GOD'S FAITHFULNESS

The prophet, Jeremiah, passed on a discovery He had made about God after years of serving Him…

Jeremiah 3:22,23-  Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 

 Many of us have already discovered that God is a very faithful God.  But Jeremiah is telling us here that not only is God faithful, but His faithfulness is also great.  Most of us are familiar with the miracle of the Red Sea crossing by the Israelites as they fled Egypt.  After forty years of wilderness wandering, they are now facing a similar dilemma as they are about to cross into the Promised Land of Canaan, yet they are facing the Jordan River at flood stage. 

 Joshua tells the Israelites, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”   (Joshua 3:5)   The Red Sea crossing had to do with the Egyptian army pursuing them and threatening to attack.  Now, at the Jordan River, the Israelites are trying through this barrier of water so they can be on the attack and possess the land for God’s cause as a nation. 

This Old Testament story reveals to us a sign of maturity in the realm of understanding God’s faithfulness towards us.   In the infant stage of our walk with God, we primarily hope and believe in His faithfulness towards us as we face battles, trials, and attacks from the enemy.  As we mature and grow in the Lord, a shift will take place where we are willing to be on the offensive and attack the enemy, causing him to face battles, trials, and anxiety.  We are willing to do this because we understand the faithfulness of God. 

Israel was about to walk through the Jordan River on dry land and was to commemorate this occasion with stones of remembrance.    Joshua 4:3- “and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm.  You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.”

God had told the Israelites in Deuteronomy to be careful and not forget “the Lord your God”.    And that if they forgot Him, they were gravitating toward other gods.  Four things will help us to understand and embrace the faithfulness of God:

1)     RELEASE YOUR BAD PAST

The miracle of crossing the Jordan River would only come when they were willing to let Egypt go.  After 40 years of wilderness wandering, they were too ingrained in the culture of Egypt.  As long as you’re attached to your past, you negate what God wants to give you in your future. 

2)     REMEMBER THAT GOD WAS FAITHFUL IN YOUR GOOD PAST

For those who have been waiting for a personal breakthrough, you need to know that God has been faithful, even in the wilderness.  The book of Deuteronomy reveals to us that God was faithful to see that the shoes and clothes of the Israelites did not wear out during their 40-year journey.  God also provided a shade cloud by day and a pillar of light by night, as well as manna to eat along their entire trek. 

Perhaps God hasn’t given you that “mega-blessing” yet.  But He has kept you and sustained you until the right time that the blessing is to come.

Joshua 3:9-11- So Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites:   Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. 

When that mega-blessing, breakthrough happens, it will be clear that it could only have been done by God because of the way all things came together for your good.

Joshua 3:13- “And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.” 

God reveals His faithfulness at the beginning and at the end of their flight out of Egypt.  Sometimes God will allow you to be in a dilemma to prove His faithfulness.   He also makes sure that we trust more in His faithfulness towards us as opposed to man’s.  He uses Moses to lead them through the Red Sea, and He uses Joshua to lead them through the Jordan.  We must keep our eyes on the faithful miracle worker and not the instruments He chooses to work through. 

God tells them to record this event by making a heap of stones in the middle of the river.  

Joshua 4:4,5- Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; and Joshua said to them:  “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of your take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel,

Most of us have awards, certificates, or trophies in our homes that signify memorable events in our lives.  They are good at triggering memories of significant achievements.  This is what is being talked about in Joshua 4:6- “that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

Some of us know that if God hadn’t shown up for our father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, or ourselves, they wouldn’t be here.  Just as God had Moses put the law on stone tablets, He now writes on the tablets of our hearts.   When somebody commits a crime, and they’re setting bail or determining a sentence, their rap sheet matters.  God has a rap sheet with you that says, if He was faithful then, He’ll be faithful tomorrow…….If He was faithful at the Red Sea, He’ll be faithful at the Jordan.

The purpose of the Bible is not just to remind us that God was faithful in the past.  It’s also to show us that He will be faithful today and tomorrow. Joshua says, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail………”  (Joshua 3:10). The purpose of a stone of remembrance is not just to remember what He has done, but also what He will do.  You can look forward to the future because the God of the past is still alive.

3)  KNOW THAT GOD CARES ABOUT EVERYONE

Joshua 4:1- And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying:

The stones represent how God is not a respecter of persons, and He waits until all of them cross over before He starts giving out inheritances.  We all get to cross over and see the hand of God. 

4)  GOD’S FAITHFULNESS IS REVEALED BY FAITH

The priests of God had to take the first step and put their foot in the water.   Notice that after the people went through the Jordan, men were told to go back in the middle and pick up stones of remembrance.   They had heard how God had drowned the Egyptians after they crossed over/ but as long as the priests and the ark stood in the gap, the waters were held back.

Crossing the Jordan stands for inheriting the promises God has for you.  Notice that once they crossed, they faced Jericho, Ai, Gilgal, and more.  Often, when we face a dilemma and a breakthrough happens, it is not uncommon to have another dilemma take place.  One story that illustrates this is that of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath.  This widow gave Elijah the last of her oil and flour to make a cake of bread and eat.  It was all she had left between her and starvation.  Because of her act of faith and obedience, her oil never stopped flowing, and the flour bin never ran out until the famine ended.  Yet after this miracle, her son comes down with a brain tumor and is at the point of death.  God heals him through Elijah to demonstrate His faithfulness is continuous, not just a ‘one-and-done”. 

Crossing the Jordan doesn’t mean that all your enemies are gone.  It means that new faith should now be in your heart, saying, “God can get me through this mess and the next one, and the next one.