This is our last study for this series “Wilderness Wanderings: Exodus to Canaan.” The Israelites are now about to enter into Canaan, the land that God had promised to them since the time of Abraham. The wanderings in the wilderness are about to come to an end.

Moses has just passed away and the Israelites mourned for him for thirty days. The mantle of leadership was passed over to Joshua just before he went up to the mountain to die. Moses laid his hands on Joshua and gave him charge to continue leading the children of Israel as a sign of his trust in him as the next leader.

God now comes to Joshua to strengthen him.

• Joshua 1:2-5
  2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. 5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
• God promises to give the land to him and to the Israelites. And He also promises that He would be with him as He was with Moses.
• What comforting words those would be, to hear it straight from God’s mouth. Moses had passed on the leadership, but now God confirms His presence with Joshua. He, Himself, tells Joshua that He would be with him.

However, God’s presence with Joshua and his success as a leader was dependent on one condition.

• Joshua 1:7
  Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
• Joshua was warned to be strong and courageous. But this was not in relation to fighting the battles of the Lord. Yes, they needed to be strong and to have courage to fight. But this was in reference to what?
• He needed to be strong and courageous to be obedient to God’s law and everything that had come through Moses. This was the conditions of God prospering him as a leader and for the children of Israel.
• You know it takes strength and courage to really follow God and to do all that He asks of us. Why? Because many people are not doing it. And maybe even those within the church, your family, your close friends, they might even be against you.
• Think of all the times that the Israelites wanted to stone Moses or those that were faithful just because they didn’t agree.
  • Aaron was afraid of the people so he made the golden calf.
  • They were ready to stone Moses because there was no water.
  • They were ready to stone Joshua forty years earlier simply because he believed that God would fight for them and they had nothing to be afraid of.
• You see, the strength and courage is not to fight against God’s enemies only, but to stand up for what is right within your own camp of people, the people that believe the same God as you do!

But how could Joshua be strong and courageous?

• Joshua 1:8
  This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
• God advised him to meditate on the law day and night. This would give him the strength to do it and as a result God would prosper him and give him success.
• This is no different for us today as well. God still gives us the same advice!
• Psalms 1:1-3
  1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
• God prospers the blessed man as well. He meditates on the law of God day and night.
• If we wish for God to be with us, to guide us, to lead us, and to prosper us, the counsel that God gives us is to meditate on His word, to meditate on His law.
• If we would just take time to experiment with God in our journey with Him, we would see that there would be no reason to go for anyone else for help!
• Psalms 34:8
  O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
• If we would just taste Him, we would see how much blessings come as a result. We would begin to wonder why we didn’t do it earlier!

So what is the first command of God to Joshua?

• Joshua 1:2
  Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
• They were instructed to arise and cross over the river Jordan. This was the first obstacle that was between them and their conquest of Canaan.
• However, what was on the other side of the river? What was waiting for them there?
• Joshua 2:1
  And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
• The city of Jericho was there. It was a large and well-fortified city. We won’t be studying about this because we already have a study on it. You can click here to go to that study.
• But coming back to the river Jordan, don’t think that this river was just a small river of 10 meters wide where we can just wade across or step on stones in the river. Historian’s say that the normal width of the river was 40-50 meters wide and it was up to 5 meters deep.
• Moreover, we read this:
  • Joshua 3:15
    And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)
  • The river was overflowing this time of the year and it was flowing fast as well. No swimmer would have been able to make it across.
• Todd Bolen, author of BiblicalPlaces.com, wrote that in 1854 an expert swimmer was unable to swim across the section of the river near Jericho because the current was too strong and the river was too wide.
• So the first obstacle that Joshua encounters in his new role as leader is that of the river Jordan. The Israelites have to cross it if they wish to conquer Canaan.

When the Israelites saw that Joshua was anointed by Moses as the new leader, and now that Moses had passed away, what did they say to Joshua as he began to big them move forward?

• Joshua 1:16-17
  16 And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. 17 According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses.
• They were willing to follow wherever he led. But they wanted also to make sure that God was with him as God was with Moses.
• Although they had rebelled against Moses so much and given him much heartache, they knew that God was with him. They had confidence in him as a leader. And so they were careful to ask the same of Joshua as well.

So now they are the river Jordan. What is Joshua going to do?

• Joshua 3:1-6
  1 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. 2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host; 3 And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. 4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand 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. 5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you. 6 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.
• Joshua instructs the priests to take the ark of the covenant and to pass over before the people.
• Joshua 3:7
  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.
• God would use the crossing of the river Jordan to magnify Joshua in front of all the Israelites. Through this miracle that God was about to perform, they would come to have confidence in him as a leader just as they had with Moses.

What does Joshua instruct them to do?

• Joshua 3:10-13
  10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye 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 Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan. 12 Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man. 13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of 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.
• Joshua instructs the priests to take the ark of the covenant, and to go and stand in the river Jordan. But he says that as soon as the soles of the priests touch the water, the water would be cut off and the water would stand up like a wall.
• This sounds just like what the Israelites went through at the Red Sea. The water stood up like a wall on both sides at that time and they passed through safely.
• God was going to do the same miracle that he did through Moses there with Joshua here.

Joshua 3:14-17
14 And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people; 15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,) 16 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: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. 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.

You know, it took a measure of faith to believe the words of God through Joshua. God did not speak to the Israelites directly, He spoke to Joshua and Joshua gave them the command.

• However, God had given enough authority to Joshua for them to believe the first step for the priests to simply dip their feet into the water. Moses had given his stamp of approval before moving on.
• Now it was up to the Israelites to trust him and test him.
• But as soon as the priests dipped their feet into the water, God opened the way. Had they stood there at the edge of the river without getting their feet wet, the water would have never opened up.
• God still does expect us to have a measure of faith in Him and in our leaders. But He wants us to test Him and even to test the leadership of our leaders.

God would open up the river just like how He parted the Red Sea for Moses at the very beginning of the Exodus. There were two clear reasons why God did this for Joshua. What’s the first reason?

• Joshua 4:14
  On 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.
• God would magnify Joshua in the sight of all Israel.
• It was one thing for Moses to give his recommendation before he died, it was quite another for God to put His stamp of approval on the leadership of Joshua Himself.
• All of Israel could now have 100% confidence in Joshua as their leader like they did in Moses. They could put their faith and trust in him. They were going to encounter greater armies and enemies, and they needed to have that implicit trust and faith in Joshua as their leader.
• So God opened up the river Jordan, to remind them of what had happened forty years earlier at the Red Sea and how God Himself fought against the Egyptians and vanquished them. God was about to do the same for the Israelites in the land of Canaan and against the city of Jericho.
• It was an assurance of His presence. Why was this important?
• Joshua 5:12
  And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
• The manna was about the cease once they entered into Canaan. The miracle of the manna everyday was a reminder to them that God was sustaining them.
• Even the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire would stop as it was only needed for their wilderness sojourning. So the parting of the river Jordan was an assurance that God would not stop caring for them.

However, there was another reason why God opened up the river Jordan as well.

• Joshua 5:1
  And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.
• God put His fear on all the kings of the Canaanites and all those that they were about to conquer. The Bible says that their hearts would melt for fear and there would be no more spirit in them. Their courage and their determination would wane because they knew they were up against something more than human. This would make the Israelites victories much easier.
• And it would also be important because as they would go forward to attack, the Israelites would also leave behind families, wives, children, mothers and fathers, livestock – all would be unprotected. But the surrounding nations would be fearful to attack them because God would be there with them.

However, there was one last thing that had to take place before they would go into Canaan.

• Joshua 5:2
  At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.
• The children of Israel would be circumcised. God was renewing His covenant with the Israelites.
• Joshua 5:5-6
  5 Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised. 6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
• Since the Israelites had not wanted to go into the land of Canaan the first time when the twelve spies came back with their report, no one had been circumcised. Circumcision been suspended as a sign that God’s covenant had been broken.
• Joshua 5:9
  And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.
• The name Gilgal itself means “rolling.” The shame from forty years earlier was now rolled away. The Israelites were about to have a new and fresh start with Joshua as their leader. God was about to work mightily and wonderfully for them again!

Though we might have sinned in the past, God today still longs to renew His covenant with us. He longs to make us His people. He longs to give each of us a new heart. He wants to cut away the sin out of our hearts and pour out His blessings on us and guide us and fight for us.

But to follow God is a two-way street. He has shown His interest in each of us. I know that if we take a step back and consider His blessings, it would be a “no-brainer” to follow God, to enter into covenant with Him again. Why not stop again and consider His goodness? Taste His goodness! He longs to make each of us the head and not the tail. He wishes to pour out blessings on each of us and to work mighty wonders!

He wishes to prosper us. But that comes with conditions. If we would be strong and courageous, and not turn to the left or the right, but observe all that He has commanded us, He will pour out the blessings of heaven. His name and His character will be glorified in each of our lives. Let’s recommit our lives again to Him and ask Him to be Lord of our hearts and lives!