Watch & listen to every sermon on your favorite podcast software:
Information about this sermon:
Preacher: Pastor David Ball
Scripture: Joshua 3:1-17
In Joshua 3, God goes to great lengths to teach his people to trust him, obey his voice, and to always follow where he was leading. All of this was to help prepare them for the promised land that He was giving them. He was molding them into the people he wanted them to be as a blessing to the nations. Jesus our Good Shepherd, through Joshua 3 is teaching His church likewise, to trust His goodness, to listen to His voice, and to always follow His grace wherever we go. All to the ends that we might be lights for His gospel in the darkness of this world.
Transcript
Well for the rest of us we continuing our our Series in uh the Book of Joshua chapter 3 uh if you look at the back of your bulletin I am not Judy Stein um but uh are we’re having a mic problem over here so I’m going to read the Joshua passage for us uh this morning a reading from Joshua chapter 3 then Joshua Rose early in the morning and they set out from shaim and they came to the Jordan he and all the peoples of Israel and lodged there before they passed over at the end of three days the officers went through the camp and commanded the people as soon as you see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the itical priest then you shall set out from your place and follow it and there shall be a distance between you and it about 2,000 cubits in length do not come near it in order that you may know the way you shall go for you have not passed this way before then Joshua said to the people consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you and Joshua said to the priest take take up the Ark of the Covenant and pass on before the people so they took up the Ark of the Covenant and went before the people the Lord said to Joshua today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all of Israel that they may know that as I was with Moses so I will be with you and as for you command the priests to 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 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 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 souls of the feet of the priest bearing the Ark 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 up in one Heap so when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of the Harvest the waters coming down from above stood and Rose up in a heap very far away at Adam the city that is beside zar and those flowing down toward the sea the arabah the salt sea were completely cut off and the people passed over opposite Jericho now the priest bearing the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan This Is The Word Of The Lord thanks be to God Our Gospel reading comes from John 10 veres 1 through six Jesus said truly truly I say to you he who does not enter the Sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way that man is a thief and a robber but he who enters by the door is The Shepherd of the sheep to him the gatekeeper opens the sheep hear his voice and he calls calls his own Sheep by name and leads them out and when he has brought out all of his own he goes before them and the Sheep follow him for they know his voice a stranger they will not follow but they will flee from him for they do not know the voice of strangers this figure of speech Jesus used with them but they did not understand what he was saying to them this is the word of the Lord Heavenly Father we thank you for your word holy spirit will you come and fill our hearts and Minds will you lead us to the throne of grace that we might find help and mercy in this our time of need plant your word deep in our hearts that it might grow and bear fruit we pray this in Jesus mighty name amen well it’s uh it’s fun that we are in this series on Joshua and just as a a reminder especially for those who haven’t been with us since we’ve made the the transition over here to Ocean Park Baptist uh we’re we’re in the midst of of of Joshua because uh in many ways the Book of Joshua is a process of God preparing his people for the occupation of the promised land we’re about to enter into a major time of Conquest in in the life of Israel uh but God right now is preparing them uh not just for the conquest that they’re facing uh but he’s preparing them for a life of following him he’s molding them into the people that he wants them to be the people that he’s calling them to be that’s what God’s doing with Israel he’s preparing them for the land the land that he had promised to them that he had promised to Abraham and to Isaac and Jacob and again had reiterated that promise to Moses and now through Joshua he’s molding them into the people that he wants them to be in this new land and what he wants them to be is a light to the Nations that’s what he’s preparing them for that’s what all of this has been about in Genesis 1818 God had said to abrahamabraham will become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the Earth shall be blessed in him and later God says it again to Abraham and in your Offspring all the nations of the Earth shall be blessed so God’s preparing his people to be a blessing to the Nations and what they need to learn along the way in order to be able to accomplish that and live into that and there’s a lot they have to learn well the reason I chose this book is because I believe that it’s really uh mirrors what the Lord’s doing with us and in our lives together individually of course all the time but uh specifically for us as a church family what God is doing in us and preparing us he’s molding us he’s preparing us for the promised land and for us obviously the promised land is the uh the building project that we are in the midst of uh that caused us to have to be over here uh for now in this time he’s preparing us for the time when we’re to return and to occupy that and what he wants for us in that and so during this time I I believe with all of my heart that he’s molding us and he’s forming us he’s molding us into the people that he wants us to be and what the people he wants us to be what he’s making us into as a people who will be shining Lights of the gospel and the Darkness that is the sin in this world and in our community he’s teaching us just as he was is teaching the Israelites as they were taking occupation of the land how they were to live in it what they were to be who they were to be and over it all his grace Reign sufficient because God’s people don’t get it right and we’re going to see that uh throughout as we go through this but there’s three things that God was teaching uh his people specifically in Joshua 3 as they’ve come to the the Jordan and as they’ve come to this time of crossing over uh and quite simply the three things are these to trust God to obey his word and to follow after him alone he’s teaching them to trust him he’s teaching them to obey his word and to follow after him alone that’s what he’s teaching them and I think he’s teaching us the same thing through through this in slightly a bit of a different way but I want to work through this passage together for just a few minutes you can uh open up your uh your bibles if you brought them to Joshua 3 you can open up your bulletin and follow along as we work through these uh these verses together this evening this is what we were told again in verse one then Joshua Rose early in the morning and they set out from shaim and they came to the Jordan he and all the peoples of Israel and lodged there before they passed over or crossed over uh the Jordan chatim is a was located just Northeast of of the Dead Sea or the salt sea uh and uh we were told that all of the peoples had been gathered there and camped there I think it’s kind of helpful now is and getting a feel for where things are and what what things look like uh because I think we can easily lose perspective of of what’s going going on here how many people who are all these people uh at this point point well if we go back to Numbers chapter 26 God called uh he called them to count and to take a census of the whole new generation uh that now he was preparing uh to launch into Conquest into the promised land uh God said take a census of all the congregations of the people of Israel from 20 years old and upward who are to go to war and so the people that were being counted in this number then were just those uh those men who were the ages of 20 and above who were still able to fight he was G God was counting his army uh who he was going to have available uh so in numbers 2651 as they did that census and reported the final numbers we’re told that there were
6,730 men who were over the age of 20 and able to go to war it’s a lot of people isn’t it there’s a lot of people here who are just camping out in Chaim uh and uh you know if you add then our our best guests women and children who are under 20 uh and then probably the elderly who weren’t able to to go to war as well I’d say that uh at a very conservative number we’d say there was one and a half million people here now it could be more than that that’s being conserv ative it could be somewhere around 2 and a half million actually who are all just camped out can you imagine the logistics I know we’ve got some Logistics folks here the logistics of worrying about feeding and moving uh and organizing and governing all of that group of folks we can’t even govern Jacksonville how are we going to govern that right you know do just to give you a perspective Duvall County’s uh population is 1, 144,000 St count St John’s count is about 300,000 Nassau County 100,000 Clay County 230,000 so basically put them all together put them all together and that’s the amount of people that we’re talking about here that have to be mobilized uh have to be organized uh and have to uh be able to follow uh Joshua’s orders and the Lord’s commands I think it’s helpful to get that kind of perspective this wasn’t an easy job uh not easy to keep that many people in line I mean it was hard enough keeping us all in line as we made this transition uh I can’t even begin to imagine and they didn’t have email um we’re told this though at the end of three days the officers went through the camp and commanded the people as soon as you see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the levitical priests then you shall set out from your place and follow it yet there shall be a distance between you and it about 2,000 cubits in length do not come near it in order that you may know the way that you shall go for you have not passed this way before so uh they were Comm the officers were commanded as soon as you see the Arc of the officers commanded the people as soon as you see the Ark of the Covenant of your God being carried by the levitical priest then you shall set set out from your place and follow it this these are pretty specific uh instructions right uh it’s very specific and rather odd to be honest with you that they’re to follow an arc they’re to follow an arc that’s going to be the thing that guides them uh on this incredible journey this incredible logistical nightmare of getting two and a half million people uh across the Jordan River uh and the Ark is going to be the thing that that guides them well what what’s that all about well if we go back to Exodus 25 uh through the passage I’m not going to read all the verses 10 through 22 uh we get a description of what the ark was all about and and what it looked like uh if you’ve seen Indiana Jones you’ve got a little bit of a picture of it right uh don’t open it right don’t open it uh but it’s an incredibly ornate box it’s an ornate box or on laid with h with gold on top of it there is The Mercy Seat God uh commanded them to put there with cherubim on either side and so what the the ark is is it’s the Throne of God it’s the Throne of God it’s the place where God meets with his people and it’s The Mercy Seat God calls it he doesn’t call it the seat of uh of damnation uh he calls it The Mercy Seat it doesn’t mean it’s not a seed of judgment uh because there even for there to be Mercy there has to be there has to be a judgment from God but it’s from The Mercy Seat that God uh that God meets with his people it’s where he rules over them and within it we’re told that it contained uh the testimony of the Lord the Covenant of the Lord meaning the Ten Commandments are in there the Commandments that God had given to Moses that this is this is my pledge to you all this is who I am this is our agreement between us that I’m going to be your God you’re going to be my people and here’s what what you need how you need to obey and what you need to follow in order to be my people for all to go well with you in the land in essence basically what we’re being told the reason why there to wait for the art to go before them uh is because it’s God who goes before them they’re to wait and they’re to follow God and where he’s leading the second command they’re given is this yet there shall be a distance between you and it of 2,000 cubits in length now how many projects did you do this uh this weekend in cubits none of you right uh so 2,000 uh or one cubit equals 18 in I didn’t know either I had to look it up uh 18 in uh 2,000 cubits there therefore is 36,000 in or 3,000 ft uh and so to give you a better perspective of even what 3,000 ft looks like it’s about uh uh you know football fields 100 yards which is 300 feet so it’s 10 football fields so they’re not to get any closer than 10 football fields away from this Throne of God as he leads them across the Jordan River why is such a distance why is it why is this so important to God well this is what he said in verse four do not come near it in order that you may know the way that you shall go for you have not passed this way before now if you’ve seen Indiana Jones you know that the Lord’s holy and you can’t open it or touch it right or you’ll be Zapped or vaporized um but here he’s saying don’t even come close to it but there’s a different reason in this case uh in this case it has to do with them being able to see where to go if they get too close they won’t be able to navigate where God’s leading them God’s making it very clear don’t get ahead of me stay behind me where I lead you know how tempting is it when uh when we’re trying to follow the lord and the things that we believe the Lord’s called us to in our lives how easy is it to get out before him you know to to just go for it you know I know I made I’ve made that mistake plenty of times uh where I where I think I’ve heard and I just charge uh and I don’t wait to see what the Lord’s doing I don’t keep enough distance and remain patient enough uh and it doesn’t mean God’s Grace isn’t sufficient and that he he can’t make all things new and renew us uh but there’s a lot of mistakes that get made you know I’ve been listening to uh the a great podcast the Explorers podcast I don’t know if anyone’s uh listened to it I’m I’m obsessed with it right now uh it’s all the greatest explorers and uh Explorations in the that have happened in the history of the world it’s great I I highly recommended it’s clean it’s uh it’s just really really really interesting uh but one thing you you get very clear from here is that uh the the navigation is incredibly important right navigation matters and what God’s saying is is if you get too close and even worse if you get out ahead of me you’re not going to have any idea where to go because you may think you’ve been here before but you haven’t been here before but I know where you should need to go I know how to lead you wait on me wait on the Lord how often does the scripture tell us to to wait on the Lord to wait on him and that’s what he’s teaching his people he’s teaching them don’t get out ahead of me that’s your temp that’s going to be the Temptation your Temptation even as you get into this land even further uh and and there’s more stress uh there’s more worry and there’s more anxiety the the Temptation is going to be to get out ahead of me and to take action for yourself don’t do it wait on me follow where I am leading you stay enough behind me that you can see the right way to go too close and you’re not going to be able to tell too close things get confusing
for us situations we need to give enough space and time to see what God’s really doing see what he’s really doing spend time and prayer and discernment about where he’s leading before just taking the charge even though it’s tempting it’s tempting to jump to conclusions to try to solve problems on our owns immediately but God may be leading in a way different way than you think you have to give him the time and the space Cas to lead you in the right direction and then verses five and six we told this then Joshua said to the people consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you and Joshua said to the priests take up the Ark of the Covenant and pass on before the people so they took up the Ark of the Covenant and went before the people so this is the third command that the people have received from Joshua right about what they’re uh what they’re supposed to do the third command was this consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you consecrate yourselves what what does that mean consecrate yourselves well we’re not told exactly Joshua doesn’t tell them how they’re to consecrate themselves which which leads us then to conclude that it’s going back to the the uh the law of God that God had given to Moses and so they to purify themselves they’re to wash there to prepare because of this incredible holy moment that’s coming there to be holy before a holy God as he leads them into this amazing work of parting of of stopping up the Jordan River so that his people can cross over Exodus 3113 though tells us this because there’s a Temptation when we think about consecrating yourselves that it’s by the act of us doing that we’re purified but listen to what God Said in Exodus 31:13 when he was giving Moses these laws and here it’s at the end where he’s talking about the Sabbath specifically he says above all you shall keep my sabbaths for this is a sign between you between me and you throughout your Generations that you may know that I the Lord sanctify you it’s the same word to purify to consecrate to sanctify it’s the Lord who does the sanctifying work in their lives but they’re to wait on him and to receive his sanctification and he gave them ways the things they were to do in order to to make that a holy moment in their lives but it’s his work to sanctify them to make them worthy of the incredible moment of God’s miraculous work that he’s about to do in their lives this wonder which means that it’s a A surpassing or extraordinary it’s more than the natural order of things in other words a surpassing of the ordinary and so people who try to explain this as a moment where uh they’ll say maybe you know it’s true that the Jordan River exists on a fault line and there have been times in history where there’s been earthquakes and in those earthquakes the water has stopped it’s happened but nowhere in the scripture does it God tell us that he did it that way uh what he tells us is this was a super natural moment it was beyond the natural that he was doing this he wanted to make it very clear to his people that this is my work in your life don’t confuse it even if it was an earthquake God could still say it was his uh but he doesn’t want them to even be mistaken in any way he wants them to know that this is his work in their lives and for it they’re to be pure and holy and that only he can make them pure and holy for this work and so you can see how painstakingly God is teaching them to trust him in this seemingly impossible task of moving two and a half million people across a river he’s teaching them just to trust him you can trust me I’m worthy of your trust I’m going to take care of you he’s teaching them to obey his word word even when it probably doesn’t make much sense right it wouldn’t have made much sense to to any of us if God had said hey two and a half million people go and I’m going to stop up I’m going to stop up the uh the river and you’re going to be able to pass right through
it this is going to come in handy especially for them as they come into the land and they’re hearing lots of other voices they’re hearing voices of the culture around them of those Nations that we read about and what their gods say and what their God’s promise and they’re going to be tempted to listen to those words because God’s words doesn’t seem to make much sense but he’s teaching them now to obey his word that you can trust me follow it and finally to follow after him to not get out ahead of him not to get too close so that they can’t see where he’s leading but to follow him alone friends that’s exactly what the Lord is teaching us but in a little bit of a different way you know today in the in the the calendar of of the church uh and church history uh it is uh today is uh the Good Shepherd Sunday which is incredibly appropriate as we’re looking at Joshua 3 because I believe uh that what God is telling us and what Jesus is teaching us as a people uh and as a church is to trust him as our Good Shepherd to trust that he’s good to obey his voice alone in our lives and to follow after his grace always so to trust Jesus as our Good Shepherd that’s the trick isn’t it to trust that you know we can believe that uh Jesus is a Shepherd but do we really believe that he’s the Good Shepherd that what he has for us is good that what he’s planning for us is something that’s better for us than anything that we could have ever hoped or imagined because the evidence around us doesn’t always lead to that conclusion does
it and the truth is talk is
cheap how how many of us have had folks in our lives that have talked a good game made lots of promises only not to deliver to leave us
disappointed I’m sure we’ve all experienced that so how can we trust Jesus as the Good Shepherd what makes him any different what makes him different in a major way is that we can trust Jesus as the Good Shepherd because he’s the only Shepherd who will will L laid his life down for the Sheep we can trust him because he bought our trust with his life he willingly gave himself sacrificed himself for the Forgiveness of our sins that we may live eternally with him that we may be forgiven and washed clean and made pure Sanctified because we’re clothed in the righteousness of Christ we can trust him because he’s good because he has proven it once and for all on the cross and friends we can trust him we can trust him even when it when it looks like it’s impossible even when it looks like there’s no possible way to uh that we can get this church moved over to a new location for a time and then go back again uh worship at a different time we’re just going to lose everybody believe me I had to tell myself that God was good the whole time and I didn’t always believe him but he proved it once and for all on the cross that he’s good friends whatever you’re facing whatever whatever Jordan River lies daunting in front of you maybe it’s a relationship maybe it’s a relationship that you think just can’t be mended that you feel is broken Beyond
repair Jesus is the Good Shepherd you can trust him with it you can trust him to lead you Faithfully in it that reconciliation is possible the waters can be parted healing can be had Brokenness can be healed that’s the work of the Gospel that’s the work of our Good Shepherd in our lives he’s also teaching us to obey his voice alone in our
lives you know the temptation just like the the Israelites fa the temptation of hearing all the voices of all the other claims of truth that were all around them hearing all the claims about uh about what their gods could do for them we’re going to read a lot about that in the future the fertility Cults uh that if you just can manipulate this God in just the right way by doing stuff that you probably really want to be doing anyway um then you can manipulate this God to do what you what you want them to do well we hear voices in our culture all the time all kinds of competing truth claims don’t we I mean I can’t even begin to number them now because constantly we’re barraged with other voices in our lives that aren’t the word of the Good Shepherd it’s not his voice in our ears so what is he doing you know think think about something as as simple as uh as as premarital sex now and living with someone and this isn’t this isn’t judgment uh God redeems all things his grace is sufficient for all of us but I can’t tell you how many people I talk to and what the norm is now uh is that it’s better it’s wiser for us to live together for us to have sex first uh as a couple because then we’ll kind of be able able to figure out if we’re we’re a good match and a good fit uh and then things will be we’ll have a more successful marriage that’s the normal thinking now speaking otherwise I is sounds crazy to people but that’s not the voice of our Good Shepherd and God’s told us that that’s not what’s good for us that’s not what’s best for us that he’s called us together uh in in a faithful marriage that then comes with the enjoyment of that relationship and sex again that’s not judgment that that’s not that God doesn’t redeem us and that we don’t make mistakes we’re not pure on our own but we can’t listen to the voices of the culture around us and receive them as the norm we have to learn to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd what’s he calling us to do in this time is to learn to listen to his voice maybe to stop talking so much and listen Maybe it’s to stop watching the news so much and to listen to his voice maybe it’s to stop reading the social media post as much and to listen to his voice to be formed by his voice and not by what’s going on in the culture around us that’s what he’s given us this time for to be formed by his voice that we may learn it and when he calls that we would be quick to listen and follow where he’s leading and finally he’s calling us to follow after his grace alone friends we’ve been given something much better than the Ark of the testimony and even The Mercy Seat of God we’ve been given the testimony himself Jesus is the fulfillment of what God was trying to present to his people the seat of Mercy resides in Jesus and he’s saying never get out in front of me I’m the one who consecrates you I’m the one who purifies you I am the one who who makes you
pure never get out ahead of my grace may it always be the thing that’s guiding you and in front of you always that you might be a great Grace filled people that you might receive the other Sinners around you with the same Grace that you yourself has received that’s the kind of people he wants us to be not a people of self-righteous Judgment of the world around us yes a people who walk in truth but a people who walk in that truth in love and grace and mercy for those who are around us friends this is what the Lord is teaching us just as he was teaching his people he’s teaching us to trust that he is our Good Shepherd and that he can be trusted because he laid down his life for us he’s teaching us to obey his voice alone and to recognize it and he’s teaching us to follow his grace always never getting in front of it that we may be ready for the people that he’s calling us to reach when we make it back to that building and even now by his grace thanks be to God Amen
