If you would turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Joshua. If you're just joining us today or visiting with us, we've been considering a series through the book of Joshua, and we have come now to the third chapter. So we will read now Joshua 3. Let us hear God's own word. Early in the morning, Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. 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 priests who are Levites 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 a thousand yards between you and the ark. Do not go near it. Joshua told the people, Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you. 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. 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 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 joshua said to the israelites come here and listen to the words of the lord your god 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. See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. Now then choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 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. So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 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. 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 Arabah, the salt sea, was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 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. Thus far, the reading of God's word, may he bless it to us. It's interesting, as chapter 3 begins, it's almost as if the story of Rahab hasn't happened. We're picking up directly after chapter 1. It's almost as if it's in a parentheses. And now we return right back to where we were at the end of chapter 1. If you want to look back with me at Joshua 1, verse 11. Joshua orders the officers of the people, go through the camp and tell the people, get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land your Lord, your God, is giving you for your own. And as we begin this story, we're told that those three days have passed and new instructions are being given to them. They're to prepare to move out and follow the ark when they see it go through the camp. And they're also to prepare themselves for an amazing thing that the Lord will do. Now when I thought of this amazing thing, I thought of magicians' acts. I don't know if you're like me, I like watching magicians perform their tricks. You know there's a trick to it. You know they really don't have the power to do what they're doing. and you watch the whole time trying to figure out exactly how they're tricking you. And I enjoy doing that. I enjoyed it even more when they came out a number of years ago with a series that revealed these secrets so I could feel like less of an idiot and see how they were being done and how they were being performed. And of course we know that magicians are just doing illusions, they're just doing tricks. They don't have any real power and they're doing it for the sake of entertainment. But here Joshua says, prepare yourself for an amazing story. Prepare yourself for an amazing work that the Lord is going to do among you. And it's not just so that he can do it for the sake of doing it. There's a message in this miracle. And I would submit to you that this message has three points. It's nice that it works out that way. But I say that the message in the miracle in the first place is God's promise to Joshua. God's promise to Joshua. In the second place, the message talks of God's presence with his people. His presence with his people. And finally, this message in the miracle is about God's power to deliver. So let's consider first God's promise to Joshua. The Lord says, today I'm going to begin to exalt you before the people and to show them that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. Again, this harkens back to chapter 1. If we flip back again, chapter 1, verse 5, what does the Lord say to Joshua? He says, No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. This was the promise that came to Joshua, remember, from the Lord, that he would be with him as he was with Moses. and that was also the prayer of the people we look at verse 17 of chapter 1 just as we fully obeyed moses so we will obey you only may the lord your god be with you as he was with moses there's the promise from god there's the prayer from his people that that might be the case and now we have god saying today i will begin to make that promise known i will begin to exalt you among the people so that they might know that i'm with you as I was with Moses. And if we go back to our chapter and we look at what the Lord says to him, after finishing saying this, he says in chapter 3, verse 8, Tell the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant when you reach the end of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river. So he tells them, I'm about to exalt you. I'm about to show the people that as I was with Moses, so I am with you. And he begins by giving him an instruction, a word to speak to the people. Now, you might be asking, how is that going to show that the Lord is with him as he was with Moses? Isn't it the Jordan River, isn't it that crossing that's going to show that the Lord is with Joshua? Well, that's true, but what was different about God's relation with Moses? What was different about how God interacted with Moses? What was unique about him as a leader? We get a little bit of an insight into that. Because there was an occasion when Moses' leadership was questioned. And not by grumbling Israelites, but by Miriam and Aaron. They were grumbling about his Cushite wife. He said, does the Lord really just speak through Moses? After all, doesn't he speak through us too? And the Lord came to all three of them, to Moses, to Miriam, and Aaron. and he said, come to the tent of meeting. I'm going to talk to all three of you. And this is what it says in Numbers 12. Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud. He stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward, he said, listen to my words. When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions. I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles. He sees the form of the Lord. There was something unique about how God interacted with Moses, his servant. He said, I didn't speak to him in dreams. I didn't speak to him in visions. I spoke to him clearly. He saw me face to face. And now the people are going to see that the Lord truly speaks to Joshua in a similar way. He doesn't talk to the Lord in visions. He doesn't talk to the Lord in dreams. The Lord comes directly to him and tells him what he will have his people do. That's how the Lord begins to exalt Joshua in the eyes of the people, to show that he is with him as he was with Moses. His word goes forward clearly through Joshua. And his word will be proven true as our story moves along. It isn't that how we always know who is coming from God. Who he has sent. For his messengers speak clearly and without riddles. And Moses said, even when he was alive, there's a prophet coming. There's a prophet coming that the Lord will raise up. Deuteronomy 18 says, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me, Moses says, from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb in the day of the assembly when he said, Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God, nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die. The Lord said to me, What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to an account. Moses is saying, there's a prophet like me who's coming after me. And when the Lord Jesus Christ was doing his earthly ministry, some people in the crowds recognized him truly as this prophet. The prophet who came into the world to speak the word of God. He came from among his brothers, but Moses said he must listen to him because he's been somewhere I haven't been. He comes from the throne room of heaven itself. He has seen the Father. That's the point Christ makes. I've seen the Father, I know His words, I bring them to you. That's the character of the true messenger of God. That's the character of the word we have from God today. The Bible speaks clearly to us and without riddles. Certainly there are parts that are harder to understand than others, but the Lord still speaks clearly through His servants. Because He will not have His word return void. And here He speaks clearly through Joshua, His servant. And what does Joshua do? He tells the people what they're to do. They're to prepare themselves for the work that the Lord is doing. The priests are to take the ark and carry it into the Jordan River. That's the message. That's the promise to Joshua. But it's not just a promise to Joshua. It's a promise of God's presence with his people. Because what are the people reminded of when Joshua speaks to them? What are they reminded of about the character of their God? First of all, that he's the Lord of all the earth. That's the first point that's made, and it's going to become obvious when they come to the Jordan River who the Lord of all the earth is, because the waters will divide before him. But the point isn't just that he's the Lord of the earth. He's Jehovah, the God of all the earth. He's known to them. They know his name. He's personal to them. he's not just the lord over all the earth he's the lord their god that phrase is repeated not only is he the lord of the earth he's jehovah their god the god who has made a covenant with them the covenant to be with them to enter into the land and to drive out their enemies before them that's the god who they know not just the god who created the whole world and has dominion over it and holds it in their hands but he's their god for their protection and the symbol of that that presence with his people is seen in the ark of the covenant it's a symbol of god's covenant promises to his people and that phrase is repeated over and over again in this passage not just jehovah the lord not just the lord their god but the ark of the covenant a reminder of that promise that their god has made to them that he will be with them he will not leave them or forsake them in the land that he is their god that he has made a covenant with them and it's also a reminder that he dwells with them because they were promised that the lord dwelt between the cherubim of the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant he dwelt in the most holy place of the tabernacle when they set up the tabernacle in the wilderness they would see the cloud descend on it that the glory would fill the tabernacle they knew that the lord was among them and he promises as we go forward you will see that the lord goes with you that he is present with you that he is strong to save but the ark is also a reminder that god is a holy god he is their covenant lord he is their god but he is also holy look what they're told to do initially you're to follow the ark but in verse four you will know which way to go since you haven't been that way before but keep a distance of about a thousand yards between you and the ark do not go near it i went on map quest to see how far would a thousand yards be from here to give you some idea. Be about from here down to North Broadway School on the corner. When you drive home or drive out, take a look down there and look at how far that is. It's a little over half a mile, if my math is right. It's a long ways away. I don't know about you, but I can't see things that well about a half a mile away, all the way down at that corner. That's how far they had to stay away from the ark. That's how far it was to be away from them. That's how far behind they were to follow. Because the ark is a symbol of a holy God. Remember, maybe as I was reading this also, you were thinking of maybe a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark, where you see the Ark of the Covenant, and you get a clear picture of it. It's all gold, and the angel's on the top, and it looks glorious. But you know that the people of Israel never would have seen the Ark of the Covenant? That's the part of the problem of going through these historical books because the narrator will sometimes assume you know things that you may or may not know. But there were very specific instructions for how the Ark was to be handled by the people of God. Everywhere they camped, they set up the tabernacle. Now, kids, that's a fancy way of saying tent. It was like having church in a big tent. And every place they went, they would set up the tent. And there was furniture inside the tent, and they were all supposed to set it up. And every time the camp went on the move, that tent had to be packed up. And as God gave very specific instructions on how it was to be built, he also gave very specific instructions on how it was to be taken apart. And when the camp was going to be moving, the high priest and his sons had to pack up everything that was inside the tabernacle. They had to cover it. They covered it in a colored cloth so they would know what it was. And then they covered it with some kind of goat skin or porpoise hide, depending on how you translate it, some kind of animal covering to protect it. But the Ark of the Covenant was in the most holy place behind the veil. In the room that no one was allowed to enter, except for the high priest, except once a year. And Hebrews reminds us, never without blood. It was the most holy place where God dwelt between the cherubim. And when it was time to move the tabernacle, they still weren't allowed to go into that room. They had to take down that veil that stood between them and the Ark of the Covenant and they had to cover the Ark with that veil as they went in. And once they'd covered it in a veil, like everything else, they had to cover it with a hide covering. But after they covered it with a hide covering, then they put a blue cloth over it. And once Aaron and his sons had packed the Ark as it was to be packed, only then could the Levites then come in who were supposed to carry it. because even though they were the ones that were assigned to carry the ark, God said they may not touch it, they may not look at it. Only Aaron and his sons could have anything to do with the covering of the ark, and only these Levites could have anything to do with carrying the ark. And so when all the temple implements went out, I'm sorry, the tabernacle, when all the implements went out, they were all covered, except for the blue covering on the ark of the covenant that showed the people clearly what that was. Even though they never could see it, they knew what was under that blue covering. And every time the camp moved out, the Ark of the Covenant would go before the people. And every time they were about to move out, Moses would blow, I'm sorry, the high priest would blow the silver trumpet. And Moses would say out loud, Rise up, O Lord. May your enemies be scattered, may your foes flee before you. Every time they set out, Moses would say that. We don't know if they said that as they moved out here, but it certainly would be true, for God promised as the ark moved out, so would their enemies be scattered before him. And so this procession moves on, God's presence with his people, and they move on to the Jordan River far behind a reminder of God's presence but a reminder that God is also holy and this is not without a purpose the New Testament tells us what is the significance of this why did they have to stay away from it why did it have to stay covered what is the purpose of this what is the message what did this mean if you'd like you can turn with me to Hebrews chapter 9 hebrews chapter 9 when we're when we're told what the meaning of the earthly worship in the tabernacle was why this separation why was the ark always veiled why was there always separation between where god sat and his people and in hebrews chapter 9 we're told what did what that worship meant. I'm going to read now beginning at verse 4 of Hebrews chapter 9. Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand, the table, and the consecrated bread. This was called the holy place. Behind the second curtain was a room called the most holy place, which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered Ark of the Covenant. This Ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the Covenant. Above the Ark were the cherubim of the glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now. When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins of the people, sins the people had committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the most holy place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing this is an illustration for the present time indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper they are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings external regulations applying until the time of the new order and then skipping down to verse 24 for christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one. He entered heaven itself now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again the way the high priest enters the most holy place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as a man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people and he will appear a second time not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. That's the meaning of this separation. That's why the veil remained up. That's why every time the priest went in to offer blood that was not his own, He came out and closed the veil again. And that veil never came down as long as the tabernacle was up as a reminder that that sacrifice had to be offered again and again and again, that a holy people, that a holy God had to be separated from an unholy people. That's why when Christ enters in, not to the earthly tabernacle, but to the heavenly tabernacle with his own precious blood, that that once-for-all sacrifice is accomplished. And what happened to that veil when Christ died? It was torn from top to bottom. Why is that? The need for that atonement was gone. The need for the reminder was gone because the reality had been achieved in heaven. Christ had entered in to the most holy place in heaven and had ended the sacrifice that continually needed to be offered. And so the veil was torn and the Ark of the Covenant was seen. That veil was removed. We get that figuratively too in Revelations 12. If you want to flip over with me to Revelation, I'm sorry, chapter 11. When the seventh trumpet is blown and the 24 elders cry out to the Lord, giving thanks to the Lord our God. Then we read in Revelation 11, verse 19, Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm. There we see the picture, prophetically in heaven, of that veil being torn and the ark of the covenant being exposed. A sign once again that Christ has entered in to the most holy place. That that obstacle for us has been removed. That he has offered his own blood as a sacrifice for sin. And now there is no separation. We don't have to look at God far away. He does not say to us, don't come near. Don't look at the holy things. Don't touch them lest you die. He says, come. Draw near. For the sacrifice has been made. This is the God of earth. The God of the covenant. This was a type and a shadow of what would come. It was a reminder that God was with his people, but he was holy and to be feared and that they needed a mediator to allow them to draw near. But this miracle also reminded them that God is powerful to save, powerful to deliver his people. Because what happens when this symbol of God's abode with his people touches the waters of the Jordan? They're told that when you go into the land, your enemies will be cut off from before you, that God will drive them out. But they're not in the land yet. And before we see the power, we encounter a problem. The Jordan is at a flood stage. Now, it's helpful a lot of times to live in California because a lot of the same environmental factors happen here that happen in Palestine. This was probably about April. And what happens at about April? Well, you get some rain, which helps flood the rivers, but you also get the snow and the mountains melting. And as the snowpack melts in Palestine, much as it does in California, that water begins to run into the rivers, and the rivers become swollen. Maybe you've talked to people who've gone to the Holy Land and have seen the Jordan River when it's not at its flood stage, and it can be a little bit of a disappointment. sometimes it's just a little trickle of water. But at this time, it wasn't a little trickle of water. It was a mighty torrent that came down from the mountains as high as 9,000 feet in Mount Lebanon, and we're going down to the Dead Sea, which is about 1,200 feet below sea level. So not only is there a lot of water flowing into the Jordan River Valley at this time, it's going way fast downhill. It's a rushing river. It's a dangerous river. We don't know exactly where they crossed, so we don't know exactly what geographic factors to consider. But we do know that the river was wide, the river was deep, and it was moving fast. And it could not be crossed by so many people safely. Maybe it seems a little harsh of Joshua then to tell these Levites who are carrying this big golden box to go step into a rushing river. It would have been heavy. And they would have been marching right towards a fast-moving river. And as the people far behind saw them step one foot into the river, suddenly this raging river vanishes from sight. There's some debate about where this town is, Adam, that's referred to, where the waters heap up, but we are told it's a great distance away. Far, far upstream, the river stops flowing. and it stops flowing all the way downstream. The river, for all intents and purposes, disappears, and the people a half mile back get a very good view of just how dry the river becomes. Some people have suggested, well, you know, we know of at least two landslides that occurred way north of this spot, and so maybe the river was just cut off by a landslide and just blocked the water, and it's easily explainable. To them, I'd say, do you understand dry ground? You can't stand carrying, I submit to you, a huge gold box in mud. That's not what happens. They're able to walk out to the middle of this river valley and stand on dry ground, and the entire nation is able to pass between them. What's happening here? Well, it's poetically described for us in Psalm 114. You don't need to turn there. I'll read it for you. but this is a description of what happened at the Jordan River that day. The psalmist writes, When Israel came out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue, Judah became God's sanctuary, Israel his dominion. The sea looked and fled. The Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. Why was it, O sea, that you fled? O Jordan, that you turned back? You mountains that you skipped like rams, you hills like lambs. Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob who turned the rock into a pool, the hard rock into springs of water. Poetically, the psalmist says what happened was the Jordan River ran away from the presence of the God of Jacob. It fled the presence of the Lord. And this wonder was to tell the people that as these waters scattered before the Lord, so the people in this land will scatter before him. He is powerful to deliver. He's powerful to save. And the earth trembles at the presence of the Lord. We certainly see that when Jesus dies on the cross, what happens? The earth trembles at the presence of the Lord. God has a promise to his people. He's present with his people. He's powerful to deliver his people. And this same God that was able to turn back the waters of the Jordan is a God who came for you and promises that he will scatter your foes before you. And that when, as we sang in our hymn, when we tread the verge of Jordan, we will enter into the promised land by the way that's been opened for us by Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. our father in heaven we marvel at your mighty deeds we marvel at the power you are able to display and it's humbling to think Lord that this same power that was arrayed in Palestine so many years ago is the power that is at work for us that you are still a God who promises to lead his people who is present with us and is powerful to deliver us. We thank you, Lord, that we could see this picture of the deliverance that comes to us in Jesus Christ. That we may now enter most holy place with boldness through the veil that is his body and enter into that place of rest, that place of communion with you where we need not go in in fear but can go in boldly. because the sacrifice has been made. The altar fires have been put out. You have been satisfied by the blood of your Son, and we need now fear no judgment. Thank you for such a Savior. May your Holy Spirit be at work among us, Lord, so that we might all know that salvation that's ours in Jesus Christ. And to anyone that does not know you, Lord, we know the message of Scripture is not stay away, Don't draw near, but the message has come, for the feast is prepared. May we be people who want to bring that message of deliverance of your power to a dying world. Lord, may we also be a people that look for that day of your returning. When you return, not to suffer for sin, Lord, but to bring final and full salvation to your people. Hear us, for we pray in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you.