NO BOATS, NO BRIDGES

Joshua 1:1-9 is a passage of Scripture that has been foundational to my life and ministry.

Theses verses are the instructions of God to Joshua, the newly promoted leader of Israel on its way to the Promised Land. The instructions begin with the rather sobering statement, “Moses My servant is dead” (verse 2), and implied in that is “and you are now in charge.”

The next seven verses are rich with truth and instruction for all of us and are basic truths for success for every follower of Jesus Christ.

This passage is not only about Joshua assuming a new role of leadership, it is also about that moment in history when Israel was about to possess a promise God had made to them hundreds of years before (see Genesis 15:18).

After God spoke to Joshua and installed him as leader, His next words of instruction were, “Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them” (Joshua 1:2).

Now honestly, this doesn’t seem to be all that difficult—or does it?

Go with me as we visualize this scene. The children of Israel are on the eastern bank of the Jordan River. Looking across the river they can see the lush fields at harvest time. Years earlier Moses had sent twelve spies into the Promised Land and they had brought back a confusing report. Yes, the land was amazingly good, flowing with milk and honey, they said, and fruitful beyond belief. In fact, it took two men to carry one cluster of grapes. But they also said that the people who dwelt there were strong, the cities were fortified, and there were sons of giants living there. So ten of the twelve spies voted against going in and taking the land (see Numbers 13:25-33). 

For forty long years the children of Israel had choked on the unbelief of those men, unbelief that held them back and left them wandering in the wilderness. But those days were now over and God had given them clearance to go and take the land.

There was only one problem that had to be solved right away. How were they to get from the eastern bank of the Jordan to the western bank? There were no boats and there were no bridges! On top of that, it was harvesttime and the Jordan River was overflowing its banks. Harvesttime was the one time of the year that the river ran at flood stage.

So this is the scene confronting Joshua and the children of Israel. The promise is so close they can literally smell the lush fields and the fruitfulness of the land. Several million people were clamoring to get across the river and into their new homeland but what were they going to do?

Here are the instructions that God gave to Joshua to get across the river.

“When the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord . . . shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing” (Joshua 3:13).

In verses 15 and 16 of the same chapter, we read that as soon as the priests’ feet were in the water, the flow of the flooding river stopped close to the city of Zarethan, which is 15-20 miles upstream from where Joshua and the people were.

We don’t know how long it took for the miracle to fully manifest itself because unlike what happened at the Red Sea parting, the place where the waters of the Jordan stopped was miles away from where the crossing would take place. It would have taken time for the water to recede enough for the people to be able to cross.

No matter what your impossible situation is, go ahead and take your step of faith as God leads you to do so. Do not get discouraged, because it takes time for the fullness of the miracle answer to show itself. Sometimes the answers come immediately and sometimes they come over a period of time—but in both cases they will come!

“For you have need of endurance (patience), so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised” (Hebrews 10:36).

When God opened the Red Sea, He used a strong wind (Exodus 14:21-22). When Moses lifted his rod, the wind began to blow, and when he lowered the rod, the waters flowed back (14:26–28). When Joshua led Israel across the Jordan, it was not the obedient arm of a leader that brought the miracle but the obedient feet of the people. Unless we are willing to step out by faith and obey His Word,  God can never open the way for us.

No boats, no bridges—but we do have feet and we do have promises and we can be obedient. It’s time for us to get our feet wet!