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??Do you always keep YOUR promises？It’s very disappointing when people break their promises to us, but there are many reasons people don’t, or can’t, keep their promises. What about God？God’s Word, the Bible, is FULL of promises He has made. Does He always keep His promises？YES!! Because God not only knows but also controls the future, He has never made a promise He cannot keep. When God promised the people of Israel He would give them the land of Canaan for their new home, He kept that promise. It was 700 years in coming, but it was God’s perfect timing!
??Captain Joshua had been very encouraged by the two spies who had returned from Jericho with the good report, “God has given us the land! The people are very afraid of us!” Early the next morning, Joshua led the people to the bank of the Jordan River, the only thing that separated them from the Promised Land. There they camped for 3 days. After the 3rd day, Joshua sent officers throughout the camp to instruct the people：“When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing the ark, then be ready to leave and follow after it. Only you must keep a certain distance between you and the ark. You must not come near it.”
??What was so special about this gold covered box that had the blue cover on it？Perhaps some of the children in the camp asked their parents that very question! Forty years earlier, God had given Moses careful instructions for making this sacred piece of furniture. It occupied the most important, the most holy place, in the tabernacle. The tabernacle was the place of worship. Can you close your eyes and try to imagine how this special box, called the ark of the covenant, looked？On the lid of the ark were two angel-like figures that faced each other. They were called cherubim. In Exodus 25：22, God said, “There I will meet with you….from between the two cherubim which are on the ark.” God’s holy, perfect presence would be there! That’s what made the ark of the covenant such a special place! Therefore, it was to be handled only by certain priests, and no one else was to come near it
??There was another reason the people of Israel were to travel a distance from the ark. They had never traveled this way before, and the ark would show them which way to go.
??Joshua said, “Sanctify yourselves：for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you!” Sanctify means set apart for the Lord. The people were to purify themselves, and think about the Lord their God, and remember all His goodness and His promises. As they looked back, they could see God had never failed in keeping one of His promises to them. Thinking about what God had done would help them trust Him in the future. This would prepare them to trust God tomorrow for the seemingly impossible task of crossing the Jordan River! Joshua spoke to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people.” Then God spoke to Joshua, “This very day I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.” Another promise! And Joshua knew with all his heart God would keep it! God continued, “Tell the priests to move into the water at the edge of the Jordan.”
??Joshua went to the people：“Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God!
??What you are about to see will make you KNOW the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out our enemies：the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. Now look! The ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing before you into Jordan.” Boys and girls, did you hear what Joshua called God？THE LIVING GOD and THE LORD OF ALL THE EARTH. You can call Him that too when you bow to your head to pray and thank Him, and to remember all His promises!
??Joshua went on：“As soon as the bottom of the priests’ feet stand in the water of the river, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, and the waters upstream shall stand in a heap.” About two million people watched attentively. The Jordan River was at its flood stage and overflowing its banks. It would seem to be a dangerous thing to step into that water. Do you suppose there might have been a sound of powerful rushing water, and then, a sudden strange stillness？Perhaps! For just as soon as all the priests carrying the ark of the covenant stepped into the water, the waters did exactly as Joshua had said! The waters that came downstream suddenly stood up on a heap, and the other water just ran on down, leaving DRY GROUND! Not slippery mud, but DRY GROUND! As the astounded people watched, the priests went right on walking to the middle of the Jordan, then they stopped, still holding up the ark on the poles. Quickly the people began to cross over, the grandmothers and grandfathers, the moms and dads, some carrying babies, and here come the teens and the children hurrying across! There was plenty of room for even two million people to cross and still stay a distance from the priests, for the Bible says the waters that stood on a heap were far away. Was God doing wonders？Just think! Not only did He open up a path through the flooded river, but it was a completely DRY one! Is God faithful？Yes! Did He keep His promise？Yes!
??If you know the Lord Jesus, remember! He is faithful and He keeps His promises! Let’s think of another wonderful promise God gives you as His child：Philippians 1：6 “He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” God began His good work in you the day you believed on the Lord Jesus!
??But day by day He is working to make you more and more like Jesus. Does it bother you when you sin？That is because God’s Holy Spirit is working in you, just as He promised!God wants you to come to Him as His child every day and confess that sin so He can keep another promise! I John 1：9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us…” So many wonderful promises our loving God makes us, and remember! He is faithful to keep His promises!
??As the people hurried to cross the Jordan River on dry ground, they must have felt so amazed that, no matter how unbelievable it had seemed at first, God had kept His promise to them!
??But all was not finished! Joshua carried out God’s remaining instructions for this crossing：He sent the men who had been chosen from each of the tribes of Israel to get big stones from the riverbed. The 12 men set the heavy stones on their shoulders and brought them up on the bank of the Jordan River where the people were to camp that night. They formed them into a pile as a memorial. Joshua explained that when their children grew up and saw those stones, they would ask their parents, “What are these stones doing here？” The parents would then remind themselves and teach their children how God had opened up the Jordan River for them to cross on dry land. Joshua also set up 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan, where the priests’ feet had stood. Both sets of stones were silent reminders of God’s faithfulness in keeping His promises! Last of all, the priests baring the ark walked to the other side of the Jordan. As the last priests stepped on the bank of the river, what do you think happened？Yes! Can you imagine the sight of all that water splashing down, and once again overflowing the banks？! They were now standing on the banks of the Promised Land!
