So That You May Always Fear the Lord
Comments for Study 3
Joshua 3:1-4:24
Memory Verse: 8
SORRY, THE COMMENTARY FOR THIS BOOK HAS NOT BEEN FINISHED.
CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF BOOKS THAT ARE COMPLETED.
BEFORE READING PLEASE CLICK HERE TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS.
BEFORE READING PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VIEW A MAP OF THE DIVISION OF CANAAN.
BEFORE READING PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VIEW A MAP OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF ISRAEL.
BEFORE READING PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT ISRAEL'S HISTORY.
BEFORE READING PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF ISRAEL'S JUDGES.
I. Consecrate Yourself (3:1-17)
>1. Where were the Israelites headed? (1)
* Joshua 3:1 "Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over."
* "Early in the morning"
* "Shittim"
* "Jordan"
* "where they camped before crossing over"
*
>After three days what were the Israelites instructed to do? (2-3)
* Joshua 3:2-3 "After three days the officers went throughout the camp, giving orders to the people: "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it."
*
*
*
*
*
>Why? (4a)
* Joshua 3:4a "Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before."
*
*
*
*
*
>Why keep a distance from the ark and what can we learn about God and sinful man? (4b)
* Joshua 3:4b "But keep a distance of about a thousand yards between you and the ark; do not go near it."
*
*
*
*
*
>2. What did Joshua tell the people to do? (5)
* Joshua 3:5 "Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you."
*
*
*
*
*
>What does that mean?
*
*
*
*
*
*
>What did he tell the priests to do and why? (6; John 10:3-4)
* Joshua 3:6 "Joshua said to the priests, "Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people." So they took it up and went ahead of them."
* John 10:3-4 "The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice."
*
*
*
*
>3. What did the Lord tell Joshua he was going to do? (7-8; 4:14)
* Joshua 3:7-8 "And the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: 'When you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river.'""
* Joshua 4:14 "That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses."
*
*
*
>How did did they know that the living God was among them? (9-13)
* Joshua 3:9-13 "Joshua said to the Israelites, "Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God. This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD--the Lord of all the earth--set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap." *
*
*
*
*
>How did the Lord prove Joshua and himself to Israel? (14-17)
* Joshua 3:14-17 "So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground."
*
*
*
*
*
>How does God reveal himself to us today? (John 16:5-11)
* John 16:5-11 "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned."
*
*
*
*
*
II. Twelve Stones (4:1-9)
>4. What seemingly impractical thing did the Lord tell Joshua to do? (1-3)
* Joshua 4:1-3 "When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight."
*
*
*
*
>Why?
* Joshua 4:4-9 "So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever. So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day."
*
*
*
*
*
>How can we set up spiritual memorials in our lives, family, and local congregation?
*
*
*
*
*
*
III. The Lord Dried Up The Jordan (4:10-24)
>5. What important fact must not be overlooked? (10-11)
* Joshua 4:10-11 "Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the LORD and the priests came to the other side while the people watched."
*
*
*
*
>What can be learned by the Israelites' faith that obeys?
*
*
*
*
*
>6. Why were Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh noted as crossing? (12-13; Num. 32:31-33)
* Joshua 4:12-13 "The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war."
* Numbers 32:31-33 "The Gadites and Reubenites answered, "Your servants will do what the LORD has said. We will cross over before the LORD into Canaan armed, but the property we inherit will be on this side of the Jordan." Then Moses gave to the Gadites, the Reubenites and the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan--the whole land with its cities and the territory around them."
*
*
*
*
>Why is our keeping promises important to God? (Neh. 9:7-8)
* Nehemiah 9:7-8 "You are the LORD God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous."
*
*
*
*
*
>7. Why was it important for the Israelites to recognise God's hand of blessing on Joshua? (14)
* Joshua 4:14 "That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses."
*
*
*
*
>When the Lord distinguishes a man amongst his piers what should be done?
*
*
*
*
*
>8. What did the Lord tell Joshua? (15-17)
* Joshua 4:15-17 "Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Command the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan." So Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan."
*
*
*
*
>What might it have been like to be a priest carrying the ark at that time?
*
*
*
*
*
>How was their faithfulness rewarded? (18)
* Joshua 4:18 "And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before."
*
*
*
*
>9. Where did they camp? (19)
* Joshua 4:19 "On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho."
*
*
*
*
>What was set up there? (20)
* Joshua 4:20 "And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan."
* "Gilgal" -Gilgal means, circle,” and probably referring to a circle of stones or a circular altar. Such a circle of stones could be found almost anywhere in Palestine and led easily to naming towns “Gilgal.” The many references to Gilgal in the Old Testament cannot thus be definitely connected to the same town, since several different Gilgals may well have existed. (Holman Bible Dictionary)
*
*
*
>What was repeated?
* Joshua 4:21-23 He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over."
*
*
*
*
>What is new? (24)
* Joshua 4:24 "He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.""
*
*
*
*
>Why is fear of the Lord different than fear of a hungry lion? (Psalm 119:120; Isaiah 29:23)
* Psalm 119:120 "My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws."
* Isaiah 29:23 "When they see among them their children, the work of my hands, they will keep my name holy; they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel."
*
*
*
|
