Sermon Central
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Crossing Over Series
Contributed by Mike Hullah on Dec 29, 2002 (message contributor)
Summary: The Israelites moved from the Acacia Grove to cross over Jordan. Learn the meaning of this text and lessons of moving from wilderness to promise.
CROSSING OVER
Deuteronomy 11:31 “For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and you will possess it and dwell in it.
Crossing over. From one state to another. What are some of the promises God has given to us in His word?
For forty years the people of God had wandered in the wilderness. God had delivered them, demonstrated Himself to them yet a whole generation died in the wilderness through unbelief and fear, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb.
God does not want us to just get saved He wants us to be whole in every area of our lives. This is a sermon on how to get there.
Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out from Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over. So it was, after three days, that the officers went through the camp; and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. “Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.” And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”
Joshua 4:1-3The word cross appears 22 times in C3,4. The most significant crossings in life are when we leave the natural realm and enter into the supernatural realm. To Israel this crossing was of immense importance.
Acacia = scourging thorns
Genesis 3:18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.
John 19:2 And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe.
Thorns were a result of the curse. They speak of:-
a. DESOLATION They are a sign of desolation
Proverbs 24:31And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down.
b. DECEPTION They are a sign of cares, anxieties and worries
Matthew 13:7,22“And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.” Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
c. DEMONISATION They are a sign of demonic oppression
2 Corinthians 12:7And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
Jordan = to descend, in abundance, also figurative of entering into promises. In this instance speaks of Jesus descending from heaven displaying the love and glory of God.
Lodged there = to continue, dwell and endure
John 15:4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
Crossed over = a transition, specifically to cover in copulation, to go beyond, to go in over or through. Transition means passage from state or set of circumstances to another.
Canaan = the promises of God = Prosperity, blessing and abundance
Deuteronomy 8:7-9“For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; “a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; “a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
It was eight miles from Acacia Grove to the Jordan.
8 = New Beginnings
Three days from crucifixion, burial to resurrection.
During this time God impressed upon them the impossibility of the task ahead – flood stage.
Sanctification means simply to set apart something for the use of God, from natural use in the sense of the Adamic nature to spiritual use.
To follow the ark speaks of being led by the Holy Spirit. Being submissive and obedient to God and His word.
Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
What do we need to leave the curse and results of sin enter God’s promises?
