We closed our session yesterday with Joshua telling the people, "Tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you." Today we find Him doing an amazing thing: parting the Jordan River.
"Joshua said to the priests, 'Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.' So they took it up and went ahead of them." (Joshua 3:6) The religious leaders of the community step out first, setting an example of faith for the congregation. They carry the ark of the covenant ahead of the people, symbolizing the Lord going ahead of the people. We don't know everything that's up ahead of us in this world and sometimes we come upon some pretty intimidating circumstances, but knowing the Lord is going ahead of us and making a way for us should give us the courage to step forward.
This is a pivotal moment not only for the nation as a whole but for Joshua as a leader. He's standing strong and speaking with a firm voice but on the inside he wants another word of encouragement from the Lord. I don't think he doubts that the Lord is able to make a way across the river, but perhaps he doubts whether the people will step forward when it's time to step forward. Will they obey his authority? Their fathers who came out of Egypt refused to step forward into the promised land under Moses' authority in the book of Numbers and Moses wasn't asking them to enter the promised land via the surging waters of the Jordan at flood stage. Joshua must be wondering: will they believe I'm speaking for the Lord when I give them these instructions? Will they do what I tell them to do? Or will their faith be too weak? The Lord tells him what he needs to hear. "And the Lord said to Joshua, 'Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.'" (Joshua 3:7) The miracle that's about to take place is necessary to build the faith of the people so they'll be able to do what they'll need to do on the other side of Jordan. It's necessary for their faith in the Lord and it's necessary for their faith in the Lord's chosen leader: Joshua. They must trust that Joshua is speaking on the Lord's command so they'll obey Joshua's commands without question.
The Lord continues: "Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: 'When you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river.'" (Joshua 3:8) The priests are to move forward confidently in an attitude of expectation. They must walk right up to the overflowing banks of the Jordan as if they expect a highway to open up in front of them. They have to be willing to get their toes wet, believing the Lord is not going to allow the waters to overflow them.
After relaying these instructions to the priests, Joshua turns and addresses the congregation. "Joshua said to the Israelites, 'Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that He will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, 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. Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 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.'" (Joshua 3:9-13) The twelve men will be given a task to perform after the people have crossed over.
How did the Lord stop the waters? Did He reach down and hold them back with His mighty hand? Did He use some sort of natural phenomenon? There have been many cases of earthquakes or strong hurricanes causing major rivers to suddenly start running backwards. There have been cases where rivers (including the Jordan) were dammed up by naturally occurring landslides. The Jordan did not flow for ten hours on a day in 1266AD when an earthquake caused a huge landslide to plug the river. On another occasion, an earthquake known as the Jericho Earthquake of 1927 (or sometimes called the Earthquake at Adam/Adamah--- this will be important later) caused such a large landslide that the Jordan did not flow for twenty-one hours. If documented earthquakes and landslides temporarily stopped up the Jordan in the modern age, there's no reason to believe such things couldn't have been happening in the region in Old Testament times. If the Lord used a natural phenomena to create dry ground for the Israelites to cross the Jordan, it's no less miraculous than if He reached down and stopped the waters with His own hand. The Lord ("the Lord of all the earth", as Joshua phrased it) created the earth and everything in it. He created the tectonic plates and the fault lines. He created the mountains and the rivers. There's no reason to think He didn't create all these things in such a way that they would behave in a particular manner on a particular day or in a particular hour. If an earthquake caused a landslide on the day the Israelites crossed the Jordan, we can be confident that the Lord knew the earthquake was coming and that He knew exactly when it was coming. He would have used that knowledge to instruct the people to cross on the right day and at the right hour.
Another reason I think Joshua uses the term "the Lord of all the earth" twice in verses 9-13 above is to say this: "The God who created the earth has all power over the earth and everything in it. Can the One who created the Jordan not stop the Jordan from flowing? Does He not have authority over it? If He says the Jordan is going to stand still, the Jordan is going to stand still!"
"So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 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, 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." (Joshua 3:14-16a) We spoke of the town called Adam (sometimes Adamah) a couple of paragraphs above in regard to the great earthquake of 1927 in which the Jordan was stopped up for almost an entire day. The event we're studying today may have been the same type of happening, but as we already stated, whether the Lord used natural circumstances or personally reached down and stopped the river, it's just as miraculous of an event either way. The One who created all things works all things together for good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28) and that includes using the natural forces of the earth He created and using the natural laws of the universe He created. He knew exactly the day and the hour the Israelites were going to cross the Jordan. He knew this before He ever created the earth or the Jordan or the people of Israel! We may not know exactly how He worked everything out for the Israelites' good on this day, but we know for certain He worked it out according to plans He made long ago. We know their crossing was arranged by Him, by the Lord of all the earth, by the Creator of all that exists.
"So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stopped on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed crossing on dry ground." (Joshua 3:16b-17) If the Lord has given you direction about your life, even though you may not see the way ahead, you can rest assured there is a way ahead. If He's told you to take a particular course, start stepping ahead in faith as soon as He tells you to step ahead. He will go before you and part the waters. The plans He made for your life were made long long ago---before you were ever born---and He doesn't make plans without making a way for them to come to pass. He has everything in place. He will provide whatever is needed. He will equip you to do whatever He calls you to do.
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