Deuteronomy 32-Joshua 5: Which Way Did He Go?

Joshua 4:1-7   And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,  2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,  3 And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.  4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:  5 And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:  6 That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?  7 Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

     We see in these chapters the beginning of Israel's march into the promised land.  They have a new leader in Joshua.  God avails Himself of  this opportunity as they cross the Jordan to teach the people the valuable lesson that it is not the man they see but the God who is unseen that is really leading the way.  This is a truth we can greatly benefit from in our lives as we acknowledge the Lord's leadership through the human authority figures in our lives.

     The parting of the Jordan River teaches another valuable lesson.  If the crossing of the Red Sea pictures salvation and the crossing of the Jordan River pictures walking in Christian maturity, God is saying to us that it takes the same power of God that saved us to sanctify us and mature us.  We can take the same amount of credit for our sanctification that we can take for our salvation-- NONE.

     Finally, in chapter four verses one through seven, Israel sets up a memorial of stones from the middle of the Jordan.  These stones taken from the Jordan are to serve as a memorial of God's bringing them out of the wilderness into Canaan.  This memorial is to serve as a point of interest for future generations.  When their children ask them about these stones they are instructed by God to tell them both of their deliverance from Egypt and journey into the promised land in verses twenty-one through twenty-three.  I wonder if there are any spiritual landmarks in our lives that will cause our children to say, "Why are we so different?"  I wonder if there are some points in our lives that we depart from the natural course to follow the supernatural course laid by God?  Are there clear distinctions in our lives that distinguish us from a hell-bound world in the eyes of our children?  After all, our children have to be shown they are lost before they can be saved just like the rest of the world.

Joshua 4:24   That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.

Daily Devotional: Romans 5:12-21 Life Through Christ