Journey Fellowship 臻靈團: 過約旦河 Crossing the Jordan

Joshua 約書亞 #2 - 過約旦河 Crossing the Jordan
Joshua 約書亞記 3

Ice breaking: we will share a cartoon clip for the whole fellowship. Let’s forget about getting Smurf across the tub…
Objective: To help our group members realize that God wants us to have a more abundant life, yet whether we can experience it depends if we are:

Willing to prepare ourselves to listen for His plan
Willing to have faith in God like that of the 2nd gen, step out and let God lead

What was God’s purpose for bringing the Israelites across the Jordan?
Record answers on white board (for comparison with Red Sea later)

Take possession of the Promised land 爭戰 , 得應許之地
信服約書亞: So they may know that God is with Joshua as he was with Moses (Joshua 3:7)
知道神同在: “.. you will know that the living God is among you” 因此你們就知道在你們中間有永生神 (Joshua 3:10-11)
“so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful, and so that you (Israelites) might always fear the LORD your God.” (Joshua 4:24)

Before crossing the Jordan, what do the Israelites have to do?
Record answers on white board

God leads 讓神先行
then they will know which way to go, since they have never been this way before.
“使你們知道所當走的路, 因為這條路你們向來沒有走過” (Joshua 3:4)

Leave some space so they can see the path clearly  today’s application: leave some space for God to allow Him to lead you
God’s holiness must be distinguished from men, who are imperfect. However, when they crossed the river, the distance between the ark and the people closed up; symbolic of God’s willingness to walk with us even though we are not worthy due to our sins

Joshua 4:14-17
Priests, carrying the ark of the covenant, go ahead of the people
When the priests reach the edge of the waters, they are to go and stand in the river
As soon as their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing
The priests stood on the dry ground in the middle of Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground

When the previous generation of Israelites left Egypt, the Lord had done something similar for the people. What and when was it? Read Exodus 14:13-31
Now compare crossing of the Red Sea vs. crossing of the Jordan:

	Jordan	Red Sea
Who?	2nd Generation out of Egypt	1st Generation out of Egypt
Why? (purpose)	See Q1	Escape from slavery So people may know that he is the LORD (Exodus 14:18) So people will fear the LORD and put their trust in Him and in Moses his servant (Exodus 14:31)
What (did they have to do)? (What requirements did the Israelite have to fulfill?)	See Q2	Not be afraid; Stand firm (Exodus 14:13) They only need to be still (Exodus 14:14)
How? (the process of crossing)	See Q5*	Exodus 14:21-22 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea And all that night the LORD drove the sea back and the waters were divided The Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on both sides

What do you think could be possible reasons for the difference in the process of crossing the river?

Perhaps God knows the 1st generation did not have a strong heart to allow them to cross the Red Sea unless all the circumstances appear to be favourable
Does anyone recall what happened to them when they sent 12 spies to explore Canaan? If interested, can refer to Numbers Chapter 13-14 on your own time

Think about the hearts of these 2 different generations of Israelites. Were they willing to go the way they have never been before? 他們願意走「向來沒有走過的路」嗎 ?

For 1st generation, you may refer to Exodus 14:10-12
Remember God had actually intended to lead the 1st generation into the Promised Land, but their faith was lacking, so they chose to end up in the wilderness, which they had originally feared most (as read in the above scripture). In the event at the Red Sea, there were enemies behind, so it’s a no-brainer that they should cross. However, when it was time for them to take possession of the Promised Land, the enemies were up front, and they remained at the kind of faith they had during the time of the Red Sea, and weren’t willing to move until God has opened the doors and circumstances all seem favorable to them.

Why was the 1st generation not willing? What are the typical characteristics of “a path never travelled”?「向來沒有走過的路」的特點是….?

Most of the time, when we ask God whether we should go a certain route, we usually have the route in mind, and it is likely expectable (and generally pleasant). For example, we would ask God, I want to do this this and that, should I?

What did the 2nd generation do to allow them to step out? How does that inspire you in following God?第二代以色列人過約旦河的事蹟對你跟從神有什麼啟示?

They “consecrated” themselves in preparation for God to lead them closely. E.g. when we meet the parents, we would likely dress up a little and fix up our hair, etc, to leave a good impression.

Today, what does the term “consecrating” really mean?
It could mean “知罪、認罪”, because sin is what keeps us away from God. In order to know our sins, we need to first understand God’s guidelines and his character, and reflect often on the way we act and think. It is difficult to see God’s bigger plan for us if we don’t prepare ourselves.

The 2nd gen graduated from the kind of faith that the 1st gen had. When the conditions didn’t seem favorable, they were still able to look upon God and allow God to lead them. They prepared their hearts to listen to God. As soon as they were willing to step out, God opened up their path. In the end, they were able to experience more of God’s grace.
Today, can we also graduate from the faith of the 1st gen so that we ourselves can also experience more of God’s grace?

你生命裡是否有一條「所當行」而又是「向來沒有走過的路」?
Pray that we can learn to listen to God, rather than asking God to listen to us. Prepare ourselves to listen by consecrating ourselves. To walk that path that God intends for us to walk, we need to wait patiently, consecrate ourselves, let God lead, and take our step forward. This is how we can experience God’s grace.

Journey Fellowship 臻靈團