When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, come to rest in the Jordan’s water, its water will be cut off. The water flowing downstream will stand up in a mass. Joshua 3:13 CSB
This phrase “Lord of the whole earth” is used a couple of times in this chapter, and it is significant. For many Christians today, the omnipresence of God is a common concept. We see the influence of Christianity around the world, and we understand that He is the one true God with a global kingdom. However, in the days of Joshua, that was not the perspective of most. In those days, most pagan traditional religions believed that there were many gods and that each commanded its own territory or people. Thus, the Egyptians had their gods, the Canaanites had theirs, and other peoples had their own gods. The cultural perspective, then, was that a god had power in its own territory but not necessarily in other places.
This is what made Yahweh different. The claim to be the God “of the whole earth” was not only odd in that day, but it was also considered audacious. Yet everywhere the Israelites traveled, audacious things occurred. Kings were overthrown, oceans were parted, rivers dried up, and walls crumbled to the ground. Joshua was careful to remind the people that Yahweh is the Lord, not only of Israel, but of the whole earth. We would do well to remember that today. I know we understand that intellectually, but do we live that out in our day to day lives? This means He is the Lord of every nook and cranny of your heart, even the secret shameful things you are afraid to admit. He is Lord over every nation, and we must boldly proclaim the gospel to all. Our God is not some petty, regional god that demands allegiance. He is the God of the Universe and the Lord of the whole earth. Everywhere we go He is already there, and He is Lord. May we live out the implications of that truth in 2026.
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