesting as well to see the response that is recorded of these Israelites.

As you go down towards the end of chapter one you see in verses 16 through 17 the Israeli Israelites respond answering to Joshua, all that you have commanded us. We will do and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things so we will obey you only made the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. I want you to think about this scene even maybe try to put yourselves in the shoes of these Israelites.

They have been mourning for 30 days over the loss of their leader, their friend , the one they've been with for 40 years. Yet while they have been mourning the loss of Moses, they recognize that God was in control and they recognize that the God of Moses was also the God of Joshua, I think for us and make like a apparent thetical for us this morning.

I think for us as a church, as we are in the middle of this transition time, I think there is something important for us to learn here as we work through this transition between pastor Dan and pastor Matt. We all mourn Dan's departure, but I think for us to recognize that the same God that was guiding pastor Dan is the same God that is guiding pastor Matt. I know, I know for me personally who you know I can get attached to people. I love Dan. I've loved working with Dan.

For me and I imagine for the rest of the staff it's hard to see him go, but we recognize that the same God who has led dam is the same God that is guiding Matt here and I think for us to look to Matt understanding that not that he has anything more than a man, but that he is God's chosen instrument for this time in the life of this church and that just as God was with Dan, God will be with Matt . Even if nobody was coming in the very same God would be governing all of us.

I think there's something important for us to learn at the heart level this morning regarding the way that God works, regardless of what, what it looks like to us. Move on to chapter two. You look in chapter two of Joshua after you see the Lord setting up Joshua to lead the people of Israel. And after you see the people of Israel submitting to Joshua's leadership with the caveat that the Lord be with Joshua, you see Joshua sent out two spies into a city that was just across the Jordan river.

Okay? So even maybe for those of you who like geography or maybe even for those of you who don't, if you get the scene, so the Israelites , they are to the East of the Jordan river. Okay, well if you guys over here East of the Jordan river and the Lord tells them, I want you to cross over, cross over this Jordan into Canaan. That's what this entire area was. The land that had been promised to their forefathers. Cross over . Take this land that I have promised to give to you.

So Joshua, he sends out two spies to go across the Jordan and to go into Jericho to kind of spy out this first city in the promised land to see what the, what the response was going to look like, to see what they were going to have to face. As the Israelites crossed over and began their conquest can see these two spies. They get to Jericho and they meet somebody. If you remember this story, you remember that they meet Rayhab .

This was a lady who lived on the outskirts of the town of Jericho and she was a prostitute and the Lord used this woman in a mighty way, not just in the lives of those two spies to protect them and hide them from the King, but in the lives of every single Israel light was there. And because Ray had became for them their quote unquote inside woman who hid the spies because she was sympathetic to the cause of the Lord.

She had heard about everything that the Lord had done and the parting of the red sea. And she even acknowledged that a lot of the other Israelites as well had heard of what the Lord had done and so she said, there is something special about this God, I will help you and serve him. The only request that she made is just as I am remembering you and going to help you. Would you remember me as the Israelites come into Jericho, remember me and remember the help that I have offered you?

So a deal was made between these two spies and rehab and so these two spies go back to Joshua with the good news. Joshua two 23 through 24 Joshua records when the two men returned, they came down from the Hills and Pat and Passover and came to Joshua, the son of nun, and they told him all that had happened to them and they said to Joshua, truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands and also all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us.

I want you to think about what it must have looked like for these Israelites. They have this giant task before them, which is to enter this land that is occupied by other people and to begin to conquer it.

Think of how terrifying this must have been for them, but then at the same time, I want you to think they have seen the Lord move in miraculous ways up to this point and they know that the very same God that has provided for them is guiding them right now and now they hear word that in Jericho there is someone that is going to help them. I want you to get the image of what it must have looked like for these Israelites to have even this much hope that God was true to his promises.

I think for us this morning, you know, it's one thing for us to know and verbally acknowledge that God has promised to give us new life, but is a , it is a different thing to fully embrace that hope and live a life transformed as a result of it. And part of my prayer for you this morning is that you would recognize at a deeper and deeper level how much you can trust in the Lord and how certain his promises are.

I want you to catch what happens at the end of this passage though, before we move on. So these, these Israelites, these two spies, they say something to Joshua that Ray Hab had told to them that all of the inhabitants of Jericho, the phrase that's used is melt away because of them, them being the Israelites. But really it wasn't because of the Israelites, it was because of the Lord.

And this attitude that they had, which shrunk back in front of the Lord was all because of the ways that the Lord had demonstrated his power and the parting of the red sea. But this, this phrase that they melt away stands out here in this text and it stands, it stands out because it is the exact opposite of what you see.

Joshua commanding in chapter one and even later on, sorry, not Joshua, but the Lord commanding of Joshua and chapter one and throughout the rest of the book of Joshua, which is where the Lord turns to Joshua and commands him to be strong and courageous. That word be strong literally means to grow from , from up, be strengthened.

I think for us it's such an interesting picture to see that those who had the Lord on their side had the ability to be firmed up, be strengthened to grow from strong, whereas those who are living in Jericho who did not have the Lord on their side, they melted away as a result of standing in opposition to him.

I think for us there's something special about being confident that the Lord is who he says he is, has done what he said he was going to do, which causes us now to in our relationship with him and even in the middle of this world stand firm to be strong and be courageous even when it seems as if we have no reason to grow strong, grow firm in your faith and your relationship with the Lord. Knowing that he is on your side in whatever it is that you face as we move into this new year.

I know coming out of Christmas is interesting because we spent all this time celebrating. Now we move into January and that's as if all the celebrations have come to an end and Jesus has no longer come to this earth and gone to the cross and been resurrected, or at least that's, you know , we live as if that were the case. As we move into this new year, grow from trusting in the Lord, knowing that that ability is afforded to us because of his work.

This, this, this idea too of growing from , it's the same idea that's communicated by Paul and first Corinthians 16 where he is commanding the Corinthians to watch themselves. He says, stand firm in the faith. Be strong. That closes out chapter two, chapter three. You get to chapter three after these spies have returned and after the rest of the Israelites is , I can only imagine are rejoicing because of the news.

Chapter three documents the Israelites setting out from Shittim heading to Jericho on their way to conquer the promised land. This is the beginning of their moving out, trusting the Lord's promise that he really was going to deliver this land over to them. Only problem is they. They get to this gigantic barrier, the Jordan river that was between them and the promised land. They get there. Now, I want you to keep this in mind.

They as they left Egypt and are crossing out of Saudi Arabia, they come up against what do you remember the red sea and what does the Lord do for them? He parts it that they are able to walk across. Now, many of them remember this scene, but I think they are so quick to forget that God has the power and the desire to lead his people and so they get to this Jordan and I imagine they are fretting just as we would, but the Lord does something miraculous and I want you to catch the image of this.

Joshua three 17 through 13 it says that the Lord said to Joshua today, 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 and ask for you. Command the priests who bear the Ark of the covenant. When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan. And Joshua said to the people of Israel, come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.

And Joshua said, here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail, drive out from you. The Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the parasites, the Girgashites, and the Amorites and the Jebusites. Behold the arc of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. Now. Therefore take 12 men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe, a man.

And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the Ark of the covenant of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap. Get this scene.

Imagine you are coming upon a river and the Lord is saying these priests who are carrying the arc of the covenant, which is where the presence of the Lord is dwelling in the midst of his people as the priest who bear this Ark of the covenant, step into the Jordan. The waters will be heaped up upstream, gathering into a pile downstream. All the waters will leave the river bed. And what's left is a path by which these Israelites can cross.

This is crazy stuff, but the Lord is about working in such a way that demonstrates clearly his power in authority in our lives and over all of this creation. So get this scene. Imagine you are there. You are. One of these people and then you are able to pass and not just pass over this Jordan, but the middle of chapter three describes their passing as passing over on dry ground twice, twice. And Joshua three 17 Joshua describes this river bed as dry ground.

I want you to think about this subtle detail for a second. How remarkable is it that not only did God cut off the waters, keeping them up in a pile upstream , allowing the Israelites to cross, but he even sucked the water out of the river bed. It wasn't as if they were having to cross and the waters. Sure they'd been cut off, but now they're trudging through mud. They crossed over on dry ground. The Lord is sovereign over every single aspect of creation and he works on your behalf.

And on my behalf, in this very same way, I want you to even think about the things that you have experienced in your life where you know the Lord has shown up in remarkable ways and even think about the things that you're going to experience one day. We know that this life is full of hardships, but I think that for us where we to recognize from this moment forward that God is a God of miracles, not just of the parting of the waters, but of the drying up of the ground.

We would trust him and his ability a whole lot more. That is my prayer for us as a church and for each and every one of you as individuals that you would trust in the Lord and his ability not just to do miraculous things, but to work in such a way that even exceeds miraculous. I mean for us, this idea of dry ground, I mean we wouldn't even think of drying up the ground also, but our God is not a God of oversights. He sees everything. I think we need to know that this morning.

All right into Joshua three Joshua four we get to Joshua four immediately after all of these Israelites are able to cross over the Jordan river because of what the Lord had done and we see Joshua four beginning with God coming to these Israelites again and giving them a command. He tells them to take 12 men, one from each tribe, and he tells them, go back to the Jordan. I want you to pull 12 stones out of this river bed.

It's in one man from each tribe to pick up one stone a piece, pull them out, 12 stones and all pull stones out of the river bed because we are going to set these up for you as a Memorial so that in the times to come when your children ask what do these stones mean to you? You shall let them know that the Lord your God cut off the waters of the Jordan.

I think God knew that despite providing for them in such a miraculous way they were going at some point, forget again so often it is easy for us and for them as we have clear evidence to take their eyes, take our eyes off of the Lord and put them back on our circumstances. I think what Joshua is trying to do and what the Lord is trying to do is to ensure that we forever remember what it is that the Lord has done for us, for these Israelites.

It was to remember that God had provided for them a way into the promised land, which I think would give them a great hope. As they get in and they as they face everything that they were going to face, they could point back to that crossing of the Jordan as proof that God was with them for us. This morning, we have the birth, the death, and the resurrection of Christ to prove that for us. But we are so quick to forget everything it is that the Lord has done for us.

And so quick to forget the power with which he has done it. And so as he moves through chapter four, you see the Lord commanding Joshua set up these Memorial stones. Joshua going to these men telling them the news that God had given them. They go, they select these stones and they set up this Memorial.

But I think for us, what I want us to focus on for the rest of our time this morning is the very end of chapter four, the end of this story where we see the Lord explaining the purpose, not just of the Memorial stones, but the purpose even of the miracle itself. Chapter four we'll go to verse 18 first leading into the rest of the passage where Joshua is reiterating everything that took place.

And he says, when the priest sparing, the arc of the covenant of the Lord came up from the midst of the Jordan and the souls of the priest's feet were lifted up on dry ground. The waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks before. Make a side comment again, so even before we get into the rest of this, I want you to even think of what this moment must have looked like as they leave the Jordan river.

Think of what it must've been like for the water to all of a sudden come rushing back down into place overflowing the banks of the Jordan. Maybe you are like me a little bit. You get skeptical sometimes of things that don't seem to fit within our natural world. Ideas of God's supernatural work sometimes seem strange because it's hard to comprehend. I want you to think about this scene. Many people point to the crossing of the Jordan. They say, wow, maybe the water was down.

Okay. Yeah, the Jordan's a pretty big river, but you know , they could have been experiencing a drought and they could have gotten over a fairly easily. Okay, so maybe the water was down that could explain it. Think about this subtle detail even in the language that says the water overflowed the banks as before. This is an unintended proof that there was no drought during this time. The banks were overflowing with the waters of the Jordan. It was full and it was flowing.

The only way that they could have crossed was by a miraculous intervening of the Lord. They leave the water, they leave the Jordan Waters flow back into their place. Verse 19 the people came up out of the Jordan on the 10th day of the first month and they encamped at gilgel on the East border of Jericho. This 10th day is significant because it coincides with the day that the Passover lamb was to be selected and they pretty soon in Joshua chapter five are going to celebrate Passover together.

But even think of the Lord's timing as he sets up this miracle to take place on a day. That is so significant and the life and history of Israel as they leave Egypt during Passover, as they celebrate Passover, as the Lord's saving of their firstborn children through the sacrifice of a spotless lamb. Even think of the way that that foreshadows the death of Christ, the ultimate pass over lamb.

I don't think there's any coincidence that the Lord chooses this date to do this miracle on verse 20 those 12 stones, which they took up out of the Jordan Joshua set up at gilgel, so they've crossed from Shittim , which is over on the East side of the Jordan river crossover. They're nearing Jericho.

They're just outside of Jericho on the East border and a little town called gilgel, a couple miles away from the the city or a couple miles away from the Jordan river, meaning them that they've carried these stones for a few miles and Joshua sets them up in gilgel and verse 21 and he said to the people of Israel, when your children ask their fathers in times to come, what do these stones mean? Then you shall let your children know.

Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground for the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over as the Lord your God did to the red sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over and I think verse 24 is for us the crux of everything he says so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.

Here Joshua reveals through these words the two fold purpose that God had in providing this miracle for his people. One, it says that they may know that the hand of the Lord was mighty and too that they may fear the Lord forever. I want you to think about this first one, which I think for us in many ways is essential as we move forward trying to trust in the Lord, we must know that the hand of the Lord is mighty. I want you to think about another old Testament story.

Think about Elijah and the prophets of bale. Think about this scene in first Kings 18 where Elijah finds himself confronted with these prophets who are worshiping this false God bale and Elijah enters into this contest with these prophets . Essentially, it all boils down to this, this moment where Joshua says, okay, well there is a way for us to know for sure who's right, whether I'm right and my God is real or whether you are right in your God is real.

He says, why don't we, why don't we take an offering? Why don't you take an animal, set up an altar, sacrifice it to the Lord, call the Lord to consume this sacrifice with fire from heaven. And if he shows up, I will turn and I will worship your God, but I will do the same. I'm going to set up this animal, offer it to my God, cry out to him and if he shows up, we know that my God is real and then my God is powerful. These prophets , Joshua even let them choose the best of the sacrifices.

They cried out from morning to noon. At which point Joshua began to mock them saying, where is he? Where is your God? Is he relieving himself? They continue to cry out and to no avail. It says at the very end that that no one answered, no one paid attention. And so Joshua began, but he didn't just begin by calling out to the Lord.

He began by commanding that they pour water all over the wood of his sacrifice, all over his sacrifice, not just once, not twice, many times, ensuring that all the wood was soaking wet and then the Lord calls out to then Joshua calls out Joshua. Then Elijah calls out to the Lord and the Lord consumes this soaking wet sacrifice and these profits realize your God is the one true God, the Lord's hand as mighty.

These Israelites in the days of Joshua, those in the days of Elijah, they knew that maybe they needed reminders, but I think for us today, we have got to know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and just as they needed reminders, I think we need reminders too . So as we move into this new year, look for ways to remind yourselves of the Lord's power. And then we get to the second purpose. So just that you may know that the Lord's hand is mighty, but also that you may fear the Lord forever.

I think for us, this idea of fear is a little strange. We don't really understand what it truly means in this sense to fear the Lord.

Many of us may fear the Lord, but fear of the Lord in the sense that we are still harboring all of the guilt and shame that Jesus bore on the cross, meaning then that when we think about our relationship with God, we still stand before him as if we are dead in our sins, as if we still have all of the guilt and shame that was due us without recognizing that Jesus took it all and now we are afforded the ability to stand before him spotless because the Lord doesn't look at us for us and who we are,

but he looks at us having been washed with Jesus's blood. That sort of fear is unhealthy, but there is a very different sort of fear. The old Testament. As you see the majority of the times people like Joshua calling out to the people to fear the Lord. It's because this word also means to Revere, to stand in all of, to deeply respect. And so in this sense that is what Joshua is commending. He is saying fear the Lord. Fear the Lord in the sense that you Revere him because you recognize who he is.

Stand in all of the Lord because you are recognizing what he has done. Worship the Lord for who he is and what he's done a lot to him. Everything that is due him, all of your affections, all of your worship. That is what it means here in this passage, in this context to fear the Lord. And that is what is essential for us. That you may know that the Lord's hand is mighty and that you may fear the Lord your God forever. That was the purpose of this miracle in the first place.

And that is even an extended purpose of the death and resurrection of not just to provide forgiveness for us and bring us back to the father, but that we may stand in awe of him. Let that be for you, a goal as you move into this new year to remember everything that it is that the Lord has done. I think for us this morning, that is our application. Remember the works of the Lord and I think there are a couple of specific ways that we can do that.

I think one, reflecting on the works of the Lord, I think for us we have to make a conscious effort to remember what the Lord has done for us in our own individual lives as he's shown up in the middle of hardships.

But I think even for us as a church, to remember the way that the Lord has dealt with us graciously and brought us to this point, but more than simply dealing with the physical things that we've experienced, the physical hardships, even reflecting on what the Lord has done through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, which stands as a benchmark for us all, proving God's love for us and his faithfulness to his promises. That is something that we lean on and we need nothing else.

So reflect on the works of the Lord. Set up Memorial stones in your mind. I know for me, I have to be conscious in my attempts to remember things. I have things in my office. Well, I had a thing. I took one of these things out because I was afraid it was gonna get broken. I had a, I had a chest set that was ceramic that I'd gotten from Ecuador when my wife and I lived there.

And this chess set for me served as a reminder of everything that the Lord did in and through our lives while we were there. Through the times that we celebrated and through the times that we cried, the good things, the bad things, the hard things, the easy things through it all, God was faithful and that for me serves as a reminder.

It's something that I saw and obviously came from Ecuador, so was easy to, to, to align the two, but something that I have used to cause to re myself to remember the way that the Lord showed up showed up. I think for you, finding things to help you remember the way that the Lord has shown up in your lives is an easy way to cause yourself to remember and finally pray for the Lord to increase your trust in him.

I think my prayer in many ways and on many occasions is like the prayer of the father and Mark nine Lord I believe, but help me with my unbelief. Help me in the areas where am not trusting you completely. I think for each of us that ought to be our heart. So as we move into this new year, to look for ways to reflect on the works of the Lord, setting up Memorial stones in your mind, to cause yourself to remember the ways that he's shown up in pray for the Lord to increase your trust in him.

That is my heart and prayer for myself and for each of you. Now, let me pray for us, but as we close with another song and worship, I would encourage you to release yourself to the Lord, to release whatever it is you're holding onto to the Lord that we may begin this new year, trusting him fully and with everything knowing that regardless of what our circumstances look like, he is in control and he is mighty.

Father, we thank you so much for today in father, I thank you that you have shown up in our lives time and time again. I thank you that you showed up ultimately in the life and the sacrifice and the resurrection of Jesus and I pray that for each of us here this morning, God would you center our hearts center our lives on that. Father, I pray that you would encourage us this morning and fill us with peace.

If all that you would bring us to know that your hand is mighty, that we may fear you, that we may Revere you. Stand in awe of you. Give everything that is, do you all of the worship, all of the praise for who you are and what you've done. Would we give it all to you today and in this next year? Father, I pray that for myself and for every person in this room today, we love you and we thank you. We pray all of these things in the name of your son. Amen.