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
Joshua 1:2-3 KJV
In Joshua 1, Moses, one of the greatest men that ever lived just died and Joshua the Son of Nun was chosen by God to take his place. God had used Moses to bring the Israelites out of the promised land and guided them to the point where Moses could basically see the promised land from a mountain. What was left was to enter the promised land and claim it. This claiming involved dispossessing the previous inhabitants and lots of wars which Joshua was to lead God’s people through. Since this was no easy task, the Lord was prepping Joshua and showing him the secret to success, good success. As believers we have been brought out of the land of Egypt, from the powers of darkness and brought into God’s marvellous light the moment we believed in Jesus, 1 Peter 2:9. There are many battles to face till we fully possess the land promised us: our souls completely saved and our bodies transformed to His glorious body, 1 Peter 1:9, Philippians 3:21. Today we will explore the Word of the Lord to Joshua, who is a type of each of us, on a journey to the land of promise.
The first command to Joshua was a command to arise and go over the Jordan. The Jordan means a descender or that which goes down or sinks down. It was the first step for the Israelite to enter into the land of promise. It also marked the beginning of a new era for lots of bible characters. Elijah crossed the Jordan when He was to be taken into God and after Elisha received a double portion of the mantle from Elijah, He crossed the Jordan, 2 Kings 2:1-14. When David was to return to his throne after the death of Absalom, a son of rebellion, He crossed over the Jordan to claim his throne again, 2 Samuel 19:1-15. Jesus at the beginning of His ministry, started with a baptism in the Jordan river by John. It was here that He was declared by God as His Son before many witnesses, Matthew 3:17. John was also sent to pave the way for the ministry of Christ, by baptizing people in the river Jordan, John 1:19-34. We can say then that crossing the Jordan was a mark of a new Era in the life of Joshua.
1 corinthians 10:1-2 implies that Israel, crossing the sea, was being baptized. Hence, the crossing of the sea implies baptism. Before the Israelites would pass the Jordan, they would need to circumcised as well. This was the sign that they were people of promise and were set apart from all those in the land they were going to possess. Paul in Colossians 2:11-13 says that in Him, we were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, [12] buried with Him in baptism, in which we also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. [13] And we, being dead in our trespasses and the uncircumcision of our flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all trespasses. All this took place once believed in Jesus.
For the believer in Christ, the old man of sin has been killed and cut off, Romans 6:6. This was already done by the Lord Jesus on the cross, before we crossed the Jordan. The man who you are now has been raised into newness of life as a new creature, 2 Corinthians 5:17. Immediately after the command to cross the Jordan, Joshua was promised the perpetual presence of God as He was with Moses. He was also given the land of promise, including the wilderness where they were, the land of Euphrates (speaking of fruitfulness), the land of the Hittites (meaning terror or those who terrified them before), and the great sea through to the coast. It was all given to the new man who crossed the Jordan. In a similar way, just as Jesus came out of the Jordan and was pronounced the Son of God and inheritor of all things, all who identify with Jesus are promised the perpetual presence of God and are anointed to possess the land. We have been given all things pertaining to life and godliness and none can hurt us or stand against us, 2 Peter 1:3-4, Luke 10:19.
In subsequent meditations, we will look through this letter to Joshua and learn how to have, not just success in our Journey, but good success. For now, know this, that the moment you came into christ, the old man was put away and the you that you see is new. Paul says reckon your self as dead, which means to add this to your account as a credit. You are dead to sin and alive to God and sin has no dominion over you. The knowledge of this will give you courage and is the first step to ensuring good success.
Prayer for today: Lord Yeshua, my Salvation, thank you for Your mighty hand of deliverance You showed towards me when You freed me from the powers of darkness and brought me into Your glorious liberty. Father I know that he who You have made free is free indeed and so I consider myself circumcised and dead to sin. Sin no longer has dominion over me and all that ruled over me as a lord can no longer do so because I am alive and only responsive to God alone!
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