Joshua 3:1-4 – Fixing our focus on Christ

At this juncture, Joshua and the people were about to cross the Jordan into the promised land. More than forty long years had passed them by. They were prepared for this moment. The past generation had died in the wilderness due to their disobedience. The new generation which arose was about to be led across the Jordan into the promised land. They had seen the faithfulness and power of God demonstrated through many wonders. They were now expected to trust God and put their total allegiance in Him. Why did God give them so many miraculous and victorious experiences? The truth is this, God does not expect us to trust Him completely without giving us some clear indicators of His worthiness. He will go through great length to help us to confront our fears, deal with our struggles, experience the reality of His presence and to emerge victoriously.

The footprints of His handiworks are left in virtually every victory that the children of Israel had experienced. In the first two chapters of the book, He had assured Joshua of His presence and encouraged Him to be strong and courageous. God even assured him through the words of Rahab, who told him how petrified the people of Canaan were. They were inundated by accounts of how God had miraculously delivered His people throughout their journey. From Joshua 2, we also learned that God does expect us to act responsibly if we are to appropriate His promises. Every victory, to be experienced by us believers, has to be a divine-human effort. God will give the instruction and we are to act upon His Word obediently. Obedience is a very crucial component of any victorious experience in life.

In these verses, we are told that Joshua rose early the next morning. He must have heard the reports from the spies who went to recce the land. So, it is easy to surmise that he rose early to process the reports and evaluating how he should approach the conquest. Of course, we can expect him to spend a large portion of those rising moment to consult God on the next move. Early rising tells us that he was one who was earnest about the task ahead and his estimate of the importance of the task. His heart was on the assignment given. Know it or not, early rising often gives God’s servant the moment to hear the voice of God more clearly. The Gospels tell us that Jesus our Lord would often rise “a great while before dawn” and seek the face of the Father. It’s a great habit to be up early and commune with the Lord. However, this is not to assume that people who are more accustomed to working nocturnally are ineffective. It does, however, encourage us to fully exploit whatever available moment to cultivate the habit of staying connected to God.  

Verse 1 hinted that Joshua and the people had already moved from Shittim to the edge of the Jordan and were poised to cross the river. However, the crossing did not take place until three days later. Why did they pause here? The crossing was not as straightforward as it seems. The preparation was needed to move this massive amount of people across the river. Keep in mind that there wasn’t a bridge or a viaduct where they could simply walk across. They needed to depend on God to create a way for them to get across the Jordan. Clear instruction had to be received and given to move such a massive amount of people smoothly across. It took three days to get everything organized. Though not spoken, we know that Joshua probably gathered the officers together and prepared them on what to do. A clear guide must be given for effectiveness. And on the third day, the officers then go among the people and clearly commanded them what to do. The word “command” is understandable. To move the people, they could not afford to have different options. Everyone must embrace a single common direction. Hence, a command was needed. It was not a time for opinions. 

In the desert, the children of Israel had the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day to guide them in their movement. What the children of Israel were about to experience was a new way. There was a need to unify everyone in the journey. The Ark was to be the visual representation of God to unify the people’s walk. Everyone needed to take their alignment from the Ark. Hence, each person was required to keep their eye on the Ark. To enable everyone to see the Ark, a certain visual distance needed to be kept. For us today, the Ark speaks of Christ, the visible presence of God. If we are to have an effective spiritual journey, we need to keep our eyes on Christ. We take our alignment from Him.  The instruction for us from the book of Hebrews is to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author, and finisher of our faith.” We must come to Him daily and interact with Him through The Word. He wants to instruct us and shows us the way to an effective and abundant life. Do make the time and close up our distance with Christ so that we can hear the specific direction to take. Yes, we must fix our eyes on Jesus, our Lord!