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Word of the Lord to cross Jordan

Joshua 3:9 'And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God.'

Here we see the word came to Israel through Joshua. The people of Israel has come to final part of their journey where they have to cross the river of Jordan. The

Israelites faced a major trial or obstacle during the last phase of their journey. When we read the Bible we can read on how the people of Israel were able to cross

this obstacle. The Lord guided them by giving a framework to cross the river of Jordan. We read in Joshua 3:1-2 'And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed

from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. And it came to pass after three days, that the officers

went through the host.' According to this verse, we can see before crossing the Jordan they stayed there for three days. We presume that they waited for three days to

receive the guidance of the Lord. When we read in Joshua 3:10 'And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail

drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.' In this

verse we can see that Lord is giving a sign and tells them what he has purposed to do in that situation. This clearly confirms that when we wait upon the Lord, he will

give us his divine guidance to proceed further. When the Israelites started to implement and act according to plan of the Lord, they witnessed the glory of the Lord.

As part of today's meditation let meditate how the word of the Lord assisted them to cross the river of Jordan.

God's Presence

Joshua 3:11 'Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.'

In this verse that the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. The ark of the covenant is compared the presence of the Lord. In this situation, we can understand that

the great presence of the Lord has come with them to guide them to move forward. As we read in Joshua 3:1-2, the Lord prepared his people to face the situation. The

Lord planned in such a way that he not only prepared them to face the problem but also assisted them with the ark of the covenant (presence of the Lord) to face the

problem. The Lord's presence stayed with them until the problem is sorted out. We read in Joshua 4:11 'And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over,

that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.' This verse clearly states that the Ark of the covenant was with them until all

the people crossed over the Jordan. Even in our lives, we should believe that the presence of the Lord will prepare us and is able to travel along with us through our

trials and tribulations. It will assist us to prevail our situations.

God's Courage

Joshua 3:14-15 'And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people.

And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, for Jordan overfloweth all

his banks all the time of harvest.'

Here we see the river of Jordan overflew all the banks during the times of harvest. During this time, the Israelites left their camp. Even after knowing the overflowing

Jordan they started with all the divine courage that the presence of the Lord was with them. In verse fifteen, we can see the explanation of river Jordan during those

times. The people of Israel started with courage and came near the Jordan. Soon after they came so close to Jordan which was overflowing, they might have been trembled.

There is no other option but to cross the river of Jordan. They might have been praying to deliver them from that problem. Interestingly, the Lord did not remove

the problem but asked them to cross the overflowing Jordan. The people of Israel took a step of faith. The people of Israel did not doubt or they did not wait for the

waters to settle down, but they immediately obeyed the word of God. The presence of the Lord made them courageous to take their first step to cross the Jordan. With

the divine courage, the Jordan-like problem parted its ways. The presence of the Lord gave them the courage to overcome the situation. Even in our lives, we have seen

many problems. When we think about the resolved problems, we only wonder how we overcame victoriously. We readin Jude 1:3 'Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write

unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto

the saints.' We need to contend earnestly for the faith. No matter what may come in our walk of faith, we need to fight with courage. Let us pray that the hands of

the Lord strengthen us and give us courage to face all our problems.

God's Path

Joshua 3:16-17 'That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down

toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. And the priests that bare the ark of the

covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over

Jordan.'

The above verse describes their journey of crossing over the river of Jordan. We can read the waters which stood as an obstacle became like a heap and stopped for the

people of Israel. The people of Israel did not know that there was a path beneath the waters of Jordan. When they stepped on with faith, they saw the path the Lord

prepared for them. They saw the overflowing waters but they did not imagine walking on the dry ground. All these while the Israelites heard the things from their

ancestors on how the Lord miraculously led them. They desired to see the wondrous works of the Lord like how their forefathers did. We can read them in Numbers 14:30

that only Joshua and Caleb had only seen it. The present generation did not have the privilege to see the crossing of Red sea but they witnessed it now with the river

of Jordan. They witnessed the miraculous way in the river of Jordan. The Lord did not ask Joshua to use the rod to part Jordan. But he wanted to go by the faith. The

Lord wanted the people to use their courage and take a walk of faith. The same God who parted Red sea is the same powerful God who parted Jordan. When we start our

things with the divine courage and with the presence of the Lord, we will see unseen things. We the children of the Lord should not see the problems but we should

focus on the presence of the Lord. When we act accoriding to the word of the Lord, we will witness things beyond nature. Amen.

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Word of the Lord to cross Jordan