We have in our song books, a hymn with the shortened title: “Got any Rivers?” The lyrics ask: “Got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through? God specializes in things thought impossible; He does the things no one else can do. Got any problems you think are unsolvable? Got any burdens too heavy to bear? God as the power to do the impossible; if you will call He will hear your prayer.” Of course no hymn can fully express all that is in the writer’s heart or all the theological background we might need to complete the poet’s thought. In this case, yes, our God can do the impossible, and we are encouraged to pray for the miraculous. But remember, there are some conditions to be met before we can cross the uncrossable river.
Some of those requisite conditions are laid out before this in Joshua chapters 3 and 4.
Without ever using the word, we see in this event the NEED for faith.
About six miles from Israel’s encampment at Abel-shittim, lay the swollen, flooded Jordan river. Did you know that the Bible never says that it was uncrossable. We are only told that it had overflowed its usual banks. In fact, small groups and individuals did cross this river, such as the two spies. Many times, we look at problems or difficulties and see them as much more troublesome than they really are. The Canaanites and Moabites probably ferried across this river all the time, and during the dry seasons, they may have even waded across. Nevertheless, at this point in God’s good timing, standing between Israel and the reception of the promise, there was a river – maybe about the size of our local river. There were no bridges, and the ferries which might have been there had all been withdrawn or destroyed by the Canaanites in their effort to keep God’s people away. Not only does Satan wish to keep you from your full potential in the Lord, but the there are natural obstacles as well – rivers and even armies.
Israel needed the intervention of the omnipotent God to get two million people into the Promised Land. But I guarantee: most of those people didn’t think, “If I don’t find faith to trust Jehovah, we’ll never make it.” The natural man, even the ordinary Christian, doesn’t usually think about trusting God for his needs. We don’t read, or apply, God’s instructions to Joshua, “Trust me.” And we don’t hear Joshua’s instructing Israel: “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD.” And perhaps this is a part of our struggle in regard to our faith. Time and time again, we leap over our need to trust the Lord, jumping right into the problem itself. Or we may believe that God will carry us over this problem, but we don’t really buckle down with our faith beseeching the Lord to do it. We make assumptions. We may expect God to bless and work, but we don’t specifically ask Him for it.
But as Paul tells us in Hebrews 11: “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” And therefore, without faith it should be impossible to expect God’s miraculous blessings. Hebrew 11:6 says in full: “But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Pay attention to the last words of that verse: “He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” It is one thing to believe that God will accomplish His will, and we hope it includes crossing this river. But it is something else to cast ourselves down before His throne of grace, diligently beseeching Him for His grace. In other words, the faith which we need… the faith which brings down the unfathomable power of God… doesn’t generally fall on those who do not recognize the need and diligently seek the Lord to meet those needs. In my reading about the revival which transformed Wales, and the revival which fell on the Charlotte Baptist Chapel in Edinburgh in 1905 and that which engulfed the ministries of William Fetler and J.A. Stewart… Those great blessings were granted to people who earnestly and fervently besought God for these things. In some cases the Lord tested the faith of the saints by forcing them to be faithful in faith for years before the fire fell from heaven. Of course, every situation is different: God’s blessings may come in different ways and at different speeds. But the fact is, in order for Joshua to experience God’s victory over this water, he needed to become burdened about the need for that victory. We are so prone, as Christians, to become lackadaisical, and our faith is often the first to go to sleep.
So there is a need in your life – a difficult decision to be made; a life-changing medical issue; family problems. Don’t just expect your loving heavenly father to meet that need as He has done in the past, while you go on about your daily business. Rather, tell Him, how much you love Him and how much you yearn for His glory. Plead with Him. It’s okay to tell Him what you think would be a good way to cross this river. “I’d prefer a bridge, Lord.” But at the same time, tell Him that you’d be willing to forsake your hopes in lieu of His more perfect plan.
After recognizing the need for trust in God, there was the need to SHARE that need and that faith.
God revealed to Joshua the divine plan for the invasion of Canaan. Now, as the shepherd of the Lord’s congregation, it was time for Joshua to share the vision with Israel. God always has a prophet through whom He speaks and leads. There is always a Moses, or Jeremiah, a Nehemiah or a Paul whom God uses. This time it is Joshua. Revival may start with the earnest expectant prayers of a single righteous man or a godly woman. But there will be no revival or massive victories until all or most of God’s people are united and focused.
Joshua was given God’s plan and vision, and he then shared it with the other elders of the nation. Verse 3 – “And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.” Verses 9 and 13 – “And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God…” “It shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.”
As I have said before, faith is a difficult thing even for the best of saints. Surrendered trust in God for what ever the Lord chooses to do, is hard. God’s power, grace and will are not easy for most Christians. Sometimes weak believers need something into which they can sink their teeth. Here is something specific about which to pray and to trust God. Here are some of the Lord’s promises to grasp and with which to run.
Joshua told the people: “This is what is going to happen.” When you see it, you’ll know to believe it. Four of our strongest priests are going to pick up the Ark of the Covenant and carry it toward the river. I want everyone to stand back – a long way back – about two thirds of a mile. It’s important that everyone see exactly what is taking place, so that your faith in the Lord may grow. Initially, the feet of the first two priests may get wet, because their faith will need to be tested as well. But the moment the second pair of priests touch the water the current will stop, and the water to the north will not flow past them. In fact, the water behind the first wave – the second wave – will crash into the first, like an old slap-stick comedy cartoon. Water will pile up upon water until there is a heap of water.
How high did that heap eventually become? Was it as high as the walls of water at the Red Sea? Did it tower above those priests pulsating in a threatening manner, testing their faith once again? We aren’t told how far the water backed up toward the Sea of Galilee, because there were no Hebrews up river to give a report. But Joshua prophetically described it all in sufficient detail to let the people know what they could expect. Down stream from the priests, the Lord was going to dry up the river bed, and Israel could have taken a mile or more to cross into Canaan. Sometimes we need to hear about the faith of others before we can truly engage our own faith.
Brethren, we have no idea what real revival is like, but others have experienced it. Josiah did in the Old Testament and the hundred and twenty did in the New Testament. History affords us other examples. Revival would probably blow our spiritual socks off. It might damage our perspective of practical theology. There may be 3,000 people saved in an instant, all clamoring to be baptized. Are you ready for that? How would you handle that? It may be necessary for me to authorize some of you to dip people in the Jordan. There may be a thousand people yearning to be discipled, requiring the ministry of every one of us, not just the pastor, elders and deacons. What is going to happen when the river rolls back, displaying the mighty arm of the Lord? Your baby-buggies and strollers may not roll across that rocky river bed. You may have to pick up and carry a couple babes in Christ all the way to the Promised Land. Are you up for it?
The question is: do we really want to cross this river? Do we really want revival and the fullness of God’s blessings? It may be that we are not ready to hear what the Lord might do. We may not want to hear what God can do. And that may be part of the reason we aren’t experiencing those spiritual blessings at this moment. We aren’t ready. Joshua said, “Listen to me, Israel. Stand back and watch the power of God.” Moving forward, let me take you to something about which we haven’t considered yet.
There is such a thing as the IDOLATRY of faith.
We need to ask ourselves… I need to ask myself… why do I yearn for God’s power and blessing; for revival? It’s not that we might consume it upon our lusts, is it? “Ye ask, and receive not because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your own lusts” – (James 4:3). Why are we seeking revival? Why do we long for a great influx of newly born-again souls? Is it so that great will be our reward in heaven? It is so that our church’s financial condition would improve? Is it to create a legacy that might remain when we are gone from the scene? If these things are our objectives, then even our faith in God for good things can become tainted.
And then there is the possibility that we begin to look to our faith more than to the God we trust. Remember how easy it is for a nonbeliever to trust his prayer for salvation more than to trust the Saviour? Christians can do the same thing in a slightly different way. We can trust our trust. We can even worship our faith. This is a part of the problem with the charismatic “name-it-and-claim-it” preachers. Don’t be consumed with seeking faith, strengthening your faith, using your faith. “Take no thought saying What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithall shall we be clothed? (Or how shall we cross this river.) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Make the Lord your first priority, not your faith in the Lord.
Another aspect of the idolatry of faith is exposed in verse 5. “And Joshua said into the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” Do we want the Lord’s wonders enough to thoroughly separate ourselves and to sacrifice ourselves to Him? Are we willing to truly set ourselves apart in order to see the Jordan dry up or for revival to come? Joshua isn’t talking about people separating themselves from the world; Israel was already unique. This wasn’t about attending church regularly. For forty years that nation had the tabernacle and the ministry of the priests and Levites. This was about self-examination; about testing personal relationships with the Holy One of Israel. This was about destroying the idols which were hidden in their hearts. Before the border patrol will let us enter God’s land, we have to pass the spiritual COVID test.
But don’t worry whether or not your neighbor is as spiritual as you think he ought to be. There is no room for Pharisees when it comes to revival. How sanctified, how filled with the Spirit, how surrendered and dedicated to the Lord’s glory are you?
When God’s victories come, they need, in a limited way, to be MEMORIALIZED.
As I understand it, chapter 4 begins with instructions for two stone monuments to commemorate this great day. After the nation successfully crossed the river, and before the priests completed their journey, twelve strong men, one from every tribe, were to return to the river to pick up the largest boulders they could find. Verse 9 – “And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place were the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there unto this day.” It might have been argued that when the water returned, only the Lord might be able to see this memorial. That is perfectly fine. It should always be always about the Lord.
When that was done, each of those men were to find another boulder to bring back to the western shore. I can picture them scrounging around among the rocks in the river to find a big one as ten thousand pairs of eyes were watching them. When one man saw that another had a bigger boulder than he had, he might have dropped his and begun looking for an even larger one. There might have been some friendly competition. In fact this was a glorious day and that generation of people may have never been happier in their lives. This was a joyous day. Eventually each man has the largest stone he could carry, and they returned to their watching families and tribes. “And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.”
A moment ago, I said, “When God’s victories come, they need, in a limited way, to be memorialized.” When Judy and I were in North Carolina, we visited the Sandy Creek Baptist Church, and between their newest building and the cemetery, was a large granite memorial for Shubal Sterns, their first pastor. But I have a hunch that if Sterns had been able to emerge from his grave, which lay a hundred yards away, he would have told me that he didn’t like that memorial. Sterns and Marshall didn’t go to Georgia and the Carolinas for fame and fortune. They went as servants of the most high God, to show unto people the way of salvation, and Paul and Silas did in Philippi. If Sterns had been able to speak, I believe he might have said, “for the LORD your God dried up the waters of SANDY CREEK, until we were passed over and settled here, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea… that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.”
I wonder what Joshua thought when he heard the Lord say, “This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel…” Did his heart immediately think: “Lord, I don’t care whether or not I am magnified, so long as you are.” I painfully know that pride is one of the greatest sins in the hearts of God’s human leaders. Did Joshua think along the lines of John? “He must increase and I must decrease.” “Not my glory, but thine be magnified.”
God’s great victories are never about the people to whom the victories are given; they are about the Lord. And in contrast to what some are saying today, God’s richest blessings are not dispensed in order that our lives in this world might be made smooth, or rich, or without pain or disease. God’s great victories are given that God’s people “might fear the Lord our God for ever.” When we extend our necks, stepping out of the boat, our faith should be dedicated to the glory of the Lord. “That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that (we and they) might fear the LORD (our) God for ever.”