Joshua 3:9

Joshua 3:9 says,  And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God.  Joshua did not call the people to hear his words, but to hear the words of God.  When we gather together today in the name of God, we need to make sure that it is His word that tis being proclaimed.  I believe that even more than that, when we as Christians go out into the world that we should have everything that we say reflect our relationship with God.  Verse ten states, 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.  Joshua said that they were going to be able to know that God was with them and was able to drive out all the people who stood before them in the promised land.  As followers of Christ, we must never forget that God is with us and will enable us to do anything that He calls us to do, no matter how great the task.  Verse eleven declares, Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.  The people of Israel were to know that God was with them because the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord was to pass over the Jordan before them.  We today have no physical sign that God is with us, but by faith know that Jesus Christ has already defeated sin and death for us.  Verse twelve states, Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.  Each of the twelve tribes was to select one man to represent them.  As Christians today, every believer has the same Man to represent them before God, and that Man is Jesus Christ.  Verse thirteen proclaims,  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.  As with the Red Sea, the waters were to part.  This didn't happen before the priests set foot in the water, but as they did.  Had the priests not stepped out in faith in the God of the whole earth, the water would not have parted.  Until we step out in faith, God may never accomplish very much through us.  If we are waiting until we feel that everything is perfectly safe before doing what God has called us to do, then we may always be on the bank on the other side of the promised land.  Verse fourteen states, 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;  Verse fifteen adds, 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 people got ready to follow the priests, who came to the Jordan that was overflowing.  This, like the parting of the Red Sea, was not some marshy area or shallow river, but an overflowing one.  Sometimes, it may seem that things are overwhelming, but if we act in faith, God will mke a way fir us to do what He calls us to do.  Verse sixteen declares, 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.  The Jordan river piled up on one side and dried up on the other side of the priests and the people passed over.  If the people around them were watching and had not already heard of the power of God, it would seem that this should have shown them His power.  When we are doing what God calls us to do today, we must make sure that the lost people of the world know that God is the power behind what we do.  Verse seventeen adds, 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.  The priests stood firm in the middle of the Jordan until all the people of Israel had passed over on dry ground.  We today must stand firm in our calling through Christ until we have passed over to the promised land, which for us is heaven.