By God's Hand

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

 BY GOD’S HAND

Josh 4:14-18

14 That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses. 15 Then the LORD said to Joshua, 16 "Command the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan." 17 So Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan." 18 And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.

NIV

There are two lessons for us in this little portion of the narrative regarding the crossing of the Jordan. First, it is the work of God, another miracle showing the absolute authority over nature. First, He held back the raging water of the Jordan, piling it up way upstream near the town of Adam. We wonder what those people in Adam must have thought seeing the waters of the Jordon in a great pile, stopped completely from flowing. The waters remained piled up as long as the priests carrying the ark of the covenant were in the middle of the riverbed. As soon as they stepped out of the middle and set foot on the dry ground on the other side, God caused the river to start flowing at flood stage once more. This tells us that God Almighty is in total control of everything in nature, or that nature is subject to the will of God would be a better way of expressing his authority. Are there natural events that are simply part of how he set everything in motion, and He may or may not override an event just to prove himself again, and again. Yet, the truth is that God has the authority over the earth and everything in it, which means that we humans have no authority unless He has so given to us. We can plant seeds and expect a harvest. We can tame beasts of the field, or tend the garden, as he gave that instruction to Adam. But we cannot change the climate, or make the weather any different. We cannot change anything God has established. The second lesson is more personal, in that we note Joshua was exacted by God, and he was revered by the people. First, to revere can mean to fear, to be afraid of Joshua. Second, it was because God had exacted or magnified him in front of all the people. We do not believe God meant for the people to fear Joshua, but people might fear someone who God uses in a mighty way, or people might exalt that person, lift them up, honor them, making them special in their eyes. Here is where we come into this story. Jesus told us that the proud will be brought low and the humble will be exacted. He told that parable about being invited to a feast and to take the lowest seat instead of the highest. If we took the highest, and someone more honorable came we would be asked to take the least important seat humiliated instead of first being humble and asked to move up to a better position. Jesus told us to learn from him for he is gentle and humble in heart. We are told over and over again to humble ourselves before the Lord and He will lift us up. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Let us live humbly before God and men, for what do we have to be prideful about. If we attempt to exalt ourselves, boasting about our accomplishments, we look foolish rather than wise. We all are sinners saved by grace, and if God wants to lift us up and give us something, or put us in some position in life, it will all be for His glory, not ours. We should never boast in ourselves, other than our weakness, but only boast in Christ Jesus, who is our strength. We must always live in and by God’s hand.