Joshua 3
Leaders Prep Section
Watch this video, read these notes, and send the pre-written email (below) to your group 2-3 days before you meet.
Notes
God seems to like obstacles. They appear over and over in the story by his design…he leads people into them and builds relationships through them. Here, he tells us how to handle them.
(Put “Joshua 3” in the subject line of the email so the guys read Joshua 3…but at the end of this session, you’ll tell them to read Joshua 4 on their own. There’s a note at the end of this session’s guide to remind you.)
Group Guide Starts Here
Context of scripture
The spies have returned with news that the people are scared out of their minds. Now 2.5 million Israelites mobilize to enter this Promised Land. But first, they’ll learn something crucial: how to follow God.
Read Joshua 3: 1-6
The place they’d cross was ‘the jungle of the Jordan.’ It was a mile wide,1 bordered by a thicket of shoulder high, tightly twisted thorns and filled with wolves and wild boar.2 It was the time of harvest (March/April), when the riverbanks ran higher and faster from the annual snowmelt from Mt. Hermon.3
A cubit is the length of a man’s fingertips to his elbow, about 18 inches. So 2000 cubits was over a half-mile, far back enough for a large number of people to see where God would lead them across.
Consecration involved extensive personal preparations4 including prayer, repentance of sins, fasting from certain foods, self-denial, washing their garments, and others. Joshua was telling the people, “get your heart right and head in the game.”
Do you have any rituals you do before starting something really challenging or significant?
What’s the power of doing these things?
Read Joshua 3: 7-13
God is explaining the mechanics of what to do when we run into obstacles. First: find God’s lead. Second: follow him through it. Don’t get ahead of him or move without knowing where he is.
How do you normally tackle obstacles; brute force or avoidance? How does it feel to know God says you can stop and look for him to lead you?
Read Joshua 3: 14-17
The city of Adam is 18 miles north of the fords of the Jordan,5 where they crossed. God stopped the water 18 miles upstream, a wide enough area for 2.5 million people to cross quickly.
Here, God expands his instruction on how to follow him through obstacles; we have to get our feet wet. (He promised to stop the waters, but not until they actually stepped in the water.)
How does it feel to know this is a way God operates (we start moving and trust he’ll be there)?
Think of an obstacle you are up against now or see on the horizon. Then, answer these questions:
Is the obstacle in the way of you following God’s plan for your life? Or is it just in your way towards what you want and actually has nothing to do with God’s plan? Should you just leave that one alone?
If the obstacle is in the way of following God, what is your next step? Is it to:
o Prepare yourself, making sure you are ready and focused?,
o Back up and find where God is in relation to the obstacle so you know where to go? Or,
o Start moving, get your feet wet and have faith that it will be ok?
Note for leader: Have everyone read chapter 4 on their own (or at the end as a group) and see what happens.