Welcome to Joshua study number three, Joshua chapter three, verses one through 17. And we're going to see that in this chapter, it's all about preparation and readiness. Of course, they're getting ready to sack the city of Jericho. But before that, they're gonna cross the Jordan River. And it's quite a thing that we'll get into. But Joshua will call for Israel to sanctify themselves unto God, making themselves available to him to be used. And we'll see the parting of the River Jordan, which is similar to the parting of the Red Sea under Moses. So with a word of prayer, we'll get right into that. Father, we thank you, Lord, for another opportunity to study your word. We thank you for this infallible book again, and for all those who love the words that you've given us in this book. For English-speaking people, the Authorized King James Bible. Help us in our studies, help us to learn and retain, help us to grow. All for the glory of the praise and honor of Jesus Christ, we pray, amen. So, in verse one, it says, and Joshua rose early in the morning, and they removed from Shittim and came to Jordan. He and all the children of Israel and lodged there before they passed over. I'm not a morning person. But especially in my younger days, I think Joshua right here is in the prime of his life. And I remember in my 30s, 20s, 30s, you know, I felt so much better than I do now. And I'd get up. I worked. much of the time. I was full-time for a few years in ministry back then, but some of the time I'd work. Crawling out of bed was never fun for me, but I'd get that cup of coffee. I'd step out into that cool air in Ohio about half of the year. It's frigid air. Something just would wake me up. I just chose to have a good attitude and say, you know what? I'm thankful to have a job to be able to provide for my family and continue in the work of the ministry at the same time. Thank you, Lord. If you could rapture me out of here before the day is over, I'd love that. Otherwise, give me strength. Help me to live a life that's pleasing to you in Jesus name, and then I'd go and I'd do my best And that's what I think of when I see this with Joshua rising early in the morning If you rise up early in the morning or whatever time you get up You work as unto the Lord, it'll change the way you look at your job, it'll change your, really, not just your attitude, you'll enjoy life more. Most of the time, people were the problem, just like we've seen with Moses and we'll see with Joshua. People are the problem. The job isn't the problem, usually. And I liked work and enjoyed working hard. As Kamala says, you know, we like work, we like work, we have fun. But anyway, we encourage you to learn the names, not only of the people, and not just the big time people, you know, Moses and Joshua. Try to learn as many of the people, the names of the people as you can. But also the names of the cities and towns. Places, place names. says they removed from Shittim and came to Jordan. Now this place sounds a lot like a cuss word, the S word, but it's not really a cuss word because you can't curse excrement. So don't worry much about it. I'm not going to get into that, but Christians have some silly hangups. And a lot of times it's because something grandma did or said, but anyway, I love my grandmas and they're in heaven now. But Shittim, it's also called Abel Shittim. And to avoid sounding like the dirty word, you'll hear someone, some people will pronounce it Abel Shittim. It's like a person I knew, his last name was Butt. And their family, a few generations back, added an E to the end and started being called Butte. I can't blame them. and have at it, but this is now, today, in modern day Jordan, if you look on a map, it's the ancient land of Moab, east of the Dead Sea. And so the children of Israel are hiding, I'm sorry, heading westward to cross the Jordan River. And it says they lodged there, that simply means they set up camp. Verse two says, and it came to pass after three days that the officers went through the host. It's interesting, after three days, the Lord gives His people space to rest. A lot of times when people get worn out, it's because they ignore God's instructions. You know God established the Sabbath principle during creation week when he took that Seventh day as a day of rest of course he wasn't tired But it was for our benefit that he established the seventh day principle or a Sabbath principle is a better word for it because it doesn't matter what day you take off now you some people have to work and Through the weekend and they have to take it Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday off Friday, whatever But it was for our benefits, for Israel's benefit, that God put it in the Ten Commandments and established it as a law for Israel. Now, it's not a law during this dispensation. It's not repeated as a law for the church or as an ordinance like baptism in the Lord's Supper, but we follow the principle. even as we meet on the first day of the week, like the apostles and the early church did for local church fellowship, and that should be a good restful time. Get away from all the wickedness and wicked people and get with God's people and have a good time of Christian fellowship, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, Bible study, prayer, food, fellowship, whatever. You know, almost every service we have goes on for several hours at BBF. Of course, it's not required you stay that long. You can come and we have a 90 minute meeting. Sunday school, Sunday morning and Wednesday evening, 90 minutes. You could come right before it starts and leave right after. And, you know, that'd be fine, especially if it's necessary. But most of our people enjoy the fellowship. It's a time of rest for our spirit and for our flesh too, really, you know. So verse three says, 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 remove from your place and go after it. So when the ark moves, Israel moves. Verse four, yet there shall be a space between you and it, about 2,000 cubits by measure, come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go, for ye have not passed this way heretofore." So the arc's going to kind of be like a maps app. We used to have Tom Toms in our cars. It's going to lead the way and That 2,000 cubits, you can do the math, 2,000 times 18 divided by 12, and it comes up to about 300 feet, which is about 100 yards, which is about the size of a football field. And that's how much space there is between the ark and the people. Now, why? Well, because the people are sinners. And the sinful children of Israel are separated from God by the law. And so right in front of them the whole way will be the law inside that ark. The ark, of course, is the place of the mercy seat where the king, King Jesus, will someday sit in the millennial kingdom. And Jesus is our ark. He's the one who brings us in. That's all the picture you should see when you read these things. So just as the law in that ark is like a separation between the people and the promised land. That's what separates us from God, from the land of promise, so to speak, is sin. And how do we know sin? The law. But the law points us to the blood of Christ, which washes us and restores us to the position that Adam lost in the garden when he sinned. And so the law points to the cross, just as the ark is pointing Israel to the promised land. And this next instruction is pivotal for all believers. Verse five, and Joshua said unto the people, sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. This is how our relationship with the Lord works. Israel was to turn away from their sin and unbelief and any idolatry, they're supposed to clean house. Turn to God now people say well, that's works. No it I Maybe shouldn't use even the word clean house. All they had to do is turn Turn to God empty-handed. That's it. That's not works and When they do this, they are now set apart from the world and that's when God does all the work and We have to turn to God. If you want to call that works, you're a heretic. That's not a work. The Bible says the works of the law. Through the works of the law, no one will ever be saved. No one's ever saved by the works of the law. But repentance is simply a turning. And even that is done because of the work God is doing in your heart. So it's not even anything you could take credit for. And it's not a work. And we have a message on that. All you have to do is go to our sermon audio or rumble. As of the time of this recording, those are two main sources. You can go to our website and get there through bbflyo.com and just do a search, repentance, and listen to our messages. We have a playlist on Sermonatia, and I believe Rumble, on repentance. It'll allow all the scriptures to tell you it's not a work that we do, it's a work God's doing in us, and that's why we turn. And when we turn from whatever it is We're caught up in whatever it is. It's keeping us from God we turn toward God At that point then his word can and will work in us to produce faith when we turn from the world to God from false religion and unbelief to God's Word and then we receive the faith that God's Word produces in us and Paul described it like this, Acts 20, 21, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the Apostle Paul's message. People who say it's works, they're accusing Paul of preaching works because he preached repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Then having repented turning to God he says in Romans 1 16 for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek and then Romans 10 9 and 10 that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead raised him from the grave, I'm sorry, from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth under righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10, 13 goes on to say, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Why? Because Romans 10, 17 says, so then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. When you turn, you repent toward God, then the gospel comes in and it produces faith. And that's what Romans 10, 17 says. So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And then of course, the gospel spelled out in first Corinthians 15, three and four, for I delivered unto you. First of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And that's how it works in our dispensation. But Joshua, is preaching the word of God for his dispensation. So the message is different, but it works the same. Whatever dispensation you're in, you turn to God, believing his word, and that's how you're saved. The message may be different, but the method or operation is the same. So then verse six, And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. So the priests did as they were told. But now they're given additional instructions that the Lord had given to Joshua about what to do when they came to Jordan. Verse 7 says, And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. The Lord is going to put his seal of approval on Joshua as James 4.10 says, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up. Joshua didn't lift himself up. He humbly served the Lord and the Lord is lifting him up in replacing Moses. And as Joshua was given his orders to pass on to the ranks of the Levites, says verse eight, and thou shalt command the priests that bear the Ark of the Covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan. And verse nine, and Joshua said unto the children of Israel, come hither and hear the words of the Lord your God. So the Levites stand in the Jordan and Joshua addresses the people. Verse 10, and Joshua said, hereby you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hibbites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites. We'll see that when Israel does her part, the Lord does his. Salvation is by faith, and it is free, but victorious Christian living is a matter of obedience. So Joshua continues in verse 11, behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan. It's all about God. It's like our salvation. All we do is turn and receive. There's no works on our part. Jesus did all the works on the cross that is sufficient to save us. Then when we turn to him and receive the gospel, he does all the work as far as regeneration, our being born again, our name written in the Lamb's book of life, sealed under the day of redemption, and so forth. It's all, everything is done by God. He does all the works. We have a brother at our church that pointed it out to me years ago, so I always try to give him credit because it was such a simple thing, but so clear. He kind of shocked a few people when he said, you know, we are saved by works. Everybody just looked at him and said, by the works of Jesus. not our own works, by the works of Jesus. That's exactly what Titus 3.5 says, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, it's all Him. He's the one doing it. So verse 12 says, now therefore, yeah, verse 12, now therefore take you 12 men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe of man. So one representative out of the sons of Leah is Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, then the sons of Rachel, who are Joseph and Benjamin, then the sons of Bilhah who are Dan and Naphtali, and the sons of Zilpah, Gad, and Asher. That's 12. So one for each tribe verse 13 then says and it shall come to pass as soon as the souls of the feet of the priests That bear the ark of the Lord the Lord of all the earth There's only one Lord all other gods are false the ecumenical movement Universalism it's all satanic heresy one Lord over all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above, and they shall stand upon an heap. To this day, liberals and apostates, cults, skeptics, and other unbelievers, they just rip their hair out trying to convince us that this didn't really happen, and that what we read about in the Red Sea didn't happen, because not only you have this parting that's gonna take place in the Jordan, but back in Exodus 14, 15 to 31, God parted the Red Sea by Moses, and then again in 2 Kings 2, 13 to 14, we're gonna see the Jordan parted by Elisha when he smacks the waters with the mantle of Elijah after Elijah goes up in a chariot of fire. You know, he's God. It's no problem for God to do this stuff. Man has just got a teeny, weensy little brain and he can't just accept that there is a God who does these kind of things. But now the instructions have been given and we see that it plays out just as the Lord said it would, verses 14 to 15. And it came to pass when the people removed their tents to pass over Jordan and the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people, verse 15, and as they that bear the Ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bear the Ark were dipped in the brim of the water, for Jordan overfloweth his banks all the time of harvest. And he stopped there for a second. So this happened when Jordan looked like you've seen the Mississippi River, the Ohio River during flood season, or when it's just a big flood, whether it's in season or not. That's what the Jordan was doing here. So we'll come back to that in a minute. But verse 16 says that the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap very far from the city, Adam. That is, besides Zaratan and those that came down toward the Sea of the Plain, even the Salt Sea, which we call the Dead Sea, failed and were cut off, and the people passed over right against Jordan. So, I mean, there had to be something to see. And just like the Red Sea, there's a wall of water on both sides. In this case, there's a wall of water up here, and then the waters just kind of dry up on this side, and there's no water flowing into the Dead Sea, just a big wall of water to the north. And that, Mark, that where this took place is called at that time the Village of Adam, just like Adam and Eve, Adam. Named after him, probably. It was just off the east of the Jordan and outside of the flood basin, you know, so it wasn't right on the river. And it was west, to the west across the Jordan was that Zeritan that's mentioned. So according to Haley's handbook, the classic KJV edition, the city, Adam, was 16 miles north of the location on the Jordan. so you can look on a map you see the Dead Sea kind of looks like a big you know blob and then up above that just a little ways is where Jericho was along the Jordan then 16 miles north of that is where Adam the town of of Adam was located east on this side, Jordan. And so 16 miles south of Adam, about where Jericho is, off to the west of Jordan is where the crossing would take place. And at that point is where the water stopped flowing toward the Dead Sea. And they're heaped up in some sort of invisible or unseeable wall holding back the water. So the waters, as I said, running north to south stopped. It just stopped in a heap, so there's no water going this way. I imagine it kind of looked like, you know, those big waves you see in the ocean that surfers jump into, and they have the camera, you know, trying to keep an eye on the little guy, but compared to that wave, he looks like just a tiny toy. That's what I picture this thing look like. And by the way, some believe that it was some sort of strong wind that produced this effect, and that's possible. That's how the Lord performed the Red Sea parting, according to Exodus 14, 21. It says, and Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night. and made the sea dry land and the waters were divided. So this big wind and there's no mention of wind here though, that's why I say it could have been, it doesn't say one way or another. So then verse 17 closes out saying, in the precept that bear 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 to clean over Jordan. So the miracle wasn't just in the water heaping up. It was in the fact that the ground was dry. It was just as much a miracle that the muck and mire of the riverbed dried up and became solid. And it had to be. It had to become solid in order for Israel to pass over with the heavy wagons and things that they would have been carrying, carrying that heavy Ark of the Covenant and everything. That's why the Holy Spirit, I believe, said it twice in that one verse, that they stood on and passed over on dry ground. in the midst of Jordan. And then it says all the Israelites passed over on dry ground. So it wasn't mud, it wasn't even soft, it was firm. And that's important to understand the miracle You know, in full, the water heaped, but the ground was dry. Anyone who's played baseball or softball knows, you get ready to play a game and you get a gully washer and a nice long rain, and most of the time you have to call the game off because it takes a while for that dirt infield to dry up to be able to play on. And so you're going to hear some of the dumbest things from the so-called scholars, and just ignore those idiots. Some of them will say there was a landslide that blocked the water, but the text doesn't say anything about that. Others claim, you know, you could say, well, God caused the landslide. Okay, but if it said that, fine, but it doesn't say that. Others claim, oh, it was just a few inches of water. But that contradicts what we know about the rainy season of Jordan. So it's just ridiculous on the face of it. Of course, most seminaries and college Bible courses will try to convince you that it's all mythology in an effort to build the legend of Joshua after Moses' death. That's all just hogwash. So we might just say it's all just shit-em. But that might get us in trouble with the Puritans, so we won't say that. But the bottom line is that the people passed clean over Jordan and now they have Jericho in their sights. But we're not quite done with the Jordan River. So we'll pick up in Joshua chapter four, still dealing with the Jordan River crossing before we move on to the walls come tumbling down in Jericho.