How to Cross the Jordan River
Contents
Title: How to Cross the Jordan Text: Joshua 3:1-6
1. We must cross with patience and patience.
Joshua 3:1-2 The time of patience and waiting is a time of self-examination. Don't cry for being late, and you should know that the later it is, the more time God gives you to check yourself. We pray and get impatient when there is no answer. Sometimes I am perplexed, sometimes I feel discouraged and hopeless. Sometimes they even resent God. However, you should know that the time when there is no answer is a time for God to look back on yourself and a time to check whether you are ready to receive an answer. The Israelites are now spending three days on the Jordan River Hill. How impatient are they? I have been waiting for 40 years, but I also want to enter quickly, and the Canaanites must be looking at what is on this hill, so they must have been anxious about when they will attack. But God made them wait there for three days. He made them check whether they have the qualifications to enter the land of Canaan and whether they are living a life worthy of God. And it was thoroughly prepared. When God is quiet, it means that we take a look at ourselves.
2. We must cross with the Word ahead.
3. We must cross over with holiness.
Joshua 3:5 Another way of crossing the Jordan River is that all the people must be sanctified. Now, God is telling the Israelites to “sanctify yourselves.” The meaning of these words is, 'Sanctify yourselves, make them holy, set them apart, and offer them completely.' This is not for others to sanctify me, but for each individual to sanctify himself, sanctify himself, and set himself apart. A theologian named Lange said, ‘This is to prepare your heart for the miracle of God.’ To receive God's guidance, you must become the holy person God requires. When we encounter life's problems, we want direct answers to solving them. However, God always suggests a fundamental solution to all those problems. That is the sanctification of myself. This is because sin and the unrighteousness and uncleanness that I have are obstacles that block my relationship with God.
4. You must carry the Ark of the Covenant to cross.
Joshua 3:6 The Jordan River is the river that carries the Ark of the Covenant. ‘Menda’ here means ‘to carry a heavy load’. Jesus carried the cross. You can take it with you or you can put it on a cart. Or it can be carried by several people. But just as the priests carried the ark of the covenant, so Jesus carried the cross. Now, I pray that all of us will cross the Jordan in front of me in the way God has told us and become blessed saints who reach the blessed land of Canaan, God's grace, and heaven.