Read:Joshua 3 (Part 3)

After the children of Israel had prepared their hearts to listen to the Lord and been shown by the Lord that they should listen to Joshua, they were ready to see God perform a great miracle.

And so they saw the ark of the Lord going before them. This ark showed them that God was actually among them. It is God leading them into the Jordan River. All they had to do was follow the Lord. They didn’t have to worry about that large raging river in front of them, they just had to follow, just had to obey. And so the Israelites simply followed the ark towards the Jordan River. Verse 13 tells us that the soles of the feet of the priest got wet as they walked into the river.

That required amazing faith. They had no idea how they were going to cross that river, yet they still just followed the priest. But then the Lord showed the people how great and powerful he is. As the priest’s feet touched the water of the river, the Lord stopped the flow way upstream and let the water downstream flow away. The Israelites could walk across the river on dry ground. They may have wondered how they were going to get across the river, but God had prepared a mighty miracle.

God showed the Israelites his might and power. He was able to stop the raging river for them. If he was able to do that, then he was also powerful enough to help them with whatever would happen in the Promised Land.

And God is also powerful enough to perform an even greater miracle. Jesus Christ, the New Testament Joshua, was able to stop God’s wrath and anger against our sins by his death on the cross. Just like the raging waters were stopped for the Israelites, so God’s great anger against us is stopped by Christ’s death on the cross. Oh, what a great God we serve!

Reflection with your child:

What does this miracle teach you about God?

Source: Sermon by Rev. R. Vermeulen