OUR LORD WHO ASSURES US OF HIS PROVISION

In Joshua  3 verses 9 - 14, the story is told of the Israelites approaching the promised land and they were called by Joshua to listen to the word of the Lord.

Joshua explained the events that were going to  happen and declared that these events would confirm to the Isarelites that the living God was in their midst. The passage reads like this;

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.

The first assurance that the Lord gave to His people was that the ark of the covenant would go ahead of them into the hostile territory of Caanan.

The Lord promised that He would drive out all the hostile inhabitants of the land so that they could settle in the place where the Lord had promised them.

In order for the children of Israel to gain the promises of God, the Lord gave them instructions to follow that would unfurl the promises that were made to them.

The instructions given to them were that they had to pick twelve men, one from each tribe, to carry the ark of the covenant and step into the Jordan river.

This act of faith, planted as a seed on the banks of the Jordan river, would initiate the fulfillment of God's promises which were to hold back the Jordan river so they could cross and then to drive out their enemies so that they could possess the land.

This type and shadow of faith is the model we must follow in our age. If the Lord promises us something, the fulfillment of that promise will often be predicated on obeying directives that represent a hidden wisdom that the Lord has laid up for us.

The people of Israel obeyed God and stepped into the river with no evidence that the river would dry up other than that the Lord made a promise.

God's promises cannot be broken and so reacting to them like they are already fulfilled without a pause for doubt, enables their fulfillment.

Amen