Joshua 5:1-12
After the two spies, who were aided by Rahab, returned safely to Joshua, the Israelites march to the edge of the River Jordan. God wants to make sure that the people know that He is with Joshua, so He has Joshua give the command for the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant to move forward. As soon as the feet of the priests hit the water, the water stopped flowing and started to pile up near the city named Adam, some 30 miles upstream.
The priests with the ark stood in the middle of the river while the Israelites crossed over on dry land. Once all the people crossed over safely, twelve selected men put rocks in the middle of the river as a memorial. Once that was done, the priests crossed over and as soon as their soles touched the promised land, the river water started to flow again.
Once everyone was safely on the promised land, the LORD commands that all males be circumcised. Circumcision was the sign of the covenant with the LORD that was established in Abraham’s time. So, it seems appropriate that as the people of God are about to inherit the promised land, that the sign of the covenant be re-established.
Also, the people ate the produce of the land, and the manna ceased. This, along with the water of the River Jordan being back to flood stages meant that the people no longer had the option of turning back to the wilderness nor to Egypt. The people were now fully committed to living in Canaan.
Although we tend to remember the parting of the Red Sea, the other water miracle of stopping the flow of the River Jordan was just as amazing. We know that when God shows His great powers in such public fashion, He has multiple purposes for doing so. It allowed the Israelites to safely cross over into the promised land. Also, the kings of the surrounding countries were devastated. They knew that they did not stand a chance against Israel, if the LORD was fighting their battles for them.
It also gave the Israelites enough faith and trust in the LORD to have all the males circumcised. This meant that they would be sitting ducks for any enemies to defeat them, since the males would be incapacitated to fight for three days. The fact that this command came to them immediately after the Jordan River miracle made it easier for them to trust that the LORD had the power to keep them safe.
In many gospel songs, the theme of “going over Jordan” has been used as an imagery of moving from this life to the eternal life, where there is deliverance from sin, pain and sadness, and peace and joy. However, this was not quite the case for the Israelites. There will be battles and hardship and learning how to live as God’s people.
For us, crossing over Jordan is like moving from our old life into life of faith in Jesus Christ. When we repent of our sins and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our sins are forgiven, we are accepted as people of God, and the promise of our eternal life with the LORD and other believers is given to us. However, this does not mean that as soon as we become Christians, all our problems disappear, and we live happily ever after. We still have enemies, battles to fight, and a life of obedience to the commands of our Lord. We have the responsibility to be our Lord’s witnesses to those we encounter.
We can learn from the Israelites on how to prepare ourselves to live under God’s promises.
They start their new life in the promised land by circumcising their males. For us, what is equivalent to circumcision is baptism. It is the sign that we belong to God and that God claims us as one of His. So, if there are any believers here that have not been baptized yet, I would encourage you to talk with Pastor Tim and consider getting baptized.
If you have been baptized already, then I would urge you to recommit yourselves to Jesus and to following His commands and being faithful to Him.
At this stage, the Israelites are not sure how they are going to proceed. All they know is that there is no turning back, since there is no longer manna, and the River Jordan cannot be recrossed. They can only depend on God’s promises and forge ahead.
Although we can go back to living our old lives and abandoning our faith, we ought to eliminate that option and depend on God’s promises and forge ahead.
For the Israelites at this stage, the promise of becoming a great nation is far into the future. It will not happen until the days of King David and King Solomon – Some 400 years into the future. For us, the Kingdom of God is here, but will not fully be implemented until Jesus returns sometime in the future.
For us, we not only have the promise that Jesus will establish His kingdom in full in the future, but also have the promise that when our lives are done on this earth, we will be resurrected and live forever on the new earth with our Lord, where there will be no more tears and no more sufferings
So let us step out in faith and go do the Kingdom work that has been allotted to us.
(the above is a summary of the message shared by Pastor Shun Takano during our worship on January 26, 2025.)
Japanese Congregational Church 