Amazing Proof
God’s Greeting
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith
as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and
of Jesus our Lord. 2 Peter 1:1-2
Scripture: Joshua 3:1-17
Crossing the Jordan
3
Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the
Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. 2 After three days the officers went
throughout the camp, 3 giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of
the Lord your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your
positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this
way before. But keep a distance of about a thousand yards between you and the ark; do not
go near it.”
5
Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing
things among you.”
6
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.
7
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. 8 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.’ ”
9
Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10 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. 11
See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. 12
Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 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.”
14
So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the
covenant went ahead of them. 15 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, 16 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 (the Salt Sea ) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
17
The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the
middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the
crossing on dry ground. 1
The Sermon
River flooding has been in the news this past spring and summer. On one weekend in April, the
Muskegon River overflowed its banks, causing all sorts of trouble for people who live and work
along the river. One year ago, the Grand River reached record levels in Grand Rapids. And just
this past week, rivers in the Detroit have been inundated with flooding rains.
The water in overflowing rivers has great power to cause danger to us and to ruin our homes
and possessions. I’m sure you have some pictures in your mind right now from the television
news and the newspaper.
Rewind your thoughts several thousand years ago to the events of today’s text. Once the floodstage waters of the Jordan River go over their banks, the water spreads far and wide, just like
we’ve seen in those helicopter aerial shots from this past spring. The spring rains make the fastmoving water dangerous and unpredictable.
There on the eastern bank of the swollen Jordan River is a camp full of people – not just a few
hundred people – but most likely about 2 million people. That’s roughly about as many people
who live in SW Lower Michigan – where I’m from – in cities like Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo,
Holland, Muskegon, Benton Harbor, Saugatuck and all the surrounding rural areas. All these 2
million people are camped close together along the river, with all their belongings. Plus, all their
sheep, goats, and other animals are right there with them, too. Imagine!
But the spreading water of the Jordan River is like a huge wall in right in front of them. They’ve
been traveling and camping out for forty years now, only to be stopped dead in their tracks by
this uncross-able river. Everyone in the whole multitude is sixty years old or younger, except for
Joshua and Caleb. They are the only two older people who believed that God could help them
conquer all the nations of the Promised Land when they were hoping to enter forty years ago.
Everyone else who was twenty years old or more at that time of unbelief, did not survive God’s
desert death sentence.
So, here they are – 2 million people camping together; thousands and thousands of animals, all
their belongings – wanting to get across this wild flooding river – with no bridge, with no boat,
with no rope, with no guide, and with no one knowing how to swim after wandering around in
to the desert for forty years.
1
The Holy Bible: New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984), Jos 3:1–17.
But, here comes Joshua and his officers going through the camp with an announcement. The
very next day, the priests are going to pick up the Ark of the Covenant and start moving. The
people are supposed to follow it, at a distance. This directive to follow the Ark is quite different
from what they’ve been used to doing. Usually, they only start traveling when the pillar of cloud
or fire starts moving. First, half of the tribes would start on their way, in a specific order, and
then the Ark of the Covenant was picked up and carried. After that, the second half of the tribes
got under way, in their specified order.
But with the Ark going first – that’s something different. It has always symbolized God’s
presence in the center of their camp, inside the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle. It also was a
symbol of God’s law, because it contained the two stone tables of the law that God had written
for them. So, symbols of God’s presence and of God’s law – these two were going to be the first
to move. How were these two things going to help this huge crowd get across that wild river?
Was God really present? Was he really with them? Was he really going to be able to do
something about this huge, rushing river that was blocking the way of these two million people
and all their stuff?
During these past few months, we’ve been watching our rivers rise to high levels. For some
people along those rivers, they are facing a huge amount of damage and loss. The early days of
getting back to their property after the rivers have receded are difficult – filled with sadness at
what was lost and weariness at the prospect of so much work to do.
However, the rest of us have our own kinds of Jordan Rivers. What are you up against today?
What seems like an impossibility to you?
An obvious answer often seems to be our struggle with physical challenges. We receive a
diagnosis that is worrisome and scary. It might mean learning how to manage life with a
disability. Or it might mean facing up to the fact that our time on this earth is limited and facing
our death.
We face our own “Jordan Rivers” after the death of our husbands and wives. We wonder how
we will be able to continue on and find the motivation to get up each morning without the love
of our lives at our side.
Impossible “Jordan Rivers” also come in the pain of broken relationships, the rejecting of faith in
Christ by our loved ones, financial worries, difficulties with our schoolwork, unfulfilled dreams,
and the list goes on and on. If we are brutally honest with ourselves, we have to admit that we
wonder where God is in all of these raging “Jordan Rivers” of ours. How will we get through
them? How will God help us?
Have you ever thought of your sin as one of your “Jordan Rivers?” It is, you know. It’s
absolutely impossible for you to rescue yourself from the punishment that God has decreed for
the payment of your sin. Each one of us stands on the raging riverbank of eternal death,
without the ability to survive or to save ourselves. The scariest part of that eternal death
sentence is that God’s presence is not part of that picture. It is the most lonely, awful, unending
experience that we could ever know.
Those two million Israelites must also have felt some sense of being left all alone by God as they
camped along the raging Jordan River.
But Joshua says something that offers a ray of hope, of something unexpected. He says in verse
5 that God is going to do some “Amazing Things” the very next day. He proceeds to tell them,
along with the priests, in the next few verses, about everything that is going to happen the next
day. And he has this from God’s own mouth.
First, the priests will step into the Jordan River, wild as it is, carrying that precious symbol of
God’s presence and his law – the Ark of the Covenant. God says that then the water of that
flooding Jordan River will stop flowing and start piling up in a heap. That sure does sound
amazing!
There is just one hitch to this whole amazing act of God. It hinges on the faith and obedience of
the priests and the people. The only way that anything is going to happen, is if the priests obey
and put their feet into that fast-moving water. And the people, who have all their animals and
belongings right there with them, have to believe that the water is going to stay stopped up
while they cross over, too.
God has a reason for getting his people into the land in this amazing way. He says, “This is how
you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you
the nations that are living there.”
During these last forty years, the people knew when to start to travel – whenever the pillars of
cloud or fire started to move. But now, on this amazing day, the Ark starts to move first into the
Jordan River, and then the people get ready to move into the river, too. Suddenly, something
amazing happens at the same time. That water actually stops - completely! And instantly, the
river bottom dries up completely, so that all of Israel could cross over. All just so that God’s
people would know that he is with them, and that he will drive out the nations.
This is just a single chapter in the long story of God’s care for his people, Israel. But without this
dramatic rescue, God’s people faced certain drowning in the river or death from continued
wandering in the desert. Without this rescue from the flooding Jordan River, the family line that
would produce the Messiah would be destroyed. On this day of amazing things, God saved his
people!
When Adam and Eve first sinned, they tried to hide from God, but God came to seek them out.
He didn’t leave them alone, and he especially never left them alone in their sin.
When Moses was so very fearful of meeting with Pharoah and of leading the people out of
Egypt, God told Moses his very special name – “I AM” – Yahweh – the God who is who he is –
who he always is. God was with his people throughout their desert wanderings.
On another amazing day centuries later, God continued to show that he is with his people and
able to save them when Jesus arose from the dead on Easter Sunday morning. Never before
had someone come back to life all on their own power. Never before had someone been willing
to die for the sin of whole world. Never before had anyone been able to withstand the raging
flood of God’s anger over sin and be able to survive. Never before had there been a way to live
eternally in God’s presence! Amazing!
That way to live eternally is for us, too – given to us by God. The promise is ours for the taking –
with just a single hitch. Step out in faith, just like Israel did into the river, and believe that Jesus
is the one who is able to pay the price for our sin. He’s the one who makes it possible for us to
live forever in his presence.
Those “Jordan Rivers” of ours will always be flowing in and through our lives. But what a
difference our experience is when we remember that God is always present with us.
Our illnesses and disabilities don’t necessarily go away, but being aware and confident of God’s
presence can keep us from drowning in discouragement. The amazing resurrection of Jesus is
proof that God is living among us. Knowing that God is always there gives us hope, even when
we are facing death.
When we think we are all alone after the death of our loved ones, God helps us – through his
Word, our friends, our families. The power of the resurrection is evidence of God’s almighty
power. That power is enough to keep us in his presence and to never be left alone. He is always
with his people.
God’s amazing presence can be depended on when we are discouraged, when our loved ones
stray from faith in Christ, when our financial situation becomes weak, when things are tough at
school, and when our relationships fall apart. He stakes his reputation on it. He has a
reputation for remaining with his people that has stood for thousands of years. That reputation
is based on the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ over the “Jordan River” of our sin and
death.
God has our very best interests in mind. He’s saving us from the raging rivers of total
discouragement through his presence!
We celebrate God’s amazing eternal presence in our lives whenever we celebrate the
Resurrection. There is a song that helps us put our confidence into words:
“Because he lives I can face tomorrow
Because he lives all fear is gone
Because I know he holds the future
And life is worth the living just because he lives…”
Jesus wants us to have confidence in the effectiveness of his sacrifice on the cross for us and in
the power of his resurrection. He says to the disciples and to us in Matthew 28:20, “I am with
you always, to the very end of the age.” There is no greater comfort than to know and to be
assured of the presence of Jesus in our lives, every moment of every day, through the power of
his Holy Spirit.
The death and rising and living of our Lord Jesus gives us the amazing proof of his presence for
today, and for all eternity. Our God is amazing! Amen.
Prayer
Oh, God, we are filled with wonder and thanksgiving for your never-ending presence in our lives.
We never have to ask for you to be with us – you always are with us! We only need to be
reminded. And you took care of that, too, by giving us your Word and your Spirit, who lives
within us. You are amazing! We pray this in the name of our ever-present Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Benediction
20
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the
dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for
doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be
glory forever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-2