"Minor" Details?
I’ll admit it: there are sections of the Bible that I think are hard to understand. And, yes, there are times when I read something and wonder, “Why would God include that?”
Studying for my Sunday night sermon this morning, I came across a detail I had read countless times with really no particular feeling. I was sure it was there for a reason, but I had only heard one seemingly unimportant reason ever given.
It’s found in Joshua 3 (yes, Lebanon Road folks, that’s the text for Sunday night). As God’s people prepare to cross the Jordan River, we are told in a parenthetical statement, “Now the Jordan River overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest” (verse 15, ESV). Every translation I consulted used very similar language.Why would that be mentioned?
For years I have thought that it was to show the power of the miracle. Not only was God able to stop the waters of the Jordan, but He could stop them even when they overflowed the banks and spilled out into the adjoining fields.
Surely, that’s a possible explanation for this detail. As I was thinking about the passage, though, I had this thought: “Isn’t that explanation limiting God?” When we are amazed that He could stop a river at its peak, aren’t we saying that God might have a bit of trouble if this were a particularly “deep” year for the Jordan?
Just 40 years prior, God had stopped up an entire Sea (or Gulf) for the people to cross! Just a few centuries earlier, He had created the entire universe with just the word of His mouth. Stopping up a little river, no matter how deep it was, is nothing to an Almighty God.
It is possible that the timing was mentioned for those there at the time. Except for very small children and a couple of faithful adults, they had not seen the Red Sea parted. But the account of God’s stopping the Red Sea was universally-known among the Israelites, so that doesn’t seem too relevant either.
So, why this detail?
It shows that God’s love and timing are perfect. The people had been wandering in the wilderness for four decades. True, God had provided every need, but now they were about to enter the “land which flows with milk and honey.” It was to be a bountiful land where they would have food enough and to spare.
So when did God bring them into the land to begin the conquest? At harvest time, and in a harvest where the overflowing banks of the Jordan would have the fields perfectly prepared! God, in this “small” part of the picture, shows once again how awesome He is, and how much He cares for His people.
Trust Him!
5 Comments
Anonymous
Amen!
great thought and a nice gem from scripture.
brian
blogprophet.wordpress.com
Mitchell
Adam,
I think you hit it head on! I wrote a sermon on that exact point a few years ago. If you would like me to send it to you I’d be glad to, just email or facebook me.
One of the things I think about with this is all the grumbling that must have went on. “Well, you would think that after forty years God could have picked a better time for us to cross over!”
That just makes me laugh because you know we do the same thing.
Keep up the great work.
Mitchell
John
Here’s a verse I “discovered” a few years ago:
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5 NKJV)
It is amazing how encouraging that one verse is, and I had read right through it for years. In every prayer I pray that is longer than a few seconds, I try to include a request for wisdom. I frequently remind the church here of this text and encourage them to do the same. How many poor choices could have been avoided (and good ones made), if I had caused this passage to brand into my brain and totally believed it? I wish I had learned this lesson in my twenties. I dont recall ever hearing this verse preached on….
Mark
Adam,
I don’t always comment, but I really appreciate your posts. I think you are by far the most technologically inclined minister they’ve had at Lebanon Rd., and I can tell that you’ve been like a breath of fresh air for the people there. I’m glad you’re there.
My God bless your hard work,
Mark
Jim Faughn
One up on the “old man” again!! I don’t think I’d ever even thought of that — or I’m getting so old I’d forgotten it!!!