PREPARING TO CROSS OVER
The Book of Joshua #3
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Woodland Church
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
(Joshua 3:1–3, NLT) “Early the next morning Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia Grove and arrived at the banks of the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing. Three days later the Israelite officers went through the camp, giving these instructions to the people: “When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them.”
1. A Spirit filled leader surrounded by Spirit filled people is unstoppable.
2. Joshua relied on leaders in the tribes.
3. At the Jordan River the people obeyed despite the evidence.
4. Lessons about faith.
a. Passive faith will not take you very far.
b. Faith is not believing despite the evidence; it is obeying despite the
consequences.
c. Faith is always accompanied by action.
(James 2:20–26, NLT) “How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.”
(Joshua 3:1, NLT) “Early the next morning Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia Grove and arrived at the banks of the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing.”
(Mark 1:35, NLT) “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.”
(Joshua 3:2–3, NLT) “Three days later the Israelite officers went through the camp, giving these instructions to the people: “When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them.”
(Numbers 10:35–36, NLT) “And whenever the Ark set out, Moses would shout, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered! Let them flee before you!” And when the Ark was set down, he would say, “Return, O Lord, to the countless thousands of Israel!”
1. The Ark symbolized God’s presence among the people.
2. The Ark symbolized God’s power.
3. The Ark symbolized God’s holiness.
(Joshua 3:4–5, NLT) “Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Stay about a half mile behind them, keeping a clear distance between you and the Ark. Make sure you don’t come any closer.” Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.”
4. The Ark symbolized God’s justice.
5. The Ark symbolized God’s mercy.
(Romans 3:25, NLT) “For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,”
(1 John 2:2, NLT) “He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”
(1 John 4:10, NLT) “This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”
(Romans 6:23, NLT) “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
6. The Ark revealed the unchanging nature of God.
a. God of the Exodus.
b. God of the Conquest.
c. God is Eternal.
(Joshua 3:5, NLT) “Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.”
(Joshua 3:8–17, NLT) “Give this command to the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant: ‘When you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop there.’ ” So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come and listen to what the Lord your God says. Today you will know that the living God is among you. He will surely drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites ahead of you. Look, the Ark of the Covenant, which belongs to the Lord of the whole earth, will lead you across the Jordan River! Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. The priests will carry the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall.” So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho. Meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed as the people passed by. They waited there until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan on dry ground.”
1. Crossing the Red Sea was a liberation. Crossing the Jordan was entering a new life.
2. Is this a Crossover time for me?
“What if I must weep tomorrow, yet will I sing today, and mayhap my song will gather such force, that some of its stanzas will overleap tomorrow, and I may sweeten my sighs with my psalms.” – Charles Spurgeon
3. I must get my feet wet!
4. How deep is my commitment?
a. Follow Christ!
b. Live pure lives.
c. Godly leaders are courageous leaders.
5. Why did Joshua say, He is the “living God.”
(Daniel 6:26, ESV) “He is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.”
(Psalm 115:3–7, NLT) “Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes. Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and mouths but cannot breathe. They have hands but cannot feel, and feet but cannot walk, and throats but cannot make a sound.”
(Matthew 28:20, NLT) “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”