Have you ever wondered if God will do for you as He has done for people of the past? There can be a common tendency amongst many (in actuality, it is a defective faith) to assume that God will not do for you as He has done for another. Sure, the particulars may be different, but in the end, deliverance is deliverance. God told Moses to command Pharaoh, “Let my people go.” In one form or fashion, this is the overarching theme of Scripture, and it is also the overarching theme for the life of every Christian.
God looks down on His creation, is in the same room as His child, and also dwells in the heart of the redeemed. He is everywhere, constantly working deliverance at all times. It may come through an obvious miracle, such as in the lives of Moses and Joshua when God parted the waters. It also may come as a mystery, such as the Holy Spirit working in a similar fashion as the wind. Or it may be masked and require the eyes of hearts to be enlightened. Either way, God is working deliverance.
It may be that God sovereignly ordains for someone to endure a season of affliction. It may be that the rod of God is wielded like a painter’s brush in the hands of the Creator. In this, God slowly and graciously begins to paint His Son on the face of the justified saint. No matter what the occasion, it is important for the Christian to know that God will be with him.
The Israelites faced a troubling time in their history after Moses died. But God would not relent nor turn back from His covenant people. God made a promise to Abraham. He determined, for His name’s sake, to deliver His people from bondage. This deliverance did not simply come by way of helping His people escape from the hands of the Egyptians. The deliverance also came by way of bringing them into a good land. This deliverance did not simply come by way of God’s showing up in their lives for a season. This deliverance came by way of God’s taking up residence in their midst and establishing His throne.
If God would be their King, they would have life. If God would not be their King, there would be no hope. If God would guide them to their desired haven, they would have victory. If God would leave them, it would result in defeat. Everything hinged upon God’s presence in their lives. But how would they know that they could count on God? How could they know that God did not depart from them when Moses departed?
Joshua 4:8-18 tells the story.
The crossing of the sea
As we approach Joshua 4:8-18, it is important to know that the people have just crossed over the waters. They are now, in this portion of Scripture, on the other side of the Jordan River. A select few (twelve to be exact) have been told to double-back and grab a large stone. The 12 large stones were to be set up as a monument by which to remember the Lord.
When the people left Egypt roughly 40 years earlier, they quickly forgot about the Lord. They no longer cherished the miracle by which God had delivered them from the hands of the Egyptians. It is as though they forgot about it. The first sign that God would do for them what He did for Moses came by way of God’s parting the waters. You may remember that when God delivered the Israelites 40 years prior to this point, His final miraculous act of deliverance was when He parted the waters and established Moses as the leader of the people.
In this portion of Scripture, we can see the event that occurred with Moses repeating itself. One of the major differences this time is that the people were to set up a monument to remember what the Lord had done. God did not want them to forget.
Leaving in haste
The second way by which the people would have connected their deliverance with the one that occurred during Moses’ day was that they crossed over in haste. God’s deliverance was to be taken seriously. When God moved, so must the people. They were not to look back and cherish the land from which they had been taken out. Rather, the Scripture says, “…the people hasted and passed over” (Jos. 4:10).
During Moses’ day, the people left Egypt in haste. This was the whole point of their eating the unleavened bread. Unleavened bread is made without yeast. When yeast is worked into dough, the dough needs time to rise. On the other hand, the unleavened bread was prepared and baked quickly (and thus was flat). Joshua and the people made haste just as Moses and the people did in the past, as well.
Preparing for war
The crossing of the Red Sea takes place in Exodus chapter 14. In Exodus 15, the people sing the song of Moses in triumph. It is not too long after this that the people of Moses begin to fight. This is also true in the spiritual life. If the Christian cannot make this connection, he is bound to fail. He must be prepared for battle. When God parts the waters for the Christian and brings him to the other side, the believer must recognize that this is for war, not for rest. Yes, the Christian is at rest with God, but in whatever the Christian does, he must never believe that he must find rest with the enemy. The enemy is at war, and the Christian must take up his arms. Moses and his people quickly engaged in combat after they crossed the Red Sea.
Joshua and his people were ready, as well. Scripture says, “And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them: About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the Lord unto battle…” (Jos. 4:10-11). The people were delivered to fight. God’s deliverance summons a man to war, not rest. Rest with God, yes; rest from war, no.
God exalts Joshua
During the time of Moses, when God parted the waters, this was done more than to simply help the people escape from the Egyptians. All of the people were present at the borders of the Red Sea. There was no way that they would have been able to cross apart from a miracle. They had not witnessed what God had done through Moses prior to this point. Yes, they had seen miraculous activity. However, these miracles were not so clearly connected with Moses as what happened at the Red Sea. At the Red Sea, it was as though Moses had an audience. All of the people’s eyes would have been on the man in whom they trusted to bring them to safety. They started to doubt on the edge of the waters.
But at that very time, God spoke to Moses. Moses lifted up his staff over the sea in a display that would have aroused the attention of the people even more. As Moses did so, the waters began to part. This time, there was no way that the people could doubt that Moses was God’s instrument for deliverance in their lives.
This same phenomenon occurred in the life of Joshua. God parted the waters for Moses, but would He do it for Joshua? God did. The Scripture says, “On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life” (Jos. 4:14). God worked through Moses. God also worked through Joshua.
Application
God will work through you, as well. God is with His people for all time. He has made this clear in His Word. Although the people of the earth fade away like a flower or wither like a blade of grass, God remains. He is the unchanging God. Each day, God is seeking to work deliverance in your life, as well. Trust in the Lord.
Final prayer
Father, I thank You for the ways that You continue to deliver me. Help me to see Your deliverance and trust in Your Word. In Jesus’ name, Amen.