Blogging Bible Study : Joshua 3 - Crossing the Jordan

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

After the spies returned, Israel moved from Shittim, where they had been camped,  to the east bank of the Jordan, a journey of a little less than ten miles.  They stayed there three days, then were given the command to be ready to move, to watch the ark of the presence of God and follow it,  'Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.' (v. 4, all scripture today from the NIV 84).

I could literally stop right there and do a whole teaching, but I'll content myself with a little observation. Following the presence of God was their only guidance in unfamiliar territory. Now, God could have taken them north into Canaan from Kadesh Barnea,where they failed 40 years earlier.  They were in Kadesh towards the end of their wandering; Miriam died there, and it was there that Moses lost his temper and struck the rock (Numbers 20).  But, instead they went southeast from Kadesh, around the Dead Sea and up through the plains of Moab.  This was not just a re-do; this was new territory and a new paradigm.  The old was gone and dead; it would not just be corrected but replaced.  You have never been this way before.

Joshua also told them to consecrate themselves, '...for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.'  (v. 5).  They were on the east side of the Jordan; they were going to the west side of the Jordan.  And it was at flood stage.  There would have to be amazing things if they really were gonna cross that mess.

The next day, they packed up and formed up...not in their usual marching order, with Judah in front and the Levites bearing all the holy items in the middle.  This time, the priests carrying the Ark were a bit over half a mile in front of the rest of the company.  And they had been instructed to go stand in the middle of the river.

Did I mention it was at flood stage?

Joshua announced to the people: 'This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canannites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.  See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you.... And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD -- the Lord of all the earth -- set foot in the Jordan,  its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.' (vs10-11,13).  He also told them to select one man from each tribe, whose purpose would be made known later.

So they lined up and headed west. And as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, 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 (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off.  So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. (vs. 15b - 16)

Now, I have heard folks discount that statement, saying that, of course, there was a rock slide or some such thing that temporarily dammed the water upstream.  And I'm not going to say that didn't happen.   But even if there was an observable, natural event that caused the water to stop running down the river, isn't it remarkable that it happened just at the moment that the Israelites were crossing the river a good distance downstream?  Why does the possibility that God could have used natural phenomena to do His will want to make folks discount His actions?  The Lord of all the earth could certainly send a rock slide at the precise moment He needed it to happen and it would be no less His doing than blowing a fierce wind right at the river in just one spot so that the water piled up rather than flowing down.  However it happened...He did it at the exact moment He wanted it done.

The priests walked out to the middle of the riverbed and stood there, while the entire nation walked by to the other side.  Which, according to the census recorded at the end of Numbers, taken just before Moses died, included 601,730 men over the age of 20, not counting the Levites, of whom there were 23,000 men and boys over the age of one month,  plus all the women and children.  It probably took a while.

The chapter ends, right there, with the people on the far side and the priests still standing on the river bed.  God wasn't quite done with the Jordan River yet.  What came next...well, that's next week's post.

Do I look for the presence of God to guide me through places I have not walked before?  Do I expect Him to do 'amazing things' to take me to the place He has promised...or do I wander around looking for ways to make those promises happen myself?