The Divine Honk & Joshua 1
Joshua 1 reminds me of this scenario. You’re at a traffic light, and it turns green. But for some reason, you don’t notice. Then, the car behind you sends a reminder. You sort of wake up and pull on through. Now, you shouldn’t get offended by the honk. The driver doesn’t want you to miss a very good opportunity to cross the street. And he might miss it too. His honk says, “Now is the time to get going.”
Joshua 1:1-9 expresses a divine honk to Joshua, to get him going. He stopped at the riverbed and waited, then God wanted him to go. God does that at times for us too.
Moses is Dead (Joshua 1:2)
The Lord announced, “Moses My servant is dead.” Poor Joshua. For forty years the people of Israel wandered the wilderness, led by Moses, this energetic and magnetic character who grew up in the palaces of Egypt. This man Moses stood right up to Pharoah face-to-face and called down the plagues, such as blood in the Nile River, and the bazillion frogs and locusts. And the angel of death passed over the Israelites on that Passover night, when all the other firstborns in the land died.
This Moses parted the Red Sea as the people crossed on dry land. He received directly from the hand of God the Ten Commandments. This was the only leader they had ever known.
They watched Moses strike a rock and water gushed out. Quail and manna come down from heaven. With Moses, they never had to worry about anything. Moses knew God’s plan, where to go and why. He had the ear of God. He had close fellowship with Him and knew what the Lord wanted them to do. Now, Moses is dead.
Joshua Hits a Wall
Joshua sits at the Jordan River, looking across the water at the Promised Land. He hit that point when he couldn’t go on any further. All the wind is knocked out. He can’t go another step and he learns, “Moses, my servant, is dead.”
Runners talk about hitting a wall. Both body and mind give out at the same time. And they can’t figure out why they should keep running. They suddenly feel they can’t go on. Joshua hits that wall.
It happened to Job when he lost everything, even his health. Joseph felt it in an Egyptian jail, abandoned and betrayed, more than once. Peter hit the wall with the shame of denying his friend and Lord three times. He fled from the courtyard and wept. He couldn’t go on.
Making It Personal
We all hit walls when we think, “That’s it. There’s no hope at the end of the line. No direction. It’s all gone.” We hear words like, “Moses My servant is dead.” When has that happened to you?
But the Lord continues to speak to that despondent Joshua: “Now therefore, arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people to the land which I’m giving to them.”
Moses is dead. That era is finished. It is all over. But instead of stopping everything because of the loss of Moses, Joshua is commanded to get up and get going.
A Message for You
Who needs to hear that kind of message? Those pushed down, afraid of the future, weary and who lost all hope. And also, the lazy. Hey you, get up and cross this Jordan.
Notice God didn’t promise an easy ride, all downhill with no problems. The Jordan River is wide, deep, and hard to cross. We’ve sung the song. We know it’s muddy and cold.
Indeed, the waters do part for Joshua, like the Red Sea did for Moses, but he didn’t know that until he took action. God didn’t say anything about how they’d get across. He just said, “Go!” And He would keep on saying that for every hurdle or barrier ahead. But first, he’s got to cross the Jordan.
Your Own Jordan to Cross
Have you got a Jordan ahead of you? Maybe your strength is gone and up ahead it’s not easy going. You’ve got a big Jordan to cross and don’t know what to do. Jordans can be relationships, confrontations, confessions to make, something hard to do or say. Or you’ve got sorrow or hurts to work through. Some face huge life changes. Any of this may seem like a very big Jordan. And He keeps saying, “Arise, and cross this one Jordan.”
Three Qualities Needed
God tells Joshua what he needs.
First, Joshua must be strong and courageous (verse 6).
Joshua acted timid and weak. He seemed afraid to go on. So, God commanded strength and courage. He expected Joshua to muster up courage. He had it within him. This kind of courage is not a feeling but an action. Courage happens when you step out and do something.
Abraham showed courage when he gathered up Sarah and all his possessions and went out “to a land he did not know (Genesis 12).” David said to King Saul, “Let me go down and fight Goliath.” And he picked up smooth stones and his sling and headed out to face the huge giant, not knowing what would happen.
Mary showed courage when she heard the angel say, “You’re about to have a child.” And then she replied, “You can do with me as you wish.” Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and said, “Let me have the body of Jesus and I’ll bury Him in my tomb.” That’s courage in action.
We take the first steps even if we don’t know exactly where the trail leads nor have all the answers. We don’t sit around wanting all the details first.
The O Word
Second, Joshua must be obedient to God’s Word (verse 7).
“Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.”
It’s tough to obey. Our whole nature rebels against obedience to God. Why? For one reason, we must admit there’s someone greater than us. For another, that means we don’t have all the answers. And then there’s the taking orders thing. We want to say, “I can make my own decisions. I know what’s right and can guide my own life.”
Joshua obeyed when he marched his troops around Jericho, once a day for six days. And seven times on the seventh day, the strangest battle plan in history. Never done before or ever again.
Daniel kept obeying by going to the top of his house to the prayer chapel, bowing toward Jerusalem, and worshiping God as he’d always done. Even though the decree from the king warned anyone who did that would die.
Noah obeyed by building a boat in the middle of the desert, in his backyard, when no one could possibly imagine such a thing could float or would need to.
Give It 100%
Joshua 1:7 says to obey exactly. A lot of us live on the 85% rule. We like to do things right about 85% of the time. And we call that good. And if you obey 90% of the time, that’s terrific. It warrants an “A” grade. But God wants 100%.
God’s Commands
God has given us lots of commands.
Salvation: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you’ll have eternal life (John 3:16,36).
Discipleship: if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Matthew 16:24).
Relationships: a new commandment I give to you, to love one another, even as I have loved you (John 13:34).
He wants to see those guides enacted in our lives. That’s not just nodding our head. God’s commands are, “Do something now. Show me.”
Third Quality
Third, God wants Joshua to meditate on His Word (Joshua 1:8).
He wants Joshua to think seriously about it, let the words guide his every thought and action. Such meditation would provide close fellowship with God, so that whenever his mind was ‘free floating,’ his thoughts always returned to God and to His truth.
Now What?
Armed with those three things—obedience with actions, a mind concentrated on God’s Word, courage and strength to go on, and obedience even when he didn’t understand it all, Joshua was prepared to cross the Jordan. But God had something else to say. He continues with, “Joshua, I’m going to do some things too. You can count on Me in this entire process.”
God’s Part
First, God promised deliverance, with eventual reward and success, which included the Promised Land. God’s promises also included joy and peace that passes all understanding during turmoil. God tells Joshua, “I’m going to do what I said I’m going to do.” And that’s God’s part for us, too, to claim His promises.
A second thing He said, “None will prevail against you. You’re going to go and there will be battles, but I will provide protection, security, and victory.” When God speaks to Joshua or to us, “Get up and cross this Jordan!” He’s going to deliver the promise. But that doesn’t mean elimination of tests, trials, and struggles in the meantime.
Third, God promised to bring comfort and guidance: “Don’t worry. I am not just the God of the desert. I am still with you through all of it and will be with you wherever you go!”
God With You
What does it mean to have God with you? He won’t be there just watching. He’ll be on your side.
Then God said He’d never let His Word leave Joshua. “You do this, and I’ll make sure My Word never departs from your mouth (verse 8). My wisdom shall be within your reach.” Joshua can say, “I don’t know what to do.” And God says, “Don’t worry, my wisdom will be there. All you have to do is ask and it’s yours.”
What Jordans Do You Face?
It could be accepting God’s salvation. It can be scary. You march around in a wilderness for a lot of your life, then you come right up to the edge of a supposed Promised Land and kind of peek across. You wonder what the Christian faith is all about. But there’s a big Jordan to cross, something about “making a decision for Christ” and you stop. You suspect a huge change potential, a uncertain shift. You’re not quite sure if you want to do this. What’s going to happen? So, you wait and wait. Finally, God speaks to your heart and will, “The time is now! Get up and cross that Jordan!
Sometimes a potential ministry lies before us as big as the Jordan. An opportunity opens. Maybe a class to teach, a mission to join, a Bible study to start, or a special ministry to lead.
The Moment of Decision
This thing may be “over there,” just waiting. And you’ve been looking and thinking about it, wondering how you’d do it, then feeling overwhelmed. You can’t get past that point of decision. After all, that’s a big, wide, muddy, dirty, high-water Jordan. But can you hear God say? “Rise up and cross that Jordan!”
Some things in life end. An era or season or relationship has come to completion. As long as you live, keep facing the next Jordan up ahead. That may mean you need extra strength and courage. You may require more meditation on God’s Word and doing it. But no matter what, He is with you.
STEPHEN BLY
Circa March 1990
Green Traffic Light Image by WikimediaImages from Pixabay
Runner Hitting Wall Image by Young Kim from Pixabay
Turbulent River Image by Oscar from Pixabay
Obedient or Disobedient Sign Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Moment of Decision Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
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