“God’s Promise to his People”

“God’s Promise to his people”

Joshua 3:3-5:12

 Sunday School Lesson for September 23, 2012

Joshua had taken over for Moses as the Israelites were getting ready to cross the Jordan River, to enter into the Promised Land. They had been wondering in the desert for 40 years after being freed from bondage.  This was the fulfillment of God’s promise to their father, Abraham 400 years before.

This is a reminder that God keeps his promises to us, and we should never doubt that he will fulfill them in his time. Time is different for God, “a thousand years is like a day for us” (Pastor Tom Baker, 9/18/2012).

During the 38 years in the desert, the “Ark of Covenant” was always with them. It was fashioned by God, which held important items for the Israelites, including the two tablets of the Ten Commandments and most importantly the “presence of God.”  The “Ark of Covenant” was always with the Israelites in the desert, and while they followed God, they remained a distance away from him, (about ten football fields away).  There was the curtain that kept the people away from the Arc and the presence of God, where only the ‘Holy of Holy’ could go in to talk to God and bring sacrifices of animals.

Just as God lead the Israelites through the desert, Jesus is our Shepard and leads us.  Jesus is not a Cowboy who drives the cows, but a Shepherd who leads his flock.  When Jesus was crucified for us on the cross, we no longer need to bring animals for sacrifice, and the “curtain” has been removed so that we are able to come to his altar for communion.

As the Israelites were getting ready to go into the Promised Land, they had to cross the Jordan River, and as the Priests who were carrying the Arc stepped into the water, the water backed up for miles, and the ground was dry.  Just as it had when the crossed the Red Sea.  The Priest held the Arc in the middle of the Jordan and the people surrounded the Arc, and God was in the middle of the people and this significant, as he was fulfilling his promise to them. God was leading them into the Promised Land with a promise that they will be able to beat their enemies, the “Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites” (Joshua 3:10).

After they had crossed, God instructed Joshua to gather 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan, where the Arc of the Covenant was, and to place them as a memorial for the twelve tribes of Israel as a symbol of what He had done, and what He will do.  They point forward to the Promise in the land, and point backward to the Bondage in Israel.  God directed them in setting up the memorial, because it was more than just a memorial. The twelve stones represented a stronger relationship with God, and that He would take care of the “..ites” (vs. 10).

In Luke 22:10, Jesus said “do this in remembrance of me”.  The Lord’s Supper is more than just a memorial, as we do more than just remember Jesus; He was really saying that we should “Do this in my remembrance of you”.  When receiving the Lord’s Supper, we are receiving all the benefits the He earned for us when He died on the cross for us.

We should “Fear the Lord”, because we know what he can do for us, He is all powerful.  We should profess that we do not deserve it, but when we ask Jesus to forgive us, he does.   We should fear God as a first step, and look to the Trinity for salvation.   In Joshua 5:1, “their hearts melted and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites”, because they knew how powerful the Israel’s God was, and this was one that you did not mess with.

God instructed for everyone to be circumcised, as this was a blessing that they received from God, just as the same was for Abraham, and it denoted them as a child of His  (Joshua 5:8).  We receive our blessing in the form of Baptism, which is greater than circumcision. “In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ” (Colossians 2:11-13).  This describes that true Baptism is Good news to those who hear of it.

Many people have been asked when do Christians get into the Promised Land?  The Israelites crossed the Jordan to get into the Jordan Land.  We cross our “Jordan River” when we are baptized.  In Baptism, all of our sins are forgiven, and the good works that we are not able to do, are taken care of by Christ.  We arrive into the Promised Land, and God does not break his promises to us.   We should remember that when we were baptized, as infants, children or adults, we entered into the Promised Land, and this was day was our “adoption day”, where we became “Children of God”.

John 3:5 “Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”