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1. Prepare
   Read Exodus 15:11–18 – part of the song of Moses and Miriam, sung in praise to God for the miracle of the Exodus. Make these words your own as you come into God’s presence now.
2. Joshua 4:10-24

    ¹⁰ Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, ¹¹ and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the LORD and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. ¹² The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. ¹³ About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war.

    ¹⁴ 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.

    ¹⁵ Then the LORD said to Joshua, ¹⁶ “Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant law 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.

    ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. ²¹ He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²² tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ ²³ 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. ²⁴ 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.”

3. Main point
   Making an entrance
   The past is echoed in the present. Just as in the past the Lord had parted the Red Sea to allow his people to flee from slavery in Egypt, so now, once more, he parts the waters so that his people can cross over on dry ground.
   
   There is a difference, however. The crossing of the Red Sea was all about escape, exit and exodus. The crossing of the Jordan is about making an entrance.
   
   Ready to begin
   The people pass over, the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh among them, and they line up on the plains of Jericho ready for war. And Joshua, once again, is affirmed as their leader.
   
   All is now ready for the invasion to begin, and God concludes the entry process by closing the door behind them as the waters of the Jordan return to their proper place. Much remains to be done, but God’s people are now finally in the land he promised them. Their entry is complete.
4. Respond
   On the cross Jesus cried, ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30, NIV). Give thanks for the completeness of Christ’s work on the cross and pray for you and your church to enter into the fullness of all he has achieved.
5. Deeper study
   The echoes of the Exodus from Egypt reverberate through today’s passage. Joshua’s authority is further enhanced through the comparison with Moses. The miraculous nature of the crossing, the readiness of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh to play their part in the battles to come, and the sudden return of the Jordan to a raging torrent all highlight Joshua’s role. God’s presence is with him, so that ‘all the peoples of the earth might know’ (v 24).
   
   Mission is ‘our committed participation as God’s people, at God’s invitation and command, in God’s own mission within the history of God’s world for the redemption of God’s creation’.¹ Joshua’s role in the crossing of the Jordan is given a universal and missionary application. The God of Joshua frees his people, opens up the land of promise and has the forces of nature under control. All Israel has to do is to witness faithfully to his saving power. They do so not just by moving from Egypt to Canaan but through spiritual regeneration, living as the people of God.
   
   How do we know today that the ‘hand of the Lord is powerful’ (v 24)? What does it mean to have a right ‘fear of the Lord’? The answer is in our response to what God has done for us. God redeemed Israel from the slavery of Egypt through the crossing of the Red Sea, and now the Jordan, to bring them into a liberated state, socially, politically and spiritually. Today, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the same aspects of redemption apply. Our lives are to be lived in his mighty power, and in gratitude and obedience to him. Only then will the nations see that the God of Israel loves all his creation. Do we realise the missionary implications of our own journey with God?
   
   ¹ Chris Wright, The Mission of God, IVP, 2006