Joshua 3:1-6 – Awareness of the LORD’s Work

As well as distance (v4 – as we saw yesterday), the attitude of the people was also important for spectating the LORD’s work. In v5 we read: Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” What did this command involve? From other occurrences in the Old Testament (look up, for example, Ex. 19:10,14,22; Num. 11:18; Josh. 7:13; 1 Sam. 16:5), we see that it means the special preparation of the people whenever the LORD was going to reveal Himself in a special way. It could include washing their clothes and abstaining from marital relations; it probably included confession of sins too.

Why all the bother about distance and attitude? Why all this fuss and preparation for the big event? Because it was crucial for Israel to recognise that what was about to happen was indeed the work of the LORD. Unless they had proper insight, expectancy and preparation, they could see the LORD’s work and yet still not understand its true value and significance. Just as we might prepare ourselves for seeing a movie by finding out more about the storyline, or we might prepare ourselves for going to a concert by getting to know the artist’s songs better, proper preparation can lead to a proper appreciation. This is also true of Joshua 3-4. God’s people must be rightly prepared for God’s ‘show’ if they are going to appreciate it, if they are going to be strengthened in their faith. Although the LORD may not often cut a path through rivers for His people today, the principle remains. Do you prepare yourself for the practice of the public worship of God? If we are not impressed with the magnificence of the living God in public worship, is it because we have not prepared ourselves to see Him as such? Could it be that we even fail to detect God’s marvellous working in the routine details of our lives simply because we have not prepared ourselves to see or even expect that?