Breaking Camp

INTRO

In Joshua 2, Joshua sent two spies into the city of Jericho. Remember Joshua 1:11 where he commands the people to prepare to move in three days? This was going to be a big week for the Israelites, because they were going into the Promised Land. The spies encountered Rahab, who helped hide them. Because of her help, she and her family were to be spared when the Israelites took the city. This is the backdrop for what happened in chapter 3.

TEACHING

Joshua 3:1-2: : Joshua started early in the morning. It seems that men of God in the Bible rose early in the morning (Exodus 24:4; 2 Chronicles 29:20; Psalm 57:8; Mark 1:35). Joshua left the Acacia Grove with all the Israelites. They went to the Jordan River and camped out. After three days, the officers went throughout the camp instructing the people. When they saw the ark of the covenant, they were to break camp and follow.

Joshua 3:3: I love this verse because when I wanted to see God move, He led me to these verses. We must break camp in order to do Gods work. I think a lot of people have a desire to break camp but they are afraid to do it.

Joshua 3:4: The Israelites were to keep a distance of 1,000 yards (or half a mile away) from the ark. When you break camp, you should fully expect it to not look the way you want it to look. You have to have faith to break camp and go into the unknown. In some regards, there had to have been some excitement in the camp. The Israelites were finally at the starting line! They were to expect it to be like nothing they had ever seen.

Joshua 3:5: Joshua told the people to consecrate themselves because the Lord would be among them the next day. They were to make sure they were not connected to anything unclean. This is a pattern of sanctification that God established for His people. Warren Wiersbe wrote that this meant that “everybody bathed and changed their clothes and that the married couples devoted themselves wholly to the Lord.”¹They were to keep themselves pure.

It is almost like saying that this was a new beginning. Sin is pictured as defilement and is to be washed away (2 Samuel 12:20; Psalm 51:2). Spiritually speaking, God needed the Israelites to get ready. It is similar to the picture of baptism we see in Romans 6.

Joshua 3:6-7: The priests were to take the ark and go ahead of the people. Once you break camp, you need get your feet wet! In other words, you need to move forward. God exalted Joshua (just as He did with Moses) in the sight of Israel so they would know that he was their leader. Actually, God used Joshua and the priest to show that He was with the Israelites.

Joshua 3:8-9: Joshua was to command the priest. When they reached the edge of the Jordan, they were to stand in the water. If you want to see God move in your life, you need to be obedient to His will! Does this sound like the Red Sea all over again? To me this is a radical story. The reality is you need to walk by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7). Nobody had a clue what would happen. In faith alone, the priest had to get into the water. In order to get your feet wet, you have to walk by faith (Hebrews 11:6), even when it doesn’t make sense to walk by faith (James 1:22).

Joshua 3:10: Joshua said, “Look at what God is going to do.” God was going to dispose of seven people groups in the land. As the Israelites crossed over, God said He was going to rid the land of their enemies. I think we don’t share the gospel because we are afraid of the enemy, afraid that God won’t take care of things.

Joshua 3:11-13: Joshua chose 12 men, one from every tribe of Israel. These men come into play in chapter 4. Joshua told the Israelites that when the priests stood in the river, the waters would be cut off and would “stand up in a mass" (v. 13) (like a wall).

Joshua 3:14-17: The people broke down their camps to cross the Jordan. As soon as the priest stood in the river, the water stopped and rose up in a mass that extended 18 miles. Remember two million people needed to cross the river. The priest stood in the middle of the Jordan as the people began to cross on dry ground until all Israel reached the opposite shore. When you are willing to break camp and get your feet wet, you can expect a miraculous sign.

Joshua 4Joshua summoned the 12 men and instructed them to each take one of the large stones from the middle of the Jordan River (v. 8). These men were to stack these stones at the edge of their camp to serve as a reminder to the Israelites of what God had done.

Joshua told the Israelites that all people of the earth who saw the stones would know that God was mighty and to always fear Him (v. 24). Joshua also picked up 12 stones and placed them in the middle of the Jordan River where the ark of the covenant had been (v. 9). After everyone reached the opposite bank, the priests finished crossing. As soon as the priest stood on dry ground, the river resumed its flow (v. 18).

CLOSING

All people should know that the Lord is mighty. The reality is that the Israelites were crossing into a whole new season. They were claiming their inheritance. And Joshua served as a type of Christ:

1 Corinthians 2:9-10: “But as it is written: What eye did not see and ear did not hear, and what never entered the human mind––God prepared this for those who love Him. Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”

God is preparing these deep things through our relationship with him. God has an inheritance waiting for us. The only way to receive this inheritance is to walk in faith (Psalm 47:4).