LOOKING FORWARD TO TOMORROW

Can I pray for you in any way?

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Early in the morning, Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. 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. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about a thousand yards between you and the ark; do not go near it."

Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you."

Joshua 3:1-5

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As Joshua, chapter 3 opens, we pick up after the Israelite spies successfully returned from their reconnaissance mission in Jericho, having been sheltered and shielded by the prostitute, Rahab. In the opening five verses, we find “Joshua and all the Israelites” setting “out from Shittim” and heading “to the Jordan where they camped” for “three days” before they would cross over the river into the Promised Land. The scriptures then tell us that the “officers went throughout the camp” and gave the following 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. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about a thousand yards between you and the ark; do not go near it."

You may remember that the ark of the covenant represented God being with His people and so it was only fitting that the ark would always precede the Israelites and they would follow it wherever they went. They were about to enter a foreign land with lots of uncharted territory…and so they would need their Lord to lead and guide to where He wanted them to go. All they needed to do was remain faithful and obedient, placing their full trust in Him.

Given all this, we find Joshua telling the Israelites to "consecrate” themselves because “the Lord” was about to do “amazing things among” them the next day and I’m sure there must have been loads of eager anticipation within the camp about finally getting to cross the Jordan and into Canaan. It was something the previous generation of Israel sinfully failed to do after not trusting God (Numbers 14) and this current generation was determined to not make the same mistake again.

Since God would be leading His people into the land He promised, a land that would be considered holy ground, the Israelites were expected to consecrate themselves, setting themselves apart from the world and its ways before they were participated in such a holy event guided by a holy ark and a holy God.

Now, you’ll recall that consecration required washing of clothes and abstinence from sexual relations (Exodus 19:14-15). In other words, purity was critical and the Lord expected His people to be holy because He was holy (Leviticus 19:2)...and it was in and through His holiness and power that amazing things happened in plain sight of the Israelite people.

Friends, this is great news for us today for the same God of Israel is the God we serve now, a God who still consistently and persistently does amazing things in our midst. He is the God of unlimited possibility…meaning that there’s nothing to impossible for Him to do (Matthew 19:6). Indeed, our Lord routinely takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary.

This becomes a game-changer for when we believe and trust that God can do all things, that’s when we find Him showing us just that. He allows us to be eyewitnesses of His miraculous works which lead us to a place where we hold the greatest reverence, respect, and awe of Him.

Like Israel, all believers should look forward to tomorrow with the highest level of excitement over what God might do. For He and He alone is capable of making the improbable probable and indeed He always makes something remarkable happen every day.

What an awesome Lord we serve!

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.