Church Notes 4

Difficult Deliverance

Joshua 3: 1-17

Joshua told to the people to "consecrate themselves" for God's blessing. If you don't know consecration means to prepare, and back then it meant to bathe or eat certain types of food. I can promise that it wasn't easy, but it was to prep for them walking through the river.

The Israelites didn't appreciate it. Instead, they complained about Joshua taking leadership, and the fact that they weren't at the promised land yet. This was AFTER they spent 40 years in the wilderness FOR COMPLAINING. Somehow, they didn't learn the lesson that not everything will be the way they anticipated, but it will be for the greater good. THESE PEOPLE SAW BREAD AND QUAIL FALL FROM THE SKY AND STILL COMPLAIN. Who else would've just given up on them? Just me? Seriously though! God still continued to protect and guide these jokers after they complained about every little thing! What did they expect? God doing every little thing? No, you need to put in your load too!

Okay, so let's talk about the river they crossed: When they got there, the water wasn't already split. It wasn't like Moses, who used his staff to do a miracle. Even then he had to first act. When the people walked, the Ark of God was in front of them. What's amazing to me is that nothing happened until the priest who was holding the Ark took a step in the water. Nothing moved until the presence of God was literally brought into their situation. But they had to do something first to get where they were: walk. You would think that they'd learn to shut up about walking after 4 decades of doing it. However, after all the walking and whining, they got to see yet another miracle. The supernatural is in the natural, folks. You just have to suck it up to see it.