Flood Stage Faith

Flood Stage Faith

Joshua 3:1-17

Illus. 20/20. 

In Joshua chapter three the Israelites are being led by Joshua and are given directives from the Lord to enter a new territory, this was a promised territory. This land was long awaited, and for the 40 years prior to this time, the Israelites had been wandering in the desert due to their lack of faith. The Lord had promised them a particular land 40 years prior, but in order to enter that promised land they needed great faith. 

What we find is that the people were previously found faithless choosing fear over faith, and with that being the case, that entire generation, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, would pass away. 

In Deuteronomy chapters 1 and 2, Moses begins to recount the journey of the Israelites. In the eleventh month of the fortieth year, God speaks to Moses in Deuteronomy 2 and said, “You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north.”

The time for their wandering was up, and after 40 years in the desert, the Lord told them they had wandered long enough, it was time for them to get back to the place He had prepared for and promised to them! In order to get to that place, they would need a great measure of what they clearly lacked in the past; they would need great faith!

In Joshua chapter 1:2-3, the Lord gave very specific orders to Joshua: telling him to arise, he and all the people, that they were to get ready to cross the Jordan river into the land God was giving to the Israelites. Not only this, but the Lord also assured Joshua that He would give him every place he set his foot. 

Interestingly, the place Joshua and the Israelites would need to set their feet prior to entering the place of God’s promise, was a raging river at flood stage. It was not a trickling stream, but the type of river that would seem uncrossable, but God would show Joshua and the Israelites that with Him, all things are possible. 

The people had previously faltered in faith, but it was now time for them to trust God no matter what they faced. For Joshua and the Israelites, hindsight was producing insight and an opportunity for them to walk by faith rather than the sight of a flood stage river. 

Read Joshua 3:1-17

For Joshua and the Israelites, God was going to make a way where there seemed to be no way, yet the requirement as they looked at a raging river at flood stage, was flood stage faith. God was leading them back to the place they should have been 40 year prior but were unable due to a lack of faith, and the key ingredient to their passing through and into God’s promise, was faith. 

I. Follow the Lord Like Never Before 

Joshua 3:2-4, After three days the officers went throughout the camp, giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between you and the ark; do not go near it.”

• In verse 2 we see that as the people arrived to the  Jordan river, the place where they would cross, with the other side in sight, they camped overnight, for three days. This would be a time of preparation, of prayer, and consecration, which means to “set apart, or to “prepare.”  

• Here they were, across the river from the land of promise, the place they desired and were destined to be. But at their arrival, they are required to wait.  Why wait? Why not go for it? We are right here, why the delay?

• In it all God had more to do and more to say, if this was going to happen, it needed to be in accordance with God’s will and God’s way. 

Illus. Fast pass!

Psalm 27:13-14, I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!

• Previously, the people lost heart. They began to question whether or not they would see God’s goodness, whether or not He would do what He said He would do. 

Illus. 12 spies. 

• After three days (Verse 2), the people are told that they would see the ark of the covenant, and when they saw it on the move, they would need to move from their positions and follow it. 

• The Ark of the Covenant had a specific purpose amongst the people. It was built according to God’s instruction and was the representation and place appropriated to God’s presence among the people. 

• When the place of God’s presence moved, the people were to follow, but they weren’t to move until it moved.

Joshua 3:4, Do not come near it, so that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.

Isaiah 43:19, “Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go…”

• For us today, we know we are in a season like never before, and what that means is that we need to follow like never before. 

Romans 8:14, For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

• Far too often we make assumptions regarding what is good, the way for us, and the timing of such. 

• Leave room in your life for God to lead and wait until you can see clearly. 

Isaiah 43:19, “Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

• So often we don’t see what the Lord is doing because we are getting ahead of Him. Pushing rather than following. Trying to lead, rather than willingly being led. 

• The question for you today is are you getting out ahead of the Lord? Do you need some divine distancing so that you can see Him move clearly, so that you are aware of the new He desires to do and is doing?

Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go…”

Illus. Couldn’t See.

• In verse 5, Joshua tells the people, “consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”

• This word consecrate means to “set apart” or “prepare.” In preparation, they ready themselves for what the Lord will do. 

1. Stand Where He Sends

Joshua 3:7-8, Now the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they will know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. So you shall command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” 

• The priests, who were leading the way, were to carry the ark of the covenant into the Jordan river and stand in it, alongside 12 men from the tribes of Israel.  

• The people were told that they would know God was among them and would make a way for them because when the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant set foot in the river, the waters flowing downstream would be cut off and would stand up in one heap. 

• The people were being told one thing but were looking down at another. 

• They were looking down at a raging river Verse 15 says that the Jordan was at “flood stage.”

• The Israelites weren’t stepping into a trickling stream. They were stepping into a raging river. It would be deeper, wider, and more aggressive, more impossible and impassible than at any other time. 

• And it was at that time, at flood stage, where the Lord calls them to walk by faith and in verse 10 made sure they knew that what was about to take place was how they would know that He was among them and would continue to make a way for them. 

• What the priests would need to do was stand where the Lord was sending them, and the place He was sending them to stand was into the raging river. 

• They were to proceed forward with flood stage faith. When they got there, they were to stand still and wait. What they would see was God’s hand, and His will revealed. 

• They were to put both feet in and the waters would divide. They could not see where, they did not know how, but they knew who. 

• For me and for you there are many times where the situation can seem the same. We are called to walk by faith and not by sight, but in the midst of deep difficulty, it can seem that we are walking into a raging river. 

Illus. 40 years earlier… 

Hebrews 11:6, And without faith it is impossible to please Him…

• God was calling them to walk by faith, to take Him at His Word, to stand where He sent before they would see. 

• And I believe that is the call for you and for me currently, to stand in the place where He sends before we see. 

• To walk by faith, not by sight currently, to take God at His word, no matter what it looks like or the way things seem.

• The fact that the waters were at flood stage could have been a reason for them to wait a few more days.

• Yes, we know the Ark of the Covenant is moving, but its headed toward deep waters. Let’s see what things look like next week, let’s wait until next season..

• 40 years earlier the thought of various types of “flood waters” stopped them…Not this time!

Joshua 3:15-17 

• Joshua, the priests, and the people took God at His word, and God was true to His word. 

• As soon as the feet of the priests touched the water’s edge, God stopped up the waters a great distance away. 

• They stepped in across from Jericho, but God was working upstream and making a way a great distance away. 

1. In All Your Ways Acknowledge Him

Illus. God was working out of sight.

• When given instruction, questions come: “You want me to do what?” “To go where?” “To tell them that?” “To take a stand for what issue?”

• I don’t see it…Likely, God is working upstream! Upriver, where you can’t see. 

• To acknowledge means to show, or express recognition, or realization of someone or something.

Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

• The Hebrew word used for acknowledge means “to know,” “to learn and know,” “to know by experience,” or “to consider.”

• When you acknowledge God, you acknowledge that He is working, sometimes it is clearly evident, other times it is upstream, but He is always working. 

• In God’s word, there is much we can see, in our lives there is much we can know personally. From early on, over the course of time, up to and into the year 2020, to 2021 and beyond. 

• God has done great things. In all your ways acknowledge Him. Acknowledge that He is good as you proceed forward and acknowledge that He has been good as you look back. 

Psalm 105:5, Remember His wonders which He has done…

• After crossing over the Jordan River, the Israelites would do just that. 

• In Joshua chapter 4 the Lord told Joshua to choose twelve men from each tribe, they were to go back into the middle of the Jordan River while the priests were still standing in it and ground still dry and pick up 12 large stones. 

• These stones would be taken over into the place they were going to camp on the other side of the river they had just crossed. 

• Joshua set up the 12 stones as a memorial, as a sign amongst the people, and a sign for the generations, and a sign to Israel forever (4:7), that the Lord made a way for them when their seemed to be no way. 

Illus. Remember!

Joshua 3

Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and he and all the sons of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they lodged there before they crossed. At the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp; and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. However, there shall be between you and it a distance of about 2,000 cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which 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 spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people. Now the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. You shall, moreover, command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” Then Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God.” Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan. Now then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above will stand in one heap.” So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people, and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. And 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 crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.