Introduction: How do you approach problems in your life? Have you ever thought about “consecrating” yourself as a solution to a problem? We will follow the Israelites as they are about to begin the conquest of the land promised to them. Their first hurdle is crossing a river at flood stage. The second hurdle is conquering a walled city. What would you do to overcome these serious obstacles? Let’s jump into our study of Joshua to see how they prepared to overcome these problems!

I. The Jordan Crossing

A. Read Joshua 3:1 and Joshua 3:15. How big an obstacle is the Jordan River? (It was at flood level because it was overflowing its banks.)

1. Recall that Joshua sent out spies to assess the conquest of Jericho. How do you think the people of Jericho felt about the Jordan flooding? (I think it gave them confidence that they were safe for now.)
2. The Israelites were by the Jordan for three days. They saw it was at flood level. How do you think they felt about crossing it?

B. Read Joshua 3:2–5. If you were entering into war, would you have members of your clergy go first in enemy territory?

1. What do you think the people felt about this plan? What did they feel about the ark going ahead of them?

C. Note again Joshua 3:5. Would it occur to you that you should consecrate (sanctify) yourself in facing these obstacles? Or would you be checking your weapons, sharpening your axe, doing target practice with your bows, and making your stuff watertight?

1. Step back a minute and think about this situation. Why consecrate? Why lead with clergy and the symbol of God’s presence? (This all makes sense if this is spiritual warfare!)
2. Are the practical problems in your life, in reality, spiritual warfare?

D. We are still not done with Joshua 3:5. Note the consecration is tied to the Lord doing “wonders among you.” If your problems require a miracle to resolve, does that convince you that they are spiritual?

E. Read Joshua 3:6-8. Did it take more faith to cross the Jordan than to cross the Red Sea?

1. What differences do you see in the two? (Crossing away from the enemy as opposed to toward the enemy.)
2. The Lord could have started earlier or later to avoid the flooding. Why didn’t He? (To demonstrate that this was a spiritual rather than a merely practical solution.)

F. Look again at Joshua 3:7. God says that He is beginning to “exalt” Joshua. If credit goes to God, why exalt a person?

1. This is something that I think Christian leaders wrestle with all the time. Should a leader enjoy the exaltation that comes from promoting God? Is it okay to promote God and you at the same time?

II. Proof of Concept

A. Read Joshua 3:9-13. God is making a point about their future when they cross the Jordan. What is it? (The people probably looked at the rushing flood waters and thought, “This is impossible.” So God says to them, I will fix this problem and fix the problems that you will face in defeating all of the strong peoples who presently live in the land promised to you.)

B. Read Joshua 3:14-17. Something I read suggested that when God’s people crossed the Red Sea there was an earthquake that caused the water to run into a gap in the ground. This, I was assured, was a miracle. What about this story shows that it was not a natural occurrence? (Verse 16 tells us the water rose up in a “heap” and verse 17 tell us they crossed over on dry ground! This is spiritual!)

C. Let’s look more closely at Joshua 3:17. Where, exactly, were the priests standing? (They were standing in the “midst” of the dry riverbed.)

1. Where, exactly, were the people? (They were walking around the priests to cross over the river.)

a. What is holding the water back? (As Joshua said in Joshua 3:5 God is doing “wonders.”)

III. Stone Memorial

A. Read Joshua 4:1-3. What odd task is Joshua giving to the twelve tribes?

1. Why does he ask for a man from each tribe? (This is symbolic. This gives responsibility and credit to each tribe.)
2. Why must the stones come from the area where the priests stopped with the ark in the middle of the riverbed? (This is also symbolic. God held back the water in a show of God’s power.)

B. Read Joshua 4:4-7. What is the purpose of these stones?

C. Read Joshua 4:8. Where are the stones going? (They are going to Gilgal, the place where Israel camped after crossing the Jordan.)

D. Read Joshua 4:9-11. Wait! What is this? Is Joshua setting up stones on his own in a different place? (This reveals that Joshua also created a stone memorial of the crossing in the middle of the riverbed where the priests and the ark waited while the Israelites passed by.)

1. Notice that verse 9 says that they are standing “to this day” in the riverbed. Is this proof that these stones were actually in the middle of the Jordan river? (That would make sense if you piled them in the middle of a raging river. I have the sense that Joshua built this memorial to last.)

E. Let’s skip down to Joshua 4:19-21. This answers the question I asked earlier, “What is the purpose of these stones?” The answer is “To make your children ask questions.” Is that the full answer? (Read Joshua 4:22-24. The full answer is that this causes a conversation about how God led them over the Jordan to the promised land. God is the One to fear. God is the One who brings victory.)

F. Read Joshua 5:1. How did this account affect the attitude and the fighting spirit of the local people? (They were fearful and lost their spirit to fight.)

G. Read 1 Samuel 7:10-12. How is Samuel using the “Ebenezer” stone? (In the same way as the stone memorials at the Jordan River, as a memorial to the victory of God over the Philistines.)

H. Let’s talk about this with regard to your children. What can you do to apply this lesson of the stones to your family?

1. What can you do to apply this lesson to you? (Today we have easy ways to record what God has done for us. Think about ways that will be most lasting. My wife and I have an Ebenezer Stone book that records the times when God clearly led us, when He clearly intervened, and when He clearly helped. Looking back through that book gives us confidence for the future.)
2. Will you suggest that your children create an Ebenezer Stone book when they are still young?

I. Friend, if you need a miracle to resolve a problem, you know you are involved in spiritual warfare. But even in the most simple matters, asking for God’s direction should be your first response. God will do wonders for you. And He wants us to remember that. Will you place your trust in God?

IV. Next week: The Conflict Behind All Conflicts.

Copr. 2025, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail, but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you study.

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Inside Story for Friday 17th of October 2025

Watch a short YouTube video of Tsitsi Zondo at: bit.ly/Tsitsi.

Tsitsi Zondo couldn’t believe her eyes. It was a dark night in Zimbabwe, but she could see her precious cargo of sweatshirts strewn across the highway and the dim figures of people scurrying to take them away.

Image © Pacific Press

Tears filled her eyes. She had borrowed money to buy the sweatshirts in South Africa and now wouldn’t be able to repay the loan. She had nothing. How would she provide for her children?

She prayed, “Lord, You know that I’ve been struggling to make my business successful, and now this has happened. Out of all the bags, my bag is the only one that opened.”

Tsitsi had packed 60 sweatshirts into a large bag and stowed it on the roof of a minibus for the trip from Zimbabwe’s border with South Africa to her hometown, Bulawayo. But halfway into the journey, a passenger had gotten off the minibus and, in looking for her bag, the driver had opened and closed several bags on the minibus’ roof. Somehow, Tsitsi’s bag hadn’t been closed.

The minibus had resumed its journey and, after traveling some distance, stopped at the flashing of car lights. The car’s driver said the minibus had been dropping sweatshirts ever since the passenger had gotten off.

Tsitsi saw to her horror that only 10 sweatshirts remained in her bag.

The minibus driver knew that he was responsible but raised his hands helplessly. “I’m sorry,” he told Tsitsi. “I just don’t have the money.”

After praying, Tsitsi wiped away her tears. She had always been faithful in returning tithe and giving offerings on the wares that she imported from South Africa, and she was sure that God would care for her.

In Bulawayo, friends heard about Tsitsi’s situation and came over to pray. One offered her a loan to return to South Africa and buy more sweatshirts.

Tsitsi accepted the money as an answer to prayer and returned to South Africa. With the new sweatshirts, she was able to deliver on all of the original sweatshirt orders. It took a total of four trips to South Africa to repay the two loans. But during that time, Tsitsi always had enough money for food and family expenses. She also kept returning tithe and giving offerings.

Tsitsi doesn’t understand how God works, but she has no doubt that He always provides.

“Even when I lost everything, my family and I never went hungry. We always had food on the table,” she said. “If you are faithful and you give to the Lord in tithe and offerings, the Lord always comes through for you.”

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Daily Lesson for Thursday 16th of October 2025

“He turned the sea into dry land;

They went through the river on foot.

There we will rejoice in Him” (Psalms 66:6, NKJV).

Both the crossing of the Red Sea and of the Jordan are markers of a new era in biblical history, and both carry symbolic significance (see Psalms 66:6, Psalms 114:1-7, and 2 Kings 2:6-15). Already in the Old Testament, there are texts that link the two crossing events and recognize a meaning, which points beyond the original settings. In Psalms 66:1-20, the psalmist celebrated God’s redemptive act in his life (Psalms 66:16-19) by referring to the historical examples of the crossing of the Red Sea and of the Jordan.

Image © Lars Justinen Goodsalt.com

Psalms 114:1-8 also ties the two events together, not because the author did not see a chronological difference between them but because of the theological significance that the two crossings share. Thus, both events are seen as contributing to a change in Israel’s status, once from slavery to freedom, then from nomadic landlessness to nationhood. In these psalms, the examples of the two crossings illustrate the change in status of the author from oppression, poverty, helplessness, and humiliation to safety, well-being, salvation, and dignity.

It is also by the Jordan that Elijah’s translation takes place in the context of a similar miracle to the one recorded in Joshua. For Elijah, the crossing brought the most significant status change in his life: he was taken to heaven. For Elisha, the change is also important: the prophet’s assistant (1 Kings 19:21) becomes the prophet of the nation (2 Kings 2:22).

The earthly ministry of Jesus, as the Representative of Israel, follows the pattern of the history of ancient Israel. Jesus undergoes the “Red Sea” and “Jordan” experiences. He is called out of Egypt after a death decree (Matthew 2:14-16); spends 40 days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2), similar to ancient Israel’s 40 years; and, as a transition from His private life to His public ministry, He is baptized in the Jordan (Matthew 3:16-17; Mark 1:9).

Later, Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16 recognizes the symbolic significance of the crossing of the Jordan and presents the entrance into Canaan as foreshadowing the “rest of grace” that Christians enter through faith.

<–Wednesday Friday–>

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Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and this quarter’s author, Dr. Barna Magyarosi, as they provide additional insights into this week’s Sabbath School lesson.”

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“We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.”—Ellen G. White, Life Sketches, p. 196.

Long before Sabbath School Net, my blogsite, and Facebook, I loved to write. When I was a teenager, Earl Hamner inspired me to write and keep a journal. You may or may not know that Earl Hamner created the 1970s TV series The Waltons, based loosely on his own family’s experiences growing up during the Great Depression and World War II. In the TV series, John Boy, the character is based on Earl Hamner, who kept a journal. This inspired me to keep a journal, hoping to write some exciting stories to share later in life. While I did not write anything noteworthy enough to create my own TV series, I did write what has become a gold mine for my own reflection and self-discovery.

Photo by Jan Kahánek on Unsplash

For instance, when I was 15, I had a crush on a girl who didn’t return my feelings, so I wrote in my journal that I had called her a snob to her face. A couple of weeks later, I recorded in my journal that I preached my first sermon, but also noted the girl I had a crush on did not come to hear me preach, and I wondered why. Reading my journal years later, it was blatantly obvious why. Just a few days earlier, I called her a snob. Who wants to hear someone preach who just called you a snob? I didn’t see the obvious at the time, but years later, reading my journal, I could connect the dots I couldn’t then. Around the same age, I wrote in my journal how I hoped to become a pastor someday. It is rewarding to go back to my journal and read about dreams that were fulfilled years later. Except now I don’t call people I want to share the Gospel with “snobs.”

Sadly, after a couple of years of journaling, I stopped because I didn’t feel that what I wrote was exciting enough to record. Was I ever wrong! As I said earlier, I look back and see it as a gold mine of self-reflection and self-discovery, as well as a way to document events and dates to refer back to whenever I need a timeline. By reading my old journals, I can now see what I  needed to grow and how I have grown.

Around 2005, Someone gave me a journal as a birthday gift, and I started journaling again, though I do not write in it nearly as often as I did as a teen. Of course, I now write on my blog and Facebook, so I can still share stories of my life. As we study this week’s Sabbath School Lesson, “Memorials of Grace,” I am reminded how journaling can be a memorial of grace. In recent years, I have journaled about how God closed the door on my Bible Worker ministry only to open an even bigger door for ministry. I have journaled about how God got me out of debt after I lost my job, which is a really unique route out of debt. I have journaled about how God revealed His presence to me when my mother passed away. These past miracles are recorded in my journal to remind me that I never have to fear bad news.

They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. Psalm 112:7 NLT

So today, I thank God for the gift of writing, whether it is in my personal journal or blogging on Sabbath School Net or social media. I hope you also take advantage of the wonderful gift of writing and record your own tragedies and triumphs, so you can look back and read and re-read the wonderful things the Lord has brought you through and done for you. I feel that, like me, you will also learn some things about yourself as you read your old stories.

By the way, at camp meetings and while traveling, I will meet people who tell me they have been following my blog for a long time. Some of them have never commented, so I had no idea they were even following me. So, whether you have commented or not, I want to thank you for reading my blogs. Thank you for being someone with whom I can share my stories. By sharing my stories with you, I have been able to share my life with you. That makes you very special to me. Thank you.

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