SS#20~Joshua ~pt.4 Heb.11:30-31 10-26-14
Today we'll continue in our study of Heb.11: -- the "hall of faith" chapter.
Heb.11: 30-31 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. 31By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
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Last time we were in Joshua chapter 3: -- there Joshua was informing the priests about the Jordan River, that when their feet touched the water the Jordan River would part and the people would pass over to the other side on dry ground. -- Listen as I refresh our memory about that.
@@@ >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:
-- 17 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 location of the city of Adam is marked by the present site of Damieh, some sixteen miles north of Jericho.
About the Jordan River:
The Jordan rises from several sources near Panium (Banias ), and passes through the lakes of Merom (Huleh ) and Gennesaret.*** The two principal features in its course are its descent and its windings.
From its 4 fountain heads to the Dead Sea it rushes down one continuous inclined plane, only broken by a series of rapids or precipitous falls. Between the Lake of Gennesaret and the Dead Sea there are 27 rapids.
The depression of the Lake of Gennesaret below the level of the Mediterranean is 653 feet, and that of the Dead Sea 1316 feet. (The whole descent from its source to the Dead Sea is 3000 feet. Its width varies form 45 to 180 feet, and it is from 3 to 12 feet deep.
Because it runs through the Sea of Galilee, (Gennesaret-Teberius~ Galilee) are the one and the same body of water.
It may have been that when the Jordan River heap-up, it¡¯s possible went back into the Sea of Galilee; there would most likely would have been ample room?
~ As soon as the priest's feet touched the water of the Jordan River the waters backed up and heaped up beginning at a city called Adam. --- leaving a great amount of dry river bed in order that the Israelites could pass over, they were not funneled into a little section, God saw to it that His people had plenty of room to cross over.
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~~ If you'll recall there had been 12 men chosen in chapter 3:12 -- 1 from each tribe. -- 12Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man. -- We'll read shortly why they had been chosen.
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Joshua chapter 4:
¡¡1And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
¡¡~ Notice, all of Israel was now crossed over.
Now we'll understand why the 12 men were chosen back in chapter 3:12 -- let's be sure to recognize that GOD is directing Joshua what to do.
¡¡"2Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, 3And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests¡¯ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night."
¡¡4Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, (chapter 3:12) out of every tribe a man: 5And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:
¡¡ 6That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, "What mean ye by these stones?"
¡¡ 7Then ye shall answer them, "That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever."
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¡¡>Psalm 145:12 To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.
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¡¡~These twelve men, after they had gotten over Jordan, must be sent back to the place where the ark stood, being permitted to come near it (which others might not) for this service: ~ notice, the priests are still in the middle of the dry river bed.
¡¡ ** Had Joshua done this without God's direction, it might have looked like he wanted to memorialize his own name and honor. -- But he nothing with out God's direction.
¡¡ 8And the children of Israel (12 men) did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
¡¡~ Let me quickly say, that this word ¡°lodge¡± in the Bible has the idea of a temporary resting place. --- The two Israelite spies lodged in the house of Rahab (Josh. 2:1); --- the Israelites lodged by the Jordan River before going further into the Promised Land; --- and Peter lodged with Simon the tanner (Acts 10:18).
¡¡ ~ Remember each of these 12 men were selected from the 12 tribes, one from each tribe, each of these 12 men represented his tribe, this way all of the children of Israel could always relate to this factual account.~
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But this was not the only reason why the monument was erected.
¡¡ It was placed in Gilgal that all the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever. It was the Lord God¡¯s intent that this memorial would not only serve to remind the Israelites of His mighty hand, but all peoples of the world as well.
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Back to Joshua 4: --
¡¡ 9And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the Ark of the Covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.
¡¡ ~ Joshua had either theses same 12 men, or some other men, we¡¯re not told, set up a second memorial made of twelve large rocks in the river bed, next to the place where the priests were standing.
¡¡This memorial could not be seen year around, only when the river was low.
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¡¡ 10For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.
¡¡~ Let me point out that we read nothing about God telling Joshua to erect a 2nd. Memorial. --- However God must have told him to do so because of what we just read in verse 10.
¡¡** 10 For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people,--
¡¡ 10 For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan--
The priests stood in the midst of Jordan till every thing was finished ¡ª
The stead fastness of the priests bears honorable testimony to their faith and patience; for it must have taken up a lot of time, a whole day at least, for the passage of such a great multitude along with their baggage and provisions.
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Let me remind us, that the tribes of Gad and Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh had about 40,000 armed men, and the other tribes had thousands as well. -- But their biggest asset was they had God on their side.
> Romans 8:31 -- If God be for us, who can be against us?
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¡¡11And 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.
~Although mention was already made of their passing over in verse 1, it is here repeated for the sake of this circumstance to be added, that they passed in haste.
Why did they hurry, make haste?
Either because Joshua, through his officers, ordered them to make haste, that they might complete their passage before the night came on, or because of the waters being stopped up stream at Adam struck them with terror, through the weakness of their faith.
~ It's not hard for us to understand that in such a great multitude of people that not every body had the same degree of confidence.
¡¡¡¡But it is most likely, that fear was the main factor in causing them to hasten across.
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¡¡12And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them:
¡¡13About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.
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¡¡~ In Numbers 26: we read the total potential fighting force of all the tribes as about 110,580 men. --- Apparently, only forty thousand of these soldiers crossed over the Jordan in order to allow the strong guard to remain behind in defense of those tribes on the east of the river.
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¡¡14On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.
¡¡~ It was not for Joshua¡¯s sake only that he was magnified before the people, but also to put him in such a capacity of doing more service for Israel, the people feared him as they feared Moses.
¡¡~ God used Moses when He parted the Red Sea; likewise God used Joshua when He parted the water of the Jordan River.
¡¡So we see here the best and surest way to have the respect of the Israelite people, and to gain their reverence is not by threatening, or over lording of the people, but by holiness, and all possible indications of a constant regard to their welfare, and most of all to God¡¯s will and honor.
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¡¡ 15And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, 16Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.
~The priests had stood with the Ark of the Covenant for the entire time it took the nation to cross over. -- The visible token of the presence of God had to remain in the river through the entire crossing.
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¡¡17Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.
18And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests¡¯ feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.
~ Let¡¯s notice that just as quickly as the priest feet were lifted from the river bed and on to the bank of the river it went back to its normal position.
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¡¡19And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.
¡¡~that is the 1st. Hebrew month of Abib, also called Nissan; it is the time of year that corresponds to our May to mid April.
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¡¡20And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.
¡¡21And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children (not if but when) shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?
¡¡ 22Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
I want us to notice, "ye shall let your children know"
And this will apply to us today as well, we're to let our children know, how else can people know if some one that does know doesn't tell them.
if God had not directed the Hebrew writers of the bible to pin down His Word we nor any one else would ever know any thing about God or that we were lost sinners, and that we must be born again, there's not another book in all the world that tells these great truths.
>Rom. 10: 14-- how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
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¡¡ 22Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
¡¡23For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:
¡¡24That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.
Let me say a little about "Gilgal."
¡¡Gilgal is the name of three places in the bible.
¡¡It means, [roll away]
¡¡ It was the site of the first camp of the Israelites on the west of the Jordan, the place at which they camped the first night after crossing the river, and where the twelve stones were set up which had been taken from the bed of the River as a memorial. -- It was here that the twelve-stone monument was erected for the children to remember forever the miraculous crossing of the Jordan.
¡¡~ Also Gilgal is the place that they kept their first Passover in the land of Canaan. ch. 5:10.
¡¡~ The encampment at Gilgal was located about five miles from the bank of the river and several miles from the city of Jericho itself.
¡¡ ~ It also became the base of military operations for Israel during the conquest of Canaan.
¡¡~ In later years, Gilgal was the site of King Saul¡¯s coronation as well as his rejection by God as king.
¡¡~ After the days of King David, there were other kings, and then Gilgal became a center of idolatry. Like Bethel, it was condemned by the prophets.
¡¡~ 19 kings over Judah --- 19 over Israel. ~ --- Judah also had 1 Queen.
