“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.”
Joshua 3:13
Stepping into the Water
This is the promise that would stretch the faith of Israel’s new leader. Joshua had seen great and mighty miracles with Moses, but only as a bystander. This day Joshua, not Moses, stared at the flood of waters in front of him.
God has a way of forcing a man to get his feet wet in new faith. This crossing could have been made without the aid of a miracle in 9 out of 12 months. But God led them there during this particular season and commanded them to cross at peak flood time.
“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;
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,)“
Joshua 3:14-15
Would it be a total loss?
Completeness in Providence
A way we describe completeness in English is by saying, “from A to Z.” The Lord used the Greek letters, “Alpha and Omega” (Revelation 1:8) to show His Eternity. David uses the Hebrew letters in Psalm 119 to detail God’s word from Aleph to Tau. Our English alphabet order is based mainly on the Latin letter order since the mid-1500s. And since the pure words of God are in English, the order of letters first to last is distinctly: A to Z.
Which is how God communicated his comprehensive, bumper-to-bumper, all-encompassing deliverance for Joshua and the Israelite army.
“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.”
Joshua 3:16
The waters were cut off, A to Z. Joshua’s faith saw the miracle of continual Providence.
Completeness in Purging
Jordan forded, Jericho felled; Joshua next had to understand God’s expectation for holiness and righteousness. An accursed thing was stolen from the spoils of Jericho. Thirty-six soldiers die at Ai; the Lord’s hand is withdrawn. Joshua is broken. He is humbled. He is contrite.
Joshua begged for an answer on his face, but God urged him to his feet. He must fix the wrong if they were to go forward. The tribes, families, and men were taken one by one until the guilty party was recognized.
“And Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughers, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.”
Joshua 7:24
Sin had to be totally expelled, from its start to its finish, A-to-Z. There was and is a danger in even the slightest trace of rebellion. Joshua’s holiness passed the muster of contrite purging.
Completeness in Possession
Any man that is born-again ought to rest in this promise: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) Joshua was a man who knew and served the Lord. The Lord had started a work in Joshua, and He would see it through. The promise would be fulfilled; the land would be possessed.
Joshua had underestimated Ai because it seemed small. The failure at Ai would be the first and only defeat Joshua suffered. With the purging of sin complete, Joshua conquered Ai, and for fear of that, Gibeon sued for a peace treaty. That sent shockwaves through the land of Canaan.
“…They feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.”
Joshua 10:2
What began with a small city conquered would continue until total victory was achieved.
“And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephothmaim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining.”
Joshua 11:8
Little Ai to great Zidon. Because Joshua had faith to trust, discipline to obey, God gave him strength to win. Joshua’s fighting earned him the victory of conquered possessions.
It is best to go all the way for God.
Would you like a full and complete life like Joshua had? The Lord, our Captain, has given us a command with promises that won’t quit. As Joshua testified: “There failed not aught of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.” (Joshua 21:45)
But that command with promise is only good when it is followed completely. Joshua reached the end of his wars with this decoration: “As the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.” (Joshua 11:15)
May you prove God’s promises true, too, from A to Z!
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