April 11- Crossing the Jordan

April 11, 2011

Scripture Readings:
Joshua 3:1-4:24; Luke 14:7-35;
Psalm 80:1-19; Proverbs 12:27-28

Ol' man river,

Dat ol' man river

He mus' know sumpin'

But don't say nuthin'

He jes' keeps rolllin'

He keeps on rollin' along.

Joshua 3:1-4:24

With the exception of where I was born, I have always lived near rivers.  My personal experience is tied to life along a riverbank. In the springtime, there is always a risk of floods when you live near a river. In the wintertime, birds are seen flocking to the great source of water.  Lazy afternoons watching the muddy water swirl across the mighty Mississippi River are some of my favorite memories. To get to a river town one always has to cross a bridge. No one gets to a river town without crossing over. Today as the Israelites cross over the Jordan River, God provides a picture of Christ's crossing from death to resurrected life for you and me.

As we begin our reading today, we see a group of people who are about to do something their forefathers did not have the courage to do.  These are people who are committed to go fight for the land that God has promised to them. This is no light adventure. The Israelites were taking all of their worldly goods, their families, and their sacred honor into a place of unknown dangers. Fortunately, they would not face this challenge without God.

In order to get across the Jordan River, God intends to do another miracle parting of  the waters.  This time He will do it in the springtime during the seasonal floods. This time the Ark of the Covenant will go before the people into the riverbed. This time, after they cross, they will be in the Promised Land. As part of the instructions for how this will all occur, God sets up some rules:

• The Ark of the Covenant was to be carried by the priests to the edge of the water and they were to go in a few steps and stop. Vs. 8
• The water of the river would then pile up, leaving a dry river bed. Vs. 13
• Twelve men, one from each tribe, were to pick up twelve stones from the riverbed and place them on their shoulders to take to the other side of the Jordan. Vs. 4: 4-6
• They were to build a memorial on the other side of the Jordan using the stones from the riverbed. Vs.7

Why did God have the Israelites do this as part of going into the Promised Land?  You may realize by now that God never passes up the opportunity for a good symbol or picture of a spiritual truth.  Here's the picture:

• The Ark of the Covenant is a symbol of Jesus Christ.  
• The Jordan River is death.  
• The stones are the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles who form the foundation of the Church that relies on the work of Christ to receive salvation.  
• Jesus goes before us in death.  
• He triumphs over death with His resurrection and leads us into the promised land of spiritual blessings.  
• His work provides the bridge to our victory over death.  
• With Jesus as our bridge, we pass from death into eternal life.  
• Our baptism in the Jordan River represents our identification with Christ's death, resurrection and new life in him.

Have you been baptized into new life with Christ?  Have you crossed the Jordan River into the promised land of spiritual blessings?

Luke 14:7-35

Today Jesus is dispensing free advice and taking the opportunity to teach truth.  He is about to participate in a dinner and notices that people are jockeying to get to the important seats at the table.  Jesus encourages his followers to seek the less important seats in order to avoid being humiliated when the host has to remove them to allow a more important person to sit in their seat. He also encourages people to be hospitable to those who cannot return the favor.  He does not think they should only invite people to their gatherings who can invite them to their house also.  He wants his followers to reach out to the needy.

Jesus uses this example to tell a parable about the Kingdom of God on earth being a wedding feast where the Israelites have been invited to eat with the bride and groom, but they are too busy with their lives to come to the feast. The host of the feast is forced to invite regular people off of the street (Gentiles) to the feast. God invites the needy to his wedding feast as he comes to earth in the future to rule during his millennial reign.  Just regular sinners in need of a Savior will feast with God and enjoy his presence. No pedigree or birthright, other than faith in Christ, will be necessary to enter this joyous occasion. After a time of great trial on earth, those who have faith in Christ, both Jew and Gentile, will be invited to enjoy Christ's presence as he rules the earth for a thousand years. This is the wedding feast and celebration of the marriage of the bride (the Church) and the groom (Jesus Christ).

Later, Jesus gives two examples of needing to count the cost of being one of his followers.  He admonishes people to think about what they are getting into.  He says that you do not want to be like someone who sets out to build a big building, but halfway through the project you run out of funds and have to stop.  People will ridicule you as a fool.  He also compares counting the cost to a king who is considering going to war.  That king will assess whether he has enough men and is strong enough to defeat the enemy.  If he isn't, he tries to negotiate a peace treaty.  Jesus says that building a life in Christ and enlisting in his army is just like these stories.  Count the cost before you sign up for duty.

During this day and age as I am writing this blog acceptance of Christ as your Savior positions you as a part of his universal Church on earth. As part of the Church you are Christ's bride in this grand story. In the future after the Church has been raptured, those who come to faith in Christ will have be invited to the wedding feast to celebrate the marriage of Christ and his bride. Have you counted the cost of following Jesus today?  Are you prepared to sacrifice things like your pride, your wants, and your sins in order to become his bride?

Psalm 80:1-19

"Watch over and care for this vine that you yourself have planted, this son you have raised for yourself."  We can all pray this prayer.

Proverbs 12:27-28

"Lazy people don't even cook the game that they have caught."  Are you wasting time, resources, and blessings because you are too lazy to get up and do something with yourself?

What did you notice today?

Blessings,

Jubilee Gal
Kathy Fullerton