Many years ago, my two younger siblings wanted to start a business venture. They asked me if I was interested. What they proposed sounded promising and exciting. But I had a problem. I was very busy as a pastor, and I had little time, not to mention expertise in business.
"Not to worry," my sister said, "you will be a sleeping partner." What she meant was that she and my brother would put my name in the partnership, but I would not have to do anything. I could go to sleep, as it were, while they did the work. In other words, they would do the leg work. They would use their feet; I would not need to move a muscle.
How we wish that life would be as easy as that! When Joshua took over from Moses as the new leader of Israel, he and the people stood on the verge of the Promised Land. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, the people longed to settle into a land and home of their own.
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country— to the Great Sea on the west. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
God's promise to Joshua and the people of Israel was clear: "Get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them.... I will give you every place where you set your foot...." Note that God said "the land I am about to give them.... I will give you..." Again, later on, God said of the land, "I swore to their forefathers to give them..." And again he said, "the land the Lord your God is giving you..."
God promised to give the people the land. It sounded like a gift that would fall from heaven into their laps. It looked like they didn't have to do anything—like when I was offered the privilege of a sleeping partner. But no, that would not be the case. Joshua and the people needed to do something. They must move in and set their feet on it. When God makes a promise, he delivers—but we must go get it!
You may have heard this story: A man was trapped in his house as a flood swept through his area. He took refuge on the second storey as the water flooded the ground level of his home. Being a fervent believer in God, he fell on his knees and prayed for God to do something. Soon he saw a man rowing in a canoe towards his house. "Come into the canoe," the canoe man shouted above the noise of the rain and swirling waters.
"No," the man replied, "I believe God will help me." But the flood continued to rise, and he had to climb the stairs up to the attic. The water had taken over the second storey of the house. Again he fell on his knees and prayed, "God, do something!" Just then, he heard the sound of a motor boat approaching. "Get into the boat!" the boatman shouted above the noise of the rain and swirling waters.
"No," the man replied, "I believe God will help me." But the flood continued to rise. Soon, the man was up on the roof of his house. He fell again on his knees, and cried to God, "O God, do something!" He looked up and saw a helicopter above him, and a rope ladder thrown out to him.
"Get on to the ladder!" the pilot shouted. "No," the man insisted, "my God will help me." The waters rose without abating, and swept the man away. He drowned.
In heaven, he met God. Angry that his cries were not heard, he demanded, "God, I called to you. Why didn't you hear me? Why didn't you do something?"
"What else could I do?" God said, "I sent you a canoe, a boat and a helicopter, but you turned them away."
The man in our story wanted God to do something. In fact, he wanted God to do everything. God did something. God sent him three modes of rescue, but the man would not move his feet. To the end, he expressed surprise at God's indifference to his prayers.
God promised Joshua and his people the land stretched out before them. But they had to move in and take it. They had to use their feet. One day when we get to heaven, we may find a warehouse full of parcels, boxes, crates, even containers, with our names on them. We are going to ask, "What are all these boxes with my name on them?" We will be told, "Well, they were designated for you while you were on earth, but you never claimed them. That's why they are still here."
God promised the people of Israel the land, but they had to go and get it. In fact, they had to work and fight, plan and do battle, before they got the land. It was Promised Land all right, but that did not mean that things were going to come easy. It was certainly not a case of simply walking in, collecting their title deeds, drawing lots on where to stay—and bingo!—every Israelite was sitting in his cedar house and eating off his fig tree.
No, it was going to be tough. The Promised Land might be a gift to be claimed and collected, but it was also a prize to be fought for and won. To start off, there was a river to cross and a city to conquer. Though these challenges, God would address the issue of partnership with Joshua. He would certainly not be a sleeping partner; he would have to use his feet.
Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you." Joshua said to the priests, "Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people." So they took it up and went ahead of them. And the Lord said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: 'When you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river.' "
When these instructions were given, it was harvest time and the river was flooded over.37 That would be about April when the river Jordan overflowed its banks. The river was 30 metres in width, but that was not the problem. It was the depth: depending on time of year, it could be a metre to four metres deep.
River Jordan lay in a deep valley that filled up quickly with water from rain falling upstream and from snow melting off Mount Hermon. The water rushed through the ravine, filling the river, flooding the banks with swift, treacherous undercurrents. Harvest time was the worst time to try to cross the river. The waters ran deep, the currents swept fast, and any attempt to cross it would have been extremely dangerous.
Yet, that was what Joshua had to do. As the leaders of the people, the priests had to step first into the river. They had to get their feet wet. Wet feet: that was the first lesson Joshua needed to learn about partnership. If we want to partner with God to get things done, we need to get our feet wet.
Can you imagine what would happen if the priests stepped into the water of the Jordan River, and nothing happened? What an embarrassment it would have been for the new leader Joshua! Yet, it was a risk he had to take.
Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
Joshua took the step of faith and got his feet wet. When the priests stepped into the rushing waters, the river stopped flowing, and the people walked across. An avalanche had taken place upstream and a dam had stopped the flow of the river.
It was a miracle. The damming of the river was not unusual because we have records of it happening in recent times.39 But the timing was miraculous. The moment the people stepped out in faith and got their feet wet, God opened the way.
When we read about the miracles of Jesus, we are struck by how he got the people involved in the miracles. At the wedding where the wine ran out, he told the servants to fill the wine jars with water before he turned them to wine. At the feeding of the five thousand, he told the disciples to feed the people and they came to him with a little boy's lunch of five loaves and two fishes. He then proceeded to multiply the food.
At the raising of Lazarus, he asked the people to remove the stone from the dead man's tomb, before he called Lazarus to come forth.40 Jesus could have removed the stone with a command in the same way he commanded Lazarus to come out alive. He could have produced food from nothing to feed the 5,000. He could have filled the jars with water, and turned it into wine without the help of the servants.
But Jesus believed in partnership. God wants us to get involved. He wants us to get our feet wet. He wants us to take the risk. We do our part and then watch God do his. This is the lesson of the wet feet. We get our feet wet and God will get us across the river.
---------------------To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment