God Goes First Text: Joshua 3:1-4
Introduction: The Second Red Sea
The Christian life is a series of impossible river crossings. We are always and forever coming up to the edge of some impassable barrier, some flood-stage obstacle, where our own strength, our own ingenuity, and our own wisdom are entirely useless. This is by divine design. God brings His people to the edge of the Jordan not to see if they can swim, but to teach them that He can walk on water, and if necessary, part it.
We are now at the hinge-point of redemptive history. Forty years of wandering in the wilderness are over. The entire generation of unbelief that came out of Egypt has perished, their carcasses littering the desert as a monument to the folly of disobedience. Now a new generation, under a new leader, stands at the threshold of the Promised Land. Their leader, Joshua, bears the very name of the one who would truly give them rest, Yeshua, Jesus. And the obstacle before them is the Jordan River, swollen and overflowing its banks at harvest time. It is a natural, physical barrier, but more than that, it is a spiritual one. It is the line between promise and fulfillment, between wandering and inheritance.
What God is about to do here is not simply a pragmatic solution to a logistical problem. It is a profound theological statement. It is a sermon preached with water, priests, and the very throne of God. God is deliberately creating an echo of the Red Sea crossing. Just as He delivered their fathers from the tyranny of Egypt by parting the waters, He will now deliver this new generation from the wilderness by the same display of sovereign power. He is reminding them, and us, that the God who begins a work of salvation is the same God who will complete it. He is the God of the exodus and the God of the entrance. He doesn't just save you from your past; He secures your future.
This event establishes the pattern for all true conquest and all true progress in the Christian life. It is not about our strength, but about His presence. It is not about our plans, but about His Word. It is not about our courage, but about His covenant. Before Israel takes one step into the land, God is going to teach them the fundamental grammar of faith: God goes first.
The Text
Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and he and all the sons of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they lodged there before they crossed.
Now it happened that at the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp;
and they commanded the people, saying, "When you see the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.
However, there shall be between you and it a distance of about 2,000 cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before."
(Joshua 3:1-4 LSB)
From Moral Filth to the Edge of Glory (v. 1)
We begin with the simple, declarative statement in the first verse:
"Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and he and all the sons of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they lodged there before they crossed." (Joshua 3:1)
Joshua's rising early is a mark of a faithful leader. He is not reluctant; he is eager to obey. Leadership in God's economy is not about having all the answers, but about being ready to move when God gives the command. But notice where they are coming from. They set out from Shittim. We must not read this as a mere geographical note. Shittim was the site of Israel's last great apostasy in the wilderness. It was at Shittim that the men of Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and committed harlotry with the daughters of Moab (Numbers 25). It was a place of idolatry, sexual sin, and divine plague. It was the final, ugly stain of their wilderness rebellion.
And it is from this place of moral filth that God calls them to the Jordan. This is the gospel in miniature. God does not call us to conquer our promised land because we are worthy, but because He is gracious. He finds us in our Shittim, in our Baal-worship and our spiritual harlotry, and He says, "Leave that place. Come to the river." Redemption is always a movement away from our sin and toward His promise. God's grace is not just for the finish line; it is the starting block.
They come to the Jordan and they "lodged there." They wait. This waiting is a crucial part of the process. God is teaching them that His timetable is sovereign. We are always in a hurry. God is not. He is teaching them to be still before the great display of His power, to let the impossibility of the situation sink in. The river is at flood stage. Their own resources are nothing. The waiting empties them of self-reliance and prepares them for God-reliance.
The Three-Day Pause and the Divine Command (v. 2-3)
The waiting has a specific duration, and it culminates in a very specific command.
"Now it happened that at the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp; and they commanded the people, saying, 'When you see the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.'" (Joshua 3:2-3 LSB)
Three days. The Scriptures are never arbitrary. This three-day period is a deliberate echo and a foreshadowing. It is a pause between the old life and the new, a mini-death and resurrection. Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days. Our Lord Jesus lay in the heart of the earth for three days. This waiting period is a tomb. The Israel of the wilderness must be buried before the Israel of the promised land can be raised. They are waiting for the sign of God's presence and power to go before them.
And what is that sign? It is the Ark of the Covenant. This is not just a sacred box. The Ark was the visible symbol of God's throne on earth. It was the place where His presence dwelt between the cherubim. It contained the tablets of the law, a pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, representing God's law, God's provision, and God's authority. In short, the Ark is the presence of Yahweh Himself. The command is simple: when you see God's throne move, you move. You are not to follow a map. You are not to follow your own instincts. You are to follow God.
Notice who carries it: the Levitical priests. This is a priestly act, a worshipful procession. The conquest of Canaan is not primarily a military campaign; it is a liturgical act. It is an act of worship. God's presence, carried by His appointed ministers, is what will drive back the enemy and part the waters. This is a permanent principle. All true victory in the Christian life flows from the worship of the true God. When our worship is rightly ordered, when we are following the presence of God, the obstacles in our path must give way.
Holy Distance and the New Path (v. 4)
The command to follow is immediately qualified by a command to keep a holy distance.
"However, there shall be between you and it a distance of about 2,000 cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before." (Joshua 3:4 LSB)
This is a crucial instruction. The distance, about 2,000 cubits or roughly half a mile, served two purposes. First, it was practical. It ensured that the entire nation, millions of people, could see their guide. If they crowded around the Ark, only the first few rows would know where to go. This was a visual lesson in the necessity of keeping your eyes fixed on God.
But the second reason is theological, and it is far more important. This distance was a tangible representation of the holiness of God. The Ark was the throne of Yahweh, and you do not approach a holy God casually. This is not your buddy, your pal. This is the sovereign, transcendent Creator of the universe. The distance teaches reverence, awe, and a healthy fear of the Lord. The same God who is going before them to save them is a God who could break out against them if they treated Him with contempt. This is the paradox of grace. God is with us, but He is not one of us. He is immanent, but He is also transcendent.
The reason for all of this is stated plainly: "that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before." This is the confession of every believer at every stage of their walk. We do not know the way. Life is a path we have not passed before. We face decisions, trials, and temptations that are new to us. Our wisdom is insufficient. Our experience is limited. Our only hope is to fix our eyes on the one who does know the way because He is the Way. We are to follow the Ark, which is a type of Christ. Jesus Christ, the embodiment of God's presence, has gone before us. He has crossed the Jordan of death and entered the promised land of resurrection. We are to follow Him.
The Gospel in the Crossing
This entire scene is saturated with the gospel. It is a living parable of our salvation and sanctification. We all begin in Shittim, the place of our sin and shame. We are stuck, with an impassable river of judgment before us and a wilderness of our own failure behind us. We cannot cross in our own strength.
But God does not leave us there. He initiates. He sends His own presence to go before us. The Ark of the Covenant is a magnificent type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the fulfillment of all that the Ark signified. He is the law of God embodied, the bread of life from heaven, and the resurrected authority of God. He is Immanuel, God with us.
And it is Christ, our great High Priest, who goes first. He steps into the floodwaters of God's wrath on the cross. He bears the full torrent of the judgment we deserved. And because He went into that river, the waters of judgment are parted for us. He has made a dry path through death itself, so that we might cross over into the inheritance He has won for us.
Our calling is the same as Israel's. We are to fix our eyes on Him. We are to follow where He leads. We are to maintain that holy reverence, understanding that He is our Savior, but also our Lord and our God. And we are to trust Him completely, because we have not passed this way before, but He has. He has blazed the trail. He knows the way. And as we follow Him, as we keep His presence at the center of our vision, we will find that the impossible rivers in our lives become dry ground, and the wilderness of our wandering is exchanged for the glorious inheritance of the saints.