Can you believe it! Today we are half way through our journey with Joshua. Let’s jump on in and not waste any time.

Joshua 3:5-9, “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.’ ” Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.

What is so significant about the Ark of the Covenant? Why does it matter that the covenant went before the people? What does this have to do with the Jordan River being parted like the Red Sea?

The Ark of the Covenant was a gold chest created by Moses based on God’s instructions. This chest was where God would meet His people, when He dwelled among them. The chest contained the Ten Commandment tablets, a jar of manna, and Aarons’ rod. Each item having a significant meaning about the presences of God. The covenant going before the people is a symbol that God goes before us and clears the way for us to walk through just as He did for Israel.

Joshua 4:14-24, “That day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses. Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant law to come up out of the Jordan.” So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.” 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. On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”

How does this apply to us today?

With the New Covenant between God and us, we are the temple. God now dwells among His people without the Ark of the Covenant. Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection was the fulfillment of Jeremiah 3: 16-17, where we learn that the Ark of the Covenant would no longer be the temple of God. 1 Corinthians. 3:16, “Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?

So, many times I have hesitated on being obedient to God in fear of what if the waters never part or what if the waters come down and drown me. God is telling us that He goes before us. He dwells among us. When we truly trust Him, we get to see His true works in our lives.

Do you have All in Faith? Are you living a life that exemplifies that God dwells among?

Go all in!!!

Meditate on: 1 Corinthians. 3:16, “Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?

Application: Do what the Lord is instructing you to do. Be Obedient. Go back and read Joshua 3 and 4.

Prayer: Father in Heaven, there is so much we didn’t cover in today’s devotional please help us to desire your word in full context. Reveal yourself to us as we read your word God. Help us to not only hear but to also understand and apply. Show each of us how to have All In Faith. In Jesus name, amen.