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Family Research Council is serving in the kingdom of God by championing faith, family, & freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
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Crossing the Jordan and Memorial Stones 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Today, we're crossing over into the promised land land as we read Joshua chapters 4 and 5, verse 6 of chapter 4, that this may be a0:22 sign among you when your children ask in time to come saying, what did these stones mean to you? In chapter 4, it's time to rock and roll as the children of Israel cross over the Jordan0:33 River. They pick up 12 memorial stones along the way. And in chapter 5, having entered the promised land, they're reminded of their identity with, 2 renewed rights of their covenantal0:45 relationship. Then Joshua encounters the commander of the Lord's army on the eve of battle, and he's told to take off his sandals because he is standing on holy ground. Does that sound familiar? We're gonna take a0:57 look at it. Now let me remind you again that the most important aspect of this journey is what? It's reading the word. If you're short on time, the priority should be on reading the word, not my daily1:09 guide, but the word itself. So turn the video off if you don't if you're short on time and read the word. The holy spirit is the teacher. I'm just here to guide us on this journey and encourage you on1:21 this journey. Reading the word is the most important part of the journey. Don't forget that. Now as you as you read, remember this. We're looking for principles, biblical principles, and1:33 pictures or types, biblical, or kingdom principles and, that apply to our lives today and pictures or types that illustrate the new covenant. And there are a lot1:45 of those in today's passages. I wanna go very I wanna go back very quickly to, something I unintentionally skipped over, last time at the very beginning of the book, verse 3 of chapter 1.1:56 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given you, as I said to Moses, from the wilderness and this Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, and the land of the Hittites,2:08 and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. This, is a general description of the land promise to Abraham back in Numbers2:20 chapter 34, which was, actually much more detailed. This reflects what we talked about briefly, the land covenant, which is irrevocable. Possession of the land2:32 was conditional upon their faith and obedience. Now the land described here is roughly about 150000 square miles. At Israel's zenith, when2:44 David and Solomon, when they reigned, they occupied about 50 percent of the land. Today, Israel has less than 10 percent of this land. So just keep that fact in mind as2:56 we read through God's promises to the Jewish nation regarding the land. Chapter 4 continues the narrative of the crossing of the Jordan that started back in chapter3:07 3. Verse 1, chapter 4, and it came to pass when all the nation had completely crossed over the Jordan that the Lord excuse me. The Lord spoke to Joshua saying3:19 now let me stop right there. This is a a kind of a restatement of what we, read over in chapter 3. But I wanna point out that the Hebrew word goi in verse 1 is translate can be translated as3:31 people or nation, depending on what your how your Bible translates it. But there's significance here in this that this is the first time that we see them referred to as a nation. Now the the the3:43 promise that God was going to make them a nation goes all the way back to Abraham. But now as they crossed over the Jordan into the land that promised, they were called a nation. I3:55 think it's very important. Verse 2, take for yourselves 12 men from the people, 1 man from every tribe, and command them saying, take for yourselves 12 stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place4:06 where the priest's feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight. Then Joshua called the 12 men whom he had appointed4:17 from the children of Israel, 1 man from every tribe. Then Joshua said to them, cross over before the ark of the Lord, your God, into the midst of the Jordan, and each 1 take take up a stone on his shoulder according to4:29 the number of the tribes of the children of Israel. This may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come saying, what did these stones mean to you? So the the ark the priest went first with the ark, but4:40 then they stopped in the middle. Right? So then the these 12 were told that, alright, go ahead, go out there, pick up the stones, and go ahead of the ark, crossover. Now I4:52 may sound like, a broken record, but if I do, it's because God's word continually repeats this message. We must teach the next generation5:04 about the power and the provision of God. We must be intentional. If not, we'll be led astray by the gods of this age. That's why they were putting up this memorial so that the next5:16 generation would ask, what's this about? And the parents would both be reminded and would teach their children. Now years ago, we established a, a basket of rocks. People would often5:28 ask when they come into our house, what's that? It was a Joshua basket. We, now we've not been extremely diligent in the last 10 years because it got misplaced after we had a flood. But the basket with the5:40 basket is a journal where we recorded the prayers that God had answered, and there was a corresponding rock with a number on it that went to the journal. And and I know someday someday, our5:52 kids, our grandkids are going to ask about these rocks, and we're gonna be able to tell them what we saw what we saw god do. Verse 9. Then Joshua set up 12 stones in the midst of the Jordan in the place where the6:04 priest where the feet of the priest who bore the ark of the covenant stood, and they are there to this day. Now there's some debate among the scholars whether or not there was a second group of6:15 stone set up up there in the midst of the river, but a plain reading of the text would say yes. Verse 21, then he spoke to the children of Israel saying, when your children ask their fathers in6:27 time to come saying, what are these stones? Then you shall let your children know saying Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land. For the lord your god dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had6:39 crossed over as the lord your god did to the Red Sea, which he dried up before us until we had crossed over, that all the people of the earth may know the hand of the lord that is6:51 that is mighty, that you may fear the lord your god forever. You see, every generation has a defining moment when god's power is seen by the watching world,7:03 but we are prone to forget. Subsequent generations need to be reminded of the demonstrations of God's power that came before them so that they can have the faith7:15 to believe for the great things in their generation. It's important that we pass those things along. Alright. On to chapter 5 verse 1, so it was when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the JordanRenewing Covenant Identity 7:26 and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until they had crossed over, that their hearts melted, and there was no7:37 spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel. This is exactly what God promised to do. Next, Joshua does 2 things that are essential to their identity,7:49 and quite frankly, it's a picture of the new covenant. First, he circumcises the uncircumcised male males. Verse 5, for all the people who came up out8:01 had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness on the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised. So there had been no circumcision since the, they first came out of Egypt,8:13 most probably because circumcision was a outward sign of the covenant like baptism is for us today. It's a outward sign of what has taken place in our hearts.8:25 Because of the unbelieving generation, scholars believe that circumcision was suspended or it was because they were moving around. Now in addition to the rite of circumcision, Joshua leads them in8:37 the Passover celebration in the promised land. Now just think of the timing of this, how God orchestrated all this. They cross over into the promised land, and it just happens to be at Passover time. And8:49 so they participate in the Passover celebration, which would be for, like, like for us would be the Lord's supper today. Verse 10. Now the children of Israel9:01 camped at Gilgal and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month of twilight in the plains of Jericho. And they ate I mean, just again, I just you you look at the god's timing in this. So they they cross over.9:13 Joshua didn't circumcise them before they came. It was after they crossed over, after they saw and heard what was happening. And then they participate in9:25 the Passover, immediately establishing identity. And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain on the very same day. Then the manna ceased on that9:37 day after they had eaten the produce of the land, and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they eat the food they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year. So they cross over into the promised land, the9:47 land of abundance. And what do they find? Abundance. And so the manna was no longer necessary. 1 final aspect of the chapter that IHoly Ground: Commander of the Lord's Army 9:59 wanna look at, verse 13. And it came to pass when Joshua was my Jericho that he lifted his eyes. So he's scoping things out. Scoping things out. Jericho is gonna be the first city that they take. He lifted up his eyes10:11 and looked, and behold, a man stood opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. I guess a little little unnerving. And Joshua went to him and said, are you for us or for our adversaries?10:22 So he said, no. But as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped him and said to him, what does my lord say to his servant?10:34 Then the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, take your sandal off your foot for the place where you stand is holy, and Joshua did so. Now who is it that Joshua is encountering here? Many10:46 scholars say this is a Christophany, a preincarnate Jesus Christ. It's not an angel. Feel confident about that because angels would immediately we see this throughout scripture. Angels would10:58 immediately correct someone who attempted to worship them. The commander even goes further. He says, take off your sandals because this is holy ground. Those are the same words that were spoken to Moses at11:10 the burning bush. So a few interesting observations as we, as we wrap up here. Like Moses, Joshua has a validating encounter with God. Moses with God,11:22 the mighty deliverer. Joshua with God, the conquering warrior. This is a new chapter in the history of the nation, and so we begin to see new things happening.11:34 Also, notice Joshua's question in verse 13. I find this very interesting. Are you for us or for our adversaries? Whose side are you on? In other words, you know, are are you gonna fight for us or are you fighting for11:45 them? The response, neither. I am the commander of the army of the Lord. You see, we don't enlist God on our side. We fall before him and11:57 align ourselves with him. And then then he will fight the battles. Father, we thank you for your word, and I'm just so excited, Lord, as12:09 we move into the book of Joshua. And I just pray the Holy Spirit would open our eyes and our understanding to see the principles here that have application to12:20 our lives today, these biblical spiritual principles. And, Lord, the pictures, help us to see the how all this just fits together, the illustrations of of what we're living in today in the new12:32 covenant. So, Lord, thank you for your word, and I thank you for all of those who are on this journey. Bless them immensely. Fill them with your joy, with your peace, and, and and, Lord, just12:44 encourage them in their walk with you. For we pray and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning. And until next time, keep standing on the word.12:56 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you13:08 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Crossing the Jordan and Memorial Stones7:21 Renewing Covenant Identity9:57 Holy Ground: Commander of the Lord's ArmyComments No comments yet. 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