God’s Five Purposes

God had five purposes for bringing the Israelites through the Jordan River. We just read Joshua chapters 1-4, so we have seen those purposes in context. Now, let's lift specific verses out of those chapters, put them under a microscope, and examine the purposes of God more closely.

These are at least five goals God wanted to accomplish by the Israelites' crossing of the Jordan. He wanted to:

1. replicate the baptism of the previous generation

2. demonstrate the power of covenant

3. affirm that he would drive out their enemies

4. exalt Yeshua

5. inspire the fear of God in all people

Let's examine each of these purposes one-by-one.

Purpose #1. Replicate the Baptism of the Previous Generation 

The passing of the Israelites through the Jordan meant the same thing as the passing of the Red Sea—it meant baptism. How do we know that? Simply because 1 Corinthians 10:1-2 says that the Israelites were baptized crossing the Red Sea and Joshua told the people that the miracle of the crossing of the Jordan was equivalent to the passing of the Red Sea.

… 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 (Joshua 4:23).

Joshua and Caleb were the only two men remaining of the more than 600,000 men from the generation that crossed the Red Sea. Crossing the Jordan with Joshua and Caleb were the grown adult children of the generation that crossed the Red Sea. But the new generation was different from its parents. It was a believing generation.

As believing as they were, that generation was still missing something: it hadn’t experienced a washing. They had never experienced a spiritual cleansing like their parents. So, every person from that generation needed a baptism. God made baptism a requirement for them to enter into the Promised Land.

Hasn't God made baptism a requirement for every member of today's new generation also? Yes, he has. It doesn't matter if your parents have been baptized or not, you need to decide for yourself. Each of us who will enter the Kingdom needs a cleansing.

Peter called his generation to be washed and baptized. Look at what he told the crowds on Pentecost:

'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins... With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, 'Save yourselves from this corrupt generation' (Acts 2:38-40).

Jesus said:

The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved... (Mark 16:15-16; NASB).

He also said:

... no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5).

Peter, speaking of Noah's family and us says:

… only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also… (1 Peter 3:20-21; NKJV)

The Meaning of the Stones

The twelve-stone memorial which Joshua was supposed to set up would be set up at Gilgal, the first Israelite encampment in the Promised Land—but why? Those stones came from the bottom of the Jordan River, so they would have been quite smooth. They would provoke a question from future generations: ‘What do these stones mean?’

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the Ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you.

In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever (Joshua 4:4-7).

The proper God-glorifying answer to the question of future generations ‘What do these stones mean?’ is that ‘… the flow of the Jordan was cut off… the waters of the Jordan were cut off’ so it was to remind them of the path God made for them through the waters.

Do you remember the path God made for you through the waters? God’s people should never forget their baptism. A memorial to their baptism should forever be etched upon the tablet of our hearts. In fact, it will be etched on our hearts through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, God's response to our water baptism.

The Memorial to Your Baptism

The baptism of the Holy Spirit produces a seal on our lives, guaranteeing eternal life. A person who has been sealed by the Holy Spirit has God's guarantee of a resurrection.

The twelve stones were a reminder of God's faithfulness to the hundreds of thousands of people who were baptized in the Jordan. The Holy Spirit is God's reminder of his faithfulness to you. But, did you truly receive the Holy Spirit when you were baptized? You must ask yourself that question.

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”

“John’s baptism,” they replied.

Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all (Acts 19:1-7).

That's awesome. A demonstration of what it means to be baptized in Jesus' name as opposed to other forms of baptism, like the baptism of John the Baptist, which was only for repentance and forgiveness of sins. Baptism in Jesus' name leads to a sign, the sign of the Holy Spirit.

If you have passed by your High Priest Jesus through the depths of the waters, then you must take a sign with you from having been at that spot, the spot where a covenant was established. It should remain with you as a memorial that you were buried with Christ. That sign is not a trinket or a material object. It is the sign of the Holy Spirit. You receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands.

As those twelve men in Ephesus received the Holy Spirit, so did twelve men take a reminder of their baptism with them from the point where the Ark stood in the Jordan. It became a perpetual reminder--a memorial--to their experience.

These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever (Joshua 4:7).

The Jordan-crossing memorial is not in Gilgal anymore. The Jewish people don't even know where Gilgal is today. If they had cared for the monument, they would remember their baptism forever. And you? For how long will you remember the sign and memorial to your baptism? Will you also forget the way the Israelites did?

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would be with us for the age.

I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, in order that he may be with you for the age (John 14:16; LEB).

Purpose #2. Demonstrate the Power of Covenant

Now, let’s talk more about the significance of the Ark of the Covenant because the waters of the Jordan were only cut off ‘before the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD,’ and only ‘when it crossed the Jordan’ were the waters of the Jordan cut off. Only then were the Israelites able to cross the Jordan and be baptized—when the Ark was involved!

The priests bore the sign of the covenant on their shoulders—the Ark of the Covenant. And it was the Ark that caused the water’s flow to stop. Joshua commanded that the Ark had to go before the people—that’s how important it was. In the Ark were the Ten Commandments, a jar of mana, and Aaron’s blossoming rod.

See, the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the Earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you (Joshua 3:11).

The water only dried up when the feet of the priests who were bearing the Ark touched the water’s edge, the shores of the Jordan. Why was that? Because there is power in God’s covenants. His covenants make things happen. They are legally binding commitments between God and us.

Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the Ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing  (Joshua 3:15-16).

They stepped into the river, the flow ceased, and then the priests had to stop in the middle of the riverbed until all of the Jewish people had made their way safely to the other side. That is, the Ark of the Covenant, as God’s sign of commitment to the Jewish people, had to remain in the place of their saving miracle—their baptism. (Baptism is also a saving event for us--if the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit is present).

The priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground (Joshua 3:17).

To remember this crossing, and the place where the priests stood with the Ark, Joshua commanded one man from each of the twelve tribes of Israel to pick up a stone and to bring it to the camp at Gilgal to build a twelve-stone altar. The idea was to immortalize the event.

When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight’ (Joshua 4:1-3).

The twelve men did as Joshua commanded and set up the altar. The altar would remind them of the location where the priests stood with the Ark, the power of the covenant, and their victorious crossing of an impassable river. Without the Ark--their covenant sign--their baptism would not have been possible.

Nor would victory against their enemies have been possible--let's look at that next. The Jews' supernatural crossing of the Jordan caused the inhabitants of Canaan to fear them and to surrender to them.

Purpose #3. Affirm That He Would Drive out Their Enemies

Going into a strange land to battle against unknown enemies was scary. The Israelites needed to know that God was going to fight for them. They needed assurance that the Lord would drive out their enemies.

This is how you will know that the Living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites (Joshua 3:10).

God also showed the Jews that they were going to be victorious by having a supporting entourage of warriors pass over ready for battle. Three additional tribes, bringing the military forces number to 40,000, instilled in the people the confidence that they would be able to conquer the land.

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. About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war (Joshua 4:12-13).

The Jews, who had the sign of the covenant with them, and with men willing to fight by faith, felt great confidence that they would be able to take the Promised Land and that they would see the fulfillment of God’s promises not just in them, but through them.

Purpose #4. Exalt Yeshua 

Now, Joshua represents Jesus because the name Joshua in Hebrew is Yeshua—and that’s the same name for Jesus in Hebrew. To that man, the one who replaced Moses, God was going to ‘give… every place where he would set his feet’ (Joshua 1:3). If God could give Joshua a river bed at flood stage, then he could give him any piece of land on the planet. A riverbed is the least likely place on Earth for someone’s foot to claim.

After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: ‘Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses’ (Joshua 1:1-3).

As God exalted Joshua, so has he exalted Jesus. The miracle that God did through Joshua is not nearly as great as the ones Jesus did, was it? Jesus healed paralytics, gave sight to the blind, gave hearing to the deaf, multiplied bread, turned water into wine, walked on water, resurrected people, delivered people from demons, and cured lepers. His miracles confirmed that he was the Messiah.

And the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses’ (Joshua 3:7).

When people saw all the miracles of Jesus, their reaction was to affirm that God was with him. It caused them to believe in Jesus. They noticed that he was anointed of God. Nicodemus said it directly to Jesus:

... no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him (John 32).

And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick (Luke 5:17).

Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him (Acts 2:22).

And that's the same support God gave to Joshua. Yahweh demonstrated to the people that he was with Joshua by performing the miracle at the Jordan River.

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 (Joshua 4:14).

God exalted Jesus particularly forcefully when he resurrected him. Because of that, we stand in awe of Jesus--because God resurrected him! He is certainly God’s Anointed. He is God's Messiah.

Purpose #5. Inspire the Fear of God in all People

Both Jews and Gentiles benefit from a good dose of the fear of God. Precisely, so that all the nations of the Earth might know that Yahweh is powerful—and fear him—God split opened the Jordan River. This is what Joshua explained to the people:

‘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’ (Joshua 4:24).

It’s a fearful thing to see a miracle as great as the one God did in the Jordan River. He made a path for his people to pass through. It's so wonderful if you're his people, but it's terrifying if you're his enemy.

God demonstrated his power and struck fear in the hearts of the Canaanites. If the God of the Jews was so powerful that he could bring them into the Promised Land by halting the flow of the Jordan River, he could also deliver the Promised Land into their hands. This was the conclusion the inhabitants of Canaan drew as the rumor of the crossing of the Jordan River spread far and wide.

Rahab, a woman who lived in the fortified city of Jericho, put it this way:

I know that the LORD has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you (Joshua 2:9).

Knowing that Jesus will return to Earth, will defeat his enemies at Armageddon, and will possess the land, won't cause unbelievers to fear? Shouldn't this news of his return prompt them to repent of their sins and to renounce their ways? Shouldn't it inspire them to surrender now while there's opportunity, as Rahab did?

This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the Dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations... (Luke 24:46-47)

... now he [God] commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the Dead (Acts 17:30-31).