Gilgals (Live Version)

Gilgals Judges 3 We're going to be in Judges 3 today. However, I want to set the stage by looking at an event that happened 125 years prior. Judges records the ups and downs that Israel experienced as they learned to inhabit the Promise that God had made to them. Joshua records the process of them stepping into that Promise. Most of us are familiar with the story of Israel crossing the Red Sea. They also crossed another body of water, the Jordan river. In fact, the Jordan river was parted and crossed three times in scripture. Let's take a quick look at the first crossing as Israel is entering into the promised land. Jordan Crossing As they travel, the priest are leading the way carrying the Ark of the Covenant. Joshua 3:15-17 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, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So, the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 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 4:1-7 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 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.” 4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 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, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 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.” So, after they’ve crossed the Jordan, they set up the stones in their camp which they name Gilgal. This is to always be a reminder for them that they serve a God who can do the impossible. This also is where Elisha begins his final day’s journey with his teacher Elijah; a place that exist to declare God does the impossible. It’s possible that 600 years later the stone monument was still there for Elisha to see as a reminder. But even if it wasn’t, the place was called Gilgal. We hope you enjoy! Sermon Notes: https://1drv.ms/w/c/08057c725e5c4941/... Sermon Slides: https://1drv.ms/p/c/08057c725e5c4941/... For more information about The Connection Church visit our website at: https://cc4square.org/ Or Download our church App. Search "Connection Church Redding" into your preferred App Store.