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So now come with me, congregation, to our point of crossing. This is the outcome when the implausible comes up against the glorious riches of God in Christ Jesus. This is what happens when the impossible meets the promises of God. This is so that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord's hand is mighty, and so that you may always fear the Lord your God." Verses 23-24 add, For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan's waters were cut off." 7, "of how the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the Lord's covenant. Here's the answer God wants the next generation to know: "Tell them the story," says God in v. They were stacked there as a sign, an unmistakable marker at the very place where God had demonstrated His power to overcome any obstacle to His will.īecause stones don't naturally stack, there would come a day when Israel's children would ask for an explanation for this phenomenon. Twelve men hoisted heavy stones to their shoulders from Jordan's floor and then piled them together in the Promised Land, by God's command. Joshua did exactly what he was told, sending these select 12 men back to the riverbed of the Jordan where they were to bring back 12 stones-stones that at one point were buried, unreachable, covered by a challenge to the faith of God's people, but were now divinely accessible. After Israel crossed, God gave Joshua some very specific instructions, recorded in Joshua 4:1-3: After the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord spoke to Joshua, "Choose 12 men from the people, one man for each tribe, and command them, 'Take 12 stones from this place in the middle of the Jordan where the priests' feet are standing, carry them with you, and set them down at the place where you spend the night.' " But there was also one important act that calls for our attention this morning. I imagine there were songs and shouts as God's people worshiped and exulted in Him. Here was His signature again, in the same way, to assure His people that He was good to His word. God meant what He had said through Moses years before. God rolled back the waters of the Jordan River, just as He had done with the Red Sea. The river was impassible, its crossing impossible.īut God intervened, performing a miracle that paralleled the miracle of the Exodus from Egypt. The jungle-like grow covered by the rapid current left Israel flatfooted. When they arrived at the Jordan, they found it is flood stage, menacing in its speed and dangerous fro what it concealed.
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Their joy had been magnified by recent events. You've envisioned it, planned for it, imagined what you will do with it…but when you step in that front door, your emotions soar! To be the fulfillment of an ancient promise to Father Abraham must have been overwhelming. It must have felt surreal to finally stand in Canaan, kind of like when you unlock the door to your first home. Now it is theirs by God's steadfast promise. Slavery in Egypt and the bare survival of nomadic life are bygone experiences now.Ī new and welcome chapter opens before them! Before them lay a land richer than their dreams, more fruitful than their hopes, and more beautiful than their imagination. Behind them, they leave the wearying decades of meandering around in a barren wilderness and the tragic memories of countless funerals for an entire generation of people who would not trust God's promises. It is a poignant moment as they stride across the riverbed of the Jordan, opened for them by the miraculous power of God. The Israelites had waited forty years, but now the time had come. It is one of the climactic events in all of biblical history. We followed the example set in this passage by gathering 12 stones from the property, presented by charter members and other key leaders to be stacked together for the duration of the project.
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Writer's note: This sermon was delivered on the Sunday we consecrated the ground upon which new educational and fellowship facilities were to be constructed.