Joshua - Week 2: Crossing the Boundary

Teaching by Josh Clark

Week 2: Crossing the Boundary (3:1-5:12)

1. Land

• Gen 3:22-24
  • Cast out East of Eden
• Gen 5:29
• “Land Flowing with Milk and Honey” - Exod 3:8; Lev 20:24; Num 13:27, Josh 5:6
  • Marked by Abundance
  • Like Eden, the promised land is supposed to be a place where God’s presence dwells (Lev 26:11-2; Deut 12:5; 16:2; 26:2)

2. Understanding Chapters 3-4

Outline of Chapters 3-4

1. Instructions for Crossing (3:2-13)
2. The priests cross into the middle of the Jordan, Israelites follow (3:14-17)
3. 12 Men & 12 stones (4:1-10a)
4. The people finish crossing over (4:10b-14)
5. Priests exit Jordan (4:15-18)
6. The 12 Men & 12 stones revisited (4:19-24)

Narrative Technique

• There is an instruction given and more information unfolds as the narrative progresses.
  •  (3:12 is developed in 4:1-10a and 4:20-24)
  • There are three groups of people the narrator highlights at different times. 
    • Israelites, priests carrying ark, and 12 representatives.
  • Sometimes the chronology feels out of order because of the narrative technique. 

2. Crossing the Jordan River (Ch 3-4)

3:1-13 Instructions to Cross

• V. 5 “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
  • Consecrate yourselves (Ex 19:10; Lev 20:7)
  • Wonders among you (Ex 3:20; 34)
    • Events designed to demonstrate the power of God to unbelieving nations
• V. 7 Moses/Joshua
  • “I will begin” fulfilled in Josh 4:14
  • Prophet like Moses (Deut 18:15-18)

3:14-17 Priest and people cross over

• V. 15 (the Jordan overflows) 
• The ark of the covenant 
  • Mentioned 30 times in the book of Joshua
  • 17 of those times are in chapters 3-4
  • The ark is a representation of God’s presence on earth

4:1-10a, 19-24 Twelve Men and Twelve Stones

• V. 6b-7 “When your children ask…”
• V. 21 “When your children ask…”

3. Transitioning into Life in the Land (Ch 5)

5:1-12 Renewing the Covenant

• V. 1 “As soon as all the kings… heard this” - Marks the beginning of a new conquest (see Josh 9:1-2; 10:1-2; 11:13)
  • “Hearts melted away” confirms Rahab’s testimony in Josh 2:11
• Three things to notice from the events surrounding the circumcision 
  • God disables his army before they go into battle. 
  • No uncircumcised male could partake in the passover meal (Exod 12:48)
  • Circumcision was the mark of a member in the covenant community (Gen 17:9-14). However, bearing the mark doesn’t make you a believer. 
• V. 10-12
  • The Land is not marked by an extraordinary need being met (manna), but by abundant ordinary provision (produce of Cannan). 

5:13-15 Joshua’s Holy Ground Experience

• V. 15 One more instance where Joshua is being portrayed as another Moses (Ex. 3:5)
• Commander of the Lords Army (Gen 3:24)

4. Christ Connection

• Passover Lamb- Christ delivered us from death
• Passing through the Jordan (Red Sea Josh 4:23)- Deliverance from slavery and wilderness to new life.
  • The Red Sea was a deliverance from slavery and oppression. 
  • Jordan marked the rescue from wilderness wandering. 
  • Neither the wilderness or Egypt was their home. They were meant for Eden. 
  • Through Christ we are brought back into the land of Eden, where man and God can experience communion once more.