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“Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out from Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over. So it was, after three days, that the officers went through the camp;” (v1,2) They had been told to wait three days and then cross over the Jordan. Sounds simple but….

We then come to the first obstacle – a swollen, raging river from spring rains, ahead of this huge number of people. God has brought them this far, how are they to cross this?

The officers commanded the people (v3-5) “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.” And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.””

One would have expected the fighting men to go first but that wasn’t God’s way. The priests bearing the ark of the covenant was to go first. The ark represented the presence of God. God was leading them, so it was right for them to follow Him. The command went on, ‘when you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, the priests and Levites bearing it, you shall set out after it’ they were to leave a space of about two thousand cubits by measure. This was to respect the presence of God and to keep a clear view of it so they would know the way and keep their eyes on God who went before them. They were to sanctify themselves, to separate themselves from common things and concentrate on the LORD. God was going to make the apparent impossible, possible.

Joshua told the priests to take the ark and crossover first (v6). No doubt this was on God’s instructions as he had been told in 1:8 to meditate day and night on the book of the law and obey it. This was a real step of faith, don’t forget the river was swollen and raging high.

God encouraged Joshua saying, “This day 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. You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.’” (v7,8)

What an amazing word of encouragement to Joshua, ‘I will exalt you that they may know that as I was with Moses, I will be with you.’ It was one thing for the leaders to say they would obey Joshua as they did Moses but far more assuring that God would be with him as he was with Moses. He instructs Joshua to stand in the Jordan when he came to the edge of the river. This was going to take great faith.

In verses 9-13 we have Joshua’s instructions to his people. He tells them that these are not his own words but the words of the LORD their God, “By this 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 crossing over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD, the LORD of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.”

This was going to be a miracle; well, it wasn’t your usual event for a raging river to stop flowing and stand as a heap. This was going to be a sight to behold, but that wasn’t going to be all. Not only were they going to see a miracle, but they were to act on it and have faith in God. The priests were to set an example, carrying the ark of the covenant, to step into the swollen river (v14,15) which was no gentle stream, but a raging river overflowing its banks during harvest. As they stepped in the waters coming upstream stood still and rose in a heap at the city of Adam near Zaretan, ‘very far away’, (thought to be around 30 miles). This was God’s doing, right on time, it was no accident nor coincidence. (v16,17) The waters that went down to the Salt (Dead) Sea were cut off and the people crossed, the priests standing firm on dry ground in the middle of the river and all Israel crossed over on dry ground until they had all crossed safely. Not only had God stopped the flow but He dried the ground for them to walk safely over. This was similar to the previous crossing of the Red Sea on leaving Egypt some 40 years before, although only Joshua and Caleb experienced that.

This was all about trust in God as it was all His doing, and the ark of the covenant was indicative of the presence of God.

We have a picture of Jesus portrayed by the ark of the covenant. Before He was born on earth His names were given and one of them was Emmanuel, God with us. We are encouraged to fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) and to walk as Jesus walked (1 John 2:6).

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About this site

I am not a qualified theologian; I am an ordinary guy who just loves reading and studying the Bible. I recognise the importance of preaching and teaching what the Bible says because it is God’s inspired message to our world. In my lifetime of around seven decades, I have listened to the some of the finest Bible teachers and preachers and learned a lot from them. I have used the New King James Version of the Bible. Please pray that God will help you to understand it. Make your own notes if that helps you. This is not meant to be a commentary or a paraphrase. I simply want to share a few thoughts which I hope will be a help to you. Make sure that you have a bible open alongside. You may not agree with my comments. If you don’t, please read the Bible and study it for yourself and ask The LORD to guide you into all truth.

One thing has come home to me that the more I read the Bible is how it all fits together. There may be up to forty different writers/speakers but there is only ONE AUTHOR, God Himself.

A bit about me –

I was born into a Christian home but my father had a mining accident and died three months before I was born. I was brought up by a godly mother and grandparents with a largely wider Christian family around us.

I have been a member of only two churches in my lifetime, both of which faithfully teach the Bible, the Word of God. I was raised at Cave Browne Evangelical Church, Ashton-in-Makerfield near Wigan (Now Hope Church, Ashton). I realised at a young age that I was a sinner and received Jesus Christ as my Saviour at the age of eight.

I was a member there until 1970 by which time I had married Dorothy, my wonderful wife, and we had two sons. We moved to Warrington, Lancashire (now Cheshire since 1974) and quickly became members of Bethesda Evangelical Church, Stockton Heath, where we remain. (See below for our Statement of Faith)

I held leadership positions in both churches and was an elder for twenty-eight years at my present church, as well as musical director, organist, pianist at each church for over fifty years in total.

Over the last sixty years I have served the Lord in one way or another. I started work at the age of sixteen and was employed in the Magistrates’ Courts for the next forty-three years, taking early retirement in 2005. After meeting a former alcoholic who had become a Christian, and whose life had been changed by The Lord Jesus Christ beyond recognition, we wrote a book, published in 2007, which we entitled Alcohol Thriller or Killer. Having gathered sponsorship we supplied copies to every prison in the UK and some elsewhere.

As a result, we were invited to tell our story at around twenty prisons throughout the UK. We completed this ministry in 2010 after which I became involved with Christian Prison Resourcing going to prisons leading Bible Studies, which I continue to do. Our passion is to see prisoners’ lives transformed, their relationships restored and their communities rebuilt as they understand the good news of Jesus Christ. I have seen many prisoners find a personal faith in Jesus Christ and witnessed the change this brings in their lives.

During all this I have had the ever-present support of my wife, Dorothy. Our sons are both married, and we have six grandchildren.

JOHN HAYES

Bethesda’s Statement of Faith

We Believe:

 In the Divine inspiration, authority and sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures. 

 That God exists eternally in three Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit to whom equal honour is due.

 That Jesus Christ, unique Son of God, became man, being begotten of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. 

 That He died for our sins, was buried and rose again for our justification. 

 That He ascended to the right hand of God and is now the all-sufficient High Priest of His people.

 That He will return personally to receive His people and judge the world in righteousness.

 That humanity has fallen and needs the Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration and sanctification.

 That fellowship with God may be restored by repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 That at death a person’s soul does not cease to exist or become unconscious.

 That the dead will be raised either to life or condemnation and that the blessedness of the forgiven and the    punishment of the unforgiven will be alike eternal.  

Our practices:

We baptise believers by immersion on their personal confession of faith, and we commemorate the Lord’s death in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (Communion) every Sunday.  

Our Goal – Is to honour and worship the Lord Jesus Christ by: 

  • Proclaiming God’s good news of forgiveness and new life through the Lord Jesus.
  • Promoting faithful Christian living.
  • Preserving pure Christian truth through the teaching of the Bible.
  • Providing for God’s people.

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